By all indications, Xabi Alonso will leave Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season. The team that he has built and fine-tuned seems set to collapse after its greatest achievement - the eyes of big-spenders all over Europe turning their gaze to the presumptive Bundesliga champions.
This, of course, will be a shame. Leverkusen are an immensely exciting team to watch and have destabilised what was becoming a dull, well-established order at the top of the German top flight. They could yet finish the season unbeaten in all competitions, with three trophies well within their grasp. And even if things go awry, Alonso has still coached Leverkusen to one of, if not the great season in club history.
Bigger things, therefore, will soon beckon, though Alonso next move isn't yet clear, with it still a toss-up between Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich and Premier League title-chasers Liverpool as to which of his former clubs he will take charge of this summer.
Still, there is an ominous sense that Bayern are pulling narrowly ahead in the race to hire Europe's most coveted coach. If they pull it off, it will be the ultimate coup in a lengthy history of the club picking off best talent from their domestic rivals.