Xabi Alonso, who has been linked with a move back to Liverpool, has left his role at Real Madrid.
His time in Spain had been under scrutiny for a while, with his first season in charge of Los Blancos proving challenging.
The club made the call this week after their 3-2 defeat to FC Barcelona over the weekend.
Earlier in the season, there were already rumours linking Alonso to Liverpool, and now Jurgen Klopp’s name is being mentioned as a possible replacement at Real Madrid.
Jurgen Klopp asked about Real Madrid links after Xabi Alonso sacking
Klopp hasn’t taken up another managerial position since leaving Anfield, but he was quizzed about the possibility of moving to Madrid shortly after Alonso’s departure.
Speaking on ServusTV On, one pundit asked the German: “About two hours ago the news suddenly broke that Xabi Alonso is no longer the coach of Real Madrid. So my question is: has your phone already started ringing?”
Klopp went on to reveal that while there had been contact about the position, it hadn’t come from the club itself.
He replied: “It actually has — though not from Madrid. But yes, there were definitely a few people who felt they had to contact me directly about it. First of all, I think it’s another sign that something isn’t quite right there at the moment.”
“If Xabi Alonso, who over the last two years in Leverkusen has shown what an outstanding coaching talent he is – and I think at his age and with the number of jobs he’s had, you can say that — is then forced to leave Madrid just six months later, it shows a few things.”
“On the one hand, it shows that nowadays there’s no time anymore. On the other, the expectations at Real Madrid are obviously enormous. To make a decision like that in the heat of the moment, after losing a cup final to Barcelona yesterday, says a lot. I think we’d already been hearing rumours for a while.”
“And now – I don’t know if that’s where your question was going – but this has absolutely nothing to do with me, and it didn’t trigger anything for me either.”
I was surprised, that’s true – genuinely surprised. Then a few people messaged me too; I replied with various emojis.”
Red Bull CEO speaks on Klopp links to Madrid
After stepping away from Liverpool, Klopp took a role at Red Bull, and their CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff, has since spoken about the links connecting him to Real Madrid.
“Jurgen has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be a coach at the moment,” he told Bild in December.
“Whether that changes at some point in his life, of course, is possible. But I can see how passionate he is about this job, how many ideas he has, and how much he wants to develop further. Therefore, I’m completely relaxed.”
The situation may have shifted now that Alonso is out. If Madrid come calling again with an official offer this time around, Klopp could well be tempted.
If that happens and Ancelotti also takes charge of Liverpool as expected, it would be another remarkable chapter in what’s already become one of football’s great storylines.
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