Champions League winners Bayern Munich are eager to keep outgoing coach Jupp Heynckes on in some capacity with Pep Guardiola set to take charge on June 26.
Having steered Bayern to their fifth European title and won the Bundesliga by a record 25-point margin, Heynckes will step down after Saturday's German Cup final against VfB Stuttgart.
The Bavarians are bidding to become the first German team to win the treble of European, league and cup titles.
The 68-year-old has said he will only reveal his future plans after the final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium, but chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said Heynckes can pick his future role at Bayern.
"I told him two weeks ago at the Bundesliga title celebration that he has a kind of 'Carte Blanche' with us," Rummenigge told German daily Bild.
"If he can imagine it, we would like to keep him in some capacity at Bayern."
Heynckes has said he is too old to coach overseas and having broken or equalled 25 Bundesliga records, he has insisted he has no desire to coach another German league side after Bayern.
But he has been linked to a return to Real Madrid, who he coached to the 1998 Champions League title at the end of his single season as coach.
Heynckes' most likely option is to retire, but former Germany striker Guenter Netzer says the Real offer will be tempting if Jose Mourinho quits as Madrid coach.
"Until recently, I was completely convinced that Bayern would be his last stop, but now Real Madrid has come into the picture," Netzer told the the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
"Madrid is electrifying for him."
Certainly Heynckes will not be short of offers after a season which has seen Bayern sweep aside all comers, losing just three matches.
"I have always told him, 'Jupp, there are two ways to say goodbye at Bayern Munich: by the front door or out the back," added Rummenigge.
"That's why I am glad that Jupp will now leave out of the front door.
"People have huge respect for him and he is earning plenty of applause.
"There is no better farewell for him, he deserves it and I am very happy for him."
Rummenigge has said he sees no problem with the transition of coaches when Guardiola takes charge.
"The clocks will be reset to zero and we have already won the important titles," he said.
Source: AFP
