Xabi Alonso lets slip Chelsea appointment as Liverpool icon to complete move
Chelsea are close to appointing Xabi Alonso as their new head coach and the Spaniard appeared to confirm the move on social media on Sunday morning
Xabi Alonso has appeared to let slip his impending move to Chelsea(Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Xabi Alonso has appeared to confirmed he is ‘on the verge’ of becoming the next Chelsea head coach.
Alonso, 44, is on the brink of joining the Blues with the Spaniard expected to sign a four-year contract. The ex-Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid boss visited London last week and has since accepted the chance to move to west London this summer.
With a deal close to completion, Alonso then appeared to let the move slip on social media on Sunday morning. Indeed, posting on his official X account, the former Liverpool midfielder said: “Xabi Alonso, on the verge of becoming Chelsea’s coach,” alongside a link from Spanish outlet Marca.
Alonso has been out of work since leaving Real Madrid back in January. During his short time at the Santiago Bernabeu, he posted an impressive record, winning 24 and drawing four of his 34 matches at the helm.
It was a return that helped move Real into the knockout phase of the Champions League and kept them well in the race for the La Liga title. However, president Florentino Perez made the decision to sack Alonso and bring in ex-defender Alvaro Albeloa as interim until the end of the season.
Before that, Alonso was at Bayer Leverkusen in Germany and enjoyed a successful two-and-half year spell there, guiding them to an unbeaten Bundesliga season en route to the title in 2023/24. As well as that, Bayer reached the Europa League final and won the DFB-Pokal in the same campaign.
As for Chelsea, the Blues have been on the lookout for a permanent manager since the sacking of Liam Rosenior in April, with Calum McFarlane taking charge until the end of the season.
Rosenior was axed following a dreadful run of form that saw the Blues lose five successive Premier League matches and drop out of the Champions League places. While McFarlane helped Chelsea to the FA Cup final, he was unable to get them across the line, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
Antoine Semenyo’s second-half goal proved to be the difference at Wembley Stadium as Chelsea’s domestic trophy drought stretched to eight years.
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Speaking post-match, McFarlane expressed his pride at the Blues’ performances but lamented a couple of refereeing decisions that didn’t go his way.
McFarlane said: “I thought it was an even game, I thought both teams had moments of control, both teams had momentum at different times. Two really good sides, got a lot of respect for Manchester City and what they’ve done over their period of success, so congratulations to them first.
“Disappointing result but a very evenly matched game. In terms of the penalty incidents, I thought they’re tough calls but for me the Jorrel Hato and (Abdukodir) Khusanov collision in the box is a penalty, Jorrel gets in front and it’s a collision in the back, if that’s anywhere else on the pitch it’s a foul.
“Very similar to last week at Liverpool with Joao Pedro and (Jeremie) Frimpong, I said the same, thought that was a penalty as well, so sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t.”
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