Liverpool are only weeks away from deciding who will follow Jurgen Klopp as their manager.
Having known that the German was set to leave since January, the Reds have had plenty of time to get their house in order.
But with just over four weeks of the season remaining, FSG are still yet to settle on who will succeed Klopp. Publicly, at least.
There are a couple of front-runners, although as journalist David Ornstein reported this week, it shouldn’t be ruled out that Liverpool do something unexpected, too.
Nevertheless, there are some who we now know will not be taking the Anfield job, too. And according to former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, Liverpool could be about to miss out on a truly ‘incredible’ manager.
Cesc Fabregas hails Xabi Alonso impact
Rewind back to Klopp’s shock leaving announcement in January, and there was only one man Liverpool fans wanted to see replace him.
Unfortunately, almost three months on, and that man has declared in no uncertain terms that he will not be taking the job.
We are of course referring to Xabi Alonso, who was hotly tipped to return to his former club next season. However, having since reiterated his commitment to Bayer Leverkusen – and won the Bundesliga title – Alonso has refused that chance.
And speaking on the BBC’s Planet Premier League podcast, Fabregas has admitted that what his former Spain teammate is doing in management is ‘incredible.’ Liverpool have missed out.
“I’m not surprised [by Alonso’s success] in a way because he’s a very smart, intelligent guy, very thoughtful,” said the 36-year-old. “I could feel as a player he was a protector but a protector with a lot of quality. He was playing as a six but he could always contribute in the attacking point of view, in every phase of the game. You could see that he was one or two steps ahead. So in that case it doesn’t surprise me,” Fabregas added.
“But also it should be said that I didn’t expect such an impact in 20, 21 months. They were bottom of the league with five points if I’m not mistaken. He already took the team very far in the conference cup last year and this year he can win the treble.
“It’s incredible and it shows when you’re smart and you know exactly what you’re doing that things can work out very, very well.”
Who could Liverpool get instead
It is of course a disappointment that Liverpool will not be seeing Alonso in the dugout at Anfield next season. The Spaniard is a fan favourite but more than that, he really does appear to be a special manager in the making.
Despite that though, Liverpool can’t be too disheartened. They need to find the best choice regardless. And for now, that would look like being Sporting boss Ruben Amorim.
Amorim isn’t the only name being touted around, but he’d feel like the best. If Alonso is ‘incredible’ as Fabregas says, then the 39-year-old shouldn’t be far behind him, if behind him at all. We backed Amorim from the start to be fair and although losing Xabi does sting, hiring the Portuguese would be the next best thing.