Alonso Rejects European Giant Return — and more

Xabi Alonso has declined an offer from a major European club and will not return to coaching at the moment. The former Real Madrid manager, who was considered the prime candidate to replace Carlo Ancelotti at the Spanish club over a year ago, remains without a team after being dismissed by Florentino Pérez following the Spanish Super Cup final defeat in early 2026.

AFC Bournemouth and Argentina defender Marcos Senesi happens to be one of the players FC Barcelona are monitoring ahead of the summer transfer window.

The Blaugrana are scouring the market for a left-footed centre-back before next season. And while Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni would be the dream target, finances make a move unlikely.

Senesi, meanwhile, is seen as a much more feasible option, considering his contract with Bournemouth expires at the end of the season, making him a free agent.

However, the South American defender has been garnering a lot of interest from several other top clubs as well.

Senesi yet to make a decision

Now, according to reports in England, as relayed by Mundo Deportivo, Senesi’s entourage still maintains the possibility of joining Barcelona as a future option and has not ruled it out at this stage.

Marcos Senesi is a target for Barcelona. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Several Premier League sides, among them Chelsea, as well as clubs from other leagues, such as Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, are monitoring his situation.

However, a source from the player’s camp acknowledges that when Barcelona show interest, it is difficult not to take it into account. As such, nothing has been ruled out because the opportunity to play for the Catalan club is always appealing.

Senesi is a player that the Blaugrana have been following for a long time now, and the interest can be traced back to 2018 when he was still at San Lorenzo.

With the La Liga champions still holding an interest and the player also seemingly open to the idea of making the move happen, it remains to be seen if this develops into something substantial in the coming months.

Sadly, the 2025 football season is officially over. The Indiana Hoosiers are college football national champions, the Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions, and we have another six months until the greatest sport in the world returns.

With some more time on our hands now, it is a great opportunity to look back on USC’s season. This week, we will be giving report cards for the 2025 Trojans. On Wednesday, we did offense. Now, it is time for defense.

Defensive line: B

Eric Henderson did a solid job with USC’s defensive line in 2025. Given what the Trojans were paying Henderson, however, solid was not nearly good enough, especially with USC getting dominated on the line of scrimmage by Notre Dame and Oregon.

With Henderson off to the NFL’s Washington Commanders, it will fall on newly promoted defensive tackles coach Skyler Jones to try and take the unit to the next level in 2026.

Linebackers: C-

Plain and simple, the Rob Ryan experiment did not work out great for USC. While the Trojans had talent at the linebacker position—most notably Eric Gentry—the unit felt poorly-coached at times, and often struggled with missed tackles.

After coming over from Nebraska this offseason, Mike Ekeler will take over coaching USC’s linebackers in 2026. While nothing has been confirmed yet regarding Ryan, there are rumors that he will remain with the program in a reduced role.

Cornerbacks: D+

USC did have some brutal injury luck at cornerback in 2025, especially with Chasen Johnson being lost for the season after just three games. Still, this was the worst unit on the Trojans’ defense in 2025, with the Illinois game making USC’s struggles at the position clear and obvious.

With the Trojans set to face strong passing offenses Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, and Washington next season, the cornerbacks will need to show significant improvement if USC wants to have any chance at contending in the Big Ten.

Safeties: B+

This was the best position room on USC’s defense in 2025. Bishop Fitzgerald put together a Consensus All-American campaign, and Kamari Ramsey had a very solid season as well.

With both Fitzgerald and Ramsey off to the NFL, the Trojans will need new faces to step up at the position in 2026. Paul Gonzales, who previously worked with new defensive coordinator Gary Patterson at TCU, is set to take over coaching the room.

Overall defensive grade: C+

By no means was USC’s defense this season horrible. The Trojans had plenty of good moments, and played really well against Michigan and in the second half of the Nebraska and Iowa games.

Unfortunately, in the biggest moments, however, USC simply did not make enough plays on the defensive side of the ball. Against Illinois, the Trojans allowed a game-winning drive that looked far too easy. Against Oregon, the defense simply could not get off the field when it mattered most. And we all remember the fiasco that was the final play of the Alamo Bowl against TCU.

With D’Anton Lynn now at Penn State, Gary Patterson is USC’s new defensive coordinator. How his unit looks in 2026 could very well determine the trajectory of the Lincoln Riley era in Los Angeles.

Wrapping things up

We have now completed USC’s offensive and defensive grades for the 2025 season. Stay tuned for our final report card featuring special teams, coaching, recruiting, and our overall grade for the year!

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Final report card for USC football’s 2025 defense