Fabrizio Romano has shared his latest knowledge on Liverpool’s stance on Xabi Alonso with a Tuesday morning update.
The Italian used his Daily Briefing column with CaughtOffside to inform Reds fans of the club’s position on pursuing the Bayer Leverkusen manager, who’s the firm favourite to take over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer.
The journalist pointed out that while the 42-year-old is certainly a ‘strong candidate’ at Anfield, Merseyside chiefs are eager not to discommode his current club too much amid their charge towards what’d be a first-ever Bundesliga title.
Romano outlined: “Liverpool remain very interested in Xabi Alonso – they keep having contacts, but they also want to be respectful because it’s an important season for Bayer Leverkusen and they don’t want to disturb them.
“Still, it’s 100% confirmed that Liverpool want to go for Alonso. He’s not the only name on their list, but they are well informed on his contract situation – there is not a proper clause, but a gentleman’s agreement with the club.
“I’m not sure any concrete talks are imminent because of Leverkusen’s situation, but for sure Alonso is at the top of Liverpool’s list – he’s not the only one, but he’s a strong candidate for the Liverpool job.”
Morally at least, it seems as if Liverpool chiefs are going about their pursuit of Alonso in the right way, with an appreciation of how Leverkusen are on the cusp of potential history and a reluctant to unsettle the Bundesliga leaders.
The hope is that, in turn, the BayArena outfit would be more amenable to letting the 42-year-old go to Anfield in the summer if LFC are respectful in their dealings with the German club.
However, there’s a risk to that approach in potentially leaving the door open for another suitor to charge in directly to try and woo the Spaniard. It was reported in recent days that Bayern Munich are also interested in him as speculation continues to mount over Thomas Tuchel’s future at the Allianz Arena.
It does appear that Liverpool are at least making it known to Alonso that they want him as Klopp’s successor, even if it may take a bit more time before we see significant steps being made in their pursuit of him.
#Ep102 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️
Alonso is the best manager to success klopp for the betterment of the team