Chelsea’s players believe Xabi Alonso is the ideal candidate to become their next head coach, and talks with his camp are moving in the right direction. No agreement is in place, but Alonso is the frontrunner as the club looks for a successor to Liam Rosenior, who was sacked last month after 106 days.
Chelsea are keeping an open mind as they work toward what would be their sixth permanent manager since BlueCo’s takeover in 2022, yet Alonso has been tracked closely since he began his managerial career at Bayer Leverkusen in 2022. His rise has been hard to ignore: he won the Bundesliga title in 2024, and his name now sits above a shortlist that also includes Andoni Iraola, Marco Silva, Oliver Glasner and Filipe Luís. A growing sense within the industry is that a deal will be agreed, even if the finishing details are still unsettled.
The attraction is obvious inside Stamford Bridge. Alonso won Champions League titles with Liverpool and Madrid and added domestic trophies with Bayern Munich, while also playing a central role in Spain’s run to two European Championships and the World Cup between 2008 and 2012. Chelsea’s players want the next manager to be someone who can command respect in the dressing room and keep strong egos in line, and influential figures have not hidden their unease over Enzo Maresca leaving.
The coach’s demands are also clear. Alonso wants assurances over certain elements, including a say over signings, and Chelsea intend to give him what he needs. The club’s recruitment operation now includes five sporting directors headed by Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, but there is recognition that someone of Alonso’s stature has to be listened to when it comes to transfers. There is, by all accounts, zero desire to impose players on him.
That is one reason the conversation has moved as far as it has. Alonso has been out of work since leaving Madrid in January, after 34 games in charge and failing to win over influential elements of the dressing room. Chelsea have not contacted Liverpool, which is likely to keep Arne Slot, but the pursuit of Alonso has already fed Crystal Palace’s optimism about landing Iraola. Glasner is stepping down after this month’s Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano, adding another moving piece to a manager market Chelsea are trying to read before they make the wrong call.
There is also a tactical edge to the timing. Chelsea are preparing for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City, and Reece James is poised to return to the starting lineup after coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute in the 1-1 draw at Liverpool. If Alonso does end up taking the job, he would arrive with a squad that believes it needs authority as much as ideas, and with a club hierarchy that appears ready to hand him both.
For Chelsea, the unresolved question is no longer whether Alonso fits the profile. It is how quickly a deal can be completed before the wider market shifts around them. The club have spent months studying him, and the feeling now is that the man they wanted from the start may finally be within reach.
