Xabi Alonso has admitted that Liverpool striker Florian Wirtz is one of the main reasons why the Chelsea manager is where he is today.
Alonso and Wirtz enjoyed unparalleled success during their time together at Bayer. The Germany international was one of the Spanish coach’s star players in the side’s 51-match unbeaten run, which dates back to the 2023/24 season when Bayer won their first Bundesliga title.
Wirtz scored 18 goals and provided 19 assists in all competitions in the German team’s historic season. In the summer of 2025, less than a month after Alonso left for Real Madrid, Liverpool signed Wirtz in a £116m deal.
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However, the 23-year-old has struggled during his time at Anfield, although he has shown signs of improvement in the last four matches. The German scored 8 goals and provided 11 assists in 60 games in all competitions.
Wirtz’s path has been heavily criticized but Alonso, who returned to Anfield on Tuesday for the first time since becoming Chelsea manager, has nothing but fond memories of the “special” Liverpool forward.
“I can only talk about the time I spent with Flo at Bayer Leverkusen and without a doubt one of the main reasons I’m here is the time I spent with him at Leverkusen,” Alonso said. “He was a special player, he helped me a lot, I learned a lot from him and now that he’s at Liverpool I’m watching him and we know the next step is always exciting and he’s getting there.”
Chelsea travel to Merseyside for the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with the Reds today. After being beaten at home by Tottenham on Saturday night, the Blues will be looking to bounce back on Wednesday but will have to do so without star striker Joao Pedro.
The Brazil international has been ruled out for “several weeks” with a thigh injury picked up in Chelsea’s final training session before Chelsea’s clash with Spurs last Friday.
“Yes, he has a hip injury and he will be out for a few weeks,” Alonso said of Joao Pedro. “Let’s see how many there will be. We don’t want to make predictions about it, but he is not ready for the next games.”
Asked if that meant he would not feature until the upcoming international break, Alonso replied: “Probably.”
Danny Welbeck could lead the line for Chelsea at Anfield as he was left out of the starting XI for the defeat to Tottenham. Elsewhere, Emmanuel Emegha could make his Blues debut tomorrow night after recovering from injury.
Alonso said of the striker, who signed from Strasbourg in the summer: “Of course it is important that he is fit because he has special qualities. He has to feel fully fit.
“He has been training well for the last few weeks, 10 days, which has allowed him to build a strong base of fitness and now gradually we want to see him and maybe tomorrow he has a chance to play.”