‘Alonso eventually leaves Leverkusen’ ​​Candidates for next destination include ‘Real and Manchester City’

Coach Alonso, who lifted the Bundesliga championship trophy last season. EPA=Yonhap News

There has been a local report that coach <a href="https://www.world-today-news.com/when-real-madrid-met-miralem-pjanic-sports-soccer/" title="When Real Madrid met Miralem Pjanic | Sports | Soccer”>Xabi Alonso (43, Spain), who led Bayer Leverkusen to an undefeated German Bundesliga title last season, will leave the team at the end of this season. The next destination is likely to be Real Madrid (Spain) or Manchester City (England).

According to local media such as Germany’s Sky Sports and Spain’s Sport on the 22nd (Korean time), the Leverkusen club is expected to leave coach Alonso next summer and has already begun looking for a replacement head coach. Coach Alonso’s contract with Leverkusen runs until the summer of 2026, but it is expected that an ‘early breakup’, one year before the contract period, will be inevitable. Leverkusen would naturally want to continue the contract with coach Alonso, but it is believed that it will not be realistically easy to retain coach Alonso if he decides to leave the team.

Coach Alonso’s next destination appears to have already been decided to be either Real Madrid or Manchester City. Real Madrid is the club where Alonso played as a player, and since he also started his career as a coach in the Real Madrid youth team (Juvenil), the prevailing view is that he will take over the baton of Real Madrid someday. There are still two years left on Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s contract with Real Madrid, which runs until 2026, but there is speculation in Spain that Coach Alonso will take the helm in place of Coach Ancelotti next summer.

Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso.

There is also strong talk of him heading to Manchester City in the English Premier League (EPL) as manager Pep Guardiola’s successor. Unlike Real Madrid, which must conclude a contract with coach Ancelotti in order to appoint coach Alonso, Manchester City is different in that it is about to sign a contract with coach Guardiola next summer. Local media outlets are analyzing the fact that there is still no news of a contract renewal between Coach Guardiola and Manchester City as one of the reasons giving weight to the possibility of Coach Alonso going to Manchester City.

Coach Alonso led Leverkusen to two wins in the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal (cup competition) last season, and also won the DFL-Super Cup this year. Leverkusen, which had not had a championship title since 1993, has already recorded three championship titles in its history since Coach Alonso took office.

Coach Alonso, who led not only the German stage but also the 2023-24 UEFA Europa League runner-up, has emerged as the hottest coach in all of Europe. Initially, weight was placed on the possibility of heading to a bigger club after last season, but first, it was decided to stay with Leverkusen for one more season. At the beginning of the season, Leverkusen is in 4th place in the German Bundesliga with 14 points (4 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss).

Reporter Kim Myeong-seok [email protected]