RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann is understood to have asked for his contract be terminated at the end of the season so that he can join Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich - who are likely to see Hansi Flick leave to take over as Germany's new national team boss.
Nagelsmann, who has also been linked with Tottenham in the wake of the club’s decision to sack Jose Mourinho, has established himself as one of the top coaches in Europe in recent years.
Once nicknamed ‘Baby Mourinho’, the German is still only 33, having previously been appointed to his first managerial gig at Hoffenheim when he was just 28.
He was appointed by Leipzig in 2019 and took the club to the Champions League semi-finals in his first season, while his team are on course to finish second behind Bayern in the Bundesliga this season, matching the club’s highest ever league finish.
But with Flick recently announcing his intention to leave Bayern at the end of the campaign, with a power struggle with sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic thought to be the driving factor, the Bundesliga’s top job is opening up and is the logical next step for Nagelsmann.
German publication Kicker reports that Nagelsmann has asked Leipzig to prematurely end a contract that is currently due to run until 2023. He is said to be the preferred candidate to replace Flick, who delivered the Champions League trophy in 2020, but Leipzig will ask €25m in compensation.
Flick has been heavily linked with the soon to be vacant Germany job, with long serving incumbent and 2014 World Cup winner Joachim Low already confirmed to be stepping down from the role after the delayed European Championship finals this summer.
Flick was previously an assistant to Low between 2006 and 2014, while he was then promoted to the role of national team sporting director and held that post until 2017.
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Source: 90min
