Xabi Alonso call made by Liverpool

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Few managerial sagas in modern football carry the emotional weight of Xabi Alonso and Liverpool.He left for Real Madrid and went on to win La Liga, two more Champions Leagues, and a World Cup with Spain.When he retired and turned to management, the football world waited to see which club would eventually give him his biggest stage.The answer, it is becoming increasingly clear, may be the one he left behind.Liverpool’s 2025/26 season has been a study in how quickly a title-winning squad can unravel. Last season, Arne Slot’s side collected 88 points, scored 86 Premier League goals, and lifted the title with a swagger that suggested the beginning of an era.This season, with two games remaining, they sit on 59 points — a drop of 30 — and are still not mathematically confirmed in the top four.The €450 million invested in the squad last summer has not delivered the expected results.With Mohamed Salah leaving, Alisson seemingly bound for Juventus, and Andy Robertson expected to depart, Liverpool’s summer rebuild is rapidly taking shape.The rebuild required this summer is not modest — it is foundational.James Pearce of The Athletic captured the mood at Anfield after Saturday’s demoralising 1-1 draw with Chelsea, a game in which Liverpool managed an xG of just 0.56 against the most out-of-form team in the division, when he wrote that the atmosphere was the most mutinous he had witnessed since Roy Hodgson’s final weeks in late 2010.The boos that greeted the final whistle, and the anger directed at Slot during the match, sent an unmistakable message to FSG.The patience of the fanbase has snapped.And now, according to a report from AS director José Félix Díaz, FSG are taking action, and the name at the centre of their deliberations is Xabi Alonso.Liverpool have contacted Real Madrid at their Valdebebas training complex to inquire specifically about Alonso’s work during his time there as a player, effectively seeking a letter of recommendation before making any formal move.The call is described as one of several made by Liverpool as they conduct due diligence on potential candidates to replace Slot.Real Madrid and Liverpool, despite the tension generated by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exit, maintain a relationship of sufficient trust that such an inquiry could be made directly and professionally.The significance of the call cannot be understated.Clubs do not contact former employers of managerial candidates unless they are genuinely serious.This is not speculation or newspaper noise, it is institutional action.Liverpool’s hierarchy asking Real Madrid to endorse Alonso speaks to how far advanced their thinking has become.Xabi Alonso left Bayer Leverkusen at the end of last season after guiding the club to the first Bundesliga title in their history.The Spaniard also oversaw a remarkable unbeaten league campaign in 2023/24, cementing his reputation as one of Europe’s brightest young managers.He is currently without a club, available, and by Pearce’s own analysis, unlikely to remain so for much longer once this summer’s managerial market fully opens.The window, as Pearce noted, is now.If Liverpool want Xabi Alonso, they cannot afford to wait until December.The call to Valdebebas suggests they know that.The question now is whether Slot is told before the season ends, or whether FSG wait until the final whistle of the final game before making the decision that Anfield has been building towards for months.Either way, the wheels are turning.Liverpool called Real Madrid.That tells you everything.

Real Madrid Xabi Alonso