Klose under consideration for Germany under-21 job

Germany’s 2014 FIFA World Cup winner and record goalscorer Miroslav Klose is a candidate to replace Stefan Kuntz as the country’s under-21 coach, a leading sports newspaper reported on Monday.

Klose, 43, retired in 2016 and was an assistant coach for the national team before coaching in Bayern Munich’s youth set-up and then being named an assistant for the senior team last season.

The 2014 World Cup hero left Bayern Munich after suffering a thrombosis in his leg, but he is now healthy.

He has been looking out for coaching opportunities, mainly in club football.

Kuntz, who led the Under-21s to European Championship glory in June, is leaving to take on the Turkey senior job.

The German Football Federation (DFB) said it was trying to keep his assistants Daniel Niedzkowski, Antonio di Salvo, Klaus Thomforde and Jannis Scheibe in place.

“We are doing everything we can to keep the remaining under-21 coaching team, which has done an outstanding job in recent years and we are confident that we will succeed,” Joti Chatzialexiou, sporting director for national teams at the DFB, said.