It seemed like the feeling was growing that Xabi Alonso would be the next manager of Liverpool but we have been dealt a hammer blow to these dreams.
Writing for The Times, Paul Joyce reported: ‘Xabi Alonso is unlikely to feature on the final shortlist to become Jürgen Klopp’s successor as Liverpool believe the Spaniard will not be available this summer.’
When it comes to sources around our club, there are few (if any) more reliable than the northern football correspondent and so we should all be taking huge notice of this report.
It appears that a desire to stay at Bayer Leverkusen is what is making it hard for Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards to envisage that the Spaniard would want an Anfield move this summer.
The 42-year-old is on the brink of winning the title in Germany and his commitment to fulfilling his contract in the Bundesliga is admirable.
Bayern Munich will still hold hope of prizing our former midfielder away from the team sat above them in the league and let’s hope that they are unable to do so.
We will now be left looking for other options and although there’s no doubt that we will end up with a suitable candidate, it’s hard not to feel disappointed with this update.
The search goes on, seemingly without a man who seemed in many ways the perfect fit for the Reds.
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No worries. Alonso is a great figure in the game, but his tactics and Liverpool personnel? See the latest article on the premierleagueanalyzed website for a breakdown of why this was never a match made in heaven. Gives some good insights into what Liverpool does need, too.