Liverpool warned about Xabi Alonso Bayern Munich ‘love affair’
Didi Hamann has warned Liverpool that if Bayern Munich makes a move for former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, they risk losing him as their new manager.
The Spaniard has improved Bayer Leverkusen’s fortunes since taking over the club in October 2022. The German club, which was second from bottom in the Bundesliga when he arrived, is now chasing a historic treble.
Leverkusen, who has never won the Bundesliga, presently leads Bayern Munich by ten points with ten games remaining. Meanwhile, Alonso’s side is unbeaten this season and has advanced to the DFB-Pokal semi-finals and the Europa League round of 16.
With both Liverpool and Bayern looking for new managers this summer, and Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel both reported to be leaving, Alonso has been linked with a return to both of his previous teams.
While Hamann, who played alongside the Spaniard at Liverpool for two seasons, believes his former teammate is the best choice to succeed Klopp, he has warned his old club that Alonso may find it difficult to resist the draw of Bayern.
“He took over at Leverkusen last year when the team was second or third from bottom, and he’s transformed the entire football club,” Hamann told BoyleSports, which provides the most up-to-date Premier League odds. “Yes, they purchased two or three players over the summer. Xhaka was a fantastic addition, but the rest of the squad is almost unchanged. He galvanized them all.
“They remain unblemished with only two draws, 10 points ahead of Bayern, and will win the title this season. I don’t believe you have to be a scientist to foresee that. And he’s arguably the best candidate because he understands how Liverpool operates.
“He is revered by Liverpool supporters, and they loved him while he played there. The only thing I’d say is that following Klopp is not simple, and it’s up to him to decide whether he wants to be the first one to do so.
“If you look at Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, they had turbulent times and changed managers in the years following their departures, which is always a risk.
“The problem is, managing Leverkusen, Leipzig, or Brighton is vastly different from managing Liverpool. If Alonso stays in his current position for another two years or moves on to manage at Bayern Munich or another major club, things may change.
“None of the names mentioned have played for the world’s most prestigious clubs. It’s difficult to predict what will happen at the bigger teams since you won’t have experience managing Bayern or Liverpool unless you manage them.
“So that wouldn’t deter them, but for extremely experienced coaches like Jose Mourinho or Tuchel at Bayern, things don’t always work out.
“Xabi is a very smart guy and if he wants the job, then he will be the perfect candidate and if anyone can follow in Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps then it might be him.”
He went on to say that Bayern would have contacted him because he is well-liked and has played here in recent years. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (former Bayern CEO, currently board member) is a huge fan of his and has spoken highly of Xabi Alonso, and it’s almost like a love affair.
“I believe they will go to any length to attract him to the club, whether financially or otherwise, or by bringing in players he likes.
“But it is a decision he must make, and there are a lot of uncertainties at Bayern right now, so I’m not sure if it is the right time or a good time to come to Munich because they have just appointed a new director of football, there have been a lot of changes at board level, and there is a lot of noise at the moment.
“If there is peace, it makes it easier for the manager which is hard enough as it is, so that might be one thing that might put him off coming to Munich.”
Meanwhile, Hamann claimed that he always thought Alonso would become a fine manager when the two played together at Liverpool.
“Out of all the players I played with, there are always some that end up being managers and good managers that I never thought they would be,” he went on to say. “Jamie Carragher was the first person I mentioned as being a manager, but he never followed up.
“Sometimes in the playing days, it’s difficult to forecast because you don’t know what they want to achieve, and they need to get all of the badges and put in the effort.
“I always thought Alonso might be a fantastic manager if he wanted to since he was never the quickest. He joined the team at the age of 21 or 22 from Real Sociedad, and despite his slow pace, he was an excellent ball reader.
“He always had to be one or two steps ahead in his thoughts; he was an excellent reader of the game and studied it. I always believed that if he chose to be a coach or a manager, he’d made a terrific choice.
“But there are so many unknowns so it’s very hard to predict whether he would be successful and a lot of things have worked out for him at Leverkusen, but it’s down to him as well.”
