With Manchester City striker Phil Foden’s treble against Brentford, Liverpool’s loss to Arsenal on Sunday night completely upended the Premier League title race. Pep Guardiola’s team will reclaim the top spot if they win their last match.
Being in top position right now, having advanced in the FA Cup and Europa League, and facing Chelsea at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final at the end of the month, Jurgen Klopp will have pushed his team to maintain composure.
The German will be leaving Liverpool in a strong position, having restored them to contention at the top of the Premier League, even though he is resigning as manager at the end of the current campaign.
Choosing the correct substitute to sign will be important.
The ideal substitute for Klopp is Xabi Alonso.
Liverpool wants to replace Klopp in the Anfield dugout with Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Spaniard was instrumental in Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League victory and is currently leading the German Bundesliga.
“There are very few people who support Liverpool, follow Liverpool, or have any involvement with Liverpool that would have a problem with Xabi Alonso being announced as their next manager,” transfer insider Dean Jones told GIVEMESPORT. Alonso would be warmly received back on Merseyside. Thus, I believe that giving him the job is a no-lose situation.”
According to Spanish media, Alonso’s first move as Liverpool’s manager would be to ask for a raid on Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, who is valued at €70 million (£60 million).
Own by Liverpool, Kevin De Bruyne
Although £60 million is a big amount, Liverpool demonstrated last summer that they were prepared to part with such a large money for young talent from the German scene when they sealed a £60 million deal to acquire Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig.
And what a potential Liverpool would land, already familiar with Alonso’s approach and possessing a dynamic skill set that has inspired colleague Victor Boniface to refer to him as a “magician” on the field—if that is even an appropriate term for such a remarkable 20-year-old in Wirtz.
The German is in the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues for assists and passes attempted, in the top 13% for shot-creating actions and progressive passes, in the top 7% for successful take-ons, and in the top 19% for progressive carries per ninety. These statistics are based on data from FBref.
PL Players Similar to Florian Wirtz
#
Participant
Club
1.
Kulusevski Dejan
Tottenham (HTC)
2.
Kevin De Bruyne
City of Manchester
3.
Son Heung-min
Tottenham (HTC)
With Wirtz’s resemblance to Manchester City player Kevin De Bruyne, as shown above, it makes sense that Alonso would be anxious to bring the playmaker to Anfield.
According to Sofascore, Wirtz has had a tremendous season, making 20 appearances in the Bundesliga, completing 85% of his passes, and averaging 2.4 crucial passes, 5.5 ball recoveries, and 2.7 dribbles per game. He has also scored five goals and provided eight assists.
Despite missing the most of the season due to injury, De Bruyne has shown his legendary skill by returning to the field and recording three assists and a goal in three league games since sustaining the problem on the first day of the season.
To shed light on the stylistic similarities, De Bruyne is undoubtedly the best midfield player in the game, ranking in the top 1% for goals scored, assists, and shot-creating actions as well as the top 3% for progressive passes per 90.
Although Wirtz would do well to have Premier League success akin to that of the Belgian machine, one of the best and most influential players in the history of the division, this may actually happen in the red half of Merseyside if FSG manages to get Alonso into the dugout.
