Chelsea confirm Xabi Alonso appointment on four-year deal

AFC BournemouthArsenalAston VillaBrentfordBrighton & Hove AlbionBurnleyChelseaCrystal PalaceEvertonFulhamLeeds UnitedLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedNewcastle UnitedNottingham ForestSunderlandTottenham HotspurWest Ham UnitedWolverhampton WanderersScores & ScheduleStandingsFantasyThe Athletic FC NewsletterPodcastsFA Cup Final UpdatesAndy Morrison InterviewChelsea confirm Xabi Alonso appointment on four-year dealAlonso was sacked by Real Madrid in January Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images Share article4Xabi Alonso has been appointed Chelsea manager on a four-year contract. The Athletic reported on Saturday that an agreement was in place for Chelsea to appoint Alonso, who was the club’s top target to replace Liam Rosenior. The 44-year-old former Real Madrid coach visited London last week, having been sacked by Madrid in January, and he will officially begin his new role on July 1. “Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football and it fills me with immense pride to become manager of this great club,” Alonso said in a Chelsea statement. “From my conversations with the ownership group and sporting leadership, it is clear we share the same ambition. We want to build a team capable of competing consistently at the highest level and fighting for trophies. “There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this football club and it will be my great honour to lead it. Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies.” His arrival at Stamford Bridge follows a trophyless season for the club in which Enzo Maresca, Rosenior and interim coach Calum McFarlane all had stints in charge. Chelsea, who lost Saturday’s FA Cup final to Manchester City, are ninth in the Premier League and currently outside the qualification places for European football next season. Alonso returns to the Premier League having spent five years with Liverpool as a player, during which time he won the Champions League in 2005. The Spaniard guided Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title in 2023-24 as part of an unbeaten domestic campaign. He left the German club following the 2024-25 campaign and subsequently joined Madrid, where he won 10 of his first 11 matches in charge, including El Clasico in October 2025. However, his Madrid side fell four points behind eventual winners Barcelona and lost to them in the final of the Supercopa de Espana. Chelsea parted company with Rosenior on April 23 after less than four months in charge. He was appointed as Maresca’s successor following his dismissal on New Year’s Day, and Calum McFarlane was appointed as interim head coach until the end of the season. Analysis from football writer Cerys Jones For Chelsea to have finalised this appointment well in advance of the chaos of the summer transfer window and World Cup is a huge relief — and the man they have chosen for the job, on paper, ticks every box. Alonso’s achievements at Bayer Leverkusen demonstrate his ability to pull together a winning side, while his stature as a player should help command the authority that Liam Rosenior seemed to lack. The way Alonso has set up his sides in the past, while he has shown a willingness to adapt the exact plan to fit players’ characteristics, broadly fits the personnel Chelsea have — and having clarity about who they will be playing for ought to speed up moves for any additions needed. The biggest question mark over Alonso arises from his short tenure at Real Madrid, where internal politics proved too much for him. Chelsea will hope that proves to be a reflection on the Bernabeu dressing room, arguably the most unwieldy in world football, rather than the man they have tasked with revitalising their expensive, talented, and at times chaotic team. The most significant point, though, is that Alonso has been appointed as manager rather than head coach — signifying a wider remit than the purely tactical. The structure Chelsea head coaches have been asked to operate in under BlueCo has been a source of tension, particularly for Mauricio Pochettino, and some have suggested head coach candidates would balk at a perceived lack of control at the club. For Alonso to take on the mantle of manager suggests a shift in the power of the man in the dugout. How Chelsea’s leadership adapts will be fascinating to see. Analysis from Chelsea correspondent Simon Johnson During his time at Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso set his team up to play very entertaining football in a 3-4-2-1 formation, a system that certainly suits the players in Chelsea’s squad. They have been accustomed to playing with three at the back in possession under Maresca and Rosenior for the past two seasons. Crucially, Alonso improved players while he was there, including Florian Wirtz, who joined Liverpool in a deal worth up to £116million ($158m) last summer. Wirtz, at his best, plays with a similar swagger to Cole Palmer, an elite player who has lost some of his sparkle over the last 18 months. That can be put partly down to injury and fatigue, yet there has always been a suspicion he preferred the more attacking style and freedom introduced to the side by Mauricio Pochettino in 2023-24. Another beneficiary from working with Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen was Jeremie Frimpong, who also moved to Liverpool last year. Speaking to The Athletic in 2024, the right-back lavished Alonso with praise for the transformative effect he had on his career. “Everybody understands him,” he said. “When he has an idea, he can make it make sense to all the players. I always feel like he knows how to use my abilities.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms