08 Feb 2026 19:20:28
Had sent this rumour in during the week but didn't get posted, hopefully now after tonight's result this is more topical spoke to a very well connected ex colleague (huge City fan - personal friends with the likes of Shay Given, Niall Quinn etc through mostly corporate circles).
He strongly believes City will throw everything at Alonso this year as they prepare for possibility of Pep leaving. If City win a trophy or two, it's highly likely Pep will take it as finishing on a high and leave this year.
08 Feb 2026 19:35:46
It's common knowledge.
08 Feb 2026 19:37:50
City want alonso and have spoken to him, we have spoken to him also. Only way he goes to city is, if they decide to stick with slot. The guy should of been sacked months ago.
Now we are extremely likely to finish out of top 5. If city's 3rd had stould we'd of been 7th. If we don't sack him now and get alonso now, we never will.
08 Feb 2026 19:43:34
Didn't explicitly say but instead implied in my post - doesn't look at all like Slot will be sacked by Liverpool. City definitely of this view anyway, per my source anyway .
08 Feb 2026 20:04:07
As far as I know, this IS Pep's last season. I posted it on here back in September when I first got wind of it from someone who I trust.
I wish I could say Xabi will turn it down but IF we don't part with Slot, I can't see Xabi holding out for us. I did believe Slot was just a matter of time but I'm not sure what information I was fed was true or planted.
That said, the Pep news was from someone else and I stand by that 100%.
08 Feb 2026 20:33:12
Did I not read on here one of reason Alonso turned us down I due to fact he did not want to follow jurgen would he not be the same with pep?
08 Feb 2026 20:41:04
Considering Liverpool seemingly have no appetite to part ways with Slot, I think you can safely say Alonso will be the next City manager if, as expected, Pep goes at the end of this season.
Edwards and STC are far too arrogant to accept they misjudged Slot and will stand by him no matter how poor the results/ performances. To that end, I fully expect Slot to still be here next season.
08 Feb 2026 20:54:37
One more time, he followed Ancelotti so can't imagine that was one of the reasons. probably just preferred a shot at Madrid, being Spanish and having played for them, it's hard to hold that against him mind, even if it wasn't the greatest match.
08 Feb 2026 21:17:47
I kind of stay quiet on rumours, as I could have given you a wildly wrong one a few years back over the ownership sale. But silence right now = no managerial change.
08 Feb 2026 21:51:25
Pep leaves at the end of his contract. That's widely accepted by most of the actual ITK's. Alonso is ours as long as we make the most obvious decision known to mankind and sack slot.
08 Feb 2026 22:11:22
FFS shall I say.
08 Feb 2026 22:19:41
This thin ice is thicker than the ice that sunk the titanic!
Hoping for a heatwave to melt the ice and we can see the back of this rubbish!
08 Feb 2026 22:23:35
I don't think Alonso is Hughes's first choice, I think Iraola is.
08 Feb 2026 22:37:19
Hughes needs to go. He is a calamitous appointment. Pouring money down the drain and mismanaging out of his cushy DOF role on every level.
08 Feb 2026 22:46:20
Hughes might not be making the decision . Slott Hughes and Woodward are all in line to be replaced . FSG don't take kindly to failure.
08 Feb 2026 23:44:54
Alonso will likely go to the club with the most appealing project and deepest pockets. I don't see him wanting to come to Liverpool just because he played here a few years.
09 Feb 2026 03:17:12
Alonso is an intelligent bloke, and career focused. Anyone who thinks he's going to choose us over City for the sake of nostalgia is going to get a rude awakening. We're far more fond of Alonso than he is of us, we were never the goal, never his final destination, we were a stepping stone to Real for him as a player and he's already turned us down as a manager. I happen to think he's turned us down twice, we spoke to him after he departed from Real, that wasn't for the sake of catching up, I believe we at least floated the idea of him taking over at the time, and I believe he declined. Just like I said back then, he's hot property and has his wits about him, he will make the best move for his career, it would be moronic of him not to wait until the Summer and see what other offers come in.
Ron Keague - Hughes doesn't have final say on such decisions, thank God. If Slot goes, Hughes will be the first to follow, £450 million and we've still got no depth in the squad, our best midfielder has played half the season at RB, £120 million on an injury prone striker who's scored 2 goals and won't play again until next season, we lost out on 2 major much needed sure-thing signings to City, completely failed to bring anyone in during the January window even though the squad was in desperate need of bolstering.
Hughes and Edwards have had an absolute shocker, and the only reason they won't get the P45 will be because the club can't see any other viable options. Edwards brought in his little football friend, and that didn't work out, fat chance they're going to let Hughes bring in his. Not to mention, Iraola has little more than a gold star on his CV. Zero chance the club will view him as a replacement for a Premier League winning manager.
09 Feb 2026 08:59:50
That's a bit unfair to say we were a stepping stone for xabi chewy, he has said multiple times that if we hadn't tried to sell him. and if his relationship with rafa hadn't broken down he had always intended to stay with Liverpool for the indefinite future and was happy to do so.
Maybe we do exaggerate the bond between xabi and anfield but he did come back multiple times after retirement, did an interview right after signing for Madrid saying he would always be a red and has mentioned the club repeatedly throughout his career.
09 Feb 2026 11:22:55
I understand where you're coming from and I don't say these kinds of things with any joy, but I think it's important we don't delude ourselves with nostalgia. Sure, Xabi said such things, in an interview, that he knew everyone would see. Klopp lied through his teeth in that Steven Bartlett interview when he said it was possible for him to come back and manage Liverpool some day. Lied through his teeth. He has absolutely no interest and totally looked stressed by the very notion of the question. I'm not passing judgement here, I mean no disrespect to anyone, I'm certain Xabi has many fond memories and cherishes his time at the club, no doubt about it, but people say things out of respect for the fans, all the time. Give Xabi a time machine, and ask him to choose Liverpool or Real, then you'll find the truth, you know yourself the answer is Real every time.
Xabi's Spanish, he's from a footballing family, and not your average case, a highly regarded professional footballing lineage. His father won multiple La Liga titles with Sociedad and Barca. Xabi himself couldn't convince me that he holds the Premier League or Liverpool in higher regard than La Liga, Real or Barca, these are the clubs he grew up watching as a kid, dreaming of playing for. I mean, the proof is in the pudding, he left us for Real as a player (circumstance aside), he turned us down to stay at Leverkusen because he had one eye on the Real job. what more proof do you need?
09 Feb 2026 11:36:00
Agree with pretty much everything you say chewy, Alonso bond is definitely overblown by elements of the fanbase and from a career perspective it would be hard to argue against going to City over Liverpool.
Also very much agree about Iraola, where's this nonsense coming from? No chance Liverpool sack Slot (a title winning PL coach) and replace him with Iraola who has achieved precisely nothing in his career to date. Not to say he won't have a good managerial career over the next couple of decades but he definitely won't be coming to Liverpool anytime soon.
09 Feb 2026 19:34:28
Xabi will choose City and usher in a new period of dominance with them.
10 Feb 2026 10:11:40
Just putting two and two together and getting 7 here - but, assuming Xabi was the guy we wanted, he would want to come to us, then surely FSG would move for him now similar to how they moved from Rodgers and brought in Klopp?
ok, not exactly like for like scenarios but if there is an obvious alternative then I think you make the move and get the guy in now.
That we haven't yet, suggests to me that Slot is more in than out.