Kovač extends Dortmund contract to 2029 with the best points average in BVB history

Borussia Dortmund have extended head coach Niko Kovač's contract until 30 June 2029, the club announced on Tuesday. The 54-year-old's previous deal ran until 2027, and his assistants Robert Kovač and Filip Tapalovic have also signed new contracts.

The numbers

The extension rewards a run that makes Kovač the most successful coach in Dortmund's Bundesliga history by points per game. In 53 league matches he has collected 114 points from 35 wins, nine draws and nine defeats, an average of 2.15. His 66% win rate is also the best of any Dortmund Bundesliga coach, according to the league's official website.

Kovač took over in spring 2025 with Dortmund in 11th place, after Nuri Şahin's spell in his first job as a head coach ended in dismissal. He still secured Champions League qualification on the final matchday of 2024/25. In his first full season, Dortmund finished runners-up with 73 points, the fifth-best total in the club's history.

This season has started in the same vein. Dortmund are unbeaten after five matchdays, with four wins and a draw against Werder Bremen. They sit level with leaders Freiburg on 13 points, second only on goal difference (+7 against Freiburg's +10).

What the club and the coach said

"With Niko Kovač we have been on a very good path since he took charge a little more than a year and a half ago," said Lars Ricken, Dortmund's managing director for sport. "He has consistently developed the team and enjoys a high level of acceptance within our club." Sporting director Ole Book added: "Niko works extremely meticulously and, through his experience, radiates a calm that does our team good."

Kovač avoided any talk of titles at Tuesday's press conference ahead of Dortmund's Champions League game at FK Bodø/Glimt. "We have achieved stability. We want to be brave and ambitious, and we are," he said. "The path is very positive, but what has been no longer counts. We still have room to improve." On the negotiations, he said: "It went quite quickly. We are both happy to have chosen a shared future."

A long stay after short ones

The new deal breaks a pattern in Kovač's career. After his spell at Eintracht Frankfurt from 2016 to 2018, he was dismissed at Bayern Munich, Monaco and Wolfsburg, and he did not complete two consecutive seasons at any of the three. The contract now runs through the 2028/29 season.

Dortmund's next Bundesliga match is at Union Berlin, 16th in the table, on Saturday.