29 Apr 2026 14:03 BST |<\/span> Chelsea could convince Xabi Alonso to become their new manager by beating Manchester City to the signing of a player already approved by the Spanish coach.<\/p>\n Alonso is among the candidates being considered by Chelsea as their new manager following Liam Rosenior\u2019s sacking last week, with talks also being held over Andoni Iraola<\/b> and Marco Silva.<\/p>\n Chelsea could tempt Alonso into a return to management after the 44-year-old was sacked by Real Madrid in January, having only joined the Spanish giants from Bayer Leverkusen six months earlier in June 2025.<\/p>\n One of Alonso\u2019s last moves as Leverkusen boss was to sign Ibrahim Maza from Hertha Berlin for \u20ac12 million and the 20-year-old has had an encouraging debut season with his new club, which has prompted interest from Chelsea, City and Aston Villa, according to TEAMtalk<\/b><\/i>.<\/p>\n It is claimed that all three sides are \u2018keeping close watch\u2019 on Maza due to his development in the Bundesliga this season, with the youngster\u2019s versatility at being able to play all across the midfield and attack proving a \u2018key factor\u2019.<\/p>\n City believe Maza could progress into a \u2018long-term\u2019 option in midfield, while Chelsea\u2019s focus on elite young talent aligns with the Algerian\u2019s profile, with Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth also said to be watching closely.<\/p>\n Maza has netted three goals and three assists for Leverkusen this season but teams have been impressed by his underlying numbers that highlight the wonderkid\u2019s ability to get into dangerous areas and create chances for teammates.<\/p>\n Alonso spoke in May last year of Maza\u2019s talent upon his signing, saying: “He’s a player with different qualities. Good between the lines with good potential.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has many things to develop, but we always think that our club is good for players young players who have that will to improve. And he has a good personality, he’s young but mature. So he’s a very good signing.\u201d<\/p>\n Alonso\u2019s admiration for Maza could prove a decisive factor in the coach\u2019s decision over a new club, with plenty of teams still rating the former Spanish midfielder highly despite his disappointing stint in Madrid.<\/p>\n Chelsea have not made a decision over their new manager and are still exploring candidates including Alonso, while their choice is unlikely to impact their transfer policy or targets such as Maza.<\/p>\n However, Maza\u2019s presence as one of the brightest talents in Germany would make him an appealing option for Chelsea and prove to Alonso that he will be backed with young stars to make any tenure at Stamford Bridge a successful one.<\/p>\n Man Utd in \u20ac45m Chelsea tussle for the ‘next Toni Kroos’<\/b><\/p>\n Chelsea Transfer News Today: Joao Pedro talks confirmed as \u20ac92m price tag revealed<\/b><\/p>\n Transfer Rumours: Arsenal barge into Kroupi race as \u20ac92m Chelsea battle confirmed<\/b><\/p>\n Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.<\/p>\n The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:<\/p>\n \u2022Google Play<\/b><\/p>\n \u2022App Store<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 29 Apr 2026 14:03 BST | 4 min read \u00a9 IMAGO Chelsea could convince Xabi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\u2019Very good signing\u2019: Chelsea know Xabi Alonso\u2019s thoughts on Ibrahim Maza<\/h2>\n
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