Joe Cole believes Xabi Alonso's decision to turn down interest from Liverpool and Bayern Munich to stay at Bayer Leverkusen is a "terrible decision".
Liverpool had learned of Alonso's position some time ago and are currently assessing other targets, with Sporting Lisbon's Ruben Amorim and Brighton's Roberto De Zerbi among the managers being considered by Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes, but Cole, who played for the Reds from 2010 to 2013, believes Alonso has made a mistake in not moving on this summer.
“In a year’s time it could be completely different, keeping this team together is going to be tough enough because they’ve got some fantastic players and all the giants in Europe are going to be looking at them.” And Cole's fellow pundit and former Bayern midfielder Owen Hargreaves admitted he was impressed with Alonso's decision to spurn tempting offers to lead Bayer in the Champions League next season.