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<\/p>\nXabi Alonso has been out of work for barely a month after he was sacked by Real Madrid, but the former Liverpool star was recently offered the chance to make an immediate return to coaching<\/p>\n
Xabi Alonso’s services are in demand(Image: Alvaro Medranda\/Quality Sport Images\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Xabi Alonso has turned down an approach from crisis-ridden Marseille<\/a>, as rumours of a return to Liverpool<\/a> continue to swirl. Alonso, 44, was sacked by Real Madrid<\/a> in January, just seven months after leaving Bayer Leverkusen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Real’s defeat to arch rivals Barcelona<\/a> in the Spanish Super Cup final spelled the ended for Alonso<\/a>, but issues behind the scenes played a role in him getting the axe. It’s been reported that multiple senior players felt disrespected by the Spaniard<\/a> and were dissatisfied with his philosophy.<\/p>\n Alonso’s fractious relationship with Vinicius Junior<\/a> was also symbolic of his failure to win over the dressing room. In typically ruthless fashion, Real president Florentino Perez<\/a> dismissed him and their season is showing signs of recovery under his replacement, Alvaro Arbeloa<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Alonso’s miserable experience at the Bernabeu, where he spent five years as a player, has informed the criteria for his next job. According to French outlet RMC Sport<\/a>, the former midfielder immediately rejected Marseille’s approach over concerns that the Ligue 1 club is ‘too chaotic’.<\/p>\n FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FB PAGE! Latest Reds news and more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE: Trent Alexander-Arnold’s latest Diogo Jota gesture spotted months on from tragic death<\/a>READ MORE: Arsenal and Liverpool’s Champions League path becomes clearer after playoff first legs<\/a><\/p>\n Earlier this month, Roberto De Zerbi<\/a> quit his role as manager to spark a chain reaction. The ex-Brighton<\/a> boss left via mutual consent following Marseille’s 5-0 defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain<\/a>.<\/p>\n Four days later, sporting director Medhi Benatia announced his departure. Benatia said that he could no longer ‘ignore the current climate’ following a ‘breakdown in communication’ with Marseille’s board.<\/p>\n The club’s owner, Frank McCourt, has since confirmed that Benatia will remain in his post until the end of this season. In Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Strasbourg<\/a>, supporters behind both goals boycotted the opening 15 minutes and whistled their team during the match.<\/p>\n After Alonso turned them down, Marseille turned to appoint Habib Beye. The former Newcastle<\/a> and Aston Villa<\/a> defender has taken the reins at the Stade Velodrome, despite being sacked by Ligue 1 rivals Rennes<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n BACK THE MIRROR! Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search<\/a><\/p>\n Marseille fans protested during their last match(Image: Emilian Baldow\/Icon Sport via Getty Images)<\/p>\n As for Alonso, he’s taking some time to decide his next move, having once been Europe’s most in-demand coach. The 44-year-old has been tipped for an emotional return to Liverpool, where he’d replace Arne Slot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last month, a journalist asked Slot whether Alonso had contacted him to discuss taking his job, and the current Reds boss replied in good humour. “Yes he called me and said: ‘What do you think about the team because I am going to take over in six months, can you tell me a little bit more?'” Slot joked.<\/p>\n “Or maybe earlier. Maybe he takes over tomorrow! No, no, no. This is one of the weirdest questions I ever got. What is there it say? I am working here for a little bit more than one-and-a-half years and I really like my work over here.<\/p>\n “We won the league last season, struggled more in the league this season. That is also obvious, so yes what is there left to say?”<\/p>\n Join our new WhatsApp community<\/a> and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us – and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xabi Alonso has been out of work for barely a month after he was sacked by Real Madrid,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[1711,30075,403,99,24844],"class_list":["post-479164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-marseille","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-xabi-alonso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_GettyImages-2261125211.jpg\")
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