Alonso return ‘now confirmed’ at Liverpool as Slot’s ‘fate is sealed’ after meeting in Madrid | OneFootball

Former Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso is closing in on the Liverpool job as Arne Slot’s ‘fate is sealed’ at Anfield, according to reports.

The Reds have been in disappointing form for most of this season after former Feyenoord boss Slot won the Premier League title last term.

Liverpool recently exited the FA Cup at the hands of Manchester City, while they were beaten 4-0 on aggregate by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals last week.

The Reds have now won their last two matches in the Premier League to give them a very good chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Champions League qualification would have been the minimum requirement set out by the Liverpool board after spending over £400m in the summer.

There have been some rumours throughout the season that Liverpool could opt to change manager and bring in former Real Madrid head coach Alonso in the summer.

And now the latest reports in Spain claim that Alonso ‘has now confirmed that he is returning home [to Liverpool] after a final meeting in Madrid’.

The Spaniard’s future is now described as ‘beyond doubt’ as ‘contact with the English club’s management has been constant since Florentino Perez announced his dismissal’ at Real Madrid.

It is understood that Slot’s ‘fate is sealed after a disastrous second season in every respect’ and ‘the chosen one to lead the new project will be Alonso’.

Alonso ‘will return to what was his home for five years, with the promise that he will have complete freedom to plan the squad’.

It comes a day after a report insisted that Alonso has already identified his first two signings at Liverpool, in the form of Tottenham centre-back Micky van de Ven and Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon.

Xabi Alonso wouldn’t even consider Chelsea

Former Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole would like to see Alonso arrive at Chelsea if he doesn’t go to Anfield but doubts the ex-Spain international would want the job at Stamford Bridge.

Cole told Paddy Power: “I’d love to see Xabi Alonso at the club. I loved watching his [Bayer] Leverkusen team. I think he was hard done by at Real Madrid. He understands massive clubs. He’s a winner.

“The sad thing is, I don’t think Xabi Alonso would even consider Chelsea.

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“The owners [BlueCo] are the ones who need to shoulder the blame because they’re appointing the managers and they’re putting the system in place that’s not allowing the managers to thrive.

“The sad thing is there doesn’t seem to be any kind of appraisal or genuine enquiry into why this isn’t working at the football club.

“That would require some soul-searching and listening to people who genuinely have the clubs best interest at heart. People who have a lot of understanding into how these things operate.

“So the owners have to shoulder the blame. Liam was put in there, same as Enzo [Maresca], same as Poch [Mauricio Pochettino]. They get the job and then it’s a community of people making decisions. The manager has to be the one that makes the football decisions in terms of recruitment, how they play, who plays when, how the team trains.

“You see all the news coming out of Chelsea of people pulling in different directions so what’s the easiest thing to do? Just sack the manager, and it’s sad. I feel sorry for Liam. He’s been thrown to the wolves.”