Report: Man City eyeing world-class manager as potential Pep Guardiola replacement | OneFootball

Xabi Alonso, Manchester City and the Uneasy Waiting Game

Credit must go to Football Transfers for surfacing a story that feels heavy with inevitability and tension. Football has a habit of circling back on itself and Xabi Alonso’s current predicament at Real Madrid already feels like a chapter written in pencil rather than ink.

Alonso arrived at the Bernabeu in the summer of 2025 carrying the glow of a historic unbeaten Bundesliga campaign and a German Cup triumph. He had outmanoeuvred Bayern Munich over a season of relentless clarity and courage. That reputation followed him back to Spain, yet the return has been far from romantic. Results have wobbled, authority has been questioned and the harmony expected between club, coach and squad has not materialised.

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Bernabeu pressure and fragile authority

The former Liverpool midfielder has struggled to win the faith of either the Real Madrid hierarchy or dressing room. At a club where certainty is demanded instantly, context is rarely afforded. The reporting outlines internal briefings that Alonso could have “made better use of the resources available to him”, a familiar Madrid refrain when performances dip. It feels harsh, but not surprising.

There is a growing sense that this project may not be allowed the patience that defined his rise in Germany. That impatience opens doors elsewhere.

Manchester City succession planning

“Xabi Alonso has been included on Manchester City’s list of potential replacements for Pep Guardiola,” Castles revealed.

The Guardiola question has hovered over the Etihad for years. “Guardiola has a contract until the end of 2027, but as we’ve discussed for years now, City have been preparing for the point at which he decides he’s had enough and wants to move on to other areas, probably national team management, a break, and then national team management again, with a lot of time on the golf course in between.”

City plan obsessively and Alonso fits their intellectual mould. Positional discipline, bravery in possession and an emotional intelligence honed as a player under elite coaches.

“One of the candidates is Xabi Alonso, who joined Real Madrid in the summer but has struggled to consistently win at the Spanish club, to the point where there has been discussion about whether Madrid might part company with him.”

Reputation built in Germany, tested in Spain

“There is clearly the potential for a parting of ways.” That line carries weight. Alonso “turned himself into probably the most desired manager in European football by taking the Bundesliga title off Bayern Munich with an unbeaten domestic season and adding the German Cup to that trophy tally.”

His decision last summer was telling. “He was the preferred choice at Liverpool before Arne Slot was given the job but ultimately elected to join Real Madrid on a three-year contract in the summer.”

Guardiola future dominating the narrative

The noise around Guardiola’s future has intensified. “As we saw with the Enzo Maresca sacking and the briefing that Maresca had informed Chelsea of his conversations with Manchester City about potentially replacing Guardiola, that didn’t go down very well with the Catalan manager.”

For now, Guardiola remains focused, with City trailing Arsenal by six points with 17 games to play. Yet succession talk rarely fades quietly.

Alonso waits, Madrid watches and City plan. Football Transfers have shone a light on a story that feels far from finished.

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As an excited but sceptical football supporter, this report lands somewhere between intrigue and concern. Alonso to City feels logical on paper, but football rarely respects logic. Watching him struggle at Madrid has been uncomfortable, especially for those who admired his Leverkusen side as one of the most coherent teams in Europe.

From a fan perspective, there is excitement at the idea of City planning beyond Guardiola rather than clinging desperately to him. Alonso represents continuity rather than revolution. He understands elite dressing rooms, he understands control, and crucially he understands pressure. That matters at a club chasing perfection every season.

There is also scepticism. If Alonso cannot impose himself at Madrid, can he truly follow Guardiola? The shadow is enormous. City players have been shaped for years by Guardiola’s demands. Any successor inherits brilliance but also expectation bordering on suffocation.

As supporters, you worry about timing. Guardiola still feels central to City’s identity. Forcing the conversation early risks destabilising the present. Yet football history shows that the best transitions are prepared quietly.

This story excites because it suggests ambition beyond trophies. It concerns because it hints at restlessness. Alonso may yet prove his worth in Madrid, but if City do move, it would signal the end of an era and the beginning of something far less certain.