Jurgen Klopp, who will retire from the Liverpool helm at the end of the season, is expected to take next season off, leaving a new coach in place for the 2024/25 season, and Xabi Alonso, the Bayer Leverkusen manager, is reportedly the leading candidate to succeed him.
Alonso took over at the German club midway through last season and has turned the team around, leading them to a dizzying record this season. He is beginning to be recognized as one of Europe’s best young coaches, with a convincing victory over the Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich.
The German coach opened up about Xabi Alonso, who is being touted as his successor. While praising Alonso for his achievements in the Bundesliga, he said that it is time for a young leader to replace those who have been running the front line.
“Xabi is doing an incredible job,”
“If there would not be the rumours around, that’s completely independent. If you would have asked me eight weeks ago about Xabi Alonso, I would have gone ‘oh my God’.”
“Always what I said, the dinosaurs if you want, Ancelotti, Mourinho, Guardiola, maybe me, we will not do it – okay, maybe Mourinho – but all the rest will not do it for the next 20 years. The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is standout in that department.”
“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.”
“I played a long time in my life in the Bundesliga, and that is super impressive. Not only the points tally but the way they play.”