Bayer Leverkusen: Sebastian Hoeneß and Raúl as Alonso’s successors?

So far convinced to stay

Despite the numerous speculations about the future of successful coach Xabi Alonso, Bayer Leverkusen is always calm. The 42-year-old, who is traded at FC Bayern and Liverpool FC, among others, still has a contract with the Bundesliga leaders until 2026, which does not contain a written exit clause. Nevertheless, the Werkself want to be prepared if the worst comes to the worst and is keeping a detailed shadow list of potential Alonso successors.

As “Sport Bild” reports, Bayer 04 is collecting information about more than 20 coaches worldwide who are considered interesting. As an example, the paper cites Fabian Hürzeler, who leads the 2nd Bundesliga table with FC St. Pauli. Leverkusen therefore obtains basic information such as contract length, exit clause, game idea or language on all the candidates. There should also be a selection of five to ten coaches who belong to the inner circle and who would currently be considered as Alonso’s successor.

According to the report, this includes Sebastian Hoeneß, who has also been linked to Bayern. The 41-year-old saved VfB Stuttgart from relegation and led them to third place in the Bundesliga this season. Hoeneß follows a similar approach to the game as Alonso. The Swabians should also prepare for a possible change request from their coach, who is bound until 2025. In addition to the already mentioned Hürzeler, Raphael Wicky, who was recently released from BSC Young Boys, Jeroen Rijsdijk from Sparta Rotterdam and Kieran McKenna from Ipswich Town are in VfB’s sights.

At Bayer Leverkusen, the magazine counts Hoeneß and Raúl among the more exciting candidates. The parallels to Alonso are great: The 46-year-old is also Spanish, a Real legend, knows the Bundesliga from his playing days at Schalke, understands German and has only worked in the youth sector so far. Raúl has been training the Royal reserves since 2019 and scored an average of 1.54 points in 159 games. His contract expires at the end of the season.

Despite the list of successors: Bayer Leverkusen is still convinced that Alonso will stay

Sports director Simon Rolfes has been conducting preliminary discussions with the advisors, the environment and the candidates, but not for a few weeks. Leverkusen is so far convinced that it can keep Alonso despite the interest in the summer. This should also be conveyed to the outside world. Since information from preliminary discussions would quickly find its way to the public, Rolfes is deliberately sending a signal here to avoid speculation and the impression that he is already looking for a new coach for the coming season.

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