Jurgen Klopp Heaps Praise on Liverpool Manager Candidate Xabi Alonso

Current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is a big fan of Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, who is the favorite to replace him at Anfield.

Klopp announced last month that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, having been in the role since October 2015.

The 56-year-old German - who is Liverpool's best manager ever based on his win percentage - will be hard to replace.

However, Alonso is widely seen as an ideal candidate.

Bookmakers believe that the former midfielder is the most likely person to take over from Klopp, who appeared to give the 42-year-old his blessing on Friday.

"Xabi is doing an incredible job," said Klopp at a press conference on the eve of Saturday's Premier League trip to Brentford.

Jurgen Klopp (right) and Xabi Alonso pictured in 2012 following a Champions League game between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid

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Alonso became Leverkusen boss in October 2022 and guided the team to sixth place in the Bundesliga last season.

But his Leverkusen side have gone to a new level in the current campaign.

Leverkusen are unbeaten in all competitions after 31 matches, having won 27 of them.

This fabulous form has seen Leverkusen build a five-point lead in the Bundesliga table over Bayern Munich, who have been German champions in each of the previous 11 seasons.

Alonso has been the manager of Bayer Leverkusen since October 2022

IMAGO/Kirchner-Media/Christopher Neundorf

Klopp added: "How quick his team is that well tuned, for the time it's taken, he's put his proper stamp on it.

"The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is a standout in that department.

"[He is a] former world-class player, from a coaching family as well, which helps a little, he was like a coach already when he was playing.

"The football he is playing, the teams he sets up, the transfers he did, it is absolutely exceptional.

"If you would have asked me eight weeks ago about Xabi Alonso, I would have gone 'Oh my God!' Always what I said.

"The 'dinosaurs' if you want, [Carlo] Ancelotti, [Jose] Mourinho, [Pep] Guardiola, maybe me, we will not [manage] for the next 20 years - OK, maybe Mourinho will do it - but all the rest will not."

Alonso - who is the son of former Eibar, Hercules and Real Sociedad manager Periko Alonso - spent five seasons at Anfield during his playing career.

He made 210 first-team appearances and won the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.