When Liverpool’s new sporting director Richard Hughes received a phone call from the agent Inaki Ibanez this week, it only served to confirm what he had long since expected: Xabi Alonso would be staying at Bayer Leverkusen this summer.
News of Alonso committing his future to the Bundesliga club on Friday was a blow for supporters hoping to see the Spaniard hired as Jurgen Klopp’s successor.
However, internally at Liverpool, there was little sense of surprise. They had started focusing their attention on alternative candidates.
Hughes has a strong relationship with Ibanez having appointed another one of his clients, Andoni Iraola, as Bournemouth manager in June 2023. There had been dialogue between them so Liverpool knew where things stood.
Alonso was the clear favourite to take over from Klopp as a result of his work at Leverkusen, who he has led to the brink of the Bundesliga title, and his emotional bond with Liverpool from his playing days under Rafael Benitez. He ticked a lot of boxes.
But he was never offered the job and there were no face-to-face discussions. When Liverpool initially made contact with Alonso’s camp shortly after Klopp’s announcement on January 26 that he intended to step down in May, they were informed that the 42-year-old was concentrating on his job at Leverkusen and was unlikely to be available this summer. The door was not completely closed but the message was clear: this was not the time to talk.
A line of communication was kept open between Alonso’s camp and Liverpool as the club was going through an off-field restructuring, with Hughes arriving under Michael Edwards, who was appointed as owners Fenway Sports Group’s new football chief executive on March 12. Liverpool wanted their leadership team in place before trying to take things any further with Alonso.
Another one of the Spaniard’s former clubs, Bayern Munich, were also in pursuit as they sought a successor for Thomas Tuchel and the club had several communications with Alonso’s camp. But his head was not turned by them either — despite being promised significant power in terms of reshaping the squad.
As for Liverpool, Edwards and Hughes wanted to be sure that their intelligence that Alonso would be remaining at Leverkusen was correct. They were keen to know if it would be worth meeting him to gauge his thoughts around the Liverpool project but ultimately — despite suggestions in Germany that a summit was planned for the international break — it never happened.
It fell to Bayern’s honorary president Uli Hoeness to offer the first public indication on Thursday that the game was up, at least from Bayern’s perspective.
“It will be difficult, if not probably impossible (to appoint Alonso),” he said. “He’s more inclined to stay at Bayer Leverkusen in view of their current successes because he would not want to leave them behind. Let’s say if he had two or three more years of success, it would probably be easier to bring him out of there.”
So why has Alonso opted to stay at Leverkusen and where do Liverpool go from here? We have spoken to multiple sources directly and indirectly connected to the clubs and the key figures involved to build up a picture. They asked to remain anonymous to protect their relationships.
Fernando Carro sounded adamant. “Xabi has a contract until 2026 and there is no doubt that he will stay here,” insisted Leverkusen’s chief executive on March 19, when asked about his manager’s future. His confidence proved to be well-founded.
During a meeting with Carro and sporting director Simon Rolfes last week, Alonso informed them that he would turn down interest from elsewhere and remain loyal to Leverkusen. He explained that he was excited about the prospect of unlocking further potential in the squad and leading them in the Champions League next season.
Rolfes was unsurprised: he had…
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