Liverpool: Romano reveals new ‘favourite’ after Alonso blow as ‘intriguing’ Klopp endorsement emerges

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed who is the “favourite” to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool after Xabi Alonso pulled out of the race.

Klopp announced in January that this would be his last season as Liverpool head coach. He is under contract until 2026 but he is leaving in the summer as he requires a break and will take a sabbatical.

“It was also intriguing to see…”
Alonso had been the overwhelming favourite to replace Klopp but the former Liverpool midfielder confirmed last week that he will be sticking with Bayer Leverkusen for at least one more season.

Over the weekend, a report from The Athletic claimed Ruben Amorim, Roberto De Zerbi and Julian Nagelsmann are among the leading candidates to be Liverpool’s next head coach.

After Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Brighton on Sunday, Klopp praised Seagulls boss De Zerbi as it is “always a struggle” when he comes up against the Italian.

“I would have loved to not be 1-0 down, I would love to have been four or five nil up but that’s the best we played against De Zerbi’s Brighton,” Klopp told Match of the Day.

“Playing wise it was really good, defending wise, yes always a struggle but there’s been games against Brighton we were never close but this time we were calm. That is the first of the last 10, let’s keep going.”

READ MORE: De Zerbi buys into Klopp style on Liverpool audition but another loss gives Brighton boss work to do

Commenting on the race to replace Klopp, Romano said it was “intriguing to see Klopp heaping so much praise on De Zerbi” but Amorim “is the favourite option for now”.

“Liverpool are now top of the table and look to have a slight advantage in the title race after their two rivals took points off each other, but it was also intriguing to see Jurgen Klopp heaping so much praise on Roberto de Zerbi after a narrow win over his Brighton side at Anfield,” Romano told Caught Offside.

“Despite the links with De Zerbi as Klopp’s successor, I keep repeating my position on that – I’m told that Ruben Amorim is the favourite option for now. De Zerbi has been on the list for Liverpool for some time as well, but there’s still no development so far.”

READ MORE: Six ways to separate Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League title run-in

“Another name…”
Romano has also poured water on reports suggesting Liverpool could target Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi.

“Let’s also see what Bayern will decide to do, but it’s still time for internal talks at Bayern on who will replace Thomas Tuchel, and nothing has been decided yet,” Romano added.

“Another name for the Liverpool job coming up in reports is Simone Inzaghi. However, I’m not aware of anything concrete so far on this one, also because Inzaghi is fully focused on Inter and on winning the Serie A title.

“My understanding is also that Inter will offer him new deal in the upcoming weeks, so the situation is currently quiet; let’s see if he will receive concrete proposals.”