The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Xabi Alonso

  • Alonso excited to keep Boniface at Leverkusen

    Alonso excited to keep Boniface at Leverkusen

    Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso has expressed satisfaction that Super Eagles forward Victor Boniface will remain at the Bundesliga club after his purported  transfer to Saudi Pro League side, Al-Nassr reportedly collapsed.     .

    Boniface returned from injury on Saturday but was on the bench for Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw with RB Leipzig after German media reports linked him with a transfer to Saudi club Al-Nassr.

    He was then left out of training ahead of Leverkusen’s 2-0 Champions League win over Czech side Sparta Prague on Wednesday.

    “He will train again tomorrow. I believe he is staying with us,” Alonso told reporters after that win. “So I have to say that I am satisfied, I am happy. He is comfortable here, so I don’t believe that this is a big stress for him.”

    The 24-year-old has scored eight goals in 15 games in all competitions. Last season, he netted 14 goals in 23 league appearances to finish as their top scorer and played a pivotal role in securing Leverkusen’s first Bundesliga title.

    Boniface staying at Leverkusen has reportedly  opened the doors for Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran to join Al-Nassr instead. According to BBC Sport, the Colombian is close to completing a move to Saudi Arabian club

    A fee has been agreed between the two clubs and Duran – who was on the bench for Villa’s 4-2 win over Celtic on Wednesday night – was undergoing a medical on Thursday.

    Read Also: NFF holds match commissioners’ seminar in Asaba

    A price of £65m for the 21-year-old Colombian has been reported, with  a senior Saudi Pro League source said Duran will fly to Saudi Arabia on Saturday if the medical goes well.

    Sources told BBC Sport that Duran was saying his goodbyes to staff and colleagues at Villa Park on Wednesday night after the deal progressed.

    A Saudi delegation has been stationed in London this week negotiating the deal.

    Villa manager Unai Emery was asked post-match on Wednesday about the future of Duran as well as striker Ollie Watkins, amid a rejected bid from Arsenal.

    On Duran, Emery said: “If he is leaving it’s because he wants [to]. I told you last week I wanted him here.

    “We are different people, different objectives.

    “The club is working and we have to be intelligent in the market.

    “Our objective here is to keep our structure because we want to keep the level high, and maybe we have to sell some players – and I don’t know exactly until everything is done whether or not Jhon Duran is leaving – but if he does, it’ll be good news for us because it’s good money.”

    Duran joined Villa from Chicago Fire for £18m in January 2023 but is now expected to leave in a deal reportedly worth more than £64.4m plus add-ons.

    Al-Nassr are fourth in the Saudi Pro League table.

  • Alonso  tips  Leverkusen  for ‘big things’  against Inter

    Alonso  tips  Leverkusen  for ‘big things’  against Inter

    Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso backed his side to “do great things’  before today’s   home clash with Inter Milan in the Champions League.

    After a 4-0 loss in Liverpool, Alonso’s German champions have hit form, with five straight wins in all competitions, and sit sixth in the 36-team European table.

    Reigning Italian champions Inter however are yet to lose in Europe this season and are second in the standings with 13 points from five games.

    Since the start of last season, Leverkusen have played 75 games and lost just three, with 57 wins.

    Asked about the positive run, Alonso told reporters: “It’s better not to say it too loud.”

    Read Also: Foxes’ boss Nistelrooy sweat over injured Ndidi

     “There has been a development in the club, not only in the play but in the mentality of everyone. We want to play each game to win, even tomorrow against a top, top side like Inter,” he continued.

     “We are on the way to fight for big things. Our goal is to qualify in the first eight.

     “I’m really happy that the squad shares this feeling that we can do great things.”

     “Tomorrow, it’s a big one.”

    Leverkusen received a boost with news that striker Patrik Schick would return for the game from a calf injury which forced him off the field in last Tuesday’s German Cup win over Bayern Munich.

    With long-term injuries to forwards Amine Adli and Victor Boniface, Schick is Alonso’s last remaining recognised striker.

    “He feels better. We’ll see tomorrow whether he’s ready for the starting XI or comes on in the second half.”

  • Champions League: Alonso makes emotional Anfield return with Leverkusen

    Champions League: Alonso makes emotional Anfield return with Leverkusen

    Xabi Alonso returns to Anfield for the first time  today as his Bayer Leverkusen side take on Liverpool in the Champions League, the trophy he helped the Reds win in 2005.

    Alonso played 210 games for Liverpool between 2004 and 2009, with the highlight undoubtedly being the miracle comeback in the Reds’ Champions League final win over AC Milan in Istanbul.

    The Spaniard scored Liverpool’s third goal in seven minutes to bring them level to 3-3 before they went on to win on penalties.

    Alonso, 42, remains hugely popular with Liverpool fans and could have been in the home dugout had things gone differently.

    Last season, after Jurgen Klopp’s shock decision to leave the club, Liverpool fans – who had taken notice of Alonso’s incredible run at Leverkusen – were hoping he could be headed to Merseyside.

    Read Also: NFF President promises 2025 AFCON title, World Cup 26  ticket

    Alonso though knocked back the reported interest from Liverpool as well as from former sides Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to stay at Leverkusen, who he had on track for a first-ever German top-flight title.

    Alonso still speaks fondly of his time as a player on Merseyside and after Friday’s scoreless draw with Stuttgart, he said he was eagerly awaiting his return.

     “Champions League at Anfield? It doesn’t get much better than that,” he said. “This game means a lot to me. It will be a big game. To play in the Champions League, at Anfield, it’s difficult to experience anything better.

     “The atmosphere is great. Liverpool is one of the best teams in Europe at the moment. It’s a huge challenge but a beautiful challenge for us.”

    Any regret at missing out on Alonso is likely to have subsided among Liverpool fans, given their impressive start under Dutchman Arne Slot.

    With 13 wins and a draw from 15 matches – officially the best start of any new Reds manager – Slot has Liverpool sitting top of the Premier League table.

    In Europe, Liverpool are alongside Aston Villa as one of only two sides to have won three from three.

    In his first full season as a top-flight coach, Alonso took Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double – the first in German football history – as well as a Europa League final.

    The loss in that final, a 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in Dublin when Leverkusen ran out of steam, was their only defeat in 53 games last season.

    But Leverkusen have struggled to recreate last season’s heroics so far.

    In the Bundesliga, they have already dropped 11 points in nine games, having dropped just 12 in a 34-game season last year. Leverkusen’s woes have mainly come on the defensive end, having already conceded 15 goals compared to 24 last campaign.

    Things have been better in the Champions League, where Alonso’s side have won two, including a dominant victory over Milan, and drawn one of their three games.

    With Leverkusen having retained the vast majority of their squad, the issue seems to be not one of talent but of desire.

    Midfielder Granit Xhaka has frequently questioned his side’s application this season, with Leverkusen often suffering from lapses of concentration.

    With Liverpool now just days away, Leverkusen may have finally shaken off the hangover from last season.

    Despite dropping more points in Friday’s scoreless draw with Stuttgart, Leverkusen resembled last season’s all conquering side.

     “That was our best performance of the season,” Xhaka told DAZN.

    Alonso agreed, saying: “I’m very satisfied with the performance and the attitude from the lads – we were only missing the goals.

     “If we play like that against Liverpool, then we’ll have a better chance to win.”

  • Alonso snubs Bayern to remain at Leverkusen

    Alonso snubs Bayern to remain at Leverkusen

    Xabi Alonso has told Bayern Munich he will be remaining as Bayer Leverkusen this summer, reports Sky Germany, with Liverpool already turning their attentions elsewhere.

    Alonso was touted by many as a replacement for Jurgen Klopp, who is leaving Anfield at the end of the season, though the Reds were already not expected to include their former midfielder on their shortlist of possible successors.

    Bayern Munich were also keen to appoint their former player as a replacement for the departing Thomas Tuchel.

    But the 42-year-old is now believed to be staying with Leverkusen, who he has led to the brink of their first Bundesliga title in his first full season as manager, after informing Bayern’s hierarchy of his wishes.

    Read Also; FULL LIST: African presidents, Heads of State below 50 years of age

    After three years in charge of Real Sociedad’s B team, Alonso joined Leverkusen in October 2022, with the side in the bottom half of the Bundesliga.

    The 42-year-old engineered an improvement that led to Europa League qualification. In Alonso’s second season, Leverkusen are unbeaten in all competitions and set to end Bayern’s 11-year dominance of the Bundesliga title.

    Liverpool have begun to reshape their hierarchy ahead of appointing a new manager, with Michael Edwards, the former sporting director, returning as owner Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football.

    Edwards then recruited Bournemouth’s Richard Hughes as sporting director. Hughes helped to appoint Andoni Iraola, who shares an agent with Alonso, as Cherries boss last summer.

    Bayern also believe Alonso will stay with Leverkusen, with Uli Hoeness, their honorary president, telling German broadcaster ARD: “I feel that it will be very difficult to sign Xabi Alonso, not to say probably impossible.

  • Liverpool, Bayern battle to appoint Alonso

    Liverpool, Bayern battle to appoint Alonso

    Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness has said that the club was competing with Liverpool to appoint Xabi Alonso as manager.

    Spaniard Alonso, a former player of both clubs, is on the brink of guiding Bayer Leverkusen to their first German Bundesliga title.

    Bayern and Liverpool are both looking to appoint new managers this summer.

    “Clubs like Liverpool, Real Madrid, Leverkusen and FC Bayern are working on it,” Hoeness told Ran Sport.

    “He’s proven that he can be a coach for the big time. There are hardly any coaches who come into question who are currently free, who don’t have a job or who are on sabbatical.

    Read Also: Nathan Tella: Alonso Crucial To My Transfer

    “It’s not so easy to tell them that FC Bayern is the measure of all things.”

    Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, while Jurgen Klopp announced his decision to step down at Liverpool in January. The Reds are second in the Premier League, level on points with leaders Arsenal.

    Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid manager, extended his deal with the club until 2026 in December. Alonso spent five years as a player at Real in between his stints at Liverpool and Bayern.

    Alonso’s deal at Leverkusen runs until 2026.