Jamie Carragher believes former Liverpool team-mate Xabi Alonso is the favourite to replace outgoing manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.
Klopp has made the surprise announcement he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, admitting he is ‘running out of energy’ after entering into his ninth year in charge of the club.
While Carragher hopes the German can ‘go out with a bang’, attention inevitably turns to who will be his successor and Alonso and Brighton’s Roberto de Zerbi are the early contenders.
Carragher gives Alonso, 42, the edge due to his five-year playing stint at Liverpool and an impressive start to management with Bayer Leverkusen, who are currently top of the Bundesliga, ahead of Bayern Munich.
Carragher told Sky Sports News: ‘I think right now, if you look around the Premier League and Europe and you think who fits Liverpool, there is no doubt you cannot get away from Xabi Alonso, a former team-mate of mine.
‘It’s because he is so respected at Liverpool for what he did as a player, he is a Champions League winner, has always held himself with real class, he’s a World Cup winner – and that’s just his playing side.
‘You think of the managers he has worked under, Rafa Benitez at Liverpool, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, and all of these great figures.
And right now with the job he is doing at Bayer Leverkusen, he almost looks like the brightest young thing in European football, there is no doubt about that.
‘The other one I look at is Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton, who has done a fantastic job. The thing that stands out about them as well, which always stood out about Jurgen Klopp, was that Jurgen was always able to be successful, without being at the biggest spending of teams.
‘You look at what Xabi Alonso is doing at Bayer Leverkusen, competing with Bayern Munich. You look at what De Zerbi is doing trying to compete with other top teams in the league, and has done really well especially last season.
‘But I would certainly say the frontrunner, and I think it’s too rich me saying it, would certainly be Xabi Alonso – for the job he is doing at Bayer Leverkusen, who are still the only undefeated team in Europe in all competitions.
‘There is a long way to go but they are in a great position. I think for what he has achieved, the managers he has played under, and the start he has made to his managerial career, he is certainly the frontrunner.’
Writing in his column in The Telegraph, Carragher revealed he didn’t believe the news about Klopp at first.
‘When I was told Jurgen Klopp was making a major announcement on Friday, my immediate thought was excitement. Brilliant. He must be signing a new contract,’
‘After seeing the news he is leaving at the end of the season, my heart sank. I genuinely thought it was some kind of hoax, or cruel joke.’
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