Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso has said he is focused on the German team's Bundesliga title challenge after he was linked with the Liverpool job following Jurgen Klopp's shock decision to step down as manager on Friday.
However, the 42-year-old refused to rule out the possibility of taking over at Liverpool one day, telling a news conference that "what will happen [in the future] I don't know."
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Alonso is seen as the frontrunner to replace Klopp due to the five years he spent at Anfield as a player between 2004 and 2009, a spell which saw him win the FA Cup and Champions League.
Asked by ESPN's Archie Rhind-Tutt whether he would consider the Liverpool job at the end of his Leverkusen contract, Alonso said: "Well first of all, yeah it [Klopp's decision to step down at the end of the season] was a surprise.
"But as well I have huge respect for Jurgen, huge admiration before coming to Liverpool and during this year it has even been bigger and it has grown what he has achieved and the way he has achieved that.
"And at the moment I am really happy here. I am enjoying my work here. I am feeling that each day it is a challenge. Each game is a challenge and we are in an intense and a beautiful journey here in Leverkusen and I am trying to give my best to help my players be ready for the next thing and that's my goal. What will happen [in the future], I don't know."
Alonso signed a new contract at Leverkusen in the summer which is due to expire at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
"To be honest, I am not in that moment to think about the next step, I'm thinking about where I am right now," Alonso said.
"And I think that I am in a great place and I am enjoying and I think it's the right place. So that's all I can say... My place is what's going to [happen] on Saturday to be honest because that's what really matters and I'm going to be happy when we are playing well and we deserve to win. And what's going to happen in the future, I don't know and I don't really care at the moment."
Earlier on Friday, Klopp announced his decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season. The German manager said that he is "running out of energy" and casted doubt over whether he will ever manage again.
Alonso is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation and won 17 major honours during his time playing for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the Spain national team.
Alonso joined Liverpool in 2004 and won the Champions League in his first season. He scored in the infamous final in Istanbul where Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties and lift their fifth European Cup.
The 2010 World Cup winner, who had formed an impressive partnership with Steven Gerrard in Liverpool's central midfield, left merseyside to join Real Madrid in a £30 million ($38.2m) deal in August 2009.
Following spells in charge of Real Madrid under-14s and Real Sociedad B, Alonso was appointed as the head coach of Leverkusen in October 2022 and is inspiring the team on an unlikely title charge during his first full season at the helm.
Leverkusen are unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season and have opened up a four-point gap over second-placed Bayern Munich.