Alonso is not going to Bayern Munich or Liverpool FC in the summer. This season, his Werkself remained undefeated in all 38 competitive games.
Xabi Alonso will continue to lead Bayer Leverkusen next season.
Heiko Becker / Reuters
(dpa) Xabi Alonso preferred to announce his stay in Leverkusen in English. «I’m in the right place here. “I’m staying at Bayer 04,” said the Spaniard. Especially with a view to the important weeks ahead, Alonso ended the speculation about his future that had been going on for months on Friday. “The international break was a good time to reflect and make a decision,” said Alonso. “Now all the cards are on the table and we can go full throttle.”
In any case, Alonso did not want to go to Bayern this summer or to Liverpool, where the difficult succession to the iconically revered Jürgen Klopp could overwhelm any new coach. “I feel that my job here is not over yet,” said the 42-year-old Basque instead. Since October 2022, he has transformed Leverkusen from a Bundesliga relegation candidate into a national heavyweight. Championship, DFB Cup, Europa League – titles are possible in all three competitions for the factory club, which is still undefeated this season.
Alonso has become so big as a coach within a year and a half that the prominent competition has now become aware of him. With his announcement, the coach of the Bundesliga leaders rejected the open advertising of the German record champions FC Bayern, as did Liverpool FC. Alonso prefers to stay in Leverkusen for at least another year: “I want to continue to grow here.”
🎞️ The press conference with Xabi #Alonso before #TSGB04 in full length on YouTube!
🔗 https://t.co/e3nqQanbYv
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04fussball) March 29, 2024
And become even bigger as a coach? In order to then take over the ultimate in international football by 2026 at the latest – that’s how long his contract with Bayer still runs anyway: Real Madrid? Carlo Ancelotti is also under contract there until 2026. The Royals, where Alonso once shone as a player like in Liverpool and Bayern, also see the former world-class player as a potential future coach of the same caliber.
Alonso, the former world and European champion, has given several top clubs good reasons in recent months to want to bring him in as coach. “We would like to sign him,” Bayern Munich’s still influential honorary president Uli Hoeness confirmed to Bayerischer Rundfunk on Thursday. Hoeness already admitted that this could be difficult. Bringing Alonso back would be “very difficult, not to say probably impossible,” said the 72-year-old.
The new Bayern sports director Max Eberl had already tried in vain to bring Alonso as coach in 2021 – at that time at Borussia Mönchengladbach. At the time he was coach of the second team of his hometown club Real Sociedad San Sebastián. At that time he didn’t feel mature enough to take the step into the Bundesliga. Three years later, he seems to have outgrown many experts in this league, but he wants to continue to use this stage and, above all, win his first titles as a coach.
The Rhinelanders lead the league with a ten-point lead over Bayern. Bayer is the only remaining Bundesliga team favored in the German Cup and is also in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. “April and May are the crucial months for us,” said Alonso, who also wants to use the valuable experience of future Champions League games with Leverkusen.
The decision should also be valuable for his players, who made significant leaps in performance under him. Alonso led eight professionals into their national team squad for the first time this season. This also applies to the 28-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Grimaldo or the German Robert Andrich, who is even a year older. The Swiss Granit Xhaka is an important pacesetter in midfield. «The players themselves gave me so many reasons. The team’s development is parallel to that of me as a coach,” said Alonso. It should go even higher for both sides.