Bayern Munich have already made contact with a middleman of Louis van Gaal about the Dutchman succeeding Juergen Klinsmann as coach of Bayern Munich coach, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper reported Saturday.
The German daily reported that Bayern have been following Van Gaal's progress with interest for the last 15 years but until now had not felt the need to have such an authoritarian tactician at the club, dpa reported.
But Bayern's attitude has changed in the wake of a disappointing season by the German club's standards under Juergen Klinsmann, who was dismissed from the coaching post last Monday.
The 57-year-old led AZ Alkmaar to the Dutch title this season and has already been given the stamp of approval by Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer.
"Van Gaal has already signalled his interest to negotiate via an intermediary," wrote the SZ.
"Van Gaal is one of the candidates we have in mind," Hoeness confirmed to the newspaper.
However, such an appointment would have to come at a price as Van Gaal's contract with Alkmaar runs until the end of the 2010 season and SZ reports that the only get-out clause involves him taking up a national team job.
Despite the potential contract problems, it seems Van Gaal is still a top target.
"He has shown this on several occasions - at the Dutch national team, Barcelona or Ajax Amsterdam," Beckenbauer told the DSF sports network Friday.
Van Gaal was on Thursday named top of a list of Munich candidates by German sports magazine Kicker.
Following Klinsmann's sacking, Munich have hired Jupp Heynckes to take charge for the final five games of the season. Munich lie third, three points behind leaders Wolfsburg, in a tight title race and want to at least reach the Champions League.
A new coach will be hired for the next season, and Beckenbauer said that Munich won't rush to a decision.
"We went through a list of coaches early in the week, narrowed it down relatively quickly, and now we are making contact. We will see what will come out of this over the next weeks," said Beceknbauer.
Beckenbauer also suggested that former Munich player Christian Nerlinger could take over as general manager when Hoeness leaves that post after 30 years at the end of the year - likely to inherit the club presidency from Beckenbauer.
"He is very close to the team and may take over the position of team manager in the future," said Beckenbauer.
Beckenbauer said that Hoeness' job will likely be divided up between several people because no one could replace him adequately.