Carragher warns Arne Slot could ruin next season for Liverpool amid Xabi Alonso ‘open secret’ | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher is worried Liverpool could waste big money if they back Arne Slot with more spending this summer, while also tipping Xabi Alonso to follow in the footsteps of Jurgen Klopp.

Alonso has been linked with the Liverpool job ever since he was sacked by Real Madrid in January. Liverpool previously held talks with the Spaniard in 2024, after it emerged Klopp would be leaving Anfield, but he rejected the opportunity at the time.

Alonso is ready to return to management this summer and is keen on reuniting with Liverpool.

Reliable sources such as James Pearce and David Ornstein insist Liverpool will stick with Slot, despite Alonso’s availability and growing fan unrest.

But in his latest column for The Telegraph, Carragher suggested why this could ‘backfire’.

‘If you are a sporting director hunting for a world-class appointment, who are the alternative candidates to a coach who has already delivered a Premier League title? So far as Liverpool supporters are concerned, it seems all roads lead to Alonso,’ the pundit wrote.

‘There is such a romantic attachment to the former midfielder, and that is understandable. If Xabi were not available, would more be prepared to give Slot another season if this one ends in failure? My suspicion is yes.

‘That’s certainly where I stand on the issue, although it cannot be ignored how backing an under siege manager in another summer transfer window can backfire. Carrying the baggage of a poor run into the next campaign can derail it before it has got going.

‘The fact that Alonso is unemployed will be part of the consideration, just as it was after Klopp left Borussia Dortmund in 2015.

‘It was an open secret that Liverpool had hoped to meet Klopp when they appointed [Brendan] Rodgers three years earlier, just as they would have liked to have had Alonso as an option before he ruled himself out of the running in 2024.

‘Once Klopp was available, the club naturally revisited the possibility of hiring him, given how much the team was underperforming. History may repeat itself with Alonso.’

Carragher added that he ‘fears Liverpool supporters are behaving like [Manchester] United fans in the aftermath of Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure.’

‘They are on such a quest to find the next Klopp – or a charismatic figurehead of similar status – that they will be willing to offload many good managers, season after season, in the potentially forlorn hope of finding the next superstar,’ Carragher added.

‘There is no other Klopp. He was a one-off. His presence at last weekend’s legends game at Anfield was a reminder of his aura.’