The preferred candidate, the former Liverpool player continues to lead

If you listen to the bookmakers, the identity of the next Liverpool manager is almost a done deal. According to an average of the odds from a wide selection of British bookies, Xabi Alonso has around a 42 per cent chance of becoming the Reds’ 21st manager, while nobody else has more than about a nine per cent likelihood of getting the gig.

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Of course, this works on the premise that Alonso would take the job of succeeding Jürgen Klopp if it were offered to him. Premier League history shows the difficulty in replacing a managerial legend and the Spaniard is smart enough to know this. He may prefer to be the manager after the manager after Klopp.

But let’s assume he would be willing to return to the club with whom he first won the Champions League this summer, as former Anfield great John Aldridge recently claimed that he would. Would the decision makers at Fenway Sports Group view him as the best candidate? Alonso is making a very compelling case with his work at Bayer Leverkusen but he also carries risks which are all too well known to the hierarchy at Anfield.

As is the Leverkusen’s manager’s relative inexperience. At the time of writing, he has 163 matches under his belt, with 98 of them managing Real Sociedad B. As they play in the Spanish league, it’s a higher standard than a reserve team role is in English football but it’s still a long way from Liverpool’s level. And think back to one of Klopp’s quotes from a press conference last summer, when speaking about the club’s transfer strategy. “The owners really want 200 games at 20 years old. That is pretty difficult,” he said. While he was obviously generalizing, would FSG hire a manager with fewer games than they ideally look for in the players the club signs?

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Other options

After all, they have made a relative rookie manager of Liverpool in the past, with Brendan Rodgers having overseen 150 senior games prior to getting the job at Anfield. His ultimate failure after the highs of 2013/14 does not mean Alonso is not the right man for the job or that FSG would not offer it to him. The risks which chime with history could potentially impact on the Spaniard's chances though.