Niko Kovac is expected to be at the London Stadium this evening to watch his potential new club Arsenal. The Gunners are in action against West Ham, looking to end their nine-match winless run. They’ve also not won away from home in the league since the 1-0 win over Newcastle on the opening weekend of the season.
Kovac was sacked by Bayern after 18 months in charge following a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt at the start of November.
The Croatian completed a Bundesliga and German Cup double last season and won 45 of his 65 games in charge.
But his relationship with the players and unconvincing displays in Europe ultimately cost him.
Chief executive officer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: “The performances of our team in recent weeks and the results have shown us that there was a need for action.
“We had an open and serious discussion with Niko this Sunday based on that and came to the mutual decision that Niko is no longer head coach of FC Bayern. We all regret this development.”
However, Kovac is seemingly ready to throw himself straight into another job with initial discussions said to have been held with Arsenal.
Kovac was also spotted in the directors’ box Goodison Park on Saturday as Everton beat Chelsea 3-1.
Kovac joins a list including Mikel Arteta, Massimiliano Allegri, Mauricio Pochettino and Rafael Benitez as possible candidates for the Arsenal job.
Arsenal are understood to have a thorough interview process planned to find the right man.
Head of football Raul Sanllehi and technical director Edu will conduct the first sitdown then the second stage sees chief negotiator Huss Fahmy and managing director Vinai Venkatesham interview the candidate.
Then the final step will see the prospective coach being out to the United States to chat with owner Stan Kroenke and his director son Josh.
Kovac’s managerial club career started at Eintracht where he helped save them from relegation in 2015-16.
The following season Kovac took them to 11th in the Bundesliga as they re-established themselves as a mid-table club and reached the German Cup final, where they were beaten by Borussia Dortmund.
Then in his second full season, Kovac took Eintracht to a second successive German Cup final and on this occasion, they beat Bayern to win their first trophy since 1988.
His record at Eintracht was 38 wins in 91 games.
As a player, Kovac was regarded as a classy midfielder, spending nearly 20 years playing in German football.
He had two spells at Hertha BSC, making over 200 appearances, and while at Bayern won the Bundesliga in 2003.
Niko Kovac’s managerial career
Eintracht Frankfurt (March 2016 – June 2018)
German Cup: 2017–18
Bayern Munich (July 2018 – November 19)
Bundesliga: 2018–19
German Cup: 2018–19
German Super Cup: 2018
