Klinsmann did not spend a penny on new players when he arrived to replace Ottmar Hitzfeld last season because, so he claims, club bosses wanted him to work with the same squad as his predecessor.

Only Tim Borowski and Hans-Jorg Butt arrived on free transfers, with Massimo Oddo coming in on loan.

Klinsmann lost his job in April without ever managing to take Bayern to the summit of the Bundesliga table and shortly after being eliminated from the Champions League by Barcelona.

He has now been replaced by Louis van Gaal, who has already spent more than 50million euros on new signings, justifying Klinsmann's belief the squad he had was not good enough to challenge successfully.

"It was their wish to give the team the chance to prove itself on a European stage, despite there being a few question marks and that they had just failed in the UEFA Cup," Klinsmann said.

"We knew that it was a risk with a new goalkeeper and without four strikers, without even mentioning the injuries.

"I requested we swap (Lukas) Podolski for (Ivica) Olic in December but that opinion was not shared."

Olic has now arrived from Hamburg with Podolski sold to Cologne. In addition, Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Alexander Baumjohann, Andreas Gorlitz, Mario Gomez and Edson Braafheid will be at van Gaal's disposal next season.

Revolutionising the team to such an extent was precisely what Klinsmann wanted, which is why he now feels justified.

"I am never envious but the transfers really are remarkable," he said. "Seven, maybe even eight or nine new players is practically a new team and it shows that, in hindsight, they have followed my analysis.

"That makes it absolutely clear that it was not the coach alone to blame for the defeats last season, as it has often been presented.

"Back then, you had the impression that just changing the coach would be enough to get into the Champions League final."

Klinsmann is still employed by Bayern as no settlement has yet been agreed over the remaining two years on his contract.

However, he remains happy to sit back and accept his wage since he has no intention of returning to work in the short term.

"I don't want to take on a new team next season," he told the Bild newspaper. "I will take this opportunity to take some time off and educate myself more.

"I will first analyse my time with Bayern. You can learn a lot from the things which did not work exceptionally, both professionally and as a person."