Former Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso has been named as the new Bayer Leverkusen manager, after the club sacked Gerardo Seoane on Wednesday, October 5.
Alonso signed a contract that will see him manage the Bundesliga side until June 2024.
Leverkusen will be Alonso’s first senior managerial job having managed Real Sociedad’s reserve team for three years.
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“I know Leverkusen as an excellent club from my time in Germany... Bayer has always had great players, I also see a lot of quality in the current squad. This task excites me a lot,” Alonso stated after getting the job.
During his active football career, the former Spanish international midfielder lifted the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with the national team.
The 40-year-old manager lifted won the Champions League trophy with both Liverpool and Madrid.
Leverkusen's sporting director Simon Rolfes praised the Spaniard for his previous performances as a player.
“With Xabi Alonso, we have signed a coach who was an absolute world-class professional as a player, an intelligent strategist and extremely successful in no less than three of the most demanding European leagues,” Simon Rolfes noted.
The German Club before appointing Alonso had announced the departure of Seoane after their Champions League loss to FC Porto on Tuesday, October 4.
The Swiss manager had a successful season with Leverkusen after guiding the side to Champions League football with a third-place finish in the 2021/2022 Bundesliga season
This season Leverkusen has had a slow start having been eliminated by third-tier SV Elversberg in the first round of the German Cup and registering only one win so far in the 2022/2023 Bundesliga season.
Alonso will lead the German outfit for the first time as a manager on Saturday, October 8 against Shalke in the Bundesliga.
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