Xabi Alonso is enjoying an amazing spell at Bayer Leverkusen this season, leading the club to an unlikely title charge, just like Girona are doing in the Spanish La Liga. Alonso’s rise to prominence at the German club has been a revelation this season. Many have even linked him to top clubs like Real Madrid and Liverpool.
One man who isn’t surprised by the Spaniard’s outstanding form is Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager predicted Xabi Alonso would become a great coach someday, and he must be proud that the man who played under him for a few years is doing justice to those predictions he made five years ago.
Mourinho’s years-old prediction regarding Xabi Alonso turning into reality
If anyone can predict how successful a current player will be in management, it’s some of the greatest managers in history, such as Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, and Carlo Ancelotti.
These are great managers who have managed some of the best players in history, so when they make a prediction about a player becoming a great manager in the future, more often than not, they’re correct. In a promotional event with Top Eleven, the game Mourinho has a sponsorship role with, he made a prediction about Xabi Alonso that we all are beginning to see now.
“Xabi Alonso; his father was a manager. He grew up similar to me. He was born to a father who was a player. He grew up with a father who was a manager, and then he became a player; of course, he was much better than I was. He became a top player with his position on the pitch, and his knowledge of the game was very high,” Mourinho said.
“He played in Spain, England, and Germany. He was coached by Guardiola in Bayern, by myself in Real Madrid, by Ancelotti in Real Madrid, and by Benitez in Liverpool, so I think if you put all this together, I think Xabi has all the conditions to be a very good manager,” Mourinho added.
Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso joined Bayer Leverkusen three months into the new 2022/23 season, with the club positioned second-bottom in the German Bundesliga after just eight games. Alonso guided Leverkusen to a sixth-place finish, securing a spot in the following season’s UEFA Europa League. He also led the club to an impressive run to the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League last season, where they were defeated by Jose Mourinho’s Roma side.
This season, Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in the Bundesliga, with 13 wins and three draws. This makes them the best team in Germany, even ahead of reigning champions Bayern Munich.
Alonso is also unbeaten in the Europa League this season, and his impressive stats have led him to be linked with the likes of Liverpool, whom he reportedly has a ‘break clause’ in his contract at Leverkusen. He’s also touted as the perfect replacement for his former manager Carlo Ancelotti once the Italian’s time at Real Madrid comes to an end.
