According to reports on Tuesday morning, a high level manager, currently without a job, is under consideration for the vacant managerial position at Chelsea
As tends to be the case with Chelsea, particularly in the Clearlake era, there is expected to be a lot of upheaval and change at the club this summer.
There is no doubt there will be additions made to the squad, with several positions needing reinforcements, despite the money spent in recent years. As always, several players will depart the club too, in order to make room for these new players.
That is without even mentioning the change in the dugout. Although Calum McFarlane, for a second time this season, is in interim charge until the end of the season, it is clear the club will look to bring in an external option for the start of next season.
Since the departure of Liam Rosenior a couple of weeks ago, a number of names have been mentioned. As it stands, Xabi Alonso is the bookies favourite to be in charge for the first game of 26/27, with Andoni Iraola of AFC Bournemouth (leaving at the end of the season, confirmed), and Marco Silva of Fulham the next shortest favourites.
One other manager who has been priced up, as the eighth favourite, is reportedly an option. Indeed, as journalist Miguel Delaney is reporting that former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez is "under consideration" for the vacant job.
The legendary midfielder first went into management back in 2019 with Al-Sadd, working there for two years before making a romantic return to Barcelona in 2021. From there, he helped improve the team in his first half season, winning 4-0 against double winning Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
In his first full season, he helped deliver a first league title for Barcelona in four seasons, despite not being fancied to by most commentators. His final season, 23/24, was not as fruitful, but he still delivered an 85 point season with a dysfunctional side.
As you would expect from the player he was, at their best, Xavi's teams do play very good football, very easy on the eye. However, his teams can also be very solid. When his side won the league in 22/23, they conceded just 20 goals all season, and built a reputation for winning to nil.
A big plus is that, despite never having lived in England, nor a native English speaking country, Xavi speaks very good English, so there is no worry about a language barrier or anything like that. Put it this way, Chelsea could certainly do a lot worse than the 45-year old.
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