Pep Guardiola has privately told Roger Schmidt, manager of Bayer Leverkusen, that he sees him as his eventual successor at Bayern Munich, according to industry talk.
Guardiola is just 44 but is widely expected to leave Bayern within the next few seasons to become manager at Manchester City.
Schmidt joined Leverkusen a year ago from Red Bull Salzburg.
Jurgen Klopp would also be a likely candidate for the Bayern job.