Arminia Bielefeld is close to appointing Oliver Kirch as their new coach. The former Bundesliga professional, who played for the club from 2007 to 2010, is considered the top candidate after the preferred choice Tobias Strobl opted for VfL Wolfsburg. According to the magazine "Kicker", a transfer agreement still needs to be reached with Borussia Mönchengladbach, where Kirch has been in charge of the second team since January. Kirch has played a total of 143 Bundesliga matches, bringing valuable experience to the coaching position. His playing career took him from Arminia Bielefeld to clubs like Kaiserslautern, Borussia Dortmund, and SC Paderborn. After retiring as a player, he began his coaching career in 2020 as a youth coach in Bielefeld before moving to Gladbach in 2023. Arminia Bielefeld parted ways with successful coach Mitch Kniat in May, who led the club to promotion to the 2. Bundesliga and reached the DFB-Pokal final. Following a disappointing 13th place finish last season, a change was deemed necessary.