Liverpool end chase for Alonso
Former midfielder likely to remain at Bayer Leverkusen Amorim and De Zerbi lead shortlist to replace Klopp
Xabi Alonso is unlikely to be on Liverpool’s shortlist to replace Jurgen Klopp, as the Merseyside club do not believe he will be available this summer.
The Bayer Leverkusen coach had long been considered the frontrunner to replace Klopp since the German’s shock announcement he will quit Anfield at the end of the season.
But the club are pressing ahead in considering alternative candidates after it emerged that Alonso is planning to remain at Leverkusen.
That means Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Roberto De Zerbi are now the outstanding candidates as Liverpool look to whittle down contenders in the coming weeks.
De Zerbi will get his chance to impress on Sunday when Brighton face Klopp’s side in the Premier League. Amorim has many admirers, having ended Sporting’s 19-year wait to be Portuguese champions and won three domestic cup competitions in an impressive start to his coaching career.
The prospect of explayer and Champions
League winner Alonso returning to Anfield to build on Klopp’s work appealed to the romantics who recall the elegant Spaniard pulling the strings in Liverpool’s midfield between 2004 and 2009.
Even Klopp seemed to be on board with that idea, with his extravagant praise of the Leverkusen coach last month. “The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is the stand-out in that department,” Klopp said in February.
“A former world-class player, obviously coaching family as well which helps a little bit, he was like a coach already when he was playing.
“The football he is playing, the teams he sets up, the transfers he did – it was absolutely exceptional. Obviously when you look through the Europa League, Leverkusen is one of the favourites there as well, so that could be the season for Leverkusen. Really crazy.”
From Liverpool’s perspective, the 42-year-old had front-runner status thrust upon him externally in the immediate aftermath of Klopp announcing his exit.
Since Klopp’s statement, Liverpool have appointed a new sporting director, Richard Hughes, who will take over in June, while Fenway Sports Group has reunited with ex-sporting director Michael Edwards, who is the American owners’ football chief executive. They will have their own ideas on a successor, while the club’s data analysts, led by
Will Spearman, have been compiling dossiers on those most suitable for the post. Alonso would naturally have had a strong claim for the job if he felt the time was right to move to England. His apparent lack of availability is undoubtedly a blow, but Liverpool are sure there are others capable of moving the squad forward in the full-throttle style that has become the norm under Klopp.
Liverpool are not the only club anticipating Alonso will stay at Leverkusen. Bayern Munich’s honorary president, Uli Hoeness, said his club had effectively given up trying to convince him to move to the Allianz Arena.
“I feel that it will be very difficult to sign Xabi Alonso,” he said. “[Alonso] is more inclined to stay at Bayer Leverkusen in view of their current successes, because he would not want to leave them behind. If he had two or three more years of success, it would probably be easier to bring him out of there.”
Alonso, whose side are still unbeaten in all competitions this season and on the verge of winning the Bundesliga, has remained tightlipped despite being linked with both stellar jobs. There are also suggestions Real Madrid see him as the natural heir to Carlo Ancelotti.
As Liverpool consider alternatives, the only guarantee is that Klopp’s replacement will be obliged to play in the same attacking manner which has brought every major honour to Anfield since 2019.