Hecking moves upstairs at Wolfsburg as Leverkusen close on Glasner and Ilzer ties future to Hoffenheim

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Dieter Hecking has swapped the dugout for a desk at Wolfsburg, the club confirming on Saturday that the 61-year-old becomes Managing Director Sport from 1 June on a contract running until 2028. The role had been vacant since the dismissal of Peter Christiansen in March; Hecking will oversee men's, women's and academy football, according to the club's official release and the Bundesliga website.

Bayer Leverkusen are deep into talks with Oliver Glasner's camp over taking charge after Kasper Hjulmand's expected departure, according to Bulinews and OneFootball. The Austrian, set to leave Crystal Palace this summer, is the in-house favourite once preferred target Filipe Luís opted for Monaco; Andoni Iraola is named as the back-up should Glasner choose AC Milan instead. Leverkusen are aiming to settle the appointment by early June, though no deal has been signed.

Hoffenheim have moved early to secure their continuity. The club announced on Friday that head coach Christian Ilzer has extended his contract on a long-term basis, rewarded for a 61-point season that returned the Sinsheim side to European football for the first time since 2022/23, per the club's statement and Bundesliga.com. The Austrian's deal length was not disclosed in the official release.

Transfer and squad notes

Bayern Munich are again batting away Manchester City's interest in Vincent Kompany. Club president Herbert Hainer reiterated to multiple German outlets that the Belgian, whose contract was extended until 2029 last October, is "not for sale" and carries no transfer fee, as City weigh successors to the departing Pep Guardiola.

Borussia Mönchengladbach have confirmed Eugen Polanski will stay on as head coach after a 12th-placed finish, ending speculation around Domenico Tedesco. Sporting director Rouven Schröder told club media the decision followed what he described as a "heated debate" inside the club and signalled changes to come elsewhere in the squad and staff.

Borussia Dortmund have extended Niko Kovač's contract until 2027, sporting managing director Lars Ricken praising the head coach's "clear principles" after a strong second half of the season that secured Champions League qualification. The new deal supersedes the 2026 agreement signed when Kovač replaced Nuri Şahin in February 2025.

Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann's 26-man World Cup squad, announced on 21 May, continues to dominate the domestic agenda. Manuel Neuer is back at 40 years old and confirmed as first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Oliver Baumann and Alexander Nübel, with Stuttgart's Deniz Undav — Bundesliga top German scorer on 19 goals — included after Nagelsmann said leaving him out was not an option.

What it means for the league

Two top-half jobs were settled or all but settled in 24 hours: Hoffenheim guarantee Ilzer's stability for their Europa League return, while Wolfsburg, freshly relegated to 2. Bundesliga, hand sporting authority to a familiar internal face. Both moves remove uncertainty from sides whose plans had been in flux.

Leverkusen's manager search is now the headline item below Munich. With Hjulmand on the way out and Liverpool's parallel pursuit of Iraola complicating the back-up plan, the BayArena hierarchy needs a clean resolution to settle pre-season planning and any signings that hinge on the new coach's preferences.

Above all that, Bayern continue to operate from a position of strength. A second straight title, a 14th double following Kane's hat-trick in the DFB-Pokal final against Stuttgart, and a head coach now firmly off the market: the gap between champions and chasers heading into 2026/27 — which starts on 28 August — remains the central storyline.