{"id":6122,"date":"2026-05-08T19:57:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6122"},"modified":"2026-05-08T19:57:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:57:40","slug":"new-clear-favourite-is-gaining-momentum-after-blueco-u-turn-for-three-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6122","title":{"rendered":"New &#8216;clear favourite&#8217; is &#8216;gaining momentum&#8217; after BlueCo U-turn for three reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>According to reports, former Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso has emerged as the \u2018clear favourite\u2019 to be Chelsea\u2019s next manager.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chelsea<\/strong> have been on the lookout for a new head coach following the exit of former boss Liam Rosenior last month.<\/p>\n<p>Rosenior\u2019s position quickly became untenable in an embarrassing season for the Blues, <strong>who look increasingly likely to finish in the Premier League bottom half this term.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Blues are also known to have severe financial troubles, though they are still likely to attract a top-level replacement for Rosenior ahead of next season.<\/p>\n<p>Initially, reports suggested current <strong>Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, who will become a free agent in the summer, is Chelsea\u2019s top target,<\/strong> but they now appear to have turned to Alonso.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ: Liverpool v Chelsea: Prediction, team news, line-ups and odds<br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is according to the unreliable outlet <em>Transfers<\/em>with the Spanish website claiming Alonso is the new \u2018clear favourite\u2019 for Chelsea and is \u2018gaining momentum\u2019 due to three main factors.<\/p>\n<p>The report explains:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u2018Chelsea FC has begun the search for a new manager with the intention of redefining its sporting project after a period marked by inconsistency. The London club wants to take a decisive step and opt for a profile that combines youth, clear ideas, and leadership skills.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018In this context, the name that has gained the most traction in recent hours is that of Xabi Alonso. The Tolosa-born coach appears to be the clear favourite to take over the Stamford Bridge bench, in what could be one of the most significant moves of the summer.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Manchester United still obviously aren\u2019t signing Cole Palmer<br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><smartframe-embed customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBTofOd9Bk\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<h2>Xabi Alonso sent a warning over the Chelsea move<\/h2>\n<p>Alonso has also been linked with a return to Liverpool, and former England international Glen Johnson has warned the Spaniard against following in Rafael Benitez\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPretty much,\u201d Johnson told GOAL when asked if Alonso would be putting himself under pressure by following Benitez in joining Chelsea after having a spell at Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: An XI of Chelsea players sold by BlueCo who\u2019d beat current shambles<br \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the Liverpool people would give him time. But as we\u2019ve seen, if he had that role, the Chelsea fans might not be so\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that the manager will see that Chelsea is probably the hottest seat in world football. It\u2019s hard for a young manager to go there knowing that you don\u2019t have six months, you don\u2019t have a year, you definitely don\u2019t have 18 months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you\u2019ve got to go through that door and win immediately, and that\u2019s hard for, as proven, top managers that have won stuff. That\u2019s almost impossible for anyone to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019d be a crazy seat to take for a young new manager, as we\u2019ve just recently seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<p><script>\n        !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n        {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n        n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n        if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n        n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n        t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);\n        s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n        'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n        fbq('init', '1399787394855675');\n        fbq('track', 'PageView');\n    <\/script><script>\n        !function(e,n,t){var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)(0);e.getElementById\n    <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to reports, former Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso has emerged as the \u2018clear favourite\u2019&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6122","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\/6122","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=6122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}