Is Carlo Ancelotti headed for an early exit?

After a poor preseason, and a less than stellar start to the season in terms of quality of play, there are rumblings that Carlo Ancelotti may be headed for an early exit to his Bayern Munich career, if reports from ESPN are to be believed.

According to ESPN’s sources, Bayern have the option of terminating Ancelotti’s contract at the conclusion of his second season (of a planned three). The source claims that Bayern may look to make a change if the 58-year-old Italian fails to deliver in the Champions League this season, with an early exit (for Bayern’s standards) last season certainly not giving him a lot of room for error this year.

In the event of a termination, Ancelotti would look to head back to the Premier League where he led Chelsea to a league title back in the 2009/10 season. It wasn’t long ago that Ancelotti’s name was mentioned as a possible replacement for Brendan Rogers at Liverpool during the early stages of the 2014/15 season, and though the position eventually went to Jürgen Klopp, there surely wouldn’t be a shortage of suitors for the three-time winning Champions League manager in England.

As for who could replace him, a long list of managers would likely be taken into consideration.

Jürgen Klopp’s name would surely pop up at one point or another, though it’d be nearly impossible to imagine him leaving Liverpool, having just put pen to paper on a contract extension last season that will look to keep him at Anfield until at least 2022.

Klopp’s successor at both Mainz and Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel, would likely also be a hot topic at Säbener Straße. Though currently out a job, the 44-year-old showed off his exceptional managerial skills during his run at Dortmund, along with a great ability to integrate youth and inexperience into his side whilst still leading them to good results, despite losing key players to both injuries and transfers away from the club.

The most talked about, though, would be current Hoffenheim manager Julian Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann has done an extraordinary job at Hoffenheim, transforming them from relegation candiadate to Europa League participants in a matter of 19 months. On top of that, he has recently expressed his desire to one day possibly manage Bayern, citing his past in Munich and his family’s imminent move to the city as one of a few reasons as to why a change might interest him.

Bayern haven’t made an in-season managerial change since Louis van Gaal in 2011, and unless things really go down hill from here on out, it’s hard to see Ancelotti having to bite the bullet before season’s end. Nonetheless, it’ll be an interesting storyline to follow for the time being.