The Ballon d’Or winner Lothar Matthaeus stated on Wednesday that in-demand Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso’s summer transfer to Liverpool was “not the right option.”
Alonso has done excellently at Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen so far and he has been linked to transfers to Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Liverpool—clubs where he played for a while.
With eight games left in the season, Alonso’s undefeated team is 10 points ahead of Bayern Munich and set to win a German championship for the first time.
Matthaeus told AFP and other media on Wednesday that replacing manager Jurgen Klopp would be tough for any coach and that the in-demand Alonso should stay at Leverkusen. “Liverpool is not the right option for Xabi Alonso after this season. He has better options.”
He added, “Why move to Liverpool? Why should he leave this beautiful team which makes us happy with their beautiful football, like Barcelona 12 years ago?”
After nine years with the Reds, Klopp shocked the football world in January when he announced he was leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, citing exhaustion.
Matthaeus stated that Klopp’s success at Liverpool made him a difficult act to follow. “To coach at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp is not easy because Jurgen is a hero, he’s fantastic. What he was doing is great and what could you do that was much better?”
