Xabi Alonso would ‘light up’ Anfield as Liverpool manager - but Arne Slot should stay, says Joe Cole

After his team was crowned Premier League champions in his first season in charge, Slot has encountered multiple obstacles that have contributed to a disruptive campaign, and the fanbase is divided over whether there should be a managerial change in the summer.

Slot's team were handed an 11th league defeat of the campaign last time out, when they were beaten 3-2 by Manchester United.

Alonso was linked with a return to Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp announced he was leaving the club in 2024, but the former Spain midfielder committed his future at the time to Bayer Leverkusen before being appointed as Real Madrid head coach last summer.

His time at the Bernabeu was short, and his departure was announced in January after just seven months following a run of poor results that included defeat in the Spanish Super Cup to Barcelona.

The 44-year-old is currently looking for a return to management, placing additional pressure on Slot - and Cole admits that the mood around Liverpool would immediately be lifted were Alonso to be installed in the Anfield hotseat in the close season.

"The club usually stick by their manager," Cole told TNT Sports. "People have said that Jurgen Klopp won Arne Slot the league last season, but it was Slot's team.

"There have been circumstances, some of it tragic, then they've had issues with the new signings. Alexander Isak started poorly, Florian Wirtz hasn't settled, Hugo Ekitike has been injured, and we've seen the difference between Mohamed Salah this and last season.

"There's been so many factors, but I always come back to that fact that Xabi Alonso is available. That's the one thing that's always hanging there, and he might not be available again. We saw what he did at Bayer Leverkusen.

"It didn't work out at Real Madrid, but, of course, Arne Slot should stay. Alonso is there, and this place would light up again with him in the hotseat."

Slot is braced for another summer of change at Liverpool, though he believes the scale of the rebuild will fall short of last year’s sweeping overhaul.

The Reds are expected to enter the transfer market in search of reinforcements, with the squad facing significant turnover. Salah and Andy Robertson are both set to depart at the end of the campaign, while uncertainty also surrounds the futures of Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones and Federico Chiesa.

The club's defence of the Premier League title has proved underwhelming, with Liverpool struggling to fully assimilate a £450 million influx of new talent.

Much of that expenditure was offset by the departures of several long-serving senior players as the club reshaped the squad.

Preparations for next season are already under way, with 20-year-old centre-back Jeremy Jacquet set to arrive from Rennes in a £60 million deal, while further additions are expected in the coming weeks.

TNT Sports pundit Peter Crouch believes there will be honest conversations amongst the club hierarchy this summer, but believes Slot will be backed to make dramatic improvements ahead of the 2026/27 season.

"I think Liverpool will get Champions League football, but there will be an inquest into how the season has gone at the end of the year," Crouch said.

"They just need to get over the line and move on. The club is very good at standing by people, and we can't forget that Arne Slot won the league in his first season, but it has been disappointing.

"The brand of football has been difficult at times for the fans to take, and there's a bit of a split. But unlike Chelsea, they're not trigger-happy as a club, so I think they'll stand by him, but he's going to have to show big improvements next season.

"We're seeing a real changing of the guard with Salah and Robertson moving on, while Virgil van Dijk isn't getting any younger. They've lost Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and, of course, Diogo Jota in terrible circumstances, they've lost so many goals in the side.

"Isak and Ekitike were their two new hit men with two up front, so it does make sense to have a real overhaul. They've had inverted wingers who have been the goalscorers in [Sadio] Mane and Salah. Having two out-and-out strikers, it makes sense to change the supply line. They would thrive off getting wide players who can provide the service.

"The club are at a point where they have to decide if they double down with Slot, buying players who fit his system, or do they make a change.

"They're at a real crossroads, and there needs to be serious talks in the summer about the direction the club is going in.

"Many of the fans are disillusioned and see a lack of leaders who are going to take them to the next level."

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