According to reports late on Friday night (UK time), Chelsea are closing in on making an external appointment for the start of the 26/27 campaign
Even though in 24 hours from now, Calum McFarlane could have lead Chelsea to an FA Cup triumph against all odds, it is clear that the club will have an external appointment in place for the beginning of the 26/27 season.
There have been many names mentioned. Former players Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis have been touted, as well as other option such as Andoni Iraola of AFC Bournemouth and Marco Silva of Fulham.
Well, it looks as if it will be a different name altogether. In the past week or so, Chelsea have been strongly linked with former Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, who was last seen in management at Real Madrid in January of last year.
And now, it is being reported by talkSPORT that Chelsea are "close to an agreement" for the 44-year old. They state that the club are expected to "ratify" the appointment after the FA Cup final on Saturday afternoon.
There had been a - perhaps ignorant - expectation that the former Spain midfielder would rock up at former club Liverpool, where he spent five years as a player, winning the UEFA Champions League in the process. However, it looks as if the Merseyside club are going to stick with Arne Slot, despite a season to forget having won the Premier League last season.
So, this gave Chelsea a free run at the manager, who is very highly regarded in the game. The work he did at Bayer Leverkusen was incredible. To win the Bundesliga with a team not named Bayern Munich is incredible work in and of itself, but to do it unbeaten with 90 points in 34 games is something else.
Not only that, but he also won the DFB Pokal to secure the domestic double, and the team reached the UEFA Europa League final, where they lost to Atalanta, their only defeat out of 53 games that season. Pretty remarkable.
Things may not have worked out at Real Madrid, but it is clear that club is a poisoned chalice, and things have only got worse since he left four months ago. The work he did at Leverkusen is clearly much more relevant to what he may or may not be able to do in SW6.
This would be a very, very exciting appointment if they are to get it over the line. Stay tuned for more updates over the coming days and weeks.
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