Jamie Carragher thinks ex-Liverpool team-mate Xabi Alonso is the “frontrunner” to replace Jurgen Klopp; Klopp will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, having taken charge at Liverpool in 2015; Klopp has won six trophies with the Reds, including the Premier League and Champions League
Jamie Carragher thinks his former Liverpool team-mate Xabi Alonso has to be regarded as the frontrunner to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.
Carragher and Alonso spent five years playing together following the Spaniard’s arrival from Real Sociedad in 2004, with the pair winning the Champions League on a famous night in Istanbul in Alonso’s first season.
Alonso would go on to play for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, before returning to the Bundesliga in October 2022 for his first senior managerial role as head coach at Bayer Leverkusen.
Leverkusen have thrived under Alonso and have surprised everyone in German football this season by topping the Bundesliga where they are unbeaten in 18 matches and are four points clear of Bayern Munich.
Alonso said earlier on Friday he is “really happy” at Bayer Leverkusen and is not thinking about his future after being installed by the bookmakers as the favourite to succeed Klopp, who announced in the morning that he would be leaving Liverpool in the summer.
Carragher told Sky Sports News: “I think right now, if you look around the Premier League and Europe and you think who fits Liverpool, there is no doubt you cannot get away from Xabi Alonso, a former team-mate of mine.
It’s because he is so respected at Liverpool for what he did as a player, he is a Champions League winner, has always held himself with real class, he’s a World Cup winner – and that’s just his playing side.
You think of the managers he has worked under, Rafa Benitez at Liverpool, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, and all of these great figures.
“And right now with the job he is doing at Bayer Leverkusen, he almost looks like the brightest young thing in European football, there is no doubt about that.
The other one I look at is Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton, who has done a fantastic job. The thing that stands out about them as well, which always stood out about Jurgen Klopp, was that Jurgen was always able to be successful, without being at the biggest spending of teams.
“You look at what Xabi Alonso is doing at Bayer Leverkusen, competing with Bayern Munich. You look at what De Zerbi is doing trying to compete with other top teams in the league, and has done really well especially last season.
But I would certainly say the frontrunner, and I think it’s too rich me saying it, would certainly be Xabi Alonso – for the job he is doing at Bayer Leverkusen, who are still the only undefeated team in Europe in all competitions.
“There is a long way to go but they are in a great position. I think for what he has achieved, the managers he has played under, and the start he has made to his managerial career, he is certainly the frontrunner.”
