According to Sport Bild, a verbal understanding was reached between Kovac, sporting managing director Lars Ricken and sporting director Ole Book at the end of the Bundesliga season. Book communicated that the club is satisfied with Kovac's work and expressed understanding for the pragmatic but effective style the team displayed in the second half of the campaign. He simultaneously made clear that the club expects further development in terms of attacking play going forward.
Kovac's response was equally direct: he wants external reinforcements before committing further. The priority demand is a creative midfielder capable of replacing Julian Brandt, 30, whose future at Signal Iduna Park remains uncertain.
The ideal signing would also help persuade striker Serhou Guirassy, 30, to remain — the Guinean international has been the club's most reliable attacking outlet and his continued presence depends in part on the quality of players around him.
Kovac joined Borussia Dortmund in February 2025 following the dismissal of Nuri Sahin, inheriting a squad in 11th place in the Bundesliga. His first contract ran to June 2026. Such was his impact — winning seven of the final eight league matches to secure Champions League qualification — that the club extended it to June 2027 in August 2025.
The summer of 2026 now represents the next test of that relationship. Dortmund are navigating a squad that requires meaningful reinvestment after finishing outside the Bundesliga's top positions for a second consecutive season before Kovac's arrival stabilised things.
The departure of Nico Schlotterbeck remains a possibility if Real Madrid activate his release clause before the World Cup final on July 19. Yan Couto is likely to move on, either permanently or on loan.
If the club can deliver in the market, a third contract extension in under two years appears the likely outcome. Kovac has rebuilt Dortmund's belief. The question is whether Dortmund can now rebuild the squad around him.