Liverpool and Bayern Munich pursuit of Xabi Alonso could have derailed historic Bayer Leverkusen season, suggests Simon Rolfes

Bayer Leverkusen manager director of sport Simon Rolfes admitted their season could have turned out very differently had Xabi Alonso not committed his future.

Leverkusen have already wrapped up their first ever Bundesliga title and are in the German Cup and Europa League finals.

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Not only that, they are yet to lose a game this season. They keep finding a way to extend this magical 51-game unbeaten run, which is the longest in European history.

Alonso has worked wonders at Leverkusen and has turned them into one of the most exciting teams in Europe.

Naturally, some of the continent’s biggest and most historic clubs were interested in poaching him.

Liverpool and Bayern Munich have both been left looking for new managers this summer, who also happen to be two of Alonso’s former clubs.

The 42-year-old, however, reaffirmed his commitment to Leverkusen and said he would see out his contract that runs until 2026.

When asked by talkSPORT about whether those links could have derailed their season, Rolfes said: “My feeling was always, through my cooperation with him, was that he was staying.

“He appreciates a lot what he has here in the club and maybe with his family and family life here. How it can work here and how we work together.

“For sure, that’s a feeling, but you never know for sure.

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“This decision he made, in a positive way, also made an impact for this season. Okay, we are going and we are moving forward.

“The head coach believes in us and the development for this season and next season.

“This helps. For sure the other way around would have been challenging at that time.

“We decided to say at the international break we would sit together and after this it would have to be clear which way it would go.

“That’s where there was good trust and communication in this, for sure another decision would have had an impact on this season as well.”

When pressed about whether Alonso asked for any assurances, Rolfes explained that planning has already taken place for next campaign and the Spaniard is aware of what is possible.

He continued: “We already planned the season ahead on maybe which positions we want to change and maybe the possibilities of new players.

“The scouting process, last season started in November with the world cup, and this season started in January.

“He was involved all the time in all the discussions, so he knew in March what he could expect.

“He knows what we can get and what is possible. He knows we are ambitious as a club to develop to keep this level and maybe change the squad so we have a competitive team as well.

“He was aware of this and there were not any special talks about the squad at that time.”

Leverkusen are just two games away from immortality, achieving a totally unbeaten season across three competitions.

Rolfes admitted it was hard to celebrate the Bundesliga too much when there were more goals for them to achieve.

He added: “It’s a big wish and big desire. We want to continue. That’s why it is difficult to reflect on the German championship title because we are on a run and we want to go the whole Bundesliga season unbeaten, Europa League final, where we had bad feelings after the Roma game because our wish was to go to the final. 

“Then three days later we go to the Pokal final. At the moment we are in an attacking phase.”

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Leverkusen closed their Bundesliga campaign on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Augsburg, and are now looking ahead to the Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday, May 22.

Their last game of the 2023/24 season is against FC Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final on May 25.