04 March 2024 , 15:02
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Liverpool could have to fork out around a world record fee for a manager if they want to bring Xabi Alonso back to Anfield this summer.
Alonso is the heavy favourite to replace the departing Jurgen Klopp at the end of the current season, with the German ready to call time on hugely successful spell on Merseyside which has brought the Premier League title, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the FA Cup and two League Cups, the latter of which was won last month.
There could still be a golden ending to Klopp's reign as the Reds go for glory on three more fronts this season, but behind the scenes efforts are already being made to appoint his successor.
Former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, who played 210 times for the Reds between 2004 and 2009, scoring 19 goals and picking up the Champions League and FA Cup, is the hot favourite for the role, and has emerged as one of the brightest young coaches in the modern game.
The 42-year-old took Real Sociedad's B team to the second tier of Spanish football for the first time in 60 years, and his unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen side are currently 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and are poised to end Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the title. Alonso is en route to becoming the first coach to win it with a club other than Bayern since Klopp and Borussia Dortmund in 2013.
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Alonso's Leverkusen are unbeaten this season (Getty Images)And it is that success with Leverkusen which has made Alonso such a hot property. Sky Germany report that Liverpool could face a fee of around £21million to take Alonso from Leverkusen in the summer, with the Spaniard under contract until 2026.
The current world record fee to take a manager from one club to another is the £21.7m Bayern Munich paid RB Leipzig for Julian Nagelsmann in 2021. Although not adjusted for inflation, that £21m is also curiously almost exactly double what Liverpool paid when they signed Alonso as a player from Real Sociedad in 2004.
Although Alonso is the current favourite to replace Klopp, the Reds are also monitoring several other managers, with Sporting's Ruben Amorim, Brighton's Roberto De Zerbi and Germany boss Nagelsmann all under consideration.
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