Erik ten Hag is NOT in contention for Borussia Dortmund job after Nuri Sahin’s sacking – as former Bayern Munich boss emerges as front-runner
Erik ten Hag has been ruled out of the race to be the next Borussia Dortmund boss -after initially being the front-runner.
Sahin was sacked after just seven months in charge following Dortmund’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Bologna on Tuesday night.
Despite reaching last season’s Champions League final, Dortmund have collapsed this campaign and they sit 10th in the Bundesliga table.
Ten Hag was slated for a quick return to management with Dortmund just three months after being sacked by Manchester United, but Mail Sport understands he is not in contention.
Further discussions were held between him and the club on Wednesday but he claims he does not want to take another job until the summer. Mail Sport also understands that he is still being paid by United as compensation for his termination.
He managed Bayern’s B team between 2013 and 2015 while Pep Guardiola led the club, even assuming the moniker ‘mini Pep’.
Erik ten Hag is not in contention for the Borussia Dortmund job and does not want to take another until the summer after being sacked by Manchester United
Nuri Sahin was sacked by Dortmund after they lost 2-1 to Bologna in the Champions League on Tuesday
Former Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovac is understood to be the frontrunner for the job
Former Bayern Munich manager Niko Kovac is instead leading the race to take up the post.
Kovac has been out of work since he was sacked by Wolfsburg last March.
The ex-Croatia captain won a domestic treble with Bayern in the 2018-19 season but left within six months.
Whoever gets the job will have to turn around a struggling supertanker.
In a club statement confirming Sahin’s exit, Dortmund sporting director Lars Ricken said: ‘We value Nuri Sahin and his work very much, we hoped for a long-term collaboration and until the end we had hoped that we could achieve a sporting turnaround together.
‘After four defeats in a row, due to only one win in the last nine games and currently tenth in the Bundesliga table, we have unfortunately lost faith in being able to achieve our sporting goals in the current constellation. This decision hurts me personally, but it was unavoidable after the game in Bologna.’
Sahin, 36, was also quoted as saying: ‘Unfortunately, we have not managed to live up to Borussia Dortmund’s sporting ambitions this season. I wish this special club all the best.’
His points-per-game average of 1.48 is the worst for Dortmund in the last 17 years.
Under-19s coach Mike Tullberg is in interim charge. Their next fixture is at home to Weder Bremen on Saturday.
