Suggestions that Liverpool have been taken aback somewhat by Xabi Alonso’s desire to stay put at Bayer Leverkusen for at least another season appear to be a little wide of the mark.
Yes, everyone knows that the former Anfield hero was the Premier League giants’ first choice. But he was hardly the only choice. HITC Football understands that Michael Edwards and Liverpool’s incoming sporting director Richard Hughes have already been working behind-the-scenes identifying a number of alternative targets, reluctant as they were to put all their eggs in the Xabi Alonso basket.
Julian Nagelsmann, his short-term contract in charge of the German national team expiring after Euro 2024, is one of those. Ditto Ruben Amorim – top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga with Sporting Lisbon – and Brighton’s much-admired head coach Roberto de Zerbi.
Could Liverpool really consider Antonio Conte?
But has Simon Jordan uncovered a plot to bring a former Premier League champion back to England? The ex-Crystal Palace chairman knows a thing or two about how things work, both in football and in the media, and he cannot help but wonder if Antonio Conte may be back in the game sooner rather than later.
“It can’t be someone like Conte, can it?” Jordan wonders aloud, speaking to talkSPORT (29 March, 12.30pm).
“There was an opportunity recently for Conte to do some media stuff that I was involved with. And he pulled out. Most people say, when a manager pulls out of doing media stuff, it’s because they are about to get a big job.
“So, there’s a conspiracy theory for you!”
As things stand, a return to Italy – rather than England – feels far more likely for Conte, who failed to replicate the success he enjoyed at Chelsea during a very underwhelming stint in the Tottenham Hotspur hotseat.
While none of the managers on Liverpool’s radar can rival Conte when it comes to pure silverware, the icy Italian – with his rigid, caution-first tactics, his tendency to air grievances in public and his preference for experience over youth – makes the 54-year-old pretty much the antithesis of Jurgen Klopp.
HITC Football understands that Conte is a target for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. That is not Liverpool, however, but AC Milan. Conte guided both Juventus and Inter to Scudetto glory in his homeland.
Another former Chelsea boss, meanwhile, could take over at Borussia Dortmund.
Julian Nagelsmann a Xabi Alonso alternative for Liverpool
Jordan, meanwhile, also has reservations about the prospect of Nagelsmann taking over from Klopp, even if the former Bayern Munich boss possesses many of the attributes Liverpool are likely to be on the lookout for.
“The zeitgeist on him is that he’s quite a difficult character to manage,” Jordan argues (29 March, 10am), Nagelsmann sacked by the German giants 12 months ago despite boasting a highly-impressive 71 per cent win rate.
“I’m not in the camp that (Liverpool should hire) a 36-year-old who was taken out of Munich. There were lots of observations about how difficult he was to work with. Liverpool is a club where the manager unites the playing squad and unites the players with the fans.
“I’m not sure Nagelsmann (can do that).”
