The former midfielder was a fan favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp at Anfield next season.
Xabi Alonso, who has been viewed as a strong contender to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager next season, now looks set to stay on as coach of current Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen for at least one more season.
Alonso, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, has become one of the most in-demand managers in Europe following back-to-back successful seasons with the German side.
The former Real Sociedad manager took the reins at Leverkusen when the club were at the bottom half of the table in October 2022.
In Alonso’s second season, Leverkusen are unbeaten in all competitions and set to end Bayern’s 11-year dominance of the Bundesliga title.
Following Jurgen Klopp’s shock announcement in January that he will leave Liverpool this summer, Alonso became one of the frontrunners to replace the German boss amongst the Kop faithful, who view the Spaniard as a club legend.
However, Paul Joyce at The Times reports that Alonso is set to stay in Germany, and therefore is no longer on Liverpool’s summer shortlist.
Liverpool will now reportedly turn their attention to Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi.
Amorim is supposedly popular among chiefs at Anfield.
He guided Sporting to their first league title in 19 years in 2021 and has since lifted two domestic cups and taken them into the knockout rounds in Europe.
Anyone who has followed the Premier League over the last two seasons will be well aware of De Zerbi’s prominence.
His style of play has caught the eye of several top clubs and he has Premier League experience.
The Italian guided the Seagulls into the Europa League last 16 before defeat to Roma in their first ever season in a Uefa competition.
Liverpool won’t be the only club disappointed by Alonso’s lack of availability at the moment.
German giants Bayern Munich and another of the 42-year-old’s former clubs Real Madrid were also keen on the young coach.
Liverpool’s pursuit of a new manager for next season looks set to be a bit more difficult than many expected.
If De Zerbi becomes the favourite due to his Premier League experience, the English club will face competition from Bayern Munich who have also expressed an interest in securing his signiature.
Much like Klopp at Liverpool, current Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel has also confirmed he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
This means that two giants of European football will be primed and ready to battle it out for the best new manager for their respective club’s ahead of the new season.
In an exclusive interview with Sky Germany, Max Eberl, Bayern’s sporting director, said the club are “getting to know a lot of exciting people” as they continue their search for Tuchel’s replacement.
“The search for a coach is ongoing,” said Eberl. “But I won’t go into individual names. It’s not my style to discuss these topics in public.
“It’s clear that we need a coach from the summer onwards and it’s also clear we’re now having very intense discussions and getting to know a lot of exciting people.
“We’ll try to make the best possible decision for Bayern. What’s the point of rushing now? It’s the beginning of April. We still have a bit of time.”
Attention towards identifying a new manager will be at the back of Liverpool fan’s minds this weekend as the club play host to De Zerbi’s Brighton and Hove Albion at home.
The club are within touching distance of their first Premier League title since 2020, and are currently level on points with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at the top of the table.
That game kicks off at 2pm on Sunday at Anfield.
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