41-year-old coach could well choose to join Liverpool as his next step – journalist

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Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso will choose between Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid as his ‘next step.’

Alonso has made a brilliant start to life as a head coach, guiding Leverkusen to a sixth place finish in the Bundesliga last season. This has inevitably led to suggestions that he could soon take over at one of his former clubs, Liverpool included.

And writing for CaughtOffside, journalist Christian Falk claimed that for the moment, that looks likely to be Real Madrid.

“We believe Xabi Alonso is the number one option to replace Carlo Ancelotti in 2024,” says Falk. “I think at the moment he is one of the biggest solutions and has the best chance to get this job.”

However, should Alonso pass that opportunity up, the journalist suggests that ‘everyone knows’ Anfield could be on the Spaniard’s agenda.

“Everybody knows that Leverkusen could just be a step in between,” Falk reports. “They don’t know if it will be Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, one of his former clubs, but everyone knows that one of these clubs will be the next step. And at the moment, there’s just one club which is searching for a new manager in the near future and this is Real Madrid. This is his club and I think that Alonso wouldn’t say no if an offer came next year.”

Alonso favourite for Madrid job

With Ancelotti now confirmed to be taking over the Brazil national team job in a year’s time, there feels a real possibility that Madrid are lining Alonso up.

If he continues to do well with Leverkusen next season, that may start to become an inevitability.

That doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t end up at Anfield one day, though. Madrid are notoriously trigger-happy with their coaches and Alonso won’t be exempt from that if he falls below the standard expected.

In terms of Liverpool, the 41-year-old had an excellent relationship with the club as a player. That looks set to continue into management, with Reds youngster Luke Chambers in talks to join Leverkusen on-loan for next season. Lines of communication are open.

You’d also expect that Alonso would be hugely keen to move back to the club he won his first Champions League at. Anfield has that pull.

It may not be upon Jurgen Klopp’s slated exit in 2026, it may not be soon after that, but if the chance comes up, Alonso will surely take it. Of course, whether he gets that opportunity will depend on how he does over the next few years. But just as he did as a player, he looks destined for the top as a manager.

Right now, we can’t think of anyone better to continue what Jurgen has built at Liverpool. There’s a couple of years – hopefully even more – for that to change, but we’d really love to see it happen. Madrid or no Madrid in-between.