Real Madrid legend the favourite to replace Ancelotti at the end of the season | OneFootball

Just a while back, reports emerged in Spain claiming that Carlo Ancelotti has decided to walk away from Real Madrid at the end of the season.

The Italian tactician has a contract with Los Blancos until 2026 but has made his mind up to move on this summer irrespective of how the season ends.

This comes as a surprise development, considering that Ancelotti has always stressed that he intends to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu for as long as possible.

Xabi Alonso the favourite to replace Ancelotti

Building on that, Onda Cero further reports that, as things stand, Real Madrid legend and current Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso is the favourite to replace Ancelotti in the dugout come summer.

Ancelotti’s successor? (Photo by Leon Kuegeler/Getty Images)

Alonso has been linked with the managerial job at Los Blancos for quite some time now. The former midfielder was seen as the leading candidate to take over from Ancelotti when the latter was being linked with the Brazil national team coaching role.

The former Spanish international has done an excellent job at Bayer Leverkusen in his short managerial career, even leading them to the Bundesliga Liga and DFB Pokal double last season, along with the DFB Supercup as well.

Like Ancelotti, Alonso also has a contract with his current club until the summer of 2026, but is expected to leave Leverkusen if Real Madrid come calling.

Florentino Perez rates the Spaniard very highly and if indeed it so happens that Ancelotti steps away once the current season is over, Alonso appears to be the frontrunner for the Real Madrid job.

The former midfielder spent six seasons at the club as a player, winning five titles and could soon be poised to take over as manager.