Don’t try telling Bayer Leverkusen fans to have a happy Easter.
The reigning Bundesliga champions saw their title defence practically ended on Sunday, and on Monday it looks like manager Xabi Alonso could be following one of his stalwarts out of the door.
Leverkusen drew 1-1 to St. Pauli to give league leaders Bayern Munich an eight point advantage with four games left to play.
That means the Workers’ Eleven will almost certainly end the season trophyless, which isn’t a great situation with Alonso being so heavily linked to Real Madrid.
talkSPORT earlier reported that Leverkusen will not stand in the way of him replacing the under-pressure Carlo Ancelotti, and the club’s CEO has now confirmed that.
Fernando Carro was asked about the links to Madrid at the Laureus World Sports Awards and said: “We have a gentlemen’s agreement. If a team he has played for comes, we will sit down and talk and we won’t put obstacles in his way.
“He’s played for Bayern [Munich], Liverpool, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad…. maybe Real Sociedad will come.”
Alonso was linked with the same clubs last summer, but opted to defend his Bundesliga and DFB Pokal titles as Bayern went for Vincent Kompany and Liverpool Arne Slot who are now both leading their respective leagues.
Madrid also kept Ancelotti in situ after LaLiga and Champions League wins, but the latter of those competitions is now gone with defeat to Arsenal and the former is complicated by Barcelona’s four point league lead.
Carro also spoke of his respect for Madrid and admitted they have a ‘fluid and professional’ relationship when it comes to transfers.
Yet he did also say they’re still planning for things to stay the same, adding: “We are already preparing for pre-season with Xabi Alonso, we are preparing the squad with him.
“If Xabi does end up going somewhere else, then we have to make that clear to him in the next few weeks and we will discuss it with him in the next few weeks.
“We will not wait until the end of the season, we will have to decide beforehand because that will have other consequences for squad planning and preparation.
“Therefore, both Xabi and we ourselves are aware: This is a decision that cannot be dragged out much longer, but must be decided relatively quickly.
“My gut feeling? My gut feeling is 50:50.”
Unexpected winners of their first ever Bundesliga title last term, Leverkusen achieved the rare feat of not having their squad savaged by the bigger teams.
Yet this summer is already different, with key defender Jonathan Tah confirming his departure.
The Germany international will become a free agent this summer and has told the media that he’s already told the club he won’t be signing a new deal.
“The club knows about it, and, as I have always done, I’ve communicated everything very openly,” he revealed.
“Everything was said from the beginning. There was a point when I made the decision not to extend my contract and not to stay here, and that’s how it is now.”
Leverkusen have a wildcard in challenging for the league again next year with Bundesliga Player of the Year Florian Wirtz continually improving and Carro also discussed the attacker’s future.
Constantly linked with Bayern and talked up by the Bavarian’s executives, Carro expressed his annoyance at the perceived tapping up.
“I expect him to stay. There is no offer,” he said.
“It’s really a show. It’s none of my business. They talk so much, it’s actually not appropriate.”
