Asked if coach Xabi Alonso could one day be commemorated outside Bayer Leverkusen's BayArena home, club CEO Fernando Carro said "after last year, it's already enough for a statue".
Given the scope of last year's achievements, where Alonso took Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double in Germany, Carro's tongue-in-cheek quip is believable.
Long known as 'Neverkusen' for failing to win the Bundesliga with five second-place finishes since 1997 and a loss to Real Madrid in the 2002 Champions League final, Alonso has changed the club forever.
Carro, who brought Alonso – who had never before coached a top-division side – to Leverkusen in 2022, now faces a battle to keep him.
- 'A new impulse' -
When Leverkusen called Alonso in October 2022, they were sitting second last in the Bundesliga table, having fired previous manager Gerardo Seoane.
"We had the impression that we would need a change, a new impulse in the team," Carro told AFP.
Alonso, a former superstar midfielder who won almost everything on offer for club and country as a player with Spain, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, had limited coaching experience.
"For us, it was not a risk. We were quite sure after the first conversation that he was clear in his ideas and he would be able to put his ideas and his experience into the team.
"When you have a resume like his, having won basically everything, when you combine his personality and sporting success, it multiplies, it accelerates."
Alonso steadied the ship, taking Leverkusen to sixth place in 2022-23. A year later, Leverkusen had put together one of the greatest seasons in European history.
Leverkusen lost just one of 53 matches in 2023-24, the Europa League final, to fall just short of a remarkable treble.
The club were able to hold onto Alonso despite reported interest from Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern last season.
"We assume he will be the coach next year," insisted Carro.
Star player Florian Wirtz, already a regular German international at 21, is also coveted by Europe's elite.
"On Florian Wirtz, he has a contract (until 2027) and he's happy here.
"He's a competitive person... As long as we can offer him a team which is competitive and can fight for everything, it's the same as Xabi, he is happy here."
Carro praised Alonso's "great impact at the club", but said "for me it's a bit too simple to put everything on Xabi.
"We've got a club that has developed a lot over the last years. So the combination of the good people in the club, the professionalism, and the good management of the club, has been very positive."
A former Barcelona season ticket holder, Carro took over Leverkusen in 2018 after a successful business career.
The Spaniard said his background has "a hell of a lot" of influence over how he runs the club.
"Certain things are different in football than in business... but other things are the same. You work as a team, make decisions, and you need leadership.
"My background has been key."
'WE CAN BEAT BAYERN'
Through to the last 16 of the Champions League and the German Cup semifinals, Leverkusen host Bayern Munich on Saturday.
With Bayern sitting eight points ahead, Saturday's match is likely to be second-placed Leverkusen's last chance to drag themselves back into the title race.
Bayern are clear favourites for the title but in Leverkusen they have a challenger unlike any seen since Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund won back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.
Bayern have not beaten Leverkusen since September 2022, a month before Alonso took over.
Leverkusen eliminated Bayern from the German Cup in December 2024, a match in which Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was red carded for the first time in his career after an uncharacteristic rush of blood to the head, where he collided with an onrushing Jeremie Frimpong.
"I don't think they fear us, but they respect us," added the Leverkusen chief.
"They know they can beat us, and we can beat them. That's what football is about. To compete, to respect each other, and fight for success."