MOOT APPOINT

Alonso to Anfield never on the cards  as race to replace Kop boss intensifies

- CHRIS MCKENNA

THE romantics would have favoured Xabi Alonso. 

The Champions League winner from 2005 returning to take the throne from Jurgen Klopp had something about it for sure.

It would have been universally loved among the Reds fan base as the right choice, despite it being something of a gamble, given his so far short-lived experience at the top level with Bayer Leverkusen, even if it has been so impressive.

But in reality, it was never really on the cards, no matter how romantic it would have been.

Nor was it what Liverpool were banking on, despite the bookmakers’ odds.

Alonso, 42, was considered, of course. That’s why the Reds did their due diligence on him. But there were no approaches made once they got the sense the Spaniard was sticking where he was.

They see their former midfielder, who spent five years at Anfield between 2004 and 2009, as a very good manager with a hugely bright future, but they don’t feel it is a blow that he is staying in Germany.