Mourinho could be perfect for Bayern but will they take the risk?

Experience tells us that Jose Mourinho is a master at saying something without actually saying it.

Take his coy, calculated response when asked back in April whether he would accept an offer from Bayern Munich to return to management.

'I respect Niko Kovac as I respect many of my colleagues, so I cannot answer this,' Mourinho said. 'I can only say that Bayern is a giant club.'

Then, two minutes later... 'If I say yes, everyone will say Jose wants to go to the Bundesliga so I cannot say yes.

'I can only say I want to win my 9th league title and third Champions League title.'

If this sounds similar to the way Mourinho fluttered his eyelashes at Manchester United - right down to admitting he stayed in on Friday nights to watch MUTV - then it is.

The current state of play is that Mourinho remains unemployed nearly a year on from his Old Trafford sacking and that, after this weekend, Bayern Munich are searching for a new manager. How convenient.

Niko Kovac was given the elbow by the reigning German champions on Sunday night in the wake of Saturday's disastrous 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The decision of match referee Markus Schmidt to upgrade Jerome Boateng's ninth-minute yellow card to a red after consulting the VAR monitor, sparking the collapse to Bayern's heaviest defeat in over a decade, proved the final nail for Kovac, who'd been under pressure for months.

So attention now turns to Kovac's successor and it isn't surprising given the strength of his CV and character that Mourinho is the bookmakers' favourite to come in.

There's no question Bayern represents an attractive proposition for a manager who prides himself on having won league titles in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. Germany would be the natural next step.

There would be also be the personal incentive to lead Bayern to Champions League glory, something his great rival Pep Guardiola failed to do during his three seasons in Bavaria.

And then there's the fact Mourinho could take over with Bayern still in a relatively strong position this season and with silverware still very likely.

Despite Saturday's defeat, they sit fourth in the Bundesliga table just four points off the early season pace-setters Borussia Monchengladbach.

Bayern remain the bookies' favourites to win an eighth consecutive title and with good reason. Whoever is at the helm, it's in the club's DNA to win trophies and there hasn't been an outstanding team in the league so far.

They're still in the German Cup and a win over Olympiacos in the Champions League on Wednesday night would see them safely through to the knockout stages.

Mourinho could come in during the international fortnight with his first match against struggling Fortuna Dusseldorf and European worries put to one side until well after Christmas.

A proven winner, Mourinho would offer the club a short-term lift and the season would likely finish with at least one piece of silverware.

The win-at-all-costs mentality he would instil in the dressing room would certainly suit Bayern, where anything less than winning the title by 20 points is considered a failure.

Success at the end of the season would likely dispel most of the fans' doubts about Mourinho's sometimes negative style of playing, especially in the biggest games.

They seem even more of a match when you consider Mourinho's ego. It isn't so far removed from Bayern's outlook when it comes to a God-given right to win every game and every competition, plus their superiority complex over the rest of German football.

However, Bayern's powerbrokers, chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and the outgoing president Uli Hoeness, for whom picking Kovac's successor is a final act, will be well aware of how things can quickly go downhill with Mourinho.

Mourinho will need enormous financial backing in the transfer window, probably in January and certainly next summer, as he looks to repair a leaky defence that has conceded 16 league goals this season.

And if he doesn't get it - and Bayern idealistically refuse to match the spending of other European heavyweights - then Mourinho's mood, and with it dressing room harmony, can sour very quickly.

There are safer options. Hansi Flick, who joined the club as Kovac's assistant only in July and has now taken temporary charge, could remain on until the summer, when more managerial possibilities could emerge.

Another proven winner is Massimiliano Allegri, who said he wanted to take a sabbatical after leaving Juventus last summer but could be persuaded to cut that short if Bayern came knocking.

Allegri boasts an excellent record in Italian football and comes without Mourinho's baggage while also ensuring an attractive brand of football.

Another possibility would be a return for Erik ten Hag, the Ajax manager, who formerly coached Bayern's second team during Guardiola's spell with the club.

He would require a hefty compensation payment to Ajax but knows how Bayern tick and impressed in the Champions League last year. Bayern have reached four semi-finals since their last Champions League triumph in 2013.

In a case of can beat them, join them, the Frankfurt coach Adi Hutter is fourth favourite for the job but that's where Kovac was hired from and look how that turned out.

Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Julian Nagelsmann, the managers of Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham and RB Leipzig, are also in the running.

Only Pochettino, you suspect, would be ready and willing to take on a new challenge at the present time.

Arsene Wenger, known to want another managerial challenge instead of accepting a FIFA technical role, is a 25-1 shot.

And if all else fails, there's always Jupp Heynckes for a fourth spell. At least he knows how to win the Champions League.

There is a strong allure about Bayern that ensures all of the leading managers can be placed on their shortlist.

And there's a reason why Mourinho is currently the front-runner. But will Bayern fancy taking the long-term risk for short-term gain?