Xabi Alonso says he will remain in his role as Bayer Leverkusen manager next season despite interest from Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
“I feel this is the right place to be for me as a young coach,” said Alonso.
Leverkusen are on the brink of a first Bundesliga title and unbeaten in all competitions this season.
Alonso, the 42-year-old ex-Liverpool midfielder, was also seen as a candidate to take over at former club Bayern Munich, whose manager Thomas Tuchel will also leave at the end of the campaign.
Alonso said he informed Leverkusen’s directors of his decision to stay at the club last week.
“It’s been a season we have had a lot of speculation regarding my future,” he added.
“Until now we have had so many games, been pretty busy and focused, and I wanted to reflect during the international break and take a decision.
“The players, they gave me so many reasons to keep believing in the team, for their commitment, for their desire, for their hunger to have a great season. My job is not over here.”
Signed from Real Sociedad in 2004, Alonso went on to make 210 appearances for Liverpool and won the Champions League with the club in 2005.
He left in 2009 to join Real Madrid – another club he has recently been linked with – and moved to Bayern five years later before retiring as a player in 2017.
Alonso moved into coaching with Real Madrid’s Under-14 side in 2018 and followed that with three years in charge of Real Sociedad’s B team.
In October 2022, Leverkusen gave him his first managerial role in first-team football and, having taken over with the club second from bottom in the Bundesliga, Alonso led them to a sixth-placed finish.
In his first full term in charge this season, Leverkusen are 10 points clear of champions Bayern with eight games remaining.
They are also in the semi-finals of the German Cup and quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Liverpool are set to consider other candidates to replace German Klopp. Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim and Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi are among their main targets..
More to follow.
