Bayer Leverkusen's Coaching Search: Glasner and Iraola in the Frame

Bayer Leverkusen’s summer rebuild has started not on the pitch, but on the touchline – and not quite in the way the club’s hierarchy had imagined.

According to Sky, Flamengo’s title‑laden coach Filipe Luis was the clear first choice to take over at the BayArena. Eight trophies in three years had turned the Brazilian into the dream candidate for sporting directors Simon Rolfes and Fernando Carro, who pushed hard to bring him in as the face of a new era.

That door has now slammed shut. With Filipe Luis off the table, the plan shifts back to “Options B and C” – and this time those contingency plans are no secret.

Glasner and Iraola Back in Play

Leverkusen have been strongly linked with Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and AFC Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola. Both coaches have declined contract extensions with their Premier League clubs and are set to be free agents from 1 July, a timing that suits Leverkusen’s looming reset perfectly.

Glasner’s stock could hardly be higher. On Wednesday, in what doubled as a farewell night with the Eagles, he delivered yet another European trophy. Two years after his unforgettable Europa League triumph with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, the Austrian guided Palace to a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final. Another continental title. Another reminder that he thrives in knockout football and high‑pressure environments.

Iraola, meanwhile, has built a reputation as one of the most progressive coaches in England, his Bournemouth side admired for their aggressive, front‑foot style. Both names fit the profile Leverkusen crave: modern, tactically sharp, comfortable in European competition, and unafraid to impose a clear identity.

Hjulmand Steadies, but Doesn’t Convince

Officially, nothing has changed at Leverkusen. There has been no announcement, no statement, no goodbye. Unofficially, everyone around the club knows how this ends.

Despite a contract that runs until 2027, 54-year-old Dane Kasper Hjulmand is widely expected to leave this summer. He arrived early in the season, parachuted in after Erik ten Hag’s relationship with the club hierarchy, parts of his staff and sections of the dressing room fell apart at alarming speed.

Hjulmand’s first job was damage control. On that front, he delivered. The team stabilised, the noise around the club quietened, and the season never completely spun out of control. But Leverkusen do not measure themselves by stability alone.

They finished sixth in the Bundesliga, missing out on Champions League qualification. In the cups, the margins were brutal. Bayern ended their DFB-Pokal run in the semi-finals. Arsenal knocked them out in the Champions League last 16. Respectable exits, but exits all the same.

For a club that had invested heavily, it wasn’t enough. Performances rarely caught fire. High-priced signings failed to shift games or justify their fees. The sense of a team treading water, rather than surging forward, became hard to ignore.

So the verdict is harsh but clear: Hjulmand steadied the ship, but he did not change its course.

A Clean Break – and a Clear Message

Inside the BayArena corridors, the language is now about a “fresh start” under a new head coach. That is more than a polite phrase. It is a statement about ambition.

Leverkusen want a manager who can squeeze more from an expensive squad, who can turn a functional side into a force, who can make European nights feel like an expectation, not a bonus. That is why Filipe Luis was targeted. That is why Glasner and Iraola are being courted.

The choice they make next will say plenty about how bold this new project really is.

Monaco Join the Managerial Carousel

On the continent, AS Monaco are preparing for their own change in the dugout after a short and stuttering spell.

Sebastien Pocognoli, appointed in October, is also set to depart after just over six months in charge. His tenure unravelled at the worst possible moment: back‑to‑back defeats to Lille and Strasbourg at the end of the campaign cost Monaco a European place.

Two clubs, two ambitious projects, both now searching for the right voice on the touchline.

The managers they appoint will not just shape next season’s tactics. They will define whether Leverkusen and Monaco remain nearly men – or step back into the centre of Europe’s conversation.