Mario Draghi’s term as the ECB president is up in late 2019 and as the region’s largest economy, Germany is pushing a strong case for the eight-year presidency which has already been through Italian, French and Dutch hands.
Jens Weidmann, the 49-year-old president of the German Federal Bank, is widely considered to be a contender to replace the Italian despite concerns from Italy and France.
But German Chancellor Ms Merkel is thought to be pushing for Mr Weidmann to become the fourth guardian of the euro currency.
And politicians from the CDU, the CSU, have already started to campaign for a German to take the role.
Hans-Peter Friedrich, a lawmaker from the party, told Bild newspaper last year: “The next ECB chief must be a German, who feels bound to the Bundesbank’s tradition of monetary stability.”
But southern eurozone nations are concerned Mr Weidmann will not carry through Mr Draghi’s management measures such as the ECB’s huge bond-buying programme.
Mr Weidmann is also known for being highly critical of the ECB in public, which has rattled insiders who say his views to fight the eurozone crisis are not in sync with the bank’s governing council.
Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau, 58, is also in the running.
Meanwhile, the main female contenders are 62-year-old Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Irish central bank Deputy Governor Sharon Donnery, 45.
Irish governor Philip Lane, 48, is also a likely contender.
According to politics news site, Politico.co.uk’s Pierre Briancon: “In Europe right now, said a French government official, ‘the ECB reshuffle is the only game that counts. It’s the only reason the Eurogroup president’s job wasn’t contested at all, for the first time ever.
“‘All the governments were saving themselves for the ECB derby.’”