Dortmund Lock Down Kovac Through 2029 as Leverkusen Confirm a Boardroom Succession
Main stories
Borussia Dortmund have officially extended Niko Kovac’s contract to 2029, the club confirmed, with assistants Robert Kovac and Filip Tapalovic also staying on, kicker reported. Kovac, who took over in early 2025 from Nuri Sahin and previously coached Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and Monaco, has overseen 53 Bundesliga matches for an average of 2.15 points per game — the best record of any Dortmund coach in the club’s history — with the team currently second on 13 points, level with leaders Freiburg, after also winning their Champions League opener 3-2 against Villarreal.
Bayer Leverkusen confirmed that Werner Wenning, chairman of the club’s supervisory committee since 2010, will step down at the end of the year and be succeeded by Wolfgang Nickl, a committee member since March 2026, kicker reported. Wenning, who turns 80 on 21 October and previously chaired Bayer AG from 2002 to 2010, presided over the club’s 2024 league title, DFB-Pokal and Supercup wins, and was a key backer of Kasper Hjulmand’s appointment as coach last season after Erik ten Hag’s early exit.
Transfer and squad notes
Hamburger SV forward Yussuf Poulsen scored his second goal of the season in a 3-2 away win at Hoffenheim, already doubling his tally from his debut campaign at the club, kicker reported. The Denmark international has revamped his training approach with coach Merlin Polzin’s staff after five injury-enforced absences last season, saying he has already completed more training sessions this season than in the whole of the previous one.
FC Koln coach Rene Wagner is turning to unconventional attacking solutions after losing two senior centre-forwards to injury, with Said El Mala — the match-winner in Koln’s recent derby — set for more attacking freedom in a reshaped forward line, kicker reported.
What it means for the league
Kovac’s extension gives Dortmund rare managerial continuity at a club that has cycled through coaches in recent years, and the statistical case behind it — the best points-per-game ratio of any BVB manager — makes it hard to argue against as the team sits level with Freiburg at the top. Leverkusen’s governance change marks the end of an era for a figure who shaped the club’s biggest decisions from behind the scenes, even as the team continues competing near the top of the table. Elsewhere, Hamburg’s improved squad management around Poulsen and Koln’s injury-forced creativity up front show how smaller tactical and medical adjustments are already shaping mid-table fortunes this season.