Bayer Leverkusen were always confident Xabi Alonso would resist the overtures of Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid to continue his fairytale with them.
Alonso, 42, is the hottest property in coaching after guiding Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title triumph - and they could yet scoop two more trophies while remaining unbeaten.
Amid intense speculation he would be Jurgen Klopp's successor at Liverpool, or replace Thomas Tuchel at Bayern, Alonso reaffirmed his commitment to Leverkusen last month.
The club's managing director of sport Simon Rolfes said there was never any doubt Alonso would stay a little longer.
'No. We were always trustful and had open communication about everything,' he told the Daily Mirror.
'My feeling all the time was quite good, there has been some interest for sure but my feeling was always that he feels really good and likes to work with Bayer Leverkusen.
'He has a very good connection with the players, the club and the supporters and he feels like, 'okay, maybe it's good to stay here longer'.
'We are going to continue together and have more goals to achieve.'
Leverkusen's next ambitions are to add the German Cup and the Europa League to the Bundesliga, which was sealed when they thrashed Werder Bremen 5-0 last Sunday.
They extended their extraordinary unbeaten season in all competitions to 44 matches when Jeremie Frimpong scored an 89th-minute equaliser at West Ham to secure a 3-1 aggregate win on Thursday night.
Leverkusen face a tough Bundesliga assignment at Champions League semi-finalists Borussia Dortmund on Sunday afternoon.
Alonso's team have drawn Roma in the Europa League semi-finals and take on second-tier Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final on May 25.
One issue for Leverkusen is bigger clubs in Germany, England and beyond picking off their star talents this summer.
Wing-back Frimpong has been linked with Manchester United, Piero Hincapie has attracted interest from Liverpool, while 20-year-old star Florian Wirtz has suitors in Barcelona and Real Madrid.
'One thing is that we always extended the contracts early,' Rolfes added. 'We have a lot of control over those situations.
'The other thing is to convince, to give the players a feeling they're at the right place to develop.
'It's about developing their career and also having success together as a team. There's a strong bond between the guys ad you can see that they love to play together in this club and environment.
'It's a real family environment but we try to push the guys as well to develop and to get better. This combination puts us in a very good position in the player's opinion.'
weciknotu
0
they should have bleaved Because Bayern Munich always want managers who win them Different trophies he should stay at Leverkusen Because its small club and feel like they won Champions League there first ever League Title by the help of Bayern that they brought a Failure of a coach like tuchel and destroyed Bayern system
ThreeEyedRaven
0
I won't be surprised if Xabi Alonso achieves the impossible with Leverkusen in the next 2yrs and wins the UCL. it's been awhile since a surprise team won it, I think the last time was Porto under Mourinho. Others have tried, like Dortmund in 2013, Atletico in 2014 & 2016 and Tottenham in 2019.
Hry9in3
0
turning down Liverpool and Bayern was a very wish decision..
SaadAkhtarKhan
0
I personally feels this is a mistake from Xabi to turn Liverpool down. We have a parable that says, beat the iron when it's hot.....Xabi staying at Leverkusen, a fairytale team, might get his chance mess up next season.
nah the pressure on klopps successor would be MONUMENTAL. It's wise of him to not take that pressure on so early into his managerial career
Jasperwolezzy1
0
He was only good this season coz union Berlin hoefinham mochengablach wolfburg and liepzeg are not inform Let see next season again
Jasperwolezzy1
0
Make he go chop the beating of him life next season
Panja
0
xabi should test himself in UCL first then leave for a bigger club. he is a matured coach & knows expectations are very high in liverpool madrid or bayern
PiyushVerma
0
I personally feels this is a mistake from Xabi to turn Liverpool down. We have a parable that says, beat the iron when it's hot.....Xabi staying at Leverkusen, a fairytale team, might get his chance mess up next season.
by staying there he is doing good and please find some other than Spanish managers for Liverpool
malablata
0
I personally feels this is a mistake from Xabi to turn Liverpool down. We have a parable that says, beat the iron when it's hot.....Xabi staying at Leverkusen, a fairytale team, might get his chance mess up next season.
omaryaradua
4
That's the best decision he has ever made. Were they going to gv him chance if he had failed at Leverkusen?