{"id":9314,"date":"2026-05-16T20:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9314"},"modified":"2026-05-16T20:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:12:13","slug":"chelseas-xabi-alonso-talks-accelerating-but-liverpool-delaying-a-quick-appointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9314","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea\u2019s Xabi Alonso talks \u2018accelerating\u2019 \u2013 but Liverpool delaying a quick appointment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>                                            16 May 2026 07:54 BST                                                                                            <span class=\"article-publish-date__separator\">|<\/span><br \/>\n                                                4 min read                                                                                    <\/p>\n<figure class=\"large-img\">\n                                                <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static.footballtransfers.com\/images\/cf\/image\/upload\/423ebc1b-1d27-4df5-d804-9d5e36250a00\/w=1200,h=675,quality=95,fit=cover,format=auto\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static.footballtransfers.com\/images\/cf\/image\/upload\/423ebc1b-1d27-4df5-d804-9d5e36250a00\/w=640,h=360,quality=95,fit=cover,format=auto\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-image-size=\"retina\" class=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" alt=\"Xabi Alonso, Chelsea, Liverpool\" src=\"https:\/\/static.footballtransfers.com\/images\/cf\/image\/upload\/423ebc1b-1d27-4df5-d804-9d5e36250a00\/w=1200,h=675,quality=95,fit=cover,format=auto,q=95\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption><figcaption>\u00a9 IMAGO <\/figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"author\">\n<figure class=\"author-thumb\">\n                                                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-image-size=\"not_specified\" class=\"\" width=\"112\" height=\"112\" alt=\"Robin Bairner\" src=\"https:\/\/static.footballtransfers.com\/images\/cf\/image\/upload\/footballcritic\/kztnrlsgh85ogtiqtjxb\/w=112,h=112,quality=75,fit=cover,format=auto\"\/>                                                    <\/figure>\n<div class=\"article-author-info\">\n<div class=\"article-author-name\">\n<p>                                                        Robin Bairner<br \/>\n                                                                                                                    <span class=\"article-author-separator\">|<\/span><br \/>\n                                                            <span>Chief Editor<\/span>\n                                                                                                            <\/div>\n<p class=\"article-author-desc\">\n<p>                                                        Accredited football journalist and editor covering the game since 2006                                                    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Xabi Alonso has been in \u2018direct talks\u2019 with Chelsea over becoming the club\u2019s new manager, with a decision over the post expected in a matter of days.<\/p>\n<p><center class=\"p-1 light-grey-bg\">Article continues under the video<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Chelsea go into Saturday\u2019s FA Cup final against Manchester City with youth team boss Calum McFarlane still in interim charge.<\/p>\n<p>The Stamford Bridge side have not had a permanent boss since Liam Rosenior was sacked in April \u2013 the second managerial departure of the season from the West London side following Enzo Maresca\u2019s shock exit over the festive period.<\/p>\n<h2>Xabi Alonso to Chelsea: Fabrizio Romano confirms \u2018direct\u2019 talks<\/h2>\n<p>Chelsea appear to have made former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen head coach Alonso their top target for the role.<\/p>\n<p>Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the situation is heating up regarding the 44-year-old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChelsea have had a direct meeting with Xabi Alonso and final decision is expected very soon,\u201d he explained on <b><i>X<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey plan to announce their next manager before the World Cup, talks are accelerating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChelsea also spoke to Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner and Marco Silva as part of their list.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-md-12 p-0 d-flex image-container\">\n<figure class=\"article-image\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static.footballtransfers.com\/images\/cf\/image\/upload\/34bb056c-becb-4725-b842-c14523386600\/w=1200,h=674,quality=95,fit=cover,format=auto\" media=\"(min-width: 960px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static.footballtransfers.com\/images\/cf\/image\/upload\/34bb056c-becb-4725-b842-c14523386600\/w=640,h=359,quality=95,fit=cover,format=auto\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-image-size=\"retina\" class=\"lazyload\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Xabi Alonso\" src=\"https:\/\/static.footballtransfers.com\/images\/cf\/image\/upload\/34bb056c-becb-4725-b842-c14523386600\/w=750,h=422,quality=95,fit=cover,format=auto,q=95\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption>\u00a9 IMAGO &#8211; Xabi Alonso<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Liverpool struggles stall Alonso decision<\/h2>\n<p>Appointing Alonso would undoubtedly be a coup for Chelsea, but the former Spain midfielder appears torn between taking a job with the West London side or potentially waiting for the Liverpool role to become free.<\/p>\n<p>To that end, Aston Villa\u2019s 4-2 victory over the Reds on Friday night did the Blues few favours in terms of rushing through the Spaniard\u2019s arrival. That result only ramps up the pressure on Reds boss Arne Slot.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the Liverpool board have shown little inclination to part company with the Dutchman, but results continue to slip and the Anfield crown are increasingly turning against the manager.<\/p>\n<p>If the Merseysiders were to miss out on Champions League football on the final day of the season, it could be enough to the under-fire Slot finally lose this job.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Watkins bags brace as Villa rip Reds apart \ud83d\udd25 | Aston Villa 4-2 Liverpool | Premier League Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8VP6eqKdDgA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>In this case, Alonso would be the clear favourite for the post, thanks to his expansive coaching style but also his history at Anfield.<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea, meanwhile, have played themselves into a position where the role at Liverpool is likely more attractive. In part, this is due to the Blues\u2019 struggles this season, which could see them miss out on European football next term, but more importantly it concerns the structure of the project, which has been broadly criticised.<\/p>\n<p>Former Blues boss Ruud Gullit commented: \u201cI&#8217;ve said so many times &#8211; I can&#8217;t figure out what the plan is. What is your plan? Now, and maybe I&#8217;m wrong, but what I see is: it looks like they get a bunch of the best young players, and the coach who comes in has to deal with what&#8217;s there. \u201c<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea\u2019s desire may be to get this deal sorted quickly, but that likely hinges on the situation at Liverpool being resolved once and for all.<\/p>\n<h2>Related stories:<\/h2>\n<p><b class=\"arrowed\">Chelsea players deliver Xabi Alonso next manager verdict<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b class=\"arrowed\">Chelsea Transfer News Today: Joao Pedro offer as Xabi Alonso verdict drops<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b class=\"arrowed\">Transfer Rumours: Woltemade escape route as director jets in for Chelsea talks<\/b><\/p>\n<h2>The FootballTransfers app<\/h2>\n<p>Check out FootballTransfers&#8217; new app for all of football&#8217;s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.<\/p>\n<p>The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2022Google Play<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u2022App Store<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>16 May 2026 07:54 BST | 4 min read \u00a9 IMAGO Robin Bairner | Chief&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9314","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\/9314","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=9314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}