Bayern Munich Identify Top Two Managerial Targets as Pressure Mounts on Niko Kovac

Ajax boss ​Erik ten Hag and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino are the two managers who Bayern Munich would prefer to takeover from Niko Kovac, according to a report in Germany.

The Croatian boss is under significant pressure at the Bundesliga heavyweights, despite sitting second in the Bundesliga table. Die Roten have won just five of their opening nine fixtures - way below their usual standards - while they sit pretty atop their Champions League group after winning all three of their European games so far this season.

While on paper this may not be deemed a sackable offence for Kovac, there is growing discontent inside the club that both staff and players do not believe the 48-year-old is the right man to lead ​Bayern forward.

According to German publication ​Sport1, these rumblings were intensified in the wake of Bayern's last-gasp victory over Vfl Bochum in the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday, where Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller netted in the final few minutes to secure a 2-1 victory over the struggling second division side.

It's mentioned in the report that the players themselves are not behind the manager, with the iconic, free-flowing passing game that had become synonymous with Bayern not part of Kovac's style. 

That has caused divisions within the club's top brass, too, as executive chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic are eager to appoint a new boss, despite having differing opinions on who should take charge.

Rummenigge, it is claimed by Sport1, would prefer to install Ajax boss Ten Hag, who has introduced a visually appealing and expansive brand of football in the Dutch capital; culminating in domestic success last season and a exhilarating run in last season's Champions League.

For Salihamidzic, however, his preference is towards ​Tottenham manager Pochettino, with the publication adding the Bosnian still has his phone number. Ralf Rangnick has also been touted, but there are unnamed club officials who are not keen on the German.

The report concludes by stating that Kovac himself is determined to remain at the club, citing Jurgen Klopp's slow but steady success with ​Liverpool as the prime example of how time can breed success. He is currently under contract until 2021.