Xabi Alonso is expected to take charge at Chelsea next season, a move that would make the job his third senior managerial role after spells at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid and signals a clear mandate to get the club competing at the highest level again.
The scale of the task is sharp in the record he brings: Alonso inherited a Bayer Leverkusen side that was second from bottom and, the following season, led them to the Bundesliga title without defeat. At Real Madrid his spell ended amid reported fallouts with several star players, and at the time of his dismissal he left with a 71.4% win percentage.
Reports this week also say Calum McFarlane — who has done a decent enough job as interim Chelsea head coach across his two stints this season — is set to stay at the club and join Alonso’s backroom staff, while Chelsea are expected to retain goalkeeper coach Ben Roberts and set-piece specialist Bernardo Cueva. Alonso is likewise expected to bring four members of his Real Madrid staff: Sebastian Parrilla, Alberto Encinas, Beñat Labaien and Ismael Camenforte.
What makes Alonso an attractive hire is tactical flexibility rather than a single formation. At Real Sociedad's B team he often started in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 shape and in his last season there moved to a 3-4-3. He has frequently used a 3-4-3 at Leverkusen, and at times has opted for a back five to mirror an opposition back five. Leverkusen out of possession set up in an aggressive 5-2-3 that pressed high and held a high line, with Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo deployed as attacking wing-backs.
Alonso’s choices have shifted depending on available personnel. At Real Madrid he had Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Franco Mastantuono and Vinicius Junior as options to play with four at the back, and he even experimented with a 4-4-2 to try to accommodate Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius off the ball. Higher up the pitch he often looks to place five players on the last line of attack — a pattern Chelsea’s supporters and transfer planners will watch closely when chelsea transfer news picks up pace this summer.
The context Chelsea inherit is important. Since the 2022 BlueCo takeover the club has been described as having a rocky run and has seen frequent staff turnover. That instability is the counterweight to Alonso’s arrival: he will not only have to stamp a tactical identity on the squad but also knit together a disparate coaching group while some trusted figures arrive from Madrid and others, like McFarlane, are integrated into the new regime.
Tension will come from Alonso’s history with big-name players. His Real Madrid tenure ended amid fallouts with several stars — a fact that sits uneasily with Chelsea’s dressing room profile and the club’s recent pattern of turnover. Bringing four members of his Real Madrid staff, including Beñat Labaien who was not with him at Bayer Leverkusen, underlines the point that Alonso will import the structures he trusts rather than adapt entirely to what remains at Stamford Bridge.
The immediate practical test will be the summer: transfer work, staff integration and whether Chelsea can keep hold of key players while reshaping the squad to Alonso’s flexible systems. The single most consequential question now is whether Alonso can translate the Leverkusen blueprint — aggressive, high-line pressing and calculated use of wing-backs — into a club where turnover and high-profile personalities have repeatedly unsettled projects in recent seasons.
For readers following the squad, this appointment will also intersect with other headlines; for background on how Chelsea view individual players, see the club’s position on Joao Pedro via Round Time News: Joao Pedro Chelsea Transfer News: Chelsea Insists Their 24-Year-Old Is Untouchable.
