Bayer Leverkusen’s boss Xabi Alonso has been mentioned as the top candidate for upcoming managerial vacancies at Liverpool and Bayern Munich. However, both of these clubs will have to turn their focus elsewhere as Alonso doesn’t intend to leave his current job.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Alonso said that he will continue coaching Leverkusen in 2024-25.

“It has been a season with a lot of speculation regarding my future,” Alonso said. “… Last week, I had a good meeting with Simon [Rolfes, the club’s sporting director] with Fernando [Carro, CEO], when I informed them of my decision to continue being coach of Bayer Leverkusen.”

According to Alonso, he believes Leverkusen is the best place for him to continue his development as a coach.

“I am a young coach, but I have to feel it, and right now, I feel that this is the right place,” he added.

Alonso is doing a remarkable job in his first full season in charge with Leverkusen. He is currently guiding the club to an undefeated season, avoiding loss in the first 27 games of the Bundesliga so far. This put Bayer in the position to win the title for the first time in history while ending Bayern Munich’s of 11 consecutive Bundesliga trophies.

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Bayern Munich were silenced 5-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to bring an end to their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga this season. While Bayern were expected to be fresh after their match against Union Berlin last week was postponed due to snow, it was clear that the team was in disarray, with manager Thomas Tuchel substituting both of his fullbacks at half-time.

Frankfurt raced to a three-goal lead in the first half, with Omar Marmoush, Junior Dina Ebimbe, and Hugo Larsson finding the back of the net, while Joshua Kimmich pulled one goal back for Bayern before the break. In the 50th minute, Ebimbe scored his second goal to restore Frankfurt’s three-goal cushion while Ansgar Knauff sealed the victory ten minutes later.

“We are frustrated and disappointed with our first defeat,” Tuchel stated during a post-match news conference. “We underestimated a lot of those half chances. Those half-chances led to a lot of goals today. We did not do anything we had set out to do.” Now, Bayern find themselves sitting in second place on the Bundesliga standings, with Bayer Leverkusen leading the pack.

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Bayern Munich completed the signing of center-back Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus for a fee of €70 million, it was announced on Tuesday. The deal includes potential performance-based bonuses of up to €10 million.

The 22-year-old player arrived in Munich on Monday to sign a five-year contract with the club, after which he proceeded to complete his medical. He is then expected to join his teammates for the club’s pre-season tour in the United States.

“I’m very happy to become a player for this great club. FC Bayern are the most successful club in Germany, one of the most successful clubs in Europe and in the world,” de Ligt stated in an interview with the club’s website.

The Dutch player arrives in Munich after making 117 appearances for Juventus, during which time he helped the club to win the Serie A in 2019-20 and lift the Coppa Italia the following season. Since then, however, the Italian giants have fallen by the wayside, dropping into the fourth position on the league table in back-to-back seasons.

As the latest summer signing by the Bundesliga champions, de Ligt follows Sadio Mane from Liverpool and former Ajax players Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui to the Allianz Arena in what has been a busy transfer window for Bayern.

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Bayern Munich is in the process of completing the signing of midfielder Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax. This comes days after the club completed a deal for his teammate, right back Noussair Mazraoui.

Expected to sign a contract until 2027, the official announcement of the 20-year-old player’s arrival at the club may be delayed until after the completion of his medical and final paperwork.

Gravenberch’s transfer fee is expected to be in the region of €19 million, with add-ons potentially raising it to €25 million. This fee would make Gravenberch the second most expensive signing under the age of 20 in history, behind Renato Sanchez who joined Bayern Munich from Benfica for a price tag of €35 million in 2016. He will also become the joint most-expensive Dutch signing in Bayern’s history, matching the €25 million price tag for Arjen Robben back in 2009.

The holding mid is expected to receive a significant bump in salary. Earning €4 million before taxes per season at Ajax, Gravenberch is expected to earn a cool €10 million per season upon his arrival at the Allianz Arena.

With an estimated market value of €35 million, Gravenberch is currently the highest valued player in the Dutch Eredivisie. Since breaking into Ajax’s first team during the 2020/21 season, Gravenberch has won back-to-back league titles as well as the 2020/21 Dutch Cup.

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Bundesliga side Red Bull Leipzig has decided to part ways with head coach Jesse Marsch just four months after the American took office. This comes after the team suffered four consecutive defeats, leaving them in 11th place in the league standings.

The club announced on Sunday that Marsch’s departure comes after he and the club “mutually agreed to part ways.” Having signed a contract with the team in April before taking charge in the summer, Marsch endured a difficult start to his tenure at Leipzig, losing six of the team’s opening 14 matches. In addition, the team lost all of their first three Champions League matches, thereby dashing their hopes of knockout round qualification.

“It was not easy for us to part company with Jesse Marsch, because I hold Jesse in high regard as a person and as a coach,” club CEO Oliver Mintzlaff claimed in a statement. He further explained that the decision to dismiss Marsch was one that was purely reached on performance grounds.

The decision to recruit Marsch came after the American coach proved highly successful during his time with Red Bull Salzburg, leading them to back-to-back titles in the Austrian football league. Prior to arriving in Europe, Marsch played and coached in the MLS. In 2015, he won the Supporters’ Shield with the New York Red Bulls.

Assistant coach Achim Beierlorzer will act as interim coach while the team searches for their successor. He will manage the team in their Champions League clash against Manchester City on Tuesday night.

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U.S. international forward Josh Sargent might dress up for a new team next season. According to multiple reports from Europe, Werder Bremen will look to sell Sargent in order to ease their troubled financial situation.

Sargent is considered one of Werder’s most talented youngsters, making his sale an ideal way to generate a quick profit. The American is not alone on the transfer list, as the club is ready to listen to offers for several other players.

Sources close to Sargent told ESPN that the 21-year-old player wouldn’t mind leaving but will only consider a move to a club from the top half of the Bundesliga table. Clubs that fit the criteria and would be interested in the player are believed to be Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen.

Sargent, who scored seven goals this season, has one game to play with Werder in 2020-21, and it could prove to be the most important one in the entire campaign. They need to win against Monchengladbach and hope Arminia Bielefeld doesn’t win to secure a stay in Bundesliga. Otherwise, Bremen faces the possibility of being relegated to the second tier of German soccer competition.

Josh Sargent has been with Werder since 2017, when he joined the club’s youth academy. He made his debut for the first team in 2018 and has since scored 13 goals and dished nine assists in 80 games.

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Schalke 04’s season has been a nightmare so far, with the once-proud Bundesliga team currently in the heat of a relegation battle which could see them drop down to Germany’s second division for the first time in 30 years.

However, on Saturday, it was American teenager Matthew Hoppe who lifted their spirits and hopes, delivering his team its first win of the season with a hat trick.

Schalke hosted Hoffenheim on Saturday with the team in last place and seven points from potential safety, immersed in the second-longest winless streak in the history of the league.

Hoppe’s hat-trick, his first three goals in his fifth career start, led them to an easy victory that allowed fans’ hopes to begin to spark after a nightmare start to the year.

The California native’s first goal was a chipped shot over the keeper that put his team in front 1-0 just before the half.

Hoppe broke past the defense in the 57th minute to score again for his second goal, and then completed the hat trick just six minutes later with another chip to put the game out of reach at 3-0.

The 19-year-old player is the third American to ever complete a hat trick in Europe’s top five leagues after Christian Pulisic accomplished the feat with Chelsea last season and Clint Dempsey did so with Fulham in 2012.

Hoppe and Schalke will look to keep up the good momentum as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend.

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Borussia Dortmund announced on Sunday that they have fired head coach Lucien Favre after an embarrassing 1-5 defeat at home against newly-promoted VfB Stuttgart.

Despite finishing in first place in the team’s group during the first phase of the UEFA Champions League, it has been a disappointing start to the season domestically for the Black and Yellow.

Dortmund is winless in their last three league matches, and currently stands in fifth place in the Bundesliga, five points off of Bayern Munich’s leader’s pace.

Four losses and a team that looks out of sorts was enough to condemn the coach’s fate.

Favre himself said of the team’s Saturday performance: “It was bad. We weren’t good at winning the ball. We made too many big mistakes. It’s hard to explain.”

This is the end of a two and a half year tenure for Favre at the German club. After taking over in 2018, he guided the team to two second place finishes in the Bundesliga and qualified for the knockout round of the Champions League in each season with the team.

Favre will now have to look elsewhere if he wants to keep coaching. Meanwhile, long-time assistant Edin Terzic will take over as interim boss.

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Austrian defender David Alaba is set for Bayern Munich exit next summer. According to the team’s president Herbert Hainer, Bayern has ended the contract extension talks with the 28-year-old star and won’t make further offers.

Alaba’s deal with Bundesliga champs expires after this season, and the two sides have been locked in negotiations for the better part of the year. The issue is, however, that the player is asking a lot more than Bayern is ready to pay.

Reportedly, the German club is ready to give Alaba a new five-year contract that can reach up to $17.5 million in yearly salary. Alaba’s representatives, on the other hand, are believed to be pushing for north of $22 million annually.

“We submitted to David and his advisor some time ago what we think was a very good offer,” said Hainer in a recent chat with BR Blickpunkt Sport. “The answer was that the offer was still unsatisfactory and we should think about it again. We then decided to take the offer completely off the table. This means there is no longer an offer.”

It is unclear whether two sides can return to the table at some point, but other European clubs are closely monitoring the situation. David Alaba will be eligible to talk with suitors in January, with Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona being interested in his services.

Alaba has been with Bayern since 2008 when he joined the club’s youth academy. Since making his debut in 2010, he went on to make close to 400 appearances for the first team and help the club win 23 trophies, including nine Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues.

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After becoming available over the summer on a free transfer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired, striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting finally found a new team just ahead of the Monday night transfer deadline, signing with Bayern Munich.

Choupo-Moting, who has spent the majority of his career in Germany playing for Hamburger SV, Mainz 05, and Schalke 04, will return to the country to fill a role as a backup striker for the reigning Champions League winners on a one-year deal.

The Cameroonian international signed for PSG on a free transfer in 2018, where he played limited minutes in a talented offense which included players like Neymar Jr, Edinson Cavani, and Kylian Mbappe.

He scored a total of 9 goals over 51 games for the Parisians along with 3 assists, most notably scoring a miraculous stoppage-time goal in the Champions League semi-finals in August to secure a 2-1 win over Atalanta.

Choupo-Moting spoke optimistically of his new deal with Bayern Munich, saying, “”Who wouldn’t want to play for FC Bayern? It’s an honour to play for this club. It’s always Bayern’s aspiration to win everything, and I’m hugely motivated to help them achieve those goals.

He is expected to join his new team in training this week as he prepares to settle into a role as Robert Lewandowski’s backup at the striker position.

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Bayer Leverkusen’s boss Xabi Alonso has been mentioned as the top candidate for upcoming managerial vacancies at Liverpool and Bayern Munich. However, both of these clubs will have to turn their focus elsewhere as Alonso doesn’t intend to leave his current job.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Alonso said that he will continue coaching Leverkusen in 2024-25.

“It has been a season with a lot of speculation regarding my future,” Alonso said. “… Last week, I had a good meeting with Simon [Rolfes, the club’s sporting director] with Fernando [Carro, CEO], when I informed them of my decision to continue being coach of Bayer Leverkusen.”

According to Alonso, he believes Leverkusen is the best place for him to continue his development as a coach.

“I am a young coach, but I have to feel it, and right now, I feel that this is the right place,” he added.

Alonso is doing a remarkable job in his first full season in charge with Leverkusen. He is currently guiding the club to an undefeated season, avoiding loss in the first 27 games of the Bundesliga so far. This put Bayer in the position to win the title for the first time in history while ending Bayern Munich’s of 11 consecutive Bundesliga trophies.

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Bayern Munich were silenced 5-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to bring an end to their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga this season. While Bayern were expected to be fresh after their match against Union Berlin last week was postponed due to snow, it was clear that the team was in disarray, with manager Thomas Tuchel substituting both of his fullbacks at half-time.

Frankfurt raced to a three-goal lead in the first half, with Omar Marmoush, Junior Dina Ebimbe, and Hugo Larsson finding the back of the net, while Joshua Kimmich pulled one goal back for Bayern before the break. In the 50th minute, Ebimbe scored his second goal to restore Frankfurt’s three-goal cushion while Ansgar Knauff sealed the victory ten minutes later.

“We are frustrated and disappointed with our first defeat,” Tuchel stated during a post-match news conference. “We underestimated a lot of those half chances. Those half-chances led to a lot of goals today. We did not do anything we had set out to do.” Now, Bayern find themselves sitting in second place on the Bundesliga standings, with Bayer Leverkusen leading the pack.

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Bayern Munich completed the signing of center-back Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus for a fee of €70 million, it was announced on Tuesday. The deal includes potential performance-based bonuses of up to €10 million.

The 22-year-old player arrived in Munich on Monday to sign a five-year contract with the club, after which he proceeded to complete his medical. He is then expected to join his teammates for the club’s pre-season tour in the United States.

“I’m very happy to become a player for this great club. FC Bayern are the most successful club in Germany, one of the most successful clubs in Europe and in the world,” de Ligt stated in an interview with the club’s website.

The Dutch player arrives in Munich after making 117 appearances for Juventus, during which time he helped the club to win the Serie A in 2019-20 and lift the Coppa Italia the following season. Since then, however, the Italian giants have fallen by the wayside, dropping into the fourth position on the league table in back-to-back seasons.

As the latest summer signing by the Bundesliga champions, de Ligt follows Sadio Mane from Liverpool and former Ajax players Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui to the Allianz Arena in what has been a busy transfer window for Bayern.

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Bayern Munich is in the process of completing the signing of midfielder Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax. This comes days after the club completed a deal for his teammate, right back Noussair Mazraoui.

Expected to sign a contract until 2027, the official announcement of the 20-year-old player’s arrival at the club may be delayed until after the completion of his medical and final paperwork.

Gravenberch’s transfer fee is expected to be in the region of €19 million, with add-ons potentially raising it to €25 million. This fee would make Gravenberch the second most expensive signing under the age of 20 in history, behind Renato Sanchez who joined Bayern Munich from Benfica for a price tag of €35 million in 2016. He will also become the joint most-expensive Dutch signing in Bayern’s history, matching the €25 million price tag for Arjen Robben back in 2009.

The holding mid is expected to receive a significant bump in salary. Earning €4 million before taxes per season at Ajax, Gravenberch is expected to earn a cool €10 million per season upon his arrival at the Allianz Arena.

With an estimated market value of €35 million, Gravenberch is currently the highest valued player in the Dutch Eredivisie. Since breaking into Ajax’s first team during the 2020/21 season, Gravenberch has won back-to-back league titles as well as the 2020/21 Dutch Cup.

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Bundesliga side Red Bull Leipzig has decided to part ways with head coach Jesse Marsch just four months after the American took office. This comes after the team suffered four consecutive defeats, leaving them in 11th place in the league standings.

The club announced on Sunday that Marsch’s departure comes after he and the club “mutually agreed to part ways.” Having signed a contract with the team in April before taking charge in the summer, Marsch endured a difficult start to his tenure at Leipzig, losing six of the team’s opening 14 matches. In addition, the team lost all of their first three Champions League matches, thereby dashing their hopes of knockout round qualification.

“It was not easy for us to part company with Jesse Marsch, because I hold Jesse in high regard as a person and as a coach,” club CEO Oliver Mintzlaff claimed in a statement. He further explained that the decision to dismiss Marsch was one that was purely reached on performance grounds.

The decision to recruit Marsch came after the American coach proved highly successful during his time with Red Bull Salzburg, leading them to back-to-back titles in the Austrian football league. Prior to arriving in Europe, Marsch played and coached in the MLS. In 2015, he won the Supporters’ Shield with the New York Red Bulls.

Assistant coach Achim Beierlorzer will act as interim coach while the team searches for their successor. He will manage the team in their Champions League clash against Manchester City on Tuesday night.

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U.S. international forward Josh Sargent might dress up for a new team next season. According to multiple reports from Europe, Werder Bremen will look to sell Sargent in order to ease their troubled financial situation.

Sargent is considered one of Werder’s most talented youngsters, making his sale an ideal way to generate a quick profit. The American is not alone on the transfer list, as the club is ready to listen to offers for several other players.

Sources close to Sargent told ESPN that the 21-year-old player wouldn’t mind leaving but will only consider a move to a club from the top half of the Bundesliga table. Clubs that fit the criteria and would be interested in the player are believed to be Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen.

Sargent, who scored seven goals this season, has one game to play with Werder in 2020-21, and it could prove to be the most important one in the entire campaign. They need to win against Monchengladbach and hope Arminia Bielefeld doesn’t win to secure a stay in Bundesliga. Otherwise, Bremen faces the possibility of being relegated to the second tier of German soccer competition.

Josh Sargent has been with Werder since 2017, when he joined the club’s youth academy. He made his debut for the first team in 2018 and has since scored 13 goals and dished nine assists in 80 games.

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Schalke 04’s season has been a nightmare so far, with the once-proud Bundesliga team currently in the heat of a relegation battle which could see them drop down to Germany’s second division for the first time in 30 years.

However, on Saturday, it was American teenager Matthew Hoppe who lifted their spirits and hopes, delivering his team its first win of the season with a hat trick.

Schalke hosted Hoffenheim on Saturday with the team in last place and seven points from potential safety, immersed in the second-longest winless streak in the history of the league.

Hoppe’s hat-trick, his first three goals in his fifth career start, led them to an easy victory that allowed fans’ hopes to begin to spark after a nightmare start to the year.

The California native’s first goal was a chipped shot over the keeper that put his team in front 1-0 just before the half.

Hoppe broke past the defense in the 57th minute to score again for his second goal, and then completed the hat trick just six minutes later with another chip to put the game out of reach at 3-0.

The 19-year-old player is the third American to ever complete a hat trick in Europe’s top five leagues after Christian Pulisic accomplished the feat with Chelsea last season and Clint Dempsey did so with Fulham in 2012.

Hoppe and Schalke will look to keep up the good momentum as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt next weekend.

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Borussia Dortmund announced on Sunday that they have fired head coach Lucien Favre after an embarrassing 1-5 defeat at home against newly-promoted VfB Stuttgart.

Despite finishing in first place in the team’s group during the first phase of the UEFA Champions League, it has been a disappointing start to the season domestically for the Black and Yellow.

Dortmund is winless in their last three league matches, and currently stands in fifth place in the Bundesliga, five points off of Bayern Munich’s leader’s pace.

Four losses and a team that looks out of sorts was enough to condemn the coach’s fate.

Favre himself said of the team’s Saturday performance: “It was bad. We weren’t good at winning the ball. We made too many big mistakes. It’s hard to explain.”

This is the end of a two and a half year tenure for Favre at the German club. After taking over in 2018, he guided the team to two second place finishes in the Bundesliga and qualified for the knockout round of the Champions League in each season with the team.

Favre will now have to look elsewhere if he wants to keep coaching. Meanwhile, long-time assistant Edin Terzic will take over as interim boss.

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Austrian defender David Alaba is set for Bayern Munich exit next summer. According to the team’s president Herbert Hainer, Bayern has ended the contract extension talks with the 28-year-old star and won’t make further offers.

Alaba’s deal with Bundesliga champs expires after this season, and the two sides have been locked in negotiations for the better part of the year. The issue is, however, that the player is asking a lot more than Bayern is ready to pay.

Reportedly, the German club is ready to give Alaba a new five-year contract that can reach up to $17.5 million in yearly salary. Alaba’s representatives, on the other hand, are believed to be pushing for north of $22 million annually.

“We submitted to David and his advisor some time ago what we think was a very good offer,” said Hainer in a recent chat with BR Blickpunkt Sport. “The answer was that the offer was still unsatisfactory and we should think about it again. We then decided to take the offer completely off the table. This means there is no longer an offer.”

It is unclear whether two sides can return to the table at some point, but other European clubs are closely monitoring the situation. David Alaba will be eligible to talk with suitors in January, with Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona being interested in his services.

Alaba has been with Bayern since 2008 when he joined the club’s youth academy. Since making his debut in 2010, he went on to make close to 400 appearances for the first team and help the club win 23 trophies, including nine Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues.

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After becoming available over the summer on a free transfer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired, striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting finally found a new team just ahead of the Monday night transfer deadline, signing with Bayern Munich.

Choupo-Moting, who has spent the majority of his career in Germany playing for Hamburger SV, Mainz 05, and Schalke 04, will return to the country to fill a role as a backup striker for the reigning Champions League winners on a one-year deal.

The Cameroonian international signed for PSG on a free transfer in 2018, where he played limited minutes in a talented offense which included players like Neymar Jr, Edinson Cavani, and Kylian Mbappe.

He scored a total of 9 goals over 51 games for the Parisians along with 3 assists, most notably scoring a miraculous stoppage-time goal in the Champions League semi-finals in August to secure a 2-1 win over Atalanta.

Choupo-Moting spoke optimistically of his new deal with Bayern Munich, saying, “”Who wouldn’t want to play for FC Bayern? It’s an honour to play for this club. It’s always Bayern’s aspiration to win everything, and I’m hugely motivated to help them achieve those goals.

He is expected to join his new team in training this week as he prepares to settle into a role as Robert Lewandowski’s backup at the striker position.

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