“They have to be ready”

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso has sent a strong message to the club’s players who would be returning late to camp due to their involvement in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He insisted that they must hit the ground running when they rejoin the squad.

The Blues are set to commence the 2026-27 campaign with a London derby clash with Fulham on August 24. As part of their preparations for the new campaign, Alonso’s side will engage in pre-season activities in Australia and Asia.

However, the Spanish manager is yet to have some of his senior players in camp due to their deep involvement at the just-concluded 2026 FIFA World Cup. The likes of Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Malo Gusto and new signing Morgan Rogers got to the semi-finals of the tournament with their respective nations.

Speaking recently on his team’s readiness for the new campaign, Alonso maintained that the aforementioned players must be ready to spring into action when they rejoin the squad. He said (as quoted by ChelsTransfer on X):

“All the ones who come later because they reached the final stages of the World Cup, they will be ready. We have a few of them so they have to be ready.“

Players who featured in the latter stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are entitled to at least three weeks of holiday as per FIFA rules. However, this period may vary depending on the club’s plans and match schedule.

What’s next for Chelsea?

Xabi Alonso has been working with players who did not feature at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the club’s Cobham facility. However, Chelsea will commence their 2026 pre-season activities properly when they take on Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday, July 28 at Accor Stadium in Sydney.

Before travelling to Australia, they played two closed-door friendlies against Crawley Town and Bromley, defeating the lower-division sides 3-1 and 3-0, respectively.

Xabi Alonso will hope to use the off-season to rejuvenate his team following a disappointing 2025-26 campaign, which saw them finish 10th in the league and miss out on European club competition.

As part of their pre-season friendlies, Chelsea will also play top sides like Tottenham Hotspur (August 1), Juventus (August 5) and AC Milan (August 8).