Investors are urging Adidas to find a replacement for longtime CEO Herbert Hainer, who will step down in 2017 as set out in his contract. The investment company Southeastern Asset Management as well as Union Investment would prefer an external successor, reported Bloomberg on Thursday. An external chief would be best to reboot the German sportswear maker, think the investors.

Hainer has been Adidas’ CEO since 2001, which makes him the longest-serving chief executive on Germany’s benchmark DAX index. The head came under pressure last year as Adidas’ longstanding gap with the world’s-biggest sporting-goods maker, Nike, has widened.

The Adidas group has had to lower its forecast several times.

Hainer’s contract runs until March 2017 but a search for his successor
began in February this year. The company will be looking for both internal and external candidates, Bloomberg said on Thursday.