Xabi Alonso will NOT succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool with Anfield icon set to stay at Bayer Leverkusen as Ruben Amorim emerges as new favourite

Liverpool and Bayern Munich have been dealt a blow in their search for a new manager after both suffered heavy disappointment in their bid to appoint Xabi Alonso, and the Spaniard is now likely to stay at Bayer Leverkusen.

Alonso had been heavily debated as Jurgen Klopp’s successor since the German announced he would leave the club this summer, but Liverpool had been given no reason to believe the former midfielder would want to leave the Bundesliga leaders.

It now appears Alonso, 42, is out of the running for the Anfield job, making Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim the leading candidate alongside Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi.

Amorim, 39, is likely to get an interview in Liverpool and is believed to have performed well in internal data tests.

Bayern had made public its desire to sign Alonso, perhaps a tactic to destabilize Leverkusen’s title fight, but president Uli Hoeness said on Thursday it would be “probably impossible” to attract him to Munich this year.

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He added: ‘Alonso is more inclined to stay at Bayer Leverkusen in view of their current successes, because he wouldn’t want to leave them behind. Let’s say that if he had two or three more years of success, it would probably be easier to get him out of there.’

Liverpool had never hoped to hire Alonso despite strong external links.

Their recruitment drive, led by new sporting director Richard Hughes and Football CEO Michael Edwards, now turns to Amorim and De Zerbi, whose Brighton team visit Anfield on Sunday.

Alonso, who was seen as Liverpool’s dream target, has led a revolution at Bayer Leverkusen since arriving in October 2022.

When he signed up, they were in the relegation zone, but he led them to the top six.

This campaign, they are 10 points ahead of Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga, unbeaten all season, and in the Europa League quarter-finals for the second year in a row.