Report: "Xabi Alonso's heart is clearly leaning in favour of Liverpool"

Xabi Alonso is leaning towards joining Liverpool FC over Bayern Munich at the end of the season.

Jurgen Klopp is set to vacate his post as manager and after winning the Carabao Cup on Sunday, he will do so on a winning note with the chance to win more silverware before the end of the season.

Liverpool is Xabi Alonso's "choice of heart"

According to Foot Mercato reporter Santi Aouna, Liverpool and Alonso have been in contact and the Spanish coach is leaning towards choosing Liverpool over Bayern Munich.

The 42-year-old has been incredible in his role as Bayer Leverkusen head coach and already seems as though he is equipped for a job as monumental as the Liverpool head coach role.

Bayern Munich are Alonso's second choice should the Liverpool offer fall through for some or other reason. But despite claims this week from Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg, it does not seems as though Bayern are Alonso's first choice after all.

Aouna goes on to report that "Alonso would be delighted to take on the immense challenge of succeeding Jürgen Klopp."

And it will be an immense challenge. Whoever succeeds Klopp will be inheriting a wonderful squad yet it's not going to be a straightforward transition necessarily.

How much is the release clause in Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen contract?

There is, in fact, no release clause in Xabi Alonso's contract with Bayer Leverkusen.

Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro confirmed this recently, telling talkSPORT in November: “A release clause for Alonso? No, you don’t need one. We have a very good relationship with him and he knows we are a club who takes matters very seriously.

"We won’t force anyone to stay here if they don’t want to. We want him to feel happy with us so that his only wish is to stay.”

The Spanish coach is under contract with the Bundesliga club until 2026 and while there were rumours of a special clause in Alonso's contract that would enable Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to sign him without paying a release clause, this is not the case.

Carro also denied these rumours in November: “No nothing on paper but sometimes agreements that are not on paper are agreements as well and we know that if he needs to do a move in the future we'll be able to talk with each other.

“I hope we will not need to do this because he will stay and be happy in Leverkusen.”