{"id":9092,"date":"2026-05-16T11:51:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T11:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9092"},"modified":"2026-05-16T11:51:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T11:51:43","slug":"fabrizio-romano-confirms-chelsea-and-liverpool-stance-on-xabi-alonso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9092","title":{"rendered":"Fabrizio Romano confirms Chelsea and Liverpool stance on Xabi Alonso"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Liverpool\u2019s 4-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa has left Chelsea fans worried about their own pursuit of Xabi Alonso. The Spaniard has emerged as the top target for BlueCo. But if the Anfield job does open up, that could seem a lot more attractive to him. He spent several years there as a player, even winning the Champions League. And the Reds also have a proven track record of success in recent times, something that the Blues don\u2019t since the change of ownership.<\/p>\n<p>So far, it has been maintained that Liverpool want to continue with Arne Slot as their manager. But if they miss out on Champions League football, that could change the situation. If they win their final game of the campaign, they will be guaranteed that qualification spot. Or if Bournemouth lose one of their two remaining games.<\/p>\n<p>Also, Chelsea fans will be keeping an eye out on that situation. On the other hand, Fabrizio Romano has finally confirmed that there have been direct talks between the Blues and Alonso. A final decision is expected in the coming days. The Italian journalist said regarding the situation:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Chelsea will decide their new manager soon. A final decision is expected very soon on Xabi Alonso. Chelsea, I can tell you this, had a direct meeting with Xabi Alonso. Not just with his representatives, but also with Xabi Alonso himself. So there\u2019s been a conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea spoke to several managers. Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner, Marco Silva. They had some conversations with their entourage, the agents, the representatives, the lawyers of these managers. But with Xabi Alonso, Chelsea had very productive talks. Now a final decision is expected soon. Today is FA Cup Final day, and so we wait for that. But after that, any moment could be good for Chelsea to go close and seal the deal for their next head coach, with Xabi Alonso opening doors to Premier League chapter few days ago, and now Chelsea prepared to make a final decision on who they want as their new manager. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fabrizio Romano drops update on Liverpool\u2019s stance on Xabi Alonso as well<\/h2>\n<p>Romano has also maintained that Liverpool have not made any move for Alonso yet. And for now, Slot is expected to continue as their manager.<\/p>\n<p>But at the same time, Romano did acknowledge that qualifying for the Champions League will be important for Liverpool. And that leaves the possibility that the situation around Slot and Alonso could change.<\/p>\n<p>Romano said while speaking on his YouTube channel:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Many of you asking me if Liverpool arrived at this stage for Xabi Alonso. As of today, Friday night, Saturday morning, Liverpool have not activated the option Xabi Alonso. Even after night, another disappointing defeat for Liverpool against Aston Villa, another poor performance. 20 defeats for Liverpool this season. Liverpool, as of today, have not reached out to Xabi Alonso. As I always told you, if they do so, I will be here to tell you, and we will tell you what\u2019s going to happen. But as of today, Liverpool are yet to reach out to Xabi Alonso. So, that remains the situation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chelsea or Liverpool, who would Alonso pick?<\/h2>\n<p>To be very honest, if Alonso was presented with both options, it is very likely that he would pick Liverpool. He has a history with the club. And they have shown that they can build a winning project. Chelsea have not and are looking at hiring their sixth manager in four years since the BlueCo takeover.<\/p>\n<p>As I have always maintained, things can change quickly in football. Just because Slot is expected to continue now does not mean that will remain the case even if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>Do not forget, several reliable outlets had also suggested that Chelsea were not planning to sack Liam Rosenior. It was even claimed that the first performance review would be in the summer of 2027. Then it was said that the club wanted to give him at least the pre-season and the start of next season. But the Blues continued to lose and the situation changed.<\/p>\n<p>The same thing might happen at Liverpool. Now, it is up to Chelsea whether they can convince Alonso to come to Stamford Bridge or not.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liverpool\u2019s 4-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa has left Chelsea fans worried about&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9092","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\/9092","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=9092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}