Bayer 04 Leverkusen and head coach Xabi Alonso will part ways at the end of the current season, concluding a highly successful partnership that spanned more than two and a half years.
The club has acceded to Alonso’s request to terminate his contract, originally set to run until the summer of 2026.
In an official statement obtained from the club’s website on Friday, Bayer 04 confirmed: ‘The champions of Germany, DFB Pokal and Supercup winners of 2024 have met the wish of the Spaniard to terminate his contract… after the end of this season.
‘Bayer 04 will announce the successor as head coach at the appropriate time’.
Chair of the shareholders committee, Werner Wenning, paid glowing tribute to Alonso’s impact: ‘Together with Xabi Alonso we have written a success story just through winning the league title without defeat in a way not seen in German football’, he said.
‘He was an outstanding ambassador at all times as coach both for our club as well as for the whole Bundesliga. Therefore, we are very grateful to Xabi Alonso’.
CEO Fernando Carro underscored the global recognition the club has attained under Alonso: ‘Bayer 04 have achieved lasting recognition in the football world through the targeted success under Xabi Alonso.
‘Bringing the Meisterschale to Leverkusen unbeaten plus winning the DFB Pokal, reaching the Europa League final and winning the Supercup makes us very proud’.
Sporting managing director Simon Rolfes described Alonso’s tenure as a defining period for the club: ‘A milestone in the development of Bayer 04 Leverkusen’, Rolfes said.
‘Together with Xavi, we have put together a team that has impressed the whole football world through quality on the pitch and mentality.
‘We are proud of the big steps forward and the standing of the club today and wish Xabi all the best in his future roles’, it read.
Alonso himself expressed deep appreciation for the opportunity and the collective achievements made during his time in charge: ‘I owe great thanks to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, my players and staff, all the employees of the club and last but not least the fantastic fans. Our success was the result of an outstanding team performance’, he said.
‘This club, who showed exceptional trust in me, very much deserved to win the German league title for the first time. My thanks and admiration go to everybody who helped to make this triumph happen, including the DFB Pokal win in Berlin’.
‘Bayer 04 are ready for the future. The positive path will continue and I will be excited to follow it’, the former Spanish international stated.
Xabi Alonso leaves behind a historic legacy, having guided Leverkusen to an unbeaten Bundesliga title, the DFB Pokal, the German Supercup, and a Europa League final – all within a remarkably short span.
