The same faces as before, Xabi Alonso noticed when he entered the press room and looked around. In order to hear a hint of boredom in this prologue before the first public appearance of the operating year instead of familiarity and (a very faint hint of) reunion, you had to have malice in you. Bayer Leverkusen is a manageable location with a permanent press corps that does not reflect the unleashed conditions of the media age.
But Alonso, from playing times spoiled with the royal-imperial hype at Real Madrid or FC Bayern, seems to be right, which is why he now had nothing against extending his contract with the comparatively small stage Bayer 04 by two years until 2026 – to the surprise of those in the know who see his move to Real Madrid imminent practically every day.
The conviction that the trainer was just passing through did not change much when the contract extension was surprisingly announced, which prompted the 41-year-old Spaniard to study a few German technical terms before the press event on Friday morning. No joke: On the one hand, he allowed himself to be instructed in the word “outsider” because his Bayer team has to play against the Hamburg regional league club Teutonia Ottensen 05 in the DFB Cup, on the other hand, he familiarized himself with the angular sound of the word “exit clause” to answer questions to be able to counter his exit strategy in the direction of world club football. But nobody asked about a possible Real Madrid clause, the professional Alonso would not have given an answer to the text of his employment contract anyway.
“I’m in the right place to develop and improve,” says Alonso
What is certain is that Xabi Alonso’s knowledge of German did not suffer during the league holidays. He sat over the dictionary in the summer and significantly expanded his verbal scope. The coach expects his players to be able to speak at least one of the official languages in the dressing room – German and English – and sets an example. But that is probably more evidence of his professional self-image than an indication that he would be prepared to stay in the Rhineland for a long time.
He signed because, after nine months, he still feels comfortable with Bayer 04 and even increasingly so: “I’m happy here,” he said, “I’m in the right place to develop and improve.” That’s exactly what fulfills his idea of career planning, otherwise, he added, he doesn’t think too far ahead, and he certainly doesn’t think about Real Madrid all the time: “I think about Ottensen, and the day after the game I think about Leipzig “, the first Bundesliga opponent.
The coach’s new contract not only expresses mutual satisfaction with the cooperation. It also fits with the expectation that Bayer 04 could be more than just a quiet player in the top third of the table this time. To put it in a contemporary way: The Werkklub is trending. Rarely since the wild Reiner-Calmund times have the Leverkusen team received so much respect and advance compliments from those in the know.
Apart from the respectable Alonso, who everyone considers a designated star coach, the transfer deals of head of sport Simon Rolfes are responsible for this: The guard of access, led by the experienced Granit Xhaka and Jonas Hofmann, closes footballing gaps in the squad and increases when the It works, the level of mentality. “We want to have a bit more,” says Xabi Alonso with deceptively real-sounding modesty about the open-ended goal for the season.
