Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has denied that there is a clause in Xabi Alonso’s contract that allows him to take charge of one of his former clubs that he played for.
After getting off to a flying start in the Bundesliga with his team, rumours had circulated that Alonso would be allowed to return to manage one of his former clubs in the future including Liverpool and Real Madrid.
It was reported that Alonso would be a potential successor of either Jürgen Klopp or Carlo Ancelotti should they either step aside in the near future.
Alonso began his managerial career at Real Madrid’s youth team before moving on to Real Sociedad B and then taking the Bayer Leverkusen managerial role in October 2022 where he went on to secure a semi-final spot in his first season and is now dominating the Bundesliga this season.
Despite Alonso’s success and admiration from Europe’s top clubs, Carro recently spoke to TalkSport to confirm that there is no such thing as a release clause in his contract which allows him to move to either Liverpool or Real Madrid.
However, he also added that a clause may not be needed if he desires to move.
“We have a very, very good relationship with Xabi and he knows that we are a serious club. At the end of the day, we’re not going to force someone to stay if he doesn’t want to stay. We want him to feel so happy and so good with us that he really only wants to stay and this is our objective,” said Carro.
“No nothing on paper but sometimes agreements that are not on paper are agreements as well and we know that if he needs to do a move in the future we’ll be able to talk with each other. I hope we will not need to do this because he will stay and be happy in Leverkusen.”
Real Madrid look likely to be on the lookout for a new manager in the near future as current manager Ancelotti is now into his final 12 months of his contract and has been heavily linked with managing the Brazil national team.
As for Alonso’s other former club Liverpool, manager Klopp’s contract does not run out until 2026 and he has expressed no desire of leaving.
GGFN | Matthew Gritton
About Author
