Ruben Amorim is the new favourite to become Liverpool manager, but Brighton’s trip to Anfield on Sunday could yet become a key moment in the quest to find Jurgen Klopp’s successor.
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Brighton face a fresh fight to hold onto Roberto De Zerbi, with Bayern Munich and Liverpool both forced to consider him as their next boss.
Xabi Alonso is set to stay at Bayer Leverkusen for next season and that throws a spanner into the works of both clubs, who had been equally confident they could win the race for his signature.
Alonso has not made a formal announcement on his future, but is expected to address the situation today after initial stories broke on Thursday night.
There is a feeling that Alonso may be holding out incase he gets the chance to replace Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, although the Italian recently penned an extension on his contract for at least another year.
It is felt that he has a genuine chance of that job when it comes up, and that Ancelotti may yet even leave at the end of this season.
Either way his decision to stay at Leverkusen for now has huge implications for two of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Liverpool have 44-year-old De Zerbi on their shortlist alongside Sporting Lisbon’s Amorim and Germany national head coach Julian Nagelsmann.
They have very strong profiling already undertaken, but face exactly the same challenge with De Zerbi they had with Alonso in convincing him to move to them instead of Munich.
Sources have suggested to SportsLens that De Zerbi is already intrigued by the prospect of taking over at Harry Kane’s club, and that could be a hurdle for Liverpool to get over.
But they get a close-up look at him this weekend as Liverpool host his Brighton side on Sunday afternoon.
The Reds are also very much into Amorim too, who is considered the top choice at this stage. However, he has a £17million release clause in his contract and no English football experience as a player or manager.
Liverpool will be devastated to miss out on Alonso though, and he could yet inflict more agony on the Reds at the end of the season, with his Leverkusen side on a collision course to face Liverpool in the Europa League final.
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