Presentation of the new BVB trainer
Kovač announces the decision on Captain Can
Updated on 04.02.2025 – 3:53 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
Borussia Dortmund somehow wants to save a weak season so far. Niko Kovač is now supposed to judge it as the coach of the troubled district club. Now BVB is introducing the new coach.
Ranking in the league, already excreted in the DFB Cup, in which Champions League misses the direct round of 16: Borussia Dortmund’s season has been read rather than right. Trainer Nuri Şahin had to go, his successor is now Niko Kovač, whom the club officially presents on Tuesday at a press conference. Kovač answers the questions of journalists, among them the most urgent: How does he want to get BVB back on track?
3:48 p.m.: Does Emre Can keep the captain’s armband? Kovač: “I see Emre as a leading player, he is a German international, he is a player who played in big clubs, we all know that.” Then he clarifies: “He remains the captain.” Kovač gives him the “fullest trust”.
3:43 p.m.: Kovač is asked about the constitution of the team, which has recently been criticized. “I’m new now, I have to get an impression,” he says, but highlights the positive development under interim coach Mike Tullberg. “You can see that the team is of the necessary quality.” The last games were “great”. “The boys have now seen how nice it is to win.”
3:39 p.m.: Kovač is on. He welcomes the journalists present. He used Monday to get to know everyone first. “My first impression is very positive. I am very happy that we can be here,” he says. And: “After a ten -month break we are very well recovered, very motivated and we are happy that we can work again in the Bundesliga at a very large club like BVB.”
3:35 p.m.: Now Kehl speaks. The sports director emphasizes. Kovač, who has already managed his first training today, made it clear in a speech, “what he stands for, what he expects from us, what he was expecting from the team”. He perceives Kovač “incredibly motivated.” Kehl explains that it is a huge chance for everyone in the club to move forward again: “And I feel the fire with him,” he says about Kovač.
3:33 p.m.: Ricken says about the talks: “We really felt his desire to take on this job here, to take on the task here.” The catch -up in the league, the team is in eleven, is now a “mammoth task”.
3:32 p.m.: Ricken takes the word. After the defeat in Bologna, it took an impulse on the outside. “I think we found the right man in Nico.” He counts the success of Kovač, including the championship with Bayern. But also that the Croatian teams took over in a difficult situation, just like Eintracht Frankfurt once.
3:30 p.m.: It starts. Kovač takes a seat with the BVB bosses Lars Ricken and Sebastian Kehl.
3:26 p.m.: With several new additions, Kovač will start work in Dortmund. The BVB Carney Chukwuemeka borrowed from Chelsea, Daniel Svensson came from Nordsjaelland. Dant Ramaj was hired from Amsterdam, but was awarded directly to Copenhagen. Meanwhile, Salih Özcan returned prematurely from his loan from Wolfsburg.
3:10 p.m.: Kovač has already trained Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Bayern and VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. In Dortmund, he has now signed a contract until summer 2026. The first game on the sidelines of BVB is coming up for him next Saturday. Then Kovač meets VfB Stuttgart with his new team.
3:00 p.m.: Hello and welcome to the press conference of Borussia Dortmund for the introduction of coach Niko Kovač. It should start in half an hour.