X reacts as Xabi Alonso confirms future plans in blow for Liverpool & Bayern Munich

There'll be no reunion between Xabi Alonso and Liverpool this summer.

Fans of the Merseyside giants have powered through an emotional period in the club's recent history after long-time manager Jurgen Klopp announced his decision to step down at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

The departure of such an iconic figure at Anfield has had some supporters calling for a nostalgic reunion with former midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is currently bossing it at Bayer Leverkusen. With Thomas Tuchel leaving Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in need of a successor for Carlo Ancelotti at some point, Alonso may well have his pick of the top jobs at his former clubs for the remainder of his managerial career.

Both Liverpool and Bayern might have felt like the stars had aligned to pursue their top target in the summer, but all hope was extinguished on Friday when Alonso confirmed he intended to stay put at Bundesliga champions-elect Leverkusen.

News emerged of Alonso's rejection of the European giants on Thursday before he doubled down in person at a press conference, saying: "It's been a season with a lot of speculation about my future. I wanted to use the international break to reflect and take a decision.

"Last week, I had a meeting with Simon [Rolfes] and Fernando [Carro] when I informed them of my decision to continue being coach of Bayer Leverkusen."

It looks to be a shrewd and sensible move from Alonso. While the ex-Spain international previously enjoyed strolling under the bright lights of Liverpool, Madrid and Munich as a player, the allure wasn't strong enough to make him leave North Rhine-Westphalia.

His side look set to ditch the 'Neverkusen' moniker that has dogged the club throughout its history, sitting ten points ahead of Bayern with eight games left of the Bundesliga season. They remain unbeaten in all competitions, with silverware in the Europa League and DFB-Pokal up for grabs.

Some of the statistics from his first full season in charge are just incredible.

Of course, Alonso might have upset his old flames with his choice to lead Leverkusen into his second full season at BayArena, having first taken over in October 2022 when the German side sat in the relegation zone after eight games.

Liverpool face a defining summer as they plot more squad improvements and look to keep hold of Mohamed Salah, but few clubs can match Spanish giants Real Madrid when it comes to succession planning.

With Kylian Mbappe expected to head to the Bernabeu and stars like Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and Endrick all blossoming at various paces, every manager in world football will want the Blancos job when Ancelotti does leave the post.

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