He Liverpool is diverting his attention to other goals after top contender Xabi Alonso confirmed he will not succeed Jürgen Klopp as coach.
Alonso announced last week that he would stay at Bayer Leverkusen next season despite topping Liverpool and Bayern Munich's wish lists for new managers.
The Reds' search has been underway for several months after Klopp revealed to the board privately in November that he would step down at the end of the season. Liverpool began collecting potential names using a data-driven approach and always planned to begin interviewing candidates following the appointments of Michael Edwards as FSG's general director of football and Richard Hughes as sporting director. The latter's gardening leave at Bournemouth is flexible due to the good relationship between both clubs, meaning he will be allowed to play a leading role in the manager search.
90min revealed in February that Alonso was in fact one of Liverpool's top options for the job – although they had a shortlist of seven – and are now narrowing down those candidates now that their new club structure is in place.
Alonso fit perfectly with the club's data – which also takes into account broader aspects such as the budgets with which it has worked and the club models under which it has worked – as well as through due diligence in regarding style, personality and management of men. Rubén Amorim, of Sporting CP, Roberto De Zerbi, of Brighton & Hove Albion, and the German Julian Nagelsmann are also among the main candidates.
Sources close to Liverpool claim that the club is placing a lot of importance on “attitude and involvement” in hiring, looking at how well a manager wants the collaboration process and the approach he takes in presenting the club to potential prospects. new signings. The club would prefer to bring in a new manager who is willing to get his hands dirty once a target has been identified.
Liverpool are also taking into account the style of football the new manager would like to play, hoping to secure a candidate who offers continuity with Klopp's philosophy.
Amorim is almost certain to be on Liverpool's final shortlist of contenders, while they are aware of De Zerbi's release clause of around £13m, although nothing has progressed with him to date and he is also under consideration in Bayern.
Meanwhile, due diligence continues to be done on Nagelsmann, including the reasons why he was surprisingly fired by Bayern in March 2023. The downside to Nagelsmann is that he won't be available until after this summer's Euros, which means that he may not be able to start with a new club until mid-July.
Inter's Simone Inzaghi and Bologna's Thiago Motta have also been considered on Liverpool's agenda.
The expectation at Liverpool is to have a new manager before the end of the 2023/24 season and the club remains calm about the situation, although an official announcement rather than just securing a private appointment will depend on the candidate chosen and when the time is. appropriate. Liverpool wants to have a coach, but not to disrupt any club heading into the end of the season, nor to overshadow Klopp's own departure and emotional farewell, especially with two trophies still to be played for.
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