Xabi Alonso, the prime candidate to fill in the big shoes of outbound Jurgen Klopp, reportedly was ‘on the brink of’ taking charge of Liverpool.
It will soon be three months since Reds boss Jurgen Klopp publicly announced his decision to leave Anfield at the end of the 2023-24 season.
The German manager has been in charge of the club since 2015 and after almost nine glorious years with countless memorable moments and several silverware won, this heartbreaking news came.
The club authorities are the busiest parties these days as they have been tasked with the most difficult job of replacing the tactical mastermind.
As of now, after much consideration, the present Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim is currently leading the race to be the successor to Klopp at the Merseyside club.
However, this could have been very different as the Portuguese tactician was probably the second or third choice for the job.
The prime target to replace Klopp had been former Liverpool man and current Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso.
The former Reds midfielder has led the German side to their first-ever Bundesliga title in the club’s history, ending the 11-year reign of Bayern Munich as the defending champions.
Xabi Alonso Would Have Joined Liverpool
Alonso’s familiarity at Anfield, combined with his tactical prowess made him the perfect candidate to take over the reins from the German manager.
But a few weeks ago, despite having growing interest from both Liverpool and Bayern Munich, he publicly announced that his ‘job is not over’ at BayArena.
However, according to a Football Transfers report by Steve Kay, the Spaniard was ‘on the brink of’ agreeing to take charge of the Merseyside club.
The report further elaborated that Alonso agreed to stay at the club only if the key players from the title-winning side were not sold.
The inevitable rise in interest for the star players would have seen them leaving the club, but Leverkusen would try their best to retain them to satisfy the Spaniard’s need.
Even though the appointment of Xabi Alonso would have meant the success of Liverpool could have continued, the higher authorities of the club will not do a lousy job of finding the perfect candidate.
