A former teammate of Xabi Alonso has offered a clue as to how the Bayer Leverkusen boss would feel about the prospect of taking the manager’s job at Liverpool.
The 42-year-old has reportedly been contacted about the possibility of replacing Jurgen Klopp when the latter departs Anfield in the summer, with the Spaniard currently the huge favourite to take charge from next season.
Speaking on live coverage of Leverkusen’s DFB-Pokal match against Stuttgart for German broadcaster ARD on Tuesday night, Bastian Schweinsteiger claimed that his ex-Bayern Munich colleague would jump at the chance to manage the club that he represented as a player between 2004 and 2009.
The former Manchester United midfielder said: “I know Xabi and I believe that it is his big dream to coach Liverpool one day. I certainly think it’s possible that he will move to Liverpool in the summer.
“I want him to stay in the Bundesliga for a bit longer because he is a godsend for the Bundesliga. Were it not for Leverkusen being so good, Bayern would already be miles ahead in terms of points. Then the situation would be different, but because Leverkusen are so good, we have a title race.”
Liverpool fans will no doubt be encouraged by this claim from Schweinsteiger, who’s speaking from a position of knowing Alonso personally from their shared time at Bayern in the 2010s.
It’s natural that when someone develops an affinity for a club during their playing days before then going on to become a manager, they’d relish the opportunity to return in that guise, even if it runs the risk of damaging their reputation among the fanbase, as witnessed with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford.
For the current Leverkusen boss, there may never be a better time to take on the challenge of managing the Reds. Klopp’s departure creates a vacancy which needs to be filled before the start of next season, and the Spaniard’s stock could hardly be higher considering the heroics that he’s producing in the Bundesliga.
If Alonso were to go elsewhere and not have a successful time of it, his reputation mightn’t be as grand by the time the Liverpool job comes up again, so the timing could now be perfect from his point of view.
Of course, the current LFC manager will leave his successor with an incredibly tough act to follow, but we think that’s a mission the 42-year-old would embrace rather than shirk.
#Ep100 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️