Real Madrid 'welcomed' Xabi Alonso's decision to remain at Bayer Leverkusen
Real Madrid reportedly viewed Xabi Alonso's decision to stay at Bayer Leverkusen as good news for their long-term plan.
Alonso, 42, has overseen a revolution since taking over at Leverkusen in October 2022, transforming them from relegation candidates into champions elect.
This campaign, they are 13 points clear of Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga, unbeaten all season, and into the last eight of the Europa League for a second year running.
Such has their impressive season been that they are set to end Bayern's monopoly on the Bundesliga, with the Bavarian giants having won the title for 11 consecutive seasons.
Alonso had been widely tipped to succeed both Thomas Tuchel at Bayern and Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, but on Friday the former Spain midfielder announced his intention to stay in his role for next season.
And, according to Spanish outlet Relevo, that decision was followed closely by those at Real Madrid, with Los Blancos president Florentino Perez wanting Alonso to be the club's next manager.
Carlo Ancelotti is currently in his second spell at the Bernabeu and continues to impress, with the Italian signing a new deal until 2026 back in December.
And the report claims Perez wants Alonso to succeed Ancelotti, with the 77-year-old believing he has the ideal profile to lead Real's new generation of young stars, while also maintaining the glamour of Real as a club.
His status as a former player, where he made 236 appearances during a six-year spell, is another tick in his book, as are his modern coaching methods but similarly traditional outlook on the game.
The report goes onto claim Alonso could even replace Ancelotti at the end of next season, which would be a year ahead of schedule.
However, it also reports that while
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