Xabi Alonso to Chelsea: Former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen coach agrees four-year contract to be head coach at Stamford Bridge
Xabi Alonso has been out of work since being sacked by Real Madrid earlier this year; Chelsea were looking for a permanent replacement for Liam Rosenior, who was let go after just four months in charge; Alonso had been linked with the Liverpool role but Arne Slot looks set to stay
Saturday 16 May 2026 21:02, UK
Xabi Alonso has agreed to become Chelsea's next permanent head coach on a four-year deal.
News emerged of Alonso's imminent appointment shortly after Chelsea's 1-0 FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City on Saturday. Interim Calum McFarlane, in place until the end of the season, was in the dugout at Wembley.
Chelsea, currently ninth in the Premier League table, have been looking for a new head coach after sacking Liam Rosenior in April after only three months in charge.
Former Real Madrid boss Alonso was Chelsea's number one target to take over and an announcement could come as soon as Monday.
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The former Liverpool midfielder's availability had fuelled speculation about a potential Anfield return amid Arne Slot's struggles, but the Dutchman says he expects to remain in charge.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola and Fulham head coach Marco Silva were the other coaches on Chelsea's shortlist. Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner, Como's Cesc Fabregas and ex-Flamengo boss Felipe Luis had also been considered.
But the Blues have moved to secure Alonso, a manager who won the Champions League twice as a player as well as leading Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten Bundesliga-winning season in his first campaign as a coach in 2023/24.
Chelsea were waiting for the FA Cup final to be out of the way before making an official announcement, which could come as soon as Monday.
Chelsea looking to add experience to squad this summer
Alonso has been out of work since being sacked by Real Madrid in January, seven months into the job.
He will be involved in Chelsea's summer transfer business, like all the club's managers before. Chelsea are looking to add experience to their squad by signing several ready-made first-team players this summer.
Defeat to City in the FA Cup final means Chelsea could be without European football next season for the second time in the BlueCo era.
An eighth-place finish would secure Conference League qualification, and, while it is unlikely, a sixth or a seventh finish could see them into the Europa League.
Chelsea are currently ninth in the table, having picked up one point from their last seven Premier League matches.
Alonso will become the fifth permanent appointment of the BlueCo ownership era, following Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca and Rosenior.
Leverkusen's Invincible season highlight of Alonso's embryonic coaching CV
Sky Sports' Rich Morgan:
Having hung up his boots in 2017 after a glittering and trophy-laden 18-year playing career with Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Spain, Alonso started out his managerial career coaching Los Blancos' U14s.
The Basque then spent three years with the Real Sociedad B side, before taking over Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022 with the team second bottom of the Bundesliga, guiding them to a sixth-place finish and the semi-finals of the Europa League.
In his first full season in charge at the BayArena, Leverkusen - playing in a 3-4-3 formation - won their first-ever Bundesliga while going the whole campaign unbeaten, setting a new European record of 51 matches without defeat in all competitions along the way as they also claimed a league and cup double.
However, Alonso left Leverkusen after they could only finish runners-up to Bayern Munich in the 2024-25 season, being appointed Carlo Ancelotti's successor as Madrid head coach on a three-year deal that May.
His tenure at the Bernabeu began with defeat to PSG in the semi-finals of that summer's inaugural Club World Cup and despite beating Barcelona 2-1 to move five points clear of their archrivals at the top of LaLiga in late October, a downturn in results coupled with high-profile falling outs with star man Vinicius Junior led to his early departure in January.
'A statement appointment ahead of a summer of rebuilding'
Sky Sports News reporter James Cole at Wembley:
An agreement on a four-year deal comes after weeks of talks between Chelsea and Alonso.
He was always the primary target on a three-man shortlist.
They managed to iron out the sticking points on the agreement with the deal now finalised.
He is the statement boss that the Chelsea hierachy feel can calm the storm that has been around Chelsea in the last few weeks in terms of a disconnect between the fans, the owners and their business model.
An official announcement could now come as soon as Monday and it's seen as a real positive ahead of a summer where Chelsea need a lot of rebuilding.
Your views: 'The best appointment Chelsea could have made'
Nathan: As a Chelsea fan I've been critical of BlueCo but they deserve massive credit for pulling this off. Welcome to Chelsea, Xabi Alonso.
DanO: Alonso is undoubtedly the best appointment Chelsea could have made. The only question is if the board and sporting directors have learnt their lessons and will cede control...
JP: How have FSG let this happen?! Fair play to Chelsea for getting him but we had our chance to get him but instead we stick with Slot who is out of depth and is taking us backwards.
Lewie V: Very happy with this appointment based on the Leverkusen job he did. Let the man do his job and Chelsea could be back in business.
F20GHT: Think it's a great appointment but are Chelsea going to get some experienced players in and stop blaming the manager when things go wrong? Buying players for the 'future' doesn't quite cut it anymore.
Shanepancho778: As a Lifelong Liverpool fan I am absolutely gutted hearing this news. I honestly thought it was inevitable that at the end of the season Slot would be gone and Alonso would be swept in straight away to have a full pre-season. He will never manage Liverpool now.
