Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso will be the next Borussia Monchengladbach head coach, according to a report.
German outlet Bild claim the 39-year-old is returning to Germany four years after leaving as a player. Alonso will replace Marco Rose who will depart for Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season.
Monchengladbach confirmed last month that Rose, who guided the club into the Champions League last season, will depart in the summer.
Rose, 44, will replace Edin Terzic at Dortmund after they agreed to pay his €5m release clause.
That has left an opening at the North Rhine-Westphalia club and Alonso is understood to be the man to fill it.
Alonso, who played for three years in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich before retiring, is currently in charge of Segunda Division B club Real Sociedad B.
Alonso returned to Sociedad, where he started his career in June 2019, to take charge of the club’s B team. His side sit top of the table, but his contract expires this summer and he has agreed to join Monchengladbach.
Wealth of playing experience
Gladbach general manager Max Eberl apparently did not want to comment to the news.
It will be Alonso’s first senior managerial role, but he has picked up a wealth of experience from the likes of Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez, Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and Vicente Del Bosque as a player,
“I will have picked up something from all of them, beginning with those I had here,” he said after being appointed by Socidead.
“Javier Clemente gave me my debut, John Toshack, Roberto Olabe and Raynald Denoueix. I tried to be close to them. But I do not want to be a ‘carbon-copy’, because that always goes badly.
“The idea is to apply all you have learned to create your own style. As a player I could read a game. As a coach I want a versatile team which adapts to what each game requires.”
Alonso played more than 200 times for Liverpool and won the Champions League, FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup at Anfield.
Source: TeamTalk
