Xabi Alonso discussed in Real Madrid dressing room amid speculation over 2025 move

The pieces appear to be coming together for Xabi Alonso to potentially take charge of Real Madrid from next summer onwards. The Basque coach recently revealed that he won’t be leaving Bayer Leverkusen at the end of this season, despite strong interest in his services from Liverpool and Bayern Munich, but that does open the possibility of Los Blancos in 2025.

Carlo Ancelotti signed a new deal until 2026 at the back-end of last year, so he is set to remain in charge for at least another season. However, it is at this point in the summer of 2025 that he could step aside in favour of Alonso taking the reins. Recent reports have suggested that the 42-year-old is their top choice to succeed Ancelotti, with an approach next summer entirely possible.

As revealed by Relevo, Alonso is already a talking point among the Real Madrid squad. A large part of the squad believes that the Leverkusen manager wants to coach Los Blancos once his time there is over, which is why he has decided to continue there, and rejected approaches from Bayern and Liverpool.

It certainly makes sense for Real Madrid to go for Alonso in 2025. He’s one of the top managers in the world at the moment – they already have one of those in Ancelotti, but he is close to retirement, which could arrive at the end of next season. That would pave the way for Alonso to join.