Aberdeen are looking at other options for their managerial vacancy due to the delay in finalising a deal with Eirik Horneland.
The Dons were , but he has uncertainty around a personal issue, which has caused his move to Pittodrie to stall.
If his issues can be resolved soon, then Horneland remains in the frame for the job.
However, the Dons are now speaking to other candidates, including former New York Red Bulls boss Sandro Schwarz.
The 47-year-old German, who had previous spells managing Mainz, Dynamo Moscow and Hertha Berlin, left New York Red Bulls in October last year.
He is well known by sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, who has led the process since .
Peter Leven has been in interim charge since, winning one of eight league games, with the club eighth in the Scottish Premiership.
They have however, progressed to the Scottish Cup quarter-finals with wins over Raith Rovers and Motherwell.
Aberdeen chairman due to "unforeseen circumstances".
He added that Pfannenstiel had held talks with "several strong candidates from both the UK and overseas" and that the club "mustn't rush or compromise" an appointment.
Despite ongoing talks with candidates, Aberdeen announced former assistant manager Tony Docherty returned to Pittodrie last month to support Leven.
Docherty was part of former boss Derek McInnes' backroom team and spent eight years at the club, and joined him at Kilmarnock too before stepping into management in his own right at Dundee and Ross County.
