Berlin stands ready to throw its weight behind a German candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank, even as it sees little chance of securing a job it has never held, according to four people briefed on the matter.

Bundesbank governor Joachim Nagel and ECB board member Isabel Schnabel have both signalled they would be prepared to succeed France’s Lagarde, whose term expires in 2027. Since Europe’s top monetary authority was created in 1998, there has never been an ECB president with a German passport.

Any potential successor for Lagarde, who holds the highest paid job in any EU institution, needs the strong support of their national government as part of a high-stakes political negotiation between European capitals, often involving the bloc’s other top roles.