Niko Kovac, who left Bayern Munich after a disappointing coaching career there has found a new job. AS Monaco of Ligue 1 on Sunday appointed the 48-year-old Croatian as the team's new manager. The two sides signed a three-year contract.

"Niko is recognized for his capacity to obtain very good results and the progression of young talents," said Oleg Petrov, vice-president of AS Monaco, in a statement.

"Niko represents the highest level of experience both as a former player and head coach. He has constantly shown an ability to win with Bayern Munich, one of the biggest clubs in the world and winning while in a re-building process at Frankfurt," said Paul Mitchell, sporting director of the club.

Kovac's predecessor Robert Moreno was fired on Sunday after only seven months in the position. When he took over last December, Monaco were seventh on the table but as the 2019-20 season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic in April, they drooped to ninth.

By contrast, though Kovac helped Bayern win both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal championships last season, the German heavyweights this season were struggling under his coaching. Right before Kovac left, Bayern suffered a humiliating 5-1 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt and only ranked No. 4 on the table. As Hansi Flick took over, the club moved back to the right track and won both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal titles again with huge advantage. Currently, Bayern are preparing for the UEFA Champions League competitions.

Monaco will need franchise upgrade if they want to do better in the new season. The club reportedly expressed interest in former World Cup champion, German midfielder Mario Gotze who left Borussia Dortmund. Of course before any deal is reached, Monaco will have to convince Gotze to compromise on his salary request and figure out how to help the 28-year-old rediscover the best of himself.