Afcon: Alonso has a replacement for Boniface as Rummenigge believes Leverkusen coach is the next ‘Special One’

Bayer Leverkusen manager, Xabi Alonso has said Parik Schick is capable of filling in for Victor Boniface if he leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

Boniface is expected to be called up by the Super Eagles for the tournament.

With Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi set to undergo surgery, the 22-year-old is almost certain to make the final squad.

Boniface will be missed by Leverkusen where he has been in impressive form since his summer move.

However, Alonso remains relaxed ahead of Boniface’s absence.

“The tournament runs from January 13th to February 11th. We wait and see.

“Patrik is in a good mood, and he is strong, and with him, we are in no hurry,” he said in quotes reported by Sports Bild.

Though, Bayern Munich is enjoying one of its best starts to a Bundesliga season in years. Yet, it is still as intense a title challenge as Bayern has seen in a long time.

That is thanks to the rising star of Bayer Leverkusen and its young coach, Alonso.

“It’s no surprise to me at all that he’s now having success,” former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge explained recently

. “He’s a very intelligent person and back when he played for Bayern, I predicted that he was going to be a great coach. He built his (coaching) career very systematically and took his time to develop.

“As a player, he also worked under some of the best coaches in the world — Rafael Benitez in Liverpool, Pep Guardiola at Bayern, Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.”

His comments echo those of José Mourinho from four years ago — which also pointed out that Xabi grew up with a player-turned-manager father before his own excellent and diverse footballing education.

Could that result in a stint back at Bayern, somewhere down the line? It is almost as if some are trying to manifest it — but for now, the Bavarian giants can have few complaints about their current man in charge, Thomas Tuchel.