Spurs-linked Xabi Alonso has spoken out about the alleged interest from the Premier League and La Liga. The Spanish trainer is with his head ‘one hundred percent’ at Bayer Leverkusen.
Tottenham gets a clear message from alleged trainer candidate
Alonso (41) has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur, who are looking hard for a new manager for next season. His name has also fallen at Real Madrid as a potential successor to Carlo Ancelotti. The Spanish former international is not confused by all the speculation.
“I have been involved in football for many years. It is normal for rumors to circulate,” Alonso said in the run-up to Friday’s game with 1. FC Köln. “We can do something big this season. That’s why my head is 100 percent with Leverkusen these last few months. And I’m also here with my head for next season, 100 percent.”
Bayer Leverkusen is Alonso’s first job as head coach. After working as a youth and promise coach at Real Madrid and Real Sociedad, he joined the Bundesliga club in October 2022. This season he is in the semi-finals of the Europa League. AS Roma is the opponent for Germany’s number six.
Junior Firpo and Jack Harrison agree with Allardyce’s claims
Speaking of confident coaches, Big Sam stated among other things, that no one in football is ahead of him and that he is on a par with Pep Guardiola, among others, in terms of substantive knowledge. Leeds players Junior Firpo and Jack Harrison are convinced that they are not empty words.
Allardyce has been brought to Leeds with the assignment to keep The Whites in the Premier League and, according to English media, will receive a huge bonus if he succeeds. With four games to go, Leeds are currently seventeenth, just above the relegation zone, with the same number of points as number eighteen Nottingham Forest. Leeds will visit Manchester City on Saturday.
Before that game, Allardyce shakes hands with Guardiola, one of the most successful managers of this era. According to Allardyce, however, he is no less than the Spaniard. “He’s been a manager for 29 years, so he has a right to say that,” Firpo told Sky Sports. “In all the changes in the game, he too has changed.” Harrison nods, “This is Sam Allardyce. Everyone knows who he is and that has a reason,” says the attacker.
This is Allardyce’s sixth time joining a team in relegation trouble; four times he managed to keep his head above water. Only his last coaching job, at West Bromwich Albion, went wrong. “He has a great reputation for keeping teams in the Premier League,” Harrison said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make it possible.”
