Merseyside club Liverpool will not be getting their man as Spanish manager and former player Xabi Alonso has confirmed that he will stay at Bundesliga highflyers, Bayer Leverkusen.
Xabi Alonso has been on such an inspiring journey with Bayer Leverkusen this season, where they have yet to lose a Bundesliga match, culminating in them being 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
They are set to wrestle the Bundesliga league title from Bayern Munich, and if they achieve that, it would be the club’s first-ever Bundesliga title, and they will have Xabi Alonso to thank for that.
Several clubs have been following the exploits of the Spanish coach, and when Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp announced he was going to leave the club at the end of the current season, speculations were rife about Xabi Alonso taking over at his former club as their head coach.
The German club, Bayern Munich have also been monitoring the 42-year-old coach, as the underpressure coach Thomas Tuchel will also leave his role as Bayern coach at the end of the season.
On Good Friday, though, Liverpool’s hopes of getting their man to fill in the void when Klopp leaves, at the end of the season, were dashed when Xabi Alonso announced that he had decided to stay at Bayer Leverkusen.
“I had a good meeting with Bayer Leverkusen and I informed them that I will stay and continue at the club,” Xabi Alonso said.
“After lot of talks about my future, I used the break to reflect and make my decision,” the former Liverpool player added. To him, “This is the place to be for me.”
Xabi Alonso has worked with some exciting talents at the club since taking over.
Talk about the likes of Victor Boniface, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Alex Grimaldo, Nathan Tella, and others.
To him, he wants to help these young and exciting players develop further.
“My job at Bayer is not over. I want to help the club, help the players to develop, the board is great… it’s all fantastic here,” Xabi Alonso said, adding, “I’m still a young coach but I think this is the best decision for my future. I took my time and I’m sure about that,”
With Xabi Alonso committing to Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool will have to shift focus to other options, and speculations are that Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, are being targeted by the club to fill the void.
After learning that Xabi Alonso will not be replacing him at Liverpool at the end of the season, Jurgen Klopp said that he understands the decision by the Spanish coach, who is doing so well at his current job.
During his time at Borussia Dortmund, several clubs chased Jurgen Klopp, but he refused to leave the club, only agreeing to join another club after leaving his role at Dortmund.
“One part I can speak about, a young manager being at a club where he’s doing really well,” he said at his press conference. “I was in a similar situation and did pretty much the same if you want. And never regretted it. That’s pretty much everything I can say about it.”
Speaking further, Klopp said, “Xabi Alonso is doing an incredible job there. Leverkusen has a good team, will probably keep their team together. I think that’s a possibility, not every year is like that.”
“I understand that he wants to do that. For the other stuff, there’s nothing I have to say to be honest.”
Since Jurgen Klopp’s former club Borussia Dortmund stopped Bayer Munich from winning the Bundesliga in 2012, the Bavarians have won every Bundesliga title since 2013, and Xabi Alonso could lead Bayer Leverkusen to end that streak this season.
Indeed, Xabi Alonso could win the treble this season, as he and his charges are 10 points clear of Bayern in the Bundesliga title chase.
They are also in the DFB-Pokal semi-final and Europa League quarter-final.
Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen have yet to lose any match this season.