Xabi Alonso does not have a clause in his contract allowing a swift return to Liverpool - but Bayer Leverkusen have nonetheless vowed not to stand in his way.
Talk of the Spaniard one day taking to the Anfield dugout has grown amid his remarkable work in Germany, with Bayer top of the Bundesliga and Alonso possessing a win-rate north of 61 per cent.
During the bulk of his prestigious playing career, the 41-year-old only played for four teams; Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Liverpool. In over 200 appearances on Merseyside, he won the Champions League and FA Cup.
Such affinity with his former clubs led to rumours that Alonso had inserted a release clause into his Bayer contract allowing for a return.
However, CEO Fernando Carro has insisted that is not the case, given that they will not prevent him from leaving anyway should he ask to.
"No but you don't need a clause," he told talkSPORT.
"We have a very, very good relationship with Xabi and he knows that we are a serious club.
"At the end of the day, we're not going to force someone to stay if he doesn't want to stay. We want him to feel so happy and so good with us that he really only wants to stay and this is our objective.
"Nothing on paper but sometimes agreements that are not on paper are agreements as well, and we know that if he needs to do a move in the future we'll be able to talk with each other.
"I hope we will not need to do this because he will stay and be happy in Leverkusen."
Jurgen Klopp is under contract to the summer of 2026 and was recently linked with the Germany national team job, yet is showing little sign of vacating the Liverpool hotseat anytime soon.
