This morning, the 17th of May 2026, Chelsea football club have announced that they have appointed their new manager ahead of the 26/27 campaign
Back in April, Chelsea made the decision to sack head coach Liam Rosenior just three months and 23 games into a six and a half year contract, after an unprecedented run of bad form.
Since then, Calum McFarlane has taken over for his second interim spell of the season. He has managed to steady the ship somewhat, with results and performances marginally improving. With a bit of luck, they could have won the FA Cup under him.
Nevertheless, the full-time replacement for Rosenior would always be an external option. Several names were mentioned, such as Marco Silva of Fulham, Cesc Fabregas of Como, and Filipe Luis, amongst others.
But, Chelsea have now got their man, and it is none of the above. Indeed, as this morning the club have announced the appointment of former Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso on a four year contract starting from the 1st of July.
It is very interesting to see that the club said "manager", and not "head coach" in their announcement. This is the biggest implication yet that Alonso will get at least a strong say in recruitment this summer and moving forward.
Considering the number of recruitment blunders by the board over their four years in charge, this can only be a good thing. Giving managers full or near-full control over transfers in 2026 is generally risky, but in this case, it feels like the more sensible move for the club.
When you take into account Alonso's pedigree both as a manager and during his playing career, he should have quite good "pull" in the transfer market. He should be able to attract some high level names. He has an enormous stature in the game, that cannot be denied.
Although he does not officially start until the 1st of July, which is almost surely for contractual reasons and coincides with the approximate start of pre-season, there is no doubt that plenty of work will be put in before then, particularly in the transfer market.
This year, clubs will be keen to get signings done before the start of the World Cup on the 11th of June. There is always the concern that players market value and interest from other clubs will rocket with top performances on the world's biggest stage. So getting deals done nice and early feels absolutely paramount this summer.
A very exciting appointment. It would probably be in Chelsea's best interests not to qualify for a European competition. They've already won the Europa League and the Conference League. Alonso having one game a week and full weeks on the training ground would do wonders. Just look at Manchester United this season, and that's despite being terrible until the new year.
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