Amid no shortage of speculation over the future of Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso is widely expected to be his replacement this summer. Los Blancos have reportedly not come to a decision on the future of the Italian manager yet, but many believe it is a foregone conclusion.
Ancelotti’s hopes of hanging onto his job appear to hinge almost entirely on delivering a Liga and Copa del Rey double in the final six weeks of the season if he wants to see out the final year of his contract. The Italian recently changed his tune on his future, noting that decisions would be made at the end of the season, having previously claimed he had the backing of the club.
Now, as per Diario AS, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has confirmed that Alonso has a pact with the club, allowing him to leave for any of the four clubs he played for previously: Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Carro went on to detail that Leverkusen have given Alonso three to four weeks to decide his future defintively.
That would appear to be corroborated by a BILD report carried by Sport. They note that Leverkusen have given Alonso until the 17th of May to give them a definitive response. Los Blancos would then have to pay up €12m for Alonso’s services. This comes despite Leverkusen Sporting Director Simon Rolfes saying as recently as March that Alonso would be remaining at the club. Just days earlier, Alonso was supposedly due to announce as much, when Real Madrid called him to ask the Basque manager to hold off on any public declarations.
One of the major question marks is timing. Real Madrid will finish their La Liga campaign on the 24th or 25th of May, and then will have 3.5 weeks to prepare for the Club World Cup in the USA. There is also an international window during that period, in which many of their players will depart. It is not yet clear whether Alonso would be willing to take over before the Club World Cup, if Ancelotti would remain, or an interim coach would come in.
