Since Niko Kovac took the Borussia Dortmund job back in February 2025, he has led the club to a 4th place and 2nd place finish in the Bundesliga. Many would suggest that this is a consistent sign of progression shown by Niko Kovac and his team, and the reward of a new contract seems like a fair conclusion to come to, a view seemingly shared by the Borussia Dortmund hierarchy.

Reports have emerged in recent days from Bild that towards the latter half of the season, talks started between Niko Kovac, Lars Ricken (CEO for Sport at Borussia Dortmund) and Ole Book (Borussia Dortmund’s Sporting Director). 

These talks were held to establish whether the objectives of Niko Kovac since he arrived have been met, as well as projecting where the club and Niko Kovac wish to go going forward, ensuring all parties still align with the same vision for the team.

Niko Kovac reportedly received high praise from both Lars Ricken and Ole Book during these talks, with the results of Borussia Dortmund’s games and season overall being deemed successful.

And despite many being critical of Niko Kovac’s style of play, the Ole Book and Lars Ricken suggested that this pragmatic and unattractive style of football was needed in order to achieve these results, especially as when Niko Kovac arrived, results were deemed more important than performances in the immediate future. 

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All parties have reportedly agreed that an advancement and evolution of the current style of play is needed. And while he was among the agreeing parties, Niko Kovac said that to achieve such changes, he is going to need money to be able to invest in his squad in this summer’s transfer window, and unless he is given this additional investment, he will not extend his contract at the Signal Iduna Park past its current June 2027 expiration date.

He believes behind the scenes that it is possible for Borussia Dortmund to “attack” Bayern and deems the attacking midfield role to be crucial in achieving that, especially following the departure of Julian Brandt. 

Lars Ricken has also come out recently, stating he is "relaxed" about Niko Kovac's contract situation, citing "we have a very high level of trust".

As well as the attacking half of the pitch, Borussia Dortmund are also looking at a young, more technically minded defensive midfielder to come in, which would explain the links to Kennet Eichhorn, who looks set to join Bayer Leverkusen, as well as being linked to young Argentinian midfielder Milton Delgado.

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I believe that sticking with Niko Kovac would be the sensible decision to take for Borussia Dortmund. Too often do football clubs look elsewhere too soon into a project, and more often than not, the grass isn’t always greener. 

Allowing Niko Kovac to bring in some higher-calibre players that he trusts to be able to perhaps play a slightly more expansive and entertaining style of football could allow him to show what he has in the past - winning trophies in German football.

He has earned that opportunity to demonstrate that, in my opinion, through his results over the last 16 months, which have shown a consistent level of progression, going from 57 points in season one to 73 points in season two.