First, addressing the "or sooner" portion of the thread title:
- an FT article from February 18 speaks of pressure from Paris and Berlin to Pres. Lagarde to step down early
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/compan ... ear-report
François Villeroy de Galhau mentioned, as he recently announced his departure from the Bank of France will happen in June
- a majority in a Bloomberg survey of analysts expect it to happen
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/intern ... b-job-knot
names mentioned there are Klaas Knot and Pablo Hernández de Cos
- President Lagarde remains unfazed, and attempted to quash the rumors the very next day (Feb. 19) in a WSJ interview
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/intern ... -tells-wsj
A Reuters commentary from March 17 provides a few more leads and names (other than the ones already mentioned; Luis de Guindos), and favors Joachim Nagel.
