United's former coach in the running for Alonso's job

A desirable destination for many coaches currently out of work. Desirable because Xabi Alonso has turned Bayer Leverkusen into a healthy club, a modern team with clear principles of play. When the environment is favorable, it’s understandable why so many are now flocking to the former champions of Germany, especially at a time when it seems inevitable that the Basque coach will replace Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid. On Tuesday, news broke that the ‘Pharmacists’ have Imanol Alguacil on their radar — yet another coach from the northern region of Spain, which has recently produced many well-known names. But the departing Real Sociedad coach is not the only one on the BayArena club’s shortlist. A new name has appeared — Erik ten Hag.

That’s according to Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sport Germany, one of the most respected sports journalists in the country. He adds that the Dutchman is among the candidates, though no official contact has yet been made. Leverkusen is currently just gathering information about the former successful Ajax coach and unsuccessful Manchester United manager. It’s also possible that Ten Hag himself is putting his name forward — no one knows for sure. But it’s clear that the Leverkusen bench is now highly attractive, especially with Champions League qualification secured, and everyone wants a piece of it. That wasn’t the case before Xabi Alonso’s arrival.

Bayer changing one Real coach with another?

If we look at the list of names over the last 14 years, since Jupp Heynckes’ departure, the bench has been occupied by Robin Dutt, Sami Hyypia, Sascha Lewandowski, Roger Schmidt, Tayfun Korkut, Heiko Herrlich, Peter Bosz, Hannes Wolf, and Gerardo Seoane. During that time, the team's best Bundesliga finish was third place, along with one German Cup final appearance. Last year, they won the domestic double, the squad is full of talent and quality — and everyone wants to coach them. But not just anyone can. We're not biased, but at this moment, Imanol is a higher-quality solution than Ten Hag.