The clock is ticking for Real Madrid to make a move for Xabi Alonso. Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has stated that a decision on Alonso’s future must be made within the next three to four weeks.
Bayer Leverkusen and Xabi Alonso have a “gentleman’s agreement” that would allow the coach to leave this summer if he receives an offer from one of the clubs he played for during his professional career. This was reported by AS and confirmed this Monday in Madrid by the CEO of the German team, Fernando Carro, who is in the Spanish capital for the Laureus Awards, in which Bayer Leverkusen is nominated as a breakthrough team.
“We have a gentleman’s agreement that if any of the teams he has played for (Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich) come, we would sit down to talk and we would not put any obstacles in his way,“ Carro acknowledged. Given that the coach is not in question at any of the first three, it seems clear that Real Madrid is the immediate destination if the club finally decides to dispense with Ancelotti, who has one more year of contract.
Preparing for next season…With or without Alonso?
The CEO of Bayer Leverkusen explained that they had “not yet” sat down with Xabi Alonso for a possible change of scenery, but rather to prepare for the next season with the German team. “We are not naive, but the position of the coach is very important for a club and it is true that we are preparing for the next season with him, we have continued to work on it every day, he is fully involved in that preparation,” he said.
However, Carro is aware of the situation that Real Madrid is going through and did not want to avoid the fact that it may entail a change of head on the bench of the white team. “We are a very professional club and we have to be prepared for everything. If in the end there was an interest from another club and he was interested in going to that club, we have a relationship that would have to be discussed. It is not our wish, but we are clear with him,” he remarked.
A decision within weeks
However, Fernando Carro made it clear that the possible departure of the coach, and the gentleman’s agreement, cannot be delayed and would have a kind of expiration date in order to properly prepare for the next season. “The decision has to be in the next three or four weeks, not much more. Now there is nothing, but in the next three or four weeks we will know if there is any tectonic change in the club,” he concluded.
In the event that he reaches an agreement with Real Madrid, it would remain to be determined whether he would already lead the team in the Club World Cup that begins on June 14 and concludes on July 13, or whether Raúl or Solari, both in the white technical structure, would do so.
