Jurgen Klopp's parting Liverpool gift could hand them Xabi Alonso advantage over Bayern Munich

“When I leave at any point… it is important that it is still in a very good place,” said Jurgen Klopp upon signing a two-year extension in 2019 that kept him at Liverpool.

He was speaking just months after lifting the first of his six trophies as Liverpool boss following the Champions League triumph over Tottenham in Madrid. Perhaps the most coveted of them all came seven months later when he lifted the Premier League title.

Klopp penned a further extension after the FA Cup and League Cup triumphs of 2022 but will leave two years ahead of its 2026 expiry this summer. He has been the gift that has kept on giving and the club will be determined to give the man himself a few presents before he leaves Merseyside, starting with the Carabao Cup.

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The hunt for his replacement is now on and Klopp has already given the club a head start ahead of a summer that is likely to see a number of managers change jobs. It’s almost certain that Liverpool will have not approached potential successors before Klopp’s exit was made public. The risk of the news leaking out was too great.

But by Klopp telling FSG of his decision in November, Liverpool have been handed time to get their ducks in a row and identify several targets. Xabi Alonso may have already been on their list back then but he will be top of the notepad by now.

He has taken Bayer Leverkusen from relegation candidates to title favourites in the space of 16 months and his style of play is akin - albeit not identical - to Klopp’s own ethos. In fact, he has done so well that rivals might be