Most of the talk surrounding Chelsea at the moment is regarding the next manager of the club. The Blues had to sack Liam Rosenior after just 107 days in charge, after he had been brought in from Strasbourg. For context, he had been handed a six-and-a-half-year contract. You can imagine how badly that appointment went.
After four years of disappointments, BlueCo will know that they cannot afford another wrong managerial appointment. They absolutely need to get this right.
Earlier today, reports had emerged in the English media that Xavi Hernandez was a candidate for the Chelsea job. It was suggested that he was being viewed as the right stylistic fit for this team.
But now, it appears that talks of Chelsea considering a move for Xavi this summer were off the mark. And that comes from one of the most highly respected sources in football journalism, Fabrizio Romano. He said on his YouTube channel:
There is nothing ongoing between Chelsea and Xavi. Zero. Nothing happened between Chelsea and Xavi.
Nothing in the rumours linking Xavi with Chelsea
A lot of fans will be disappointed by that update. Xavi is someone who felt like a good fit for where Chelsea are at this moment.
At Barcelona, he worked with a young squad and under financial constraints. Even then, he was able to win a La Liga title and a Supercopa de Espana. And many felt that the manner of his exit was harsh, and he should have been given more time.
His possession-based football would be a good fit for this squad as well. After all, Xavi’s Barcelona basically invented that during his playing days.
Who could end up being Chelsea manager?
Of course, the fact that there is nothing between Xavi and Chelsea brings other elements of that report into question as well.
It had been suggested in the said report that Andoni Iraola might not be one of the frontrunners for the job because he does not play possession-based football, which the club hierarchy was keen to stick to. Was that accurate?
Obviously, many Chelsea fans would love to see Xabi Alonso get the job. But will the management want a personality of his magnitude in the dugout? Or will they be looking for someone who would be more open to working with their ideas and want less control over things? To me, it feels like it could be the latter. Now, all we can do is wait and watch how this entire situation plays out.
