Everton made an approach to former Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac with a view to him succeeding Marco Silva but were turned down by the Croatian, according to Sport 1.
The Blues parted company with Silva on December 5 following the 5-2 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, which left the club sat inside the relegation places on 14 points having won just four of the 15 Premier League games played.
Kovac was a free agent at the time having been fired by Bayern on November 3 after the Bavarian powerhouse were humiliated 5-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt, a result which left last season’s German treble-winners fourth in the Bundesliga standings.
Everton saw Kovac’s availability as a prime option to replace Silva and guide the Toffees back up the standings, but were turned away by the 48-year-old when an official offer was placed on the table.
Kovac decided against stepping straight back into the dugout after his time at the Allianz Arena, as he felt managing Bayern had been an exhausting experience and that he needed time to recharge his batteries ahead of a return to coaching in 2020/21.
We were not the only side to approach Kovac ahead of the January window, either, and ultimately signed Carlo Ancelotti after the Italian became available following SSC Napoli’s decision to fire him hours after securing the Serie A side’s place in the Last 16 of the Champions League.
Would you have welcomed Kovac as Silva's successor?
Yes
No
Kovac earned the Bayern Munich job following his exploits with Eintracht Frankfurt between March 2016 and June 2018, which saw Die Adler secure their survival in the Bundesliga before taking 11th and eighth-place finishes in the Croatian’s two full seasons in charge.
The 48-year-old also led the Commerzbank-Arena outfit to their fifth DFB Pokal title to end a 20-year wait for silverware, before retaining the title with Bayern as part of a domestic treble with the Bundesliga title and German Super Cup.
Kovac’s Bayern career may have tailed off toward the end, but he would arguably have made for a promising Everton head coach. His decision to turn us down will not be rued at the moment, though, given Ancelotti has us five points down on fifth-placed Manchester United having won five and drawn two of his nine Premier League games in charge.
In other Everton news, the club have reportedly been offered a 49-cap international who’s been involved in a goal every 113.2 league minutes this term.