Former Real Madrid and Liverpool star Xabi Alonso has revealed his ambition to manage an elite team in his career but has insisted he is in no hurry.
The Spaniard, 39, is no stranger to Europe's elite, having played for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich across his career, but he is now considering turning his hand to management at one of them.
The former midfielder is currently plying his trade back home in the Basque Country as head coach to youth team, Real Sociedad B.
Alonso reportedly spoke to Borussia Monchengladbach about the vacancy in their dugout last season and is often linked with other top clubs.
But the manager has admitted he is in 'no hurry' to switch his role at La Real for a top club.
'Everyone has their own decisions,' Alonso told The Athletic. 'I try to take the steps myself, not be pushed.
'I have the ambition to manage an elite team, but I am in no hurry. I am very happy where I am. The timeline at the moment is just to keep our place in Segunda this year.'
Alonso came through Real Sociedad's youth system, known as Sanse, and played for the first-team for four years before making the move to Liverpool
After wrapping up his playing days at Bayern Munich in 2017, Alonso took up a role coaching the Under-14s at Real Madrid the following year.
But he returned to the Basque country in 2019, explaining that 'there is always a moment to come home'.
'After being away for so many years, there is always a moment to come home,' he said.
'I was starting a new career, and I knew I was going to learn here, to have the patience and the support of so many people.
'There is a very clear model here, with support, facilities, communication — it is all very natural, very fluid. The process is helping me to know myself, to correct things, to make mistakes.
'This is a place where you have a bit more space to learn. The players teach me a lot too, what it is to train, to play, to communicate and explain. This is my third season and it is going well.'
Sanse finished fifth in their Segunda B third-tier group in Alonso's first season in charge. Last year they won promotion through a complicated 102-team system featuring three distinct stages and just four promotion places.
Alonso's tenure has also seen him developed his young talents into first-team stars, such as Martin Zubimendi who has stepped up to Imanol Alguacil's first-team and Spain.
The coach stressed the importance of preparing his prodigies for professional football, as he said: 'A product reaches me having learned very good concepts. And this is the last very important step to prepare them to be professionals.
'We want them to breathe what professional football is like, the competition, the training sessions, the habits you need to make it.
'It is like a production line and we are putting them in the box to get them ready for the first team, and we have to get it right.'