Austria coach Ralf Rangnick has refused the offer to become Bayern Munich's new boss from July, the Austrian football federation (ÖFB) said on Thursday in the latest setback in the club's manager search.
In a statement, the ÖFB said Rangnick, 65, has decided to stay with the team beyond Euro 2024 in Germany and therefore won't take the job at Bayern.
"I'm the Austria team coach with all my heart. This job gives me an incredible amount of pleasure and I'm determined to successfully continue on our chosen path," German Rangnick said.
"I would like to emphasize that this is not a rejection of Bayern, but a decision in favour of my team and our common goals. Our full focus is on the Euros. We will do everything we can to get as far as possible there," he added.
Bayern need to find a replacement for Thomas Tuchel, who is leaving in June after a previous agreement with the club. Bayern missed out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years this season to Bayer Leverkusen, but are in the Champions Legue semi-finals.
Rangnick became a top candidate after Xabi Alonso and Julian Nagelsmann decided to stay with new Bundesliga champions Leverkusen and Germany respectively.
Bayern officials said recently that they were in positive talks with Rangnick, but will now need to start a new search.
Former Bayern stars Lothar Matthäus and Markus Babbel said they both understood why Rangnick was staying put, with the job not as alluring as it once was given a squad rebuild is due and constant boardroom politics.
Matthäus told Bild: "He has a great job as Austria coach, is successful there and recognizes his responsibility to his team, especially so close to the European Championship. For me, his decision is a sign of great humanity."
Babbel told Sky: "I would have been rather surprised if he had taken the job. He doesn't really fit with Bayern."
Brighton & Hove Albion's Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi has also been linked to the Bavarians in the press, while Spanish media have suggested that former Real Madrid coach and France icon Zinedine Zidane is also a candidate.
But Bayern have targeted only German-speaking coaches since sacking Italian Carlo Ancelotti in 2017.
A return for treble-winning coach Hansi Flick, who left to join Germany in 2021 after a boardroom spat before being fired from the national job, is being touted among Bayern fans on social media along with none other than Tuchel himself.
But the chances of Bayern performing a U-turn and asking the much-travelled Tuchel to stay have been lessened by a war of words between the coach and honorary president Uli Hoeneß.
Talking of Hoeneß, his nephew Sebastian is also being seen as a potential candidate after guiding VfB Stuttgart from near the bottom last season to third place in the Bundesliga this term.
However, he has penned a contract extension at Stuttgart until 2027 and recently said he would not have signed it if he was thinking of leaving.
"Nothing has changed," he told reporters on Thursday ahead of Saturday's game with Bayern.
His uncle has already said that fans might accuse the club of nepotism if he was to be appointed. Bayern supporters though may be forgiving given how the pursuit of a new coach has panned out.
Many of them on social media were not in favour of former Hoffenheim, Schalke and RB Leipzig boss Rangnick anyway given he flopped in his last club job as interim coach of Manchester United.