Honorary Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness admitted Thursday bringing in-demand manager Xabi Alonso to the club was “probably impossible.”

The Bayer Leverkusen coach, who spent three years in Munich as a player, is Bayern’s number one target to replace Thomas Tuchel who will
leave his post in the summer
.

Alonso’s Leverkusen are 10 points clear atop the Bundesliga table with eight matches left and on course for a first-ever league title.

Still unbeaten this season, Leverkusen are also in the semi-finals of the German Cup and the last eight of the Europa League, having won 34 and drawn four of 38 games this season.

Speaking with Bavarian television, Hoeness confirmed Bayern wanted Alonso but predicted he would stay at Leverkusen beyond the season.

“We’ll have to see if we can do it this year. It will be difficult, if not probably impossible,” he said.

The Bayern powerbroker, who grew the club into a global behemoth as an administrator and later president, said the German champions “value Xabi Alonso extremely.”

“(Alonso) is more inclined to stay at Bayer Leverkusen in view of their current successes, because he would not want to leave them behind.

“Let’s say if he had two or three more years of success, it would probably be easier to bring him out of there.”

Alonso has been linked to Bayern as well as Real Madrid and Liverpool, where he also spent time as a player.