Replacing Gerardo Seoane following Leverkusen’s poorest start to the Bundesliga season since promotion in 1979, Alonso did a good job of taking them to sixth at the end of the season.
His club are currently the leaders in the Bundesliga with a three-point lead over Bayern Munich, though the Bavarian club have played a game fewer.
Keys rates Alonso highly and believes that he is ready for one of the Premier League’s big boys.
Taking into consideration the rough phase Premier League giants Manchester United are going through under the stewardship of Erik ten Hag, Keys believes that Alonso is the right man to take the club back to the elite level.
Defending his view, the 66-year-old insisted that if Klopp was to leave Liverpool at the end of the season, the Merseyside club would look to appoint Alonso as a successor, and that is a sign of his quality.
“I’d go and get Xavi Alonso. I’d offer him Saudi league money and guarantee him five years in charge”, Keys wrote on his blog while picking out a successor for Ten Hag.
“He’s about the only way Utd will ever re-join the elite group and he’d give them a chance of attracting big names to the club again – not ageing misfits and babies.
“I floated this theory on air this past weekend and had a hard time selling it. ‘He’s not ready’ I was told. Really?
“Let me ask this – if Klopp quit at the end of the season who would Liverpool want to appoint? Exactly. Alonso. Of course, he’s ready.”
After seeing their Champions League hopes take a beating following a 3-3 draw against Galatasaray last week, Ten Hag’s side suffered yet another setback when they were beaten 1-0 by Newcastle United in the Premier League at the weekend.
