Real Madrid have decided on Xabi Alonso as their man to replace Carlo Ancelotti when the Italian’s contract runs out this summer, according to reports.
Ancelotti has long been linked with the Brazilian National Team job but insisted that he would be seeing out his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu, which expires in 2024.
Beyond that, however, there are questions over the longer term in the Spanish capital.
Now, it appears that those are being answered, with reports in Spain claiming that Real Madrid have ‘chosen’ ex-Los Blanco and Liverpool star Xabi Alonso as their next boss.
Currently earning his coaching stripes with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, Alonso’s side sit joint top with Bayern Munich in Germany, and are unbeaten in the first five games of the season.
He had previously been catching the eye of Liverpool, from whom he moved to Real Madrid as a player in 2009. The Spaniard appeared 236 times for Los Blancos during his five-year stint at the Spanish club, and his return could be timely.
Alonso maintains a good relationship with the club, and began his coaching career in Spain by coaching Real Madrid’s U14 side, before moving to Real Sociedad and then to Bayer Leverkusen, with whom he has forged a reputation as one of the most promising young coaches in world football.
Ancelotti is already under pressure at the helm after a defeat in the Madrid derby, which saw his side fall to a 3-1 loss and drop a point behind early pace-setters Girona and Barcelona in La Liga.
With Kylian Mbappe widely expected to be the next arrival at the Bernabeu, the next coach in charge will have plenty to figure out, and it seems as though Alonso is the man that Florentino Perez and co. believe can get the best from their supremely talented squad.
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