Liverpool should be seriously thinking about hiring 41-year-old former PSG player as their new manager

Add as preferred source on Google

We’re getting closer to finding out who will be succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.

Having been the overwhelming favourite ever since Klopp announced his intention to leave, Xabi Alonso has now ruled himself out of contention.

Alonso may well still come to manage Liverpool one day, but it won’t be next season.

As a result, the race has been blown a little more open. As well as Alonso, Ruben Amorim and Roberto De Zerbi had continuously been mentioned as potential candidates to replace Klopp. It’s those two that the spotlight has inevitably now fallen on.

However, as good a managers as both are, neither necessarily set the pulse racing. Consequently, we’d like to see Liverpool cast their net a little wider. And by doing that, it’s clear that there’s another young manager who should be catching their eye.

Liverpool still looking for new manager

Part of the remit for Liverpool’s next manager appears to be for a young coach who can build something important over a period of time.

As Ben Jacobs put it on X yesterday: “Shortlisting using data began last year with several candidates looked at. Managers judged not just on whether they are football, strategic and personality fits, but based on the budgets and models they worked within and their man management skills. Attitude and involvement in recruitment seen as important.”

Amorim and De Zerbi obviously tick plenty of these boxes, as did Alonso. But Bologna’s Thiago Motta does as well and for the life of us we can’t quite figure out why he’s not being put in the conversation, too.

Just as De Zerbi largely did when he was in Italy, Motta is going very much under the radar. He did get a mention from Nigel Reo-Coker not too long ago as being someone who Liverpool could consider, but that’s about it.

Now into his second season at Bologna – and his fourth as a senior manager, Motta has the Rossoblu sitting in fourth spot in Serie A.

Having guided them to a ninth-placed finish last season – their best since 2012 – the Italian/Brazilian manager has kicked on hugely this year. At the very least, Liverpool have a proper look at him.

Thiago Motta should be a serious option for Liverpool

Clearly, Motta is working superbly well against teams with much bigger budgets than Bologna’s. He did the same in his previous job with Spezia, keeping them in the top division against the odds.

It’s true that he hasn’t yet shown that he can compete at a team expected to be near the top, as Amorim has. But it’s also fair to say that neither has De Zerbi.

In fact, should Motta hang onto fourth spot in the table, he’d have bettered the Brighton man’s best ever finish across four years in Serie A. Unless Bologna finish eighth or below, he’ll have manged that. De Zerbi has of course gone on to do well at Brighton since then, but he’s hardly set the world alight this season either.

So, our argument is that if the Italian is on the list, then Motta should be, too. As a player of some repute for Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSG, he has the personality and experience to make it at a top club. With Alonso no longer an option, Liverpool should keep Motta in mind.