Before Ruben Amorim took the Manchester United hot seat to replace sacked manager Eric ten Hag, much was made of how the ex-Sporting CP boss could be the perfect succession plan for Manchester City's life after Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola has done it all at City and given the club their greatest ever era, and it's not even close. However the Spaniard, who walked away from equally dominant spells in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich when he felt the time was right, could do the same when his current deal at the Etihad expires in the summer.Because Hugo Viana ended his successful collaboration with Amorim at the Lisbon club to replace Txiki Begiristain as Man City's sporting director as of next season, it led to speculation of the Txiki/Pep partnership being seamlessly replaced by Hugo and Ruben for the next City era.

However, while we now know that won't happen, a fresh wave of reports suggest there is another highly-successful manager available to replace Guardiola if this is his last season in charge of the current Premier League holders.

Xabi Alonso reported to be departing Bayer Leverkusen

Eurosport's Spanish delegation of reporters are leading the charge on the belief that Xabi Alonso, who broke Bayern's decade-plus stronghold on the Bundesliga title with an undefeated league campaign at Bayer Leverkusen, will leave the Rhine region outfit at the end of the current season.

Alonso knows the Premier League very well, having served as one of Liverpool's greatest ever midfielders during his playing days, and spent time under Guardiola at Bayern, meaning there's likely a philosophical link that could make a transition smoother.

Who else could sign Xabi Alonso as manager?

One key rival City would encounter for Alonso's signature, should Guardiola indeed make this season his last, is Real Madrid.

Alonso also played at the Bernabeu, though his time there wasn't as fruitful as his Liverpool and Bayern spells. However the allure of managing the world-famous side would be too much for most gaffers to resist.

Real are currently struggling under Carlo Ancelotti, and the Spanish club may view this as the beginning of the end of the 65-year-old's remarkably successful second stint in charge there.

Nonetheless, if Guardiola — who is currently keeping his cards very close to his chest regarding his future — is considering this current campaign to be the last of his glorious City tenure, it feels like Alonso would be the perfect replacement for many of the reasons explained, and possibly more.

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