Report: Erik ten Hag will NOT leave Ajax this summer, Bayern Munich looking for alternatives

More updates in the Bundesliga’s premier managerial drama — Christian Falk of Sport Bild reports that Erik ten Hag will NOT leave Ajax in the summer, despite potential interest from both Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Therefore, in case Niko Kovac is fired, the Bavarians are looking at former captain Mark van Bommel as an alternative.

According to this report on Sport Bild, as both ten Hag and Thomas Tuchel are expected to stay at their current clubs, Bayern will have to look elsewhere if they want to replace Niko Kovac for next season. President Uli Hoeness, having learned lessons from the Carlo Ancelotti debacle, only wants a German speaker to be the coach — which rules out both Julen Lopetegui and Mauricio Pochettino from the race. That leaves one more candidate — PSV Eindhoven coach Mark van Bommel.

As a former captain, van Bommel knows the club inside out, and his PSV team play fast, aggressive attacking football, which will please the bosses very much, even if he is lacking experience at the top level. His PSV team have all but lost the league to Ajax, needing an Ajax loss + a miracle performance against Heracles to make up their deficit of 3 points and 14 goal difference on the league leaders.

Would Mark an Bommel be a good coach for Bayern? Hard to say — unlike ten Hag, he has no recent Champions League successes to back him up. However, he is connected to the club and has been relatively successful with an attractive style of football, which means this report does make sense. But at what point will the bosses go: “These replacements aren’t good enough, let’s just keep Kovac.” Maybe, the nonavailability of ten Hag and Tuchel could help Kovac keep his job until next season — which doesn’t translate to a great vote of confidence in the manager.