Borussia Dortmund appoint Niko Kovac as head coach after Nuri Sahin exit

Borussia Dortmund have confirmed the appointment of Niko Kovac as their new head coach.

The Athletic reported on Wednesday Dortmund were set to appoint Kovac, with an agreement in place on a contract that will run through to 2026, and the club confirmed the news on Thursday.

He will formerly take charge of the team on Sunday, the day after their Bundesliga fixture against Heidenheim.

“The talks with (CEO for sport) Lars Ricken were very constructive, with the necessary depth, clarity and familiarity appropriate to the situation,” Kovac said. “All those responsible at BVB gave us a very good feeling in the talks, so I am convinced that we can achieve a lot together in the future.”

Formerly of Monaco, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt, Kovac had been out of work since leaving Wolfsburg in March 2024.

The 53-year-old replaces Nuri Sahin, who was dismissed by Dortmund following a winless start to 2025, ending in a 2-1 defeat to Bologna in the Champions League a week ago.

“We have had intensive discussions with Niko Kovac over the past few days and have deliberately taken the time to get to know each other and our expectations better,” Ricken added. “Energy, determination and a sense of the importance of the team spirit have always distinguished Niko’s teams.”

Mike Tullberg, Dortmund’s under-19 coach, has been in temporary charge of the side since Sahin’s departure and will be on the touchline again for the Heidenheim fixture, with Kovac likely to take training for the first time on Sunday.

Kovac will be joined by his brother, Robert, his long-time assistant and by analyst Filip Tapalovic, and immediately faces a tough task. Dortmund secured their first win over the calendar year with a 3-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Dortmund are yet to win in the Bundesliga since the end of the winter break, sitting in 11th-placed in the league, 22 points behind leaders Bayern Munich, and six points adrift of fourth-placed Stuttgart, who occupy the final Champions League qualification place.

With Sahin gone, what next for Borussia Dortmund?

Kovac will add needed balance to Dortmund play

Kovac feels like a good contrast to Sahin. The Croatian did not play for Dortmund and is not loyal to their house style, meaning that some fans will treat him with suspicion. Given the events of the past few years and how obviously the side needs fresh ideas, both of those actually feel like strengths. His football has always been based, first and foremost, on a rigid and dependable defence, and that will be his priority upon taking charge at the Westfalenstadion.

Dortmund must become more balanced. They must attack more responsibly and without leaving themselves so exposed in transition. Kovac, who is a far more experienced coach than Sahin or Edin Terzic, should be able to deliver that improvement.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens. His second second at Wolfsburg did not go well and his time at Bayern Munich (2018-19), during which he found it difficult to wrangle a squad full of stars and egos, will also be fresh in the mind, even if he did win a Bundesliga-Pokal double in his first season.

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But this is a different situation and Dortmund seem to be in need of a specific set of coaching attributes, which Kovac arguably possesses. He has a fine record in developing young players and identifying their best roles. At Monaco, he turned Aurelien Tchouameni into a holding midfielder, helping him towards that €100m transfer to Real Madrid. At Wolfsburg, he repeated that trick with Felix Nmecha, who is unavailable through injury for the next few months, but who he will now coach at Dortmund. He also converted Tottenham’s Micky Van der Ven from a full-back into a centre-back, and coached a young Omar Marmoush.

Do Dortmund currently have the talent to take advantage of that? Arguably not, but if Kovac can help some of the existing players to evolve — in particular Jamie Gittens, Nmecha, Karim Adeyemi, and Julen Duranville — while instituting some discipline, this could be a good match.

(Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

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