Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes former team-mate Xabi Alonso is the favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.
Klopp dropped a bombshell on Liverpool fans yesterday, announcing his decision to leave the club at the end of the season.
He stated that, in his ninth year at the helm of the Reds, he feels he’s ‘running out of energy.’ Klopp expressed contentment with the current squad, expressing confidence that he will be leaving the club in good shape.
Klopp has managed to build a pretty solid team, laying a strong foundation for his successor. Several names have been linked with the job since the announcement, including Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi.
However, Carragher believes Alonso is the frontrunner for the job due to a couple of factors – his incredible form with Bayer Leverkusen and his Liverpool past.
Speaking to Sky Sports (via Daily Mail), he said:
‘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.
Alonso’s Leverkusen is the only unbeaten team across Europe, having won 24 and drawn 4. He has turned Leverkusen from a mid-table team into a powerhouse in the German league, challenging Bayern Munich for the title, sitting on top of the table with a 2 point lead.