-
News
- 14 hours ago
Chelsea? Liverpool? This is the Xabi Alonso job option nobody is talking about
10 May 2026 09:00 CDT |
7 min read
Analysis
Xabi Alonso is being linked with several top jobs around Europe, including Chelsea and Liverpool, but what if... he returns to Bayer Leverkusen?
The Spaniard is coming off a chastening experience at Real Madrid. Alonso was hired to lead the club into a new era, but it all came crashing down after just a few months. By January, he had been sacked. He simply didn't get through to the entitled squad at Valdebebas.
Vinicius Jr and his allies in the dressing room rebelled against the coach because he had the audacity to actually make them do the job of a footballer in the year 2026: training properly, being disciplined and doing opposition analysis.
Recent events have shown quite clearly that Alonso was not the problem: the Real Madrid dressing room is rotten to the core. Florentino Perez's fateful decision to sacrifice the coach just to placate the squad has come back to haunt him and will likely continue to do so unless he cleans house this summer.
The Real Madrid experience has not diminished Alonso's reputation as a good tactician, but it has impacted how his ability to deal with egos and to command respect is viewed. You would think a legendary former player would automatically carry some authority, but evidently not.
What now for Alonso?
Nevertheless, the 44-year-old remains in demand. He is believed to be one of the names currently under consideration by Chelsea, but they will surely have some reservations about him, given that their dressing room is the kindergarten version of Real Madrid's.
AC Milan have also been linked with Alonso amid uncertainty over Massimiliano Allegri. The Rossoneri could still slip out of the Champions League spots in Serie A, and this could, in turn, cost the veteran manager his job. Recent performances have been dire.
Then, there is Liverpool, Alonso's former club. A lot has been said about him and the Reds. At present, it looks as though they will continue to back Arne Slot, even if he has shown little over the past 12 months to justify it.
Of course, he should have credit in the bank for winning the Premier League in his first season at the club, and there are mitigating factors - Diogo Jota's tragic passing, a squad overhaul of enormous proportions - but Liverpool's decline already started in early 2025, and he has been unable to arrest it.
In recent weeks, journalists who receive their briefings directly from the club have insisted that Alonso was never as serious a target for Liverpool as has been made out in the media. He supposedly wasn't the clear-cut first choice in 2024, nor is he being credibly considered right now.
Perhaps there is some truth in this, but it feels more like a hamfisted attempt at damage limitation and to give the under-fire Slot more legitimacy. Why is this only coming out now, when many fans want the Dutchman gone?
One of the concerns over Alonso is his purported proclivity to play with a back three, which is strange because he only rarely employed a system with three central defenders at Real Madrid.
At Bayer Leverkusen, he played with a back three because it was best-suited to the players he had at his disposal. He joined the club mid-season in 2022; he didn't have a pre-season to build a team in his image.
The system worked, so he stuck with it instead of completely overhauling the squad just to fit some dogmatic tactical idea. Most of the players with whom he would win the double in 2023/24 were already at the club when he joined.
Making the case for a Leverkusen return
At this point, there is no clear indication as to where Alonso will end up this summer. At both Liverpool and Chelsea, the pressure would be enormous, just as it was at Real Madrid. If he were to flop again, it would be hugely damaging to his reputation.
So why not go back to a place where it already worked for him for another season or two in order to gain more experience? Now, we're not saying that Leverkusen are considering Alonso - or that he would be interested in returning - but they would be foolish not to.
The Werkself have been a sinking ship since the Spaniard left. For some reason, they decided to replace Alonso with a completely different managerial profile in Erik ten Hag, and it backfired spectacularly.
Flamengo's U20s beat Leverkusen 5-1 in the Dutchman's first game during a pre-season tour of Brazil, setting the tone for a disastrous and brief spell in charge. Ten Hag was sacked after two Bundesliga games, with club chiefs quickly recognising that he was the wrong man for the job.
Kasper Hjulmand has come in and not fared much better. While there has been the odd impressive result, Leverkusen have been unable to string any kind of consistent form together, and the football hasn't been particularly inspiring either.
On Saturday, their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were almost dashed after losing to direct rivals Stuttgart. They are now three points off fourth place with one game to play.
Leverkusen need to beat Hamburg on the final day of the season and hope that Stuttgart and Hoffenheim both lose. Alternatively, they could also still get in by finishing fifth if Freiburg beat Aston Villa in the Europa League final.
Although Leverkusen director Simon Rolfes recently insisted that Hjulmand is under contract until 2027 and that there is no reason to think that he won't be in charge next season, reliable sources have been reporting for weeks that the Dane is likely to be gone this summer.
Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner have both been linked with the job. Fabian Hurzeler was also an option, but he has extended his Brighton deal. It could be difficult to get Iraola and Glasner, so why not go for Alonso again?
He knows the club and most of the players - after all, this is still basically his squad - and he has had success with them before. Obviously, if they don't qualify for the Champions League, that will make the job less attractive.
At the same time, a lack of Champions League football doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Several players would be expected to leave the club, giving Alonso a major say in shaping the squad.
There would also be a sense of unfinished business for him. The only defeat Leverkusen suffered in 2023/24 came in the Europa League final, so there would be the motivation to go one better.
In his final season at the club, Leverkusen struggled against big teams. They were thrashed by Liverpool, lost to Atletico Madrid and then were thoroughly outplayed by Bayern in the Champions League round of 16.
Being able to consistently compete with these sides should be the next evolution for the club. In that context, Alonso's departure was particularly damaging because it interrupted B04's upward trajectory. They have gone backwards this season.
What's the downside for Leverkusen and Alonso by reuniting? It's difficult to think of one. Is Alonso passing up incredible opportunities like the completely dysfunctional mess that is Chelsea? It's hardly an attractive job.
He is still a very young and very inexperienced coach. He shouldn't be in a rush to take the biggest jobs. His former teammate Cesc Fabregas recently said that he could stay at Como for a decade and build a real project because he is still such a young coach.
"[Jose] Mourinho told me one day when I was at Chelsea: 'I still have 30 years to work.' So I could be here for 10 years, and you can still go to the Premier League in 12, 15 years," Fabregas said.
Leverkusen could be Alonso's Como. Keep honing your skills in a familiar environment to make sure that you are really ready when the right job comes along. That should be the lesson the 43-year-old takes from his disastrous spell at Real Madrid.
