Erik ten Hag has bided his time waiting for the right opportunity to come along since getting the boot from Manchester United.
The Dutchman remains out of work over six months on, despite being linked with a number of different vacancies around the world.
After unexpectedly sticking by ten Hag last summer, United performed a U-turn early on in this season, moving to replace him with Ruben Amorim.
Erik ten Hag eyeing potential Bundesliga vacancy as Real Madrid wait
Manchester United’s ongoing struggles under the Portuguese have only painting ten Hag’s own inability to turn the club’s fortunes around in a more favourable light in the interim, and his prior achievements at Ajax would still make him an attractive candidate to many clubs.
And in fact, German outlet Kicker report that ten Hag is ‘number one’ on Bayer Leverkusen’s shortlist to replace Xabi Alonso should he depart the club this summer.
Alonso enjoyed fabulous success with the club last season but is being widely tipped to leave at the end of the campaign, with his former club Real Madrid touted as one potential destination.
Real are themselves also expecting to lose their head coach at the end of the season after reports that Carlo Ancelotti is expected to take over as manager of Brazil.
That could leave ten Hag with a little bit more waiting to do if he is indeed in line to take the Bayer Leverkusen job.
Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi is also claimed to be on Bayer’s shortlist, but Kicker claim that ten Hag is the preferred candidate.
Ten Hag’s possession-based playing style and his grasp of the German language from his time managing Bayern Munich’s youth team are said to give him an edge.
Bayer Leverkusen went unbeaten in domestic competition last season as they claimed a league and cup double, as well as finishing as runners-up in the Europa League final.
They are almost certain to fall short of defending their Bundesliga title, however: Bayern Munich hold an eight-point lead at the top of the table with just three games to play.
