Sander Westerveld, who kept goal for Liverpool between 1999 and 2001, is pushing his former teammate to take over from the departing Jürgen Klopp.
The most sought-after manager in the world, Xabi Alonso, is under intense pressure from all angles to leave Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the summer. Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and even Leverkusen are all fighting for his attention.
Luckily for the midfielder who was known as the “coolest man in football” during his playing days, he has kept that calm composure that characterised him while he strutted his stuff for Bayern, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad.
It is expected, however, that he would make a decision over his future soon and the world is waiting with baited breath. In the meantime, his agent is dealing with the calls and offers from various clubs while he is dealing with calls from his former colleagues associated with these clubs.
Sander Westerveld is one of such colleagues. The Dutchman was a goalkeeper at Anfield for three years before moving to Real Sociedad where a young Alonso was just coming up. When the opportunity to move to Merseyside came up for the Spaniard, Westerveld was one of the people he talked to, because they were teammates at the Anoeta.
Now, Westerveld is trying to play agent for the Reds once again by working to convince Alonso to return to Anfield, this time, in the capacity of their manager.
“I might be pushing him a little bit but like he is in the press, he won’t really let go [what he’s thinking],” Westerveld said in a recent interview. “He’s at Leverkusen, even if he says he really wants to go Liverpool, he gets a problem!”
Alonso is holding his cards close to him and is only focused on making sure that his side earns the unprecedented achievement of being the only team to go unbeaten in Europe (across all competitions) in the 2023/24 season.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are doing the smart thing and not putting all their eggs in one basket.
They have identified Roberto De Zerbi and Ruben Amorim of Brighton and Hove Albion and Sporting CP Lisbon as other targets if their Alonso pursuit fails.
They appointed a new director of football, Chris Hughes, to help facilitate one of these three managers filling Klopp’s soon-to-be vacant seat.
“It is clear to everyone that Jürgen will leave a legacy to build upon and in Richard we have the right person to make the key decisions and offer the leadership to take us forward into a bright future,” Edwards told club media following Hughes’ appointment.
“As one very successful chapter will come to a close for Liverpool in the summer, the objective of everyone here is for another one to begin – and with Richard I am confident we have the right person in position for us to achieve this aim.”
