“Who said Xabi Alonso wants to leave in the summer?”

Michael Reschke (66), former sports director of Stuttgart and Bayern Munich, spoke about Xabi Alonso (42) in an extensive interview with ‘Sport1’. In Basque, technician of Bayer Leverkusensees him as a future coach of Real Madrid, Liverpool either Bavariabut not necessarily this summer and he has been compared to Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.

“Xabi brings an extraordinary combination of skills that reminds me of Jürgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola. He has extraordinary experience in football and strengthens the team with his speeches. Added to this is his enormous social intelligence and empathy, ” he says. “If there is one player I am sure will have a great career as a coach, it is Xabi. As a player he has the qualities and the charisma required for this.”

Reschke also talks about the time they spent together at Bayern (2014-17). “I spoke to him a lot during that time. We went out to dinner together and had a lively exchange. It was always a very important contact. You only get the respect he enjoys from Pep if you are a special player, a special person. It’s absolutely clear that He’s going to be a great coach.”

Despite Alonso’s current success, Reschke sees no danger in the coach resting on his laurels. “He doesn’t doubt himself, but he always questions himself. You can have confidence in yourself and still constantly question yourself if you’re doing everything right. Xabi does that. Where can I improve?” “He was not attracted by success and that is rare”

He sees something about Klopp, something about Pep and something about Ancelotti

“At Leverkusen he is respected like no other. And not for his sporting achievements, but for his personality. For me, Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp are the best coaches at the moment, apart from Carlo Ancelotti, but I still chose the comparison consciously. “He has the dynamism of Klopp, the strategic skills of Guardiola and the social skills of Ancelotti.”

In the not too distant future he sees a bright future: “I am convinced that one day he will work as a coach at FC Bayern, Liverpool FC or Real Madrid. That he is highly valued is also due to the team built by Sina Simon Rolfes, Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler at Leverkusen. They gave him their trust. He was available on the market and Bayer 04 had the courage to bet on him,” explained Reschke. Reschke does not believe that he will say goodbye to Bayer soon: “Who said that he wants to leave in the summer? He is at a good club and he is having success. It is not necessarily true that he needs to change .”