Having seen Xabi Alonso turn down the opportunity to manage them, Liverpool have set their sights on Ruben Amorim.
Alonso had felt like the perfect candidate to soften the blow of losing Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season. However, having made his choice to stay at Bayer Leverkusen, we now know that that won’t happen.
From Liverpool’s point of view, it perhaps wasn’t a surprise to see Alonso stay on in Germany. Ever since Klopp announced his decision to leave, other names have reportedly been in play, too.
One of those mentioned right from the beginning has been Sporting boss Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese manager has been one of Europe’s brightest young coaches over recent years.
With Alonso out of the way, some have now proclaimed Amorim to be the favourite to succeed Klopp. Nevertheless, just like with the Spaniard before him, Liverpool look likely to have to battle one of the continent’s giants to land their next manager.
Barcelona looking at Ruben Amorim
According to a report from The Independent yesterday, Barcelona have actually been the club seen as most likely to hire Amorim this summer.
Like Liverpool and Bayern Munich, the Catalans are also planning to put a new manager in place before next season.
Unlike the other two clubs, Barcelona were not in the mix to hire Alonso. Instead, it’s claimed that they were confident of a pretty clear run at Amorim. Given Liverpool and Bayern’s preoccupation with their former midfielder, they didn’t anticipate competition for the Sporting manager.
That has now been blown out of the water. And although it’s been claimed that Barca are now ‘rushing’ to get a deal for Amorim over the line, they are certainly not alone in pushing to get that done.
Who’s now leading the race for Ruben Amorim
If Liverpool were seen as favourites to land Alonso over Bayern, then the same should apply to Barcelona and Amorim here.
Bayern aren’t in the best place right now, but Barca are arguably far worse off. For so long seen as the premier destination for any footballer, they’ve fallen a long way over the past few years.
As a result, it’s no surprise to see Portuguese journalist Pedro Sepulveda report via X that Liverpool are indeed ‘leading the race’ for Amorim.
Sepulveda does not specifically mention any other club involved in challenging the Reds, however.
“LFC is leading the race. Negotiations are taking place,” writes the reporter.
With Sporting getting towards the end of what could be a glorious season for them, things might not move super quick here. But either way, something has to give soon. Seems like Liverpool will be in the box seat when it does.