When Chelsea will officially announce Xabi Alonso as manager

Chelsea fans across the globe will be delighted that Xabi Alonso has agreed to become their manager.

News broke on Saturday evening that Alonso has signed a four-year contract at Chelsea, becoming the sixth permanent manager hired by BlueCo since taking over from Roman Abramovich in 2022.

Alonso is undoubtedly the best of the six, and it admittedly doesn’t take much to beat the appointment of Liam Rosenior, but BlueCo deserve credit for finally hiring a top-class manager.

Despite losing the FA Cup final 1-0 to Manchester City, while facing the prospect of no European football in 2026/27, the Blues have still managed to persuade the Spanish tactician to join, and an announcement is imminent.

Xabi Alonso will be announced in next 24 hours

According to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, Alonso will officially be announced by Chelsea in the next 24 hours, and a full agreement should be struck as early as Saturday night.

Things have moved rapidly over the last few days, and fans will be over the moon that it’s Alonso joining the club and not one of the other candidates, including Marco Silva.

Chelsea have needed to hire a proven winner for years, and having won the Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024, the former Real Madrid boss certainly knows how to fine-tune a squad to glory.

The 44-year-old will now get the opportunity to become a hero at Stamford Bridge after being a rival as a player at Liverpool. That is testament to BlueCo promising to learn from their mistakes, and that includes not giving managers more control over recruitment.

Alonso previously said he would only take the job if he had full control over transfers, and the Chelsea board have obviously listened to his demands, so it will be interesting to see what sort of business he completes.

Alonso must fix off-field issues first

The Spaniard has a big job on the pitch to get his squad used to playing an all-conquering three-at-the-back system, and that arguably begins with defensive reinforcements, including some leaders of men.

More importantly, though, Alonso must help repair a broken fanbase after supporters showcased their anger towards the board with a protest at Wembley Stadium.

Fans could be seen walking with “BlueCo out” banners, expressing how they felt towards an ownership model that has failed them for so long.

The board can repair the rift with the fans, and the appointment of Alonso is an excellent start, but only if they let him build an imbalanced squad how he wants and support him in every department.

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