Bayern Munich are already planning for life after the likes of Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, sporting director Matthias Sammer has told BT Sport.
Bayern have re-established themselves as the dominant force in German football in recent seasons with a core of key players who have been together for a number of years.
However, several of them are now approaching the end of their careers, with Schweinsteiger now 30, Lahm and Robben 31 and Franck Ribery having just turned 32.
Sammer said that, while there are no immediate plans to discard those more experienced players, they are now considering options as to who might take their place.
Matthias Sammer on why @FCBayern must plan for the future. Watch the full show on BT Sport 1 this Saturday, 10pm. http://t.co/qdK2uma5A1
- BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) April 16, 2015
"There will be a new generation," he told former Bayern midfielder Owen Hargreaves in an interview to be broadcast on BT on Saturday. "Not now and not tomorrow, but Bayern need to be conscious that it will happen.
"Philipp and Basti are in their early 30s. Xabi Alonso is older [33]. Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are over 30. All in the midfield and wing positions.
"If you have big players then you have to discuss these matters as it influences the future of the club. It is true that Lahm is contracted till 2018, and Alonso and Bastian are until 2016, but we have to make plans before it is too late. We must intervene earlier.
"We both know that big players avoid the subject as, in their heads, they think they can play till they are 45, but that is unworkable. I have spoken to [Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge] in the attempt to change this perception.
"Let's get the players on board. They will respect this. You gain openness and trustworthiness. The club has a responsibility to itself to explain a future without Lahm and the others.
"The club must continue beyond these players. That is Lahm's duty as well as the club's."
Bayern have been widely linked with a move for Kevin De Bruyne, 23, as a younger alternative to Ribery and Robben.
However, former France international Ribery said recently that he did not believe the Wolfsburg star would be a suitable successor and suggested that he and Robben would both be around for some time to come.