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2:12AnalysisXabi Alonso’s decision to stay put gives Liverpool tricky choices at time of flux

Spaniard remaining at Leverkusen shows laudable loyalty but with several big clubs seeking new managers, Liverpool’s task is not easy

Perhaps it was always too perfect: not just the idea of Jürgen Klopp handing over to a revered former player, the man who scored the equaliser in Istanbul, but of the baton being passed on after a Europa League final meeting in Dublin.

When Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to keep that narrative alive with two injury-time goals against Qarabag, the Kloppian nature of the comeback felt profoundly appropriate.



But Xabi Alonso announced on Friday he will remain with Leverkusen for at least one more season and attempt a Champions League campaign with the side he is surely about to lead to a first Bundesliga title, and that means Liverpool must think again.

‘The place for me’: Xabi Alonso confirms he will remain with Bayer Leverkusen Read more

With Liverpool’s former sporting director Michael Edwards returning as the new chief executive of Fenway Sports Group and the appointment of Richard Hughes as sporting director, there was always going to be turbulence at Anfield this summer beyond Klopp’s departure but Alonso, as a familiar face who knows the club, would have represented at least some sense of continuity.

Having pulled them away from relegation trouble, he turned down reported interest from Tottenham to stay at the club and, given Leverkusen currently lead the Bundesliga by 10 points, the likelihood is his reward will be a league title.

In the context of his career so far, it makes complete sense that he would wish to lead a side he has crafted into his first Champions League campaign, rather than making that leap with a giant he has not had time to shape in Liverpool or Bayern Munich.

In an industry that often seems a desperate scrabble for the top, in which short-termism reigns, there is something laudable in that; certainly there are other former internationals of his generation who might have benefited from gaining more experience on their way into top jobs.

Leonardo Jardim, Vítor Pereira, Rui Vitória, Marco Silva and Paulo Fonseca have flickered with promise on the outskirts of the elite for years without ever quite getting the superclub job it seemed they might; Rúben Amorim could be the one to make the breakthrough.

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That’s in part a matter of timing, but his record at Sporting is very good, at least domestically: he ended their 19-year wait for the Portuguese title in his first full-season and, although they fell back to fourth last season, they won the cup for a second successive season and they’re top again this year.

European form is less convincing, although Sporting did take four points off Tottenham in the Champions League last season.
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