Every top club in Europe wants Xabi Alonso: Where should he go?

When you come so close to challenging Bayern Munich to become the champions of Germany, it shows you are a good manager.

Xabi Alonso became the coach of Bayer Leverkusen two years ago, but he has transformed them into one of the top clubs in Europe in terms of recent performance.

After reaching the semi-final of the Europa League in the last campaign, his team is now challenging for glory in the German top flight.

Leverkusen has not come this close to challenging for the Bundesliga title for several decades, as Bayern and Borussia Dortmund always battle for the Championship.

RB Leipzig has also challenged them to win in some campaigns, but it has been very difficult for Leverkusen to come close to becoming champions.

This is partly because they almost always sell their best players, with the likes of Kai Havertz and Moussa Diaby leaving the club after delivering great performances.

When Alonso came on board, not much was expected from him, even though he had been a very successful player for teams like Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

His only managerial experience before taking the job was to lead the Real Sociedad B team.

Borussia Monchengladbach were linked with a move for him when Marco Rose left the club, but they decided against the move after concluding that he did not have the experience needed for the role.

Alonso continued to manage the Sociedad reserve side until the chance to manage Sociedad arrived in the 2022/2023 season.

He took it, and his team has been one of the strongest clubs in European football this term.

They won all their matches in the group stage of the Europa League, and remain unbeaten all season in every competition at the start of February 2024.

He is doing incredibly well and helping Bayer Leverkusen sell more tickets to their matches every week.

However, it is only a matter of time before he leaves the club, and there is interest in his signature from the likes of Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea already. Which club should he join next?

Liverpool

Following Jurgen Klopp’s announcement that he would be stepping down from his job as the manager of Liverpool at the end of the season, Alonso has been linked with a move to the Reds, who are his former club.

If you ask most people, Alonso is the best candidate to become the next manager of Liverpool, and his achievements in Germany this season make him an ideal choice.

The Spaniard played for Liverpool for five years before moving to Real Madrid in 2009, so he knows the club well and was a part of the team that won the Champions League in 2005.

Most Liverpool supporters will be delighted to have him back at the club as their manager, and he has said in the past that he would love to coach the team.

However, with Klopp insisting he will not influence the choice of his replacement and Liverpool giving very little away in terms of their next manager, are they really thinking about Alonso?

The Reds have patient owners who will hand the Spaniard more than enough time to get the job done, and he will also meet a team of players who are so good, that he does not need to do too much work to achieve success with them.

Chelsea

Chelsea is close to naming someone new as their coach again, and Alonso has caught their attention.

The London club was managed by three bosses last season, with Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard all trying to save them from mediocrity.

Mauricio Pochettino was brought back to the Premier League by the Blues at the end of last season, and he was backed with the signing of some of the best players in Europe as new signings.

Chelsea is not afraid of spending money, but they have still not built a team that can even compete for the Champions League spots.

With Eddie Howe doing a better job at Newcastle, you cannot help but feel that Pochettino’s time could be up soon at Stamford Bridge.

Alonso is one of the coaches being targeted by the Blues for their managerial role, and the Chelsea team is similar to his group at Leverkusen.

Most of their players are young individuals who are taking in his instructions well at Leverkusen, but he could consider the Chelsea role too risky for his reputation and turn it down.

There is almost no guarantee that he can turn the situation around because most of the Blues’ stars have not met expectations under Poch and may struggle under him as well.

Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich would be surprised at the progress Alonso’s Leverkusen has made this season, which will make him attractive to them.

Tuchel was lucky to win the league title for them last season because Borussia Dortmund handed the crown to Bayern without the Bavarians needing to do much work.

This term, Bayern added Harry Kane to their group, among other players and hoped they will perform better than they did in the last campaign.

However, the Bavarians are struggling to overtake Alonso’s Leverkusen at the top of the standings.

This makes it difficult for them to keep Tuchel, and if Leverkusen wins the league, Bayern will compete to make Alonso their next coach.

He played for the Munich club from 2014 to 2017 and learned so much from that spell as he worked mostly with Pep Guardiola.

Alonso will have some attachment to Bayern, but it might not be as strong as his attachment to Liverpool, and he could want to test himself in a new competition.

Barcelona

Barcelona is another club that would need a new manager at the end of the season after Xavi Hernandez announced that he would leave the club.

The Catalans have struggled for consistency in this campaign, which led to the former midfielder announcing his summer departure.

Alonso will likely love a chance to return to Spain and manage one of their big clubs, and Barca knows there is hardly a better manager for that role.

However, his previous affiliation with Real Madrid might be, as the fans may not welcome him to Camp Nou.

Madrid is also one of the clubs in the running to make him their next manager, although it will take time before that happens because Carlo Ancelotti has just signed a new deal.

If he manages Barcelona, that could end his chance of ever becoming the manager of Madrid.

Also, the Catalans are in a transitional period now, and he is probably too inexperienced to manage the troubles that have pursued Xavi from Catalonia.

Each of these clubs is a top side in Europe, and Alonso will be proud to work for them. It will be interesting to see the team he chooses.