Borussia Dortmund to offer contract extension to Favre

The Swiss manager has impressed in his first season in charge of the Bundesliga side and the club now want to offer him a new deal

Borussia Dortmund are keen to tie head coach Lucien Favre down to a new contract, chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has confirmed.

Favre was handed a two-year deal ahead of the 2018-19 season and has led Dortmund’s exciting young squad to the top of the Bundesliga and into the last 16 of the Champions League.

BVB hold a seven-point lead at the top-flight summit and are on course to scupper Bayern Munich’s attempts to claim the title for a seventh successive season.

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Dortmund are thus keen to offer the Swiss fresh terms, though Watzke stated there is no rush to reach an agreement.

“It is logical that we will talk to him about a contract extension because he is simply doing good work,” Watzke told Sport Bild. “The co-operation is excellent, so we want to continue it.

“The development of our team is very good. That is primarily down to Lucien. There is no road map, but we will find the right time for talks.

“Neither of us will put ourselves under any pressure.”

Dortmund were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal 4-2 on penalties by Werder Bremen after a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday which saw four goals in extra time.

Despite Marco Reus scoring in the cup clash, he was withdrawn at half-time due to a thigh complaint and he remains a doubt for the coming weeks.

The club captain is unsure if he will be fit to face Hoffenheim on Saturday, with the first leg of their Champions League tie against Tottenham following four days later.

“I cannot say yet if I can play at the weekend. We wanted to play it safe,” said Reus.

“There were not many games until [the final in] Berlin, but we’re out and we only have ourselves to blame. I hope we learn from this game. We need to be smarter.”

Reus is the Bundesliga’s second highest scorer this season, having found the net on 13 occasions.

Dortmund’s next league fixture is against Hoffenheim on February 9 as Favre’s side look to maintain their seven-point lead at the top.