Bayern Munich midfielder set to retire at end of the season

Xabi Alonso has told Bayern Munich he intends to call time on his playing career when his contract expires at the end of the season, reports SportBild.

The 35-year-old has entered the final six months of his existing deal with Bayern after three years at the club and there have been no talks about extending his stay at the Allianz Arena.

Reports emerged last week suggesting Carlo Ancelotti had lined up Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti as his replacement this summer and a move for the Italy international could now be accelerated with Alonso set to hang up his boots at the end of the season.

Bayern only announced they had extended the stay of 32-year-old Arjen Robben earlier this week but Alonso reportedly told members of the Bayern hierarchy at the end of last year that he was contemplating retirement.

With Joshua Kimmich progressing nicely and Sebastian Rudy set to join from Hoffenheim at the end of the season, Bayern will have plenty of options to fill the void left by Alonso, although it will still be a tough ask for whoever is given his role.

Despite edging towards the end of his career, Alonso has still started 13 of Bayern’s 16 Bundesliga matches and has actually scored as many league goals as he had managed in his previous six league campaigns combined (3).

For more stats on Xabi Alonso, click here to visit his WhoScored player page