Xabi Alonso, a former player for Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich, has been named the next manager of Bayer Leverkusen, taking over for Gerardo Seoane.
With the team sitting second-to-last in the Bundesliga with only one win this year, Seoane was sacked.
Alonso has a contract that runs through June 2024. He was once the head coach of Real Sociedad’s B team.
“I know Leverkusen from my time in Germany as an excellent club,” said the 40-year-old.
“Bayer 04 have always had great players, and I see a lot of quality in the current squad too.
“In my discussions with the club, it quickly became clear that, despite the currently difficult situation, ambitious goals are still being pursued in principle. I am very excited about this task and I am sure that we will live up to this claim.”
In announcing Swiss manager Seoane’s sacking, Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said a change of coach was “imperative”.
On Alonso, he added: “We have signed a coach who, as a player, was an absolute world-class professional for many years, an intelligent strategist and extremely successful in three of the most demanding European leagues.”