Former Croatian footballer and national team coach Niko Kovač will take over Bayern Munich next season, according to German newspaper Bild.
Fifteen years after leaving Bayern as a player, Niko Kovač (46) will return to the club as the coach!
This is precisely what Germany’s Bild newspaper announced on Thursday evening, reporting exclusively that the leaders of the Bundesliga have agreed with the former Croatian representative who currently leads Bundesliga’s Eintracht from Frankfurt, reports 24 Sata on April 13, 2018.
The German club has decided that the successor of Jupp Heynckes (72), who will be released at the end of the season, will be a man whose mother tongue is German – falling on Niko Kovač, a native of Berlin, who is very close to the tasting the Champions League with his current club in Frankfurt.
The possibility of Niko sitting on the Bavarian bench first appeared 13 months ago.
“I learned that it was important in life to have goals. You should not jump to them, but rather go step by step. As a young player, I wanted to become a professional. And I managed to do it,” Niko said then, before adding:
“After that, my goals were to play the first league, play for the national team, then sign for Bayern and play the European and World Championships. You always have to go with baby steps. If you set difficult goals for yourself, you are more likely to fail.”
When Carlo Ancelotti was unexpectedly sacked in September, and at the beginning of the season, German bookies didn’t even think to bid on the Croat. They chose the experienced Heynckes for Bayern, but only until the end of this season. Now, the former Croatian representative is very much in the game to lead the club, even though he said he would remain at Eintracht earlier this month.
“There is no reason to doubt whether I will be here next season,” said Niko, with director Fredi Bobić’s statement following Kovač’s closely:
“I can calm the fans of Eintracht. We have no contact with Bayern surrounding Niko Kovač. They did not look for it, and we are planning for our future together.”
However, it seems, that in just a few days, quite a bit has turned around. Niko, as Bild claims, should be officially presented as the new Bayern coach by the end of the month.
Niko Kovač arrived in Frankfurt at the end of the 2015/16 season. The next season, he advanced the club to 11th place, and five rounds before the end of this season, Kovač has led Eintracht to fifth place, just two points below Leverkusen and in a position to bring the club direct placement into the Champions League.
Niko began his coaching career in 2009 at the Academy of Red Bull Salzburg where he was also an assistant in 2011. The Eintracht job was his first engagement in a club as a senior coach of a senior team. Before Eintracht, Kovač coached the Croatia U-21 and A team, which he led at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Translated from 24 Sata
