Xabi Alonso in line to become new Borussia Monchengladbach manager
By Tom Gott
Borussia Monchengladbach are expected to name former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso as their new manager ahead of the 2021/22 season.
Gladbach have already confirmed that current boss Marco Rose will leave the club at the end of the campaign to take over at Borussia Dortmund, who were looking for a permanent replacement for Frenchman Lucien Favre.
The German side have remained tight-lipped about their pursuit of a new boss, but according to Bild, club officials have settled on Alonso, who is set to swap Spain's third tier for the Bundesliga at the end of the season.
Alonso, who cut his teeth in the Real Madrid youth setup, has been in charge of Real Sociedad's B team since the summer of 2019 and he has led the team to the top of the third tier table this season.
There's no denying that hiring Alonso would be something of a risk, given he has never coached higher than his current level, but it is the Spaniard's pedigree as a player that has given him the edge over the rest.
Gladbach hope to see Alonso call on things he learned from his time with Bayern Munich, with whom he won three Bundesliga titles between 2014 and 2017. He knows the league and also speaks German to a high standard.
Club director Max Eberl refused to comment on the speculation when contacted, but it is understood that he pushed to bring Alonso back to Germany and preferred the idea of hiring the Spaniard over other candidates like Wolfsburg's Oliver Glasner or Werder Bremen's Florian Kohfeldt.
Alonso's contract in Spain is set to expire in the summer, meaning Gladbach will be able to lure him over with very little resistance.
Gladbach hope that Alonso will be able to reignite the fire under the squad, who have fallen to tenth in the Bundesliga this season.
They are now 11 points adrift of the top four and seven points behind in the race for Europa League qualification, having seen their hopes for this season derailed by their recent seven-game winless streak.