Rumor Mongering: Secret Contract Clause Allows Xabi Alonso to Join Liverpool

As inconceivable as it might be for Liverpool fans to imagine, Jurgen Klopp will not traverse the Anfield touchline forever.

While the Anfield faithful pray that the club legend extends his stay past 2026 when his current contract ends, it is understandably likely the German will want to go out on top after finally winning the quadruple.

The club ownership will therefore begrudgingly have drawn up succession plans in the event the 56-year-old cannot be convinced to sign a lifetime contract. An in-house replacement option exists in the form of Pep Lijnders, the ambitious assistant manager who would likely be itching for a chance to continue Klopp’s legacy. Meanwhile, the hottest name on the market, Robert De Zerbi is impressing at the helm of what Klopp recently labelled as the “best coached team in the league” in Brighton, and would also be a name on the Liverpool supporter wish list.

However, another hat to potentially throw in the ring is one who is already very familiar to Liverpool fans, in ex-Red Xabi Alonso. The 41-year-old manages Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and is currently the talk of German football, having built on a promising debut season to start the current campaign undefeated and top of the table, while playing a tactically exciting brand of football.

Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

Despite recently extending his contract with the Westphalian club—also through 2026 interestingly enough—reports in German media claim that a clause exists that allows the ex-Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich player to leave without penalty if any of his former clubs were to come calling.

As far as Klopp replacements go, Liverpool supporters would be hard pressed to come up with a better option than a member of the fabled Istanbul side currently wowing as one of the game’s foremost tactical innovators.

Timing might be everything, however, as Real Madrid are more likley in need of a manager sooner rather than later with current boss Carlo Ancelotti all but certain to be departing for the Brazil national side job in the summer, while Bayern Munich appear to be in a state of perpetual flux in recent years.

Nevertheless, Alonso is known as a diehard Red and has claimed that he has raised his children as Reds’ supporters, meaning that this story will be one to watch.