Bayern Munich now thinking about appointing 44-year-old instead of Xabi Alonso, he’s also been linked with Liverpool

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As the weeks have passed, little seems to have changed in regards to Liverpool and Bayern Munich’s tug of war over Xabi Alonso.

Both teams have seemingly remained firm in their desire to bring the Spaniard to their respective dug outs next season. However, with Alonso focusing on finishing a sensational campaign with Bayer Leverkusen, the needle has not moved.

Liverpool have of course been linked with a number of managers besides Alonso, with Sporting’s Ruben Amorim apparently the preferred candidate. So far though, for Bayern it has seemed to have been Alonso or no one.

That’s why today’s update from German reporter Florian Plettenberg feels somewhat significant. Taking to X, Plettenberg says that the Munich club have now identified a back-up to the Leverkusen boss.

“Revealed a few days ago and now confirmed again: Roberto De Zerbi is on the list of FC Bayern as the 44 y/o is a candidate if things don’t work out with Xabi Alonso,” explains the journalist.

“Max Eberl, a big fan of De Zerbi due to his style of football and talent development! Jose Mourinho, a big personality and great manager but currently not a topic of discussion for FC Bayern!”

Bayern target Alonso back-up

This is potentially very good news for Liverpool. Up until this point, Bayern have seemingly been forthright and bullish on their idea to bring Alonso back to Munich.

Not particularly used to being pipped to the post, perhaps the Bundesliga giants thought they’d easily be able to persuade their former midfielder to return. However, this would suggest that a shift in strategy has occurred. It may only be a little chink of doubt, but that could mean that the Reds are starting to make them nervous.

From our point of view, we can’t really see why Alonso would pick Bayern over Liverpool anyway. His love for the side he finished his career at may be there, but they’re not in a great place right now.

Having sacked Julian Nagelsmann and now Thomas Tuchel in the space of a year, they’re a little bit of a basket case.

If he does go on to win the Bundesliga with Leverkusen this season, he’ll also already have scaled that height. Doing the same with the perennial winners of the division won’t be seen as anything particularly impressive.

Coming back to Liverpool after 15 years not only has that emotional pull, but it’s also a much better project. Jurgen Klopp is leaving a very healthy squad which still has plenty of room to grow. With Pep Guardiola surely exiting Manchester City in a year or two as well, the door may be open to build something spectacular.

For now, nobody can say exactly how the cards will fall. But this is the first suggestion we’ve seen that Bayern aren’t quite as confident as they were.

As for De Zerbi, he’s supposedly on Liverpool’s list, too. However, we think recent results with Brighton should ultimately rule him out. Let’s see how it all unfolds.