Xabi Alonso mapped out the reasons for not taking up the Liverpool job, but insists he does not have an issue with the club.
Xabi Alonso was only halfway through a historic season with Bayer Leverkusen when the media made him the heavy favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. The German manager announced his intention to leave Anfield around January, with the Spaniard having had to manage through the pressure to bring success to his current side.
He was the heavy favourite for his past allegiance to Liverpool and the fantastic campaign he had been having at Leverkusen. Alonso came excruciatingly close to winning the ‘treble’ without losing a single game all season, but they lost out to Atalanta in the Europa League Final.
However, Alonso did manage to take Leverkusen to the Bundesliga title without losing a single game, as well as the domestic cup. It was such a fantastic season that many have since changed Leverkusen’s nickname from ‘Neverkusen’ to ‘Neverlusen’.
Going back to the heavy links with Liverpool, at one stage, it appeared that Alonso would readily move to Anfield once the season ended. He also had significant interest from Bayern Munich, although, in the end, he decided to stay at Leverkusen and sign a new deal.
That’s not to say he will not be interested in leaving the club next summer, but Leverkusen will have the luxury of having Alonso at the helm for one more year at the very least. The 42-year-old manager does have ambitions to manage sides like Real Madrid and Liverpool, but in his comments on CNN, it felt that he did want to stay where he was rather than take up the Merseyside job.
Alonso Said, “All these decisions, they need to be thorough. You need to really think about them. And it was more about what I had, not what I’m missing.”
“For sure, my bond with Liverpool is there and it’s still there. So there’s no, any kind of issue with that.”
Alonso is also earmarked to become a future Real Madrid boss, as some believe that is the job he had eyes on. Joining Liverpool this summer might have complicated his desire to take up the position at Santiago Bernabeu in the near future, as speculation points at Carlo Ancelotti possibly leaving in 2025.
While that reason is simply speculation, taking on the Liverpool role might have complicated a move to Real Madrid should Ancelotti depart next summer.
