At 39, Xabi Alonso will be appointed coach of Gladbach

Xabi Alonso, one of the great link players in the last two decades, is also returning to the center of the stage as a coach. The Spaniard, who retired from football less than four years ago, will be appointed coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach in June, the German Bild reported today, and was tweeted by the esteemed journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Alonso will return to the center of the stage as a coach at the age of 39 and will replace Marco Rosa, who is leaving for Borussia Dortmund. He returned to the German league, where he played in the Bayern Munich uniform before retiring from football.

Alonso grew up at Real Sociedad but spent his fine years at Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. He won the Spanish championship with Real, three German championships at Bayern and once the Champions League, with Liverpool. Since retiring, coach Alonso has joined the Real Madrid youth team and the Real Sociedad reserve team.