Xabi Alonso breaks silence on turning down Liverpool job for first time since Arne Slot was appointed

Xabi Alonso has spoken about the Liverpool job for the first time since Arne Slot was appointed.

When Jurgen Klopp announced his decision to leave the club back in January, former Reds midfielder Alonso was one of the very first names linked with a move to Anfield.

However, the Spaniard committed his future to Bayer Leverkusen in March, meaning Liverpool had to look elsewhere.

After months of speculation, it was confirmed that Slot would become the club’s new head coach, starting on June 1.

Speaking recently with CNN, Alonso spoke about the Liverpool links.

He said: “All these decisions, they need to be thorough. You need to really think about them. And it was more about what I had, not what I’m missing.

“For sure, my bond with Liverpool is there and it’s still there. So there’s no, any kind of issue with that.”

When asked whether he held talks with Liverpool, Alonso simply replied: “That’s kind of behind the curtains.”

Alonso led Leverkusen to a stellar season after they went the whole season unbeaten in the Bundesliga as they clinched the title.

They also won the DFB-Pokal but were beaten by Italian Serie A side Atalanta in the Europa League final.

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Reflecting on the Atalanta defeat, Alonso said: “It’s football. The exception has been the 52 that we made. To deal with the defeat it’s part of our job. It’s not the first time, [and] it’s not going to be the last time.

“I’m pretty sure I have the intuition that that game [against Atalanta] will make me a better coach, better manager than if we would have won the treble.”

He added: “For sure, those games you don’t forget, and you can use that for the future.

“At the moment, it hurts. It hurts so much, but I have that feeling that it will be more useful for my development than winning the treble.”