Will Xabi Alonso be the next manager of Chelsea? That is a question a lot of fans are asking themselves at the moment. Rumours of the Blues wanting the Spaniard have been heating up over the last few days. It has even been claimed that BlueCo are willing to bend their structure and give him more control in order to convince him to take the Stamford Bridge job.
Alonso is without a club at the moment after being sacked by Real Madrid earlier in the season. And after how that experience turned out, one would imagine that he would want to be absolutely convinced about a project before taking on his next job. So, it is up to Chelsea to do that.
With all the speculation, though, many have been wondering if Alonso to Chelsea is close. Well, it is not according to the latest update from Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian journalist said on his YouTube channel regarding the Alonso to Chelsea situation:
Today also, many questions on Xabi Alonso and Chelsea, but at the moment, guys, I can guarantee still nothing advanced or concrete on this one. Xabi Alonso is a big name, Xabi Alonso is available on the market, Xabi Alonso is ready to restart. So he feels recharged and ready to restart after the Real Madrid chapter. So Xabi Alonso is very open to opportunities around Europe if he can find the right project, but at the moment, still nothing advanced with any club despite all the reports. So we have to be patient on that.
Fabrizio Romano hands Chelsea some good news about Alonso as well
So, it looks like the situation might not be as advanced as some reports would have you believe. That being said, there is some good news for Chelsea when it comes to the race to sign Alonso.
From what we are seeing at the moment, Chelsea’s toughest competition in that race would be Liverpool, a club the Spaniard played for quite successfully during his career before moves to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Liverpool have their managerial problems at the moment. Despite winning the Premier League in his first season with the club, it looks like a large section of the Reds’ fanbase have turned on Arne Slot already. There were boos at Anfield today as Chelsea managed a 1-1 draw.
But according to Romano’s update, Slot is expected to continue at Liverpool next season. The journalist said:
They want to continue with Arne Slot. Why? Because so far, and it’s May now, it’s no longer February, March, or April, in May, Liverpool have not made contact with any other manager.
Can Blues convince Alonso to take the job?
This is a situation that Chelsea would not have found themselves in five years back. They would have gotten a deal over the line for Alonso. And the Spaniard would have probably been happy enough to come in.
But Chelsea have lost their place in the English pecking order over the four years under BlueCo ownership. And after how things have turned out for some of their recent managers, it is understandable that Alonso might be wary.
Let’s see if Chelsea can convince Alonso that Stamford Bridge is the place to be. If they can’t, there are not many other names out there who will excite the fans.
