Ahead of a summer that will be packed with lots of managerial moves and rumours, Nick Bidwell takes a closer look at the most in-demand coaches
It will take a fairly seismic event for January 26 not to go down as the most chaotic day of 2024 for the UK’s sporting media. On that day, Jurgen Klopp announced that this would be his last season with Liverpool after eight-and-a-half years at Anfield and, in response, TV stations, news websites and social media exploded.
The reaction to Barcelona’s announcement a day later that their coach, Xavi, would also step down at the end of the season was less tumultuous – unsurprisingly, given Barca’s stuttering form - and when Bayern Munich confirmed that they would be waving goodbye to head coach Thomas Tuchel this summer, the only surprise was that they weren’t parting ways sooner.
Nevertheless, the upshot of all of the above is that three of Europe’s biggest clubs are searching for new managers to lead them into 2024-25. Throw in the continuing struggles of Premier League giants Chelsea and Manchester United, plus the inevitable chopping and changing of coaches that will follow the European Championship and Copa America tournaments, and this summer could see unprecedented levels of high-profile managerial changes.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso is perhaps the most in-demand, but he is not the only exciting young coach, nor indeed the only Spanish coach attracting attention. Elsewhere, the Premier League is currently home to a number of impressive managerial talents while other coaches forge their reputations in smaller leagues, with some of the most famous managers in the game out of work and ready to dive back in.
In the race for some of the most prestigious roles in world football, who will come out on top?
His stock sky-high after sensationally transforming Leverkusen from relegation candidates into Bundesliga champions-elect, the Basque maestro no longer needs to send his agent Inaki Ibanez to prospect for job offers. No ifs, buts or maybes, Alonso is now an elite coach that any club would dearly love to employ.
At a time laden with serendipity, two of the clubs he used to play for, Liverpool and Bayern, will both have a managerial vacancy to fill in the summer and in something of a feeding frenzy, English and German scribes have dived head-first into the propaganda war, busy building a case for the 42-year-old to join their club of choice.
The pro-Liverpool brigade believe they have the edge, barely able to hide their glee when announcing that the Merseysiders have contacted Alonso’s representatives and ever ready to voice the opinion that Alonso was bound to prefer the ambience and stability of Liverpool to the much more uncertain situation at Bayern, where player power rules and a large-scale squad cull will
