Rolfes: ‘We will have a top coach and a top team next season'

Simon Rolfes on…

…his emotions after the announcement of Xabi Alonso leaving at the end of the season: "Farewells are always emotional. Of course, you start thinking about looking back at the time together and the memory of great moments with the league title win and the DFB Pokal but also the first discussions and the first weeks. All those experiences will be there forever and connect us forever."

…discussions with Xabi Alonso: "Of course, this moment is not all too surprising for us today. Communication with Xabi was and is very open and transparent at all times and the level of trust accordingly great. The final decision came this week even though there was obviously movement and certain thoughts before that."

…discussions on the successor in the dugout: "When I started here it was always said that everything would be over if Kai Havertz left. It didn't turn out to be like that. And it won't be like that again now and things will obviously carry on. Of course, we have had discussions recently and weighed our options and Xabi knew that too. But until something is 100% certain we will not be in the final phase of discussions. The decision has been made and therefore we logically move into that final phase. We will find a good solution for Bayer 04 and are firmly convinced that we will enter a new successful era."

…the future of Florian Wirtz: "Of course, there are different options with Flo, a lot of clubs are very interested in him. But one option is that he stays with us. He still has two years on his contract and that means we aren't forced to make a decision in the next five days. There is no exact timetable."

…squad planning and players in and out: "First of all it's human response to think about your own future after a successful time with a coach. That's completely normal. As a club, we are very ambitious and we want to have a top coach and a top team next season too. I don't think it's bad that there will be changes. There will be a wind of change and we will create a new dynamic. Lots of players, lots of important players will stay. And we will also bring in good players."