Liverpool are ready to pass on Alonso - it is a huge gamble
The Spaniard may be the fans' favourite to replace Arne Slot, but Chelsea look set to be given a free run at appointing him this summer.
For Liverpool fans hoping to see a change in the dugout this summer, the fact the club continue to privately claim that Arne Slot’s job is safe rightly means little.
Ultimately, even if a sacking were planned, there would be no benefit to privately undermining your head coach when Champions League qualification is still to be secured.
Furthermore, football is littered with enough examples of the vote of confidence being swiftly followed by a dismissal to know that it would be foolish to read too much into Fenway Sports Group’s public position.
However, the bad news for the Slot sceptics is that there are other strong indicators that the club are prepared to follow through on their oft-briefed desire to back the Dutchman.
And chief among them is the lack of noise regarding the pursuit of an alternative head coach during a period that would be crucial to lining up any appointment.
This inaction is best exemplified by an apparent reluctance to get involved in the race for Xabi Alonso’s signature, despite the former midfielder now being courted by Premier League rivals Chelsea.
A former Anfield favourite, the Spaniard has long been considered by many supporters to be the ideal candidate should Liverpool make a change.
Yet even during Slot’s lowest moments, the club have never given off the impression that they themselves are as desperate to appoint him.
The Reds were keen to talk to Alonso when the process of replacing Jurgen Klopp began, but they did not get the chance to talk to him after being quickly rebuffed in favour of another year at Bayer Leverkusen.
As such, it is impossible to know how highly he might have featured on any final shortlist, or whether that standing has shifted in the years since.
It is, of course, unlikely that a brief stint in the Real Madrid madhouse has harmed Alonso’s standing with recruitment staff, while claims that an alleged preference for a back three have put Liverpool off do not stand up to scrutiny given he has used different formations outside Germany.
However, what is clear is that the club do not view Alonso as the slam dunk appointment he is widely touted as, or they simply would not be allowing this opportunity to pass them by.
