Xabi Alonso urged to snub Liverpool & Bayern in favour of third option

Xabi Alonso has been warned off the Liverpool job, as well as the vacancy at Bayern Munich, by former Real Madrid and Barcelona star Bernd Schuster. 

The 64-year-old also represented Bayer Leverkusen in his glittering playing career before stepping up to the management game. 

He coached Getafe to the UEFA Cup back in 2006/07 before answering the Real Madrid call and accepting a job to coach his former side. 

Madrid won the La Liga title in 2007/08 under Schuster but his reign quickly fell apart after that. 

Reflecting on his time in Madrid for Bild, ex-Germany international Schuster wonders what might have been had he stayed with Getafe. 

Schuster compared his choice back then with that one which is facing Alonso, 42, this summer. 

The Bayer Leverkusen coach is leading his side to a first-ever Bundesliga title with reasonable chances of success in the Europa League and the DFB-Pokal as well. 

Accordingly, the World Cup winner has been placed on the top of the wish list for Liverpool and Bayern Munich, who are both intending to make coaching changes this summer. 

Jurgen Klopp has anointed the ex-midfielder as his preferred candidate, calling him the outstanding coach of his generation. 

Meanwhile, Bayern are now confident of adding their former player this off-season after also opening negotiations. 

Thomas Tuchel is suffering at the hands of Alonso’s Leverkusen with Bayern on the brink of their first trophyless season in 12 years. He will be leaving the club at the end of this campaign with Alonso also the frontrunner to succeed him.

Schuster urges Xabi Alonso to stick with Leverkusen

However, another option exists for Alonso, who won the Champions League as a player with Liverpool and Real Madrid. 

Leverkusen signed him to a contract until 2026 and they are said to be reasonably optimistic of convincing him to remain on the bench through next season. 

That is a choice Alonso ought to consider, according to Schuster, who is urging the coach to consider building a legacy at the BayArena. 

“Xabi’s situation reminds me of a similar situation I was in a few years ago,” Schuster told Bild. 

“Back then, I coached my team Getafe into the UEFA Cup and then went to Real Madrid. 

“Afterwards I thought to myself that I would have liked to have played with Getafe as a smaller club in the UEFA Cup. This was the first time in Europe for this club in its history and would therefore have been a very nice story. So it’s hard to decide. 

“I would understand Xabi in every decision he makes. But what I can say for sure is that sometimes you have to be careful not to want everything too quickly. As a young coach you still have a lot to learn. 

“And if, like Xabi, you already have your own team that he has strongly brought together and developed, it is also a really interesting task to go one step further with this team.”