'Terrible decision' - Xabi Alonso's decision to snub Liverpool in favour of Bayer Leverkusen stay slammed by Joe Cole

Alonso, who had emerged as a prime candidate to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, has confirmed he wants to stay at his current club. With Leverkusen poised for a potential Champions League campaign and Bundesliga title defence next season, Alonso will reject Liverpool and Bayern Munich's approaches, saying: "My job is not done here." However, Cole criticised Alonso's decision, branding it a "terrible" choice given the volatile nature of managerial careers.

In an interview with TNT Sports, Cole stated: "I think it’s a terrible decision. As managers your stock goes so up and down so quickly, he’s the hottest property in world football right now in management, I think he should’ve made the move this summer. In a years’ time it could be completely different, keeping this team together is going to be tough enough because they’ve got some fantastic players and all the giants in Europe are going to be looking at them.”

Former Bayern midfielder Owen Hargreaves differed from Cole and instead hailed Alonso for making a judicious call.

“I’m impressed actually, I think he’s made the right call, stay there and then see what happens in the summer,” Hargreaves said. “If he wins the Bundesliga, maybe another European trophy and he can keep that team together then it could be something special. It’s probably a bit of a surprise, most managers when their stock’s high they tend to strike but Xabi, obviously relatively young as a manager he wants to stay where he’s very comfortable.”

Leverkusen stand on the brink of potentially dethroning Bayern as German champions after years of dominance as they currently lead by a staggering 13 points. In addition to their league success, Leverkusen's progress in other competitions underscores their formidable stature. The club has advanced to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, where they are set to face second-division side Fortuna Dusseldorf. Moreover, Leverkusen are gearing up for a crucial quarter-final clash against West Ham in the Europa League, following a resilient display against Qarabag in the previous round.

Liverpool are looking at other options after failing to land their primary target in Alonso. The Reds have been linked with Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi and Sporting CP's Ruben Amorim as they continue their hunt for Klopp's successor.