The thing is though, he moves to Madrid or Bayern let’s say this early in his career and fails spectacularly….where does he go from there?
Xabi is a smart guy and I’m sure he backs himself but in this game you can quickly go back from hero to zero as you did zero to hero. Ask Nagelsmann, AVB, Cocu and all these other young managers what happened when they jumped too early.
I was going to say Liverpool is a job at a similar level but having thought about it, I think it's actually harder.
Liverpool is one of the hardest jobs in football. The PL is insanely competitive and (traditionally) we try and compete without spending the same kind of money as though at the very top. Throw in the fact that whoever comes in is following Klopp... eek.
That said, if he stinks the place out here, Bayern / Real might actually still be willing to take a gamble on him... maybe Bayern more.