Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s legal troubles may just be starting but so too is the battle over who will succeed him as chief of the International Monetary Fund.

Mr Strauss-Kahn’s arrest on sex charges at the weekend prompted some commentators to declare it may be an opportunity for emerging market countries to take charge of the multilateral lender. But European officials on Monday asserted their case for keeping the top job for a European, as is customary, with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, leading the charge. Ms Merkel told reporters on Monday that finding a replacement for Mr Strauss-Kahn was “not a question for today”, but given the sovereign debt crisis on the eurozone periphery there were “good reasons” to propose a European candidate.

A spokeswoman for José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, went further, saying the European Union would put forward a candidate if Mr Strauss-Kahn left the job.