Xabi Alonso Hired as New Chelsea Manager for 2026/27 Season

Charlie Zschau Updated: May 19 2026 17:00

Chelsea FC have hired Xabi Alonso as their first "manager" since Thomas Tuchel was let go in 2022, ending the spree of "head coach" hires by Chelsea's ownership group.

Chelsea FC's ownership group - BlueCo - led primarily by Behad Eghbali of Clearlake Capital, has finally changed their ways of hiring head coaches by appointing Xabi Alonso as the manager for the upcoming 2026/27 Premier League campaign.

BlueCo bought Chelsea in May of 2022, and have had four permanent head coaches of the club since. Xabi Alonso is the fifth permanent hire under the BlueCo umbrella, but the first to don the title of 'manager' other than Tuchel who was appointed by the club's previous owner Roman Abramovich.

With Alonso at the helm, Chelsea will begin a 'new project' where the club prioritizes the signing more experienced and capable players rather than strictly buying young players with massive potential but very little experience at the top level.

Alonso has signed a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge, taking him through the 2029/30 season.

Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football and it fills me with immense pride to become manager of this great club.

-Xabi Alonso

Chelsea were monitoring other candidates for the position, mainly Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola and Fulham's Marco Silva, but the decision to appoint Alonso suggest that the club prioritized a coach with recent high-level success and a track record of improving teams quickly.

Xabi Alonso's Career before Chelsea

Alonso experienced a decorated career as a player before becoming a head coach. He played most of his career with four clubs - Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich before he retired in 2017.

In his playing career Alonso won the FIFA World Cup with Spain in 2010, as well as the UEFA Champions League with both Liverpool and Real Madrid. He is a one-time La Liga champion with Real Madrid, and three-time Bundesliga champion with Bayern Munich.

Alonso's managerial career began in Real Madrid's youth system, before taking over for Real Sociedad's B team. Alonso's impressive tactical ability earned him his first senior manager position with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

In two seasons at Leverkusen, Alonso never lost a single away game. In just his first season he led the club to its first ever Bundesliga title in 2023/24 and the club only lost one game the entire season in all competitions.

That season Leverkusen - nicknamed "Never-losing" - also won the German Cup and finished as the runners-up in the UEFA Europa League.

After his second season in Germany Alonso took over the vacant manager position at his former club Real Madrid. After a tumultuous 34-match tenure in Madrid, one of the most promising coaches in world football was left without a job until he signed for Chelsea this week.

What to Expect from Xabi Alonso at Chelsea

With Xabi coming in Chelsea fans can expect two things; a fluid and attack-minded game, and new experienced signings.

Alonso's teams shown a preference of controlling the ball, with structured pressing and intelligent ball progressing. At Leverkusen, Alonso formed his team around the strengths of his players and preached positional discipline with fluid attacks.

Chelsea's squad is extremely young although very expensive. That could suit Alonso's approach, being able to utilise the players' talents to the best of their abilities, and creating a scheme based on those strengths.

There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this football club and it will be my great honor to lead it. Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies.

With Alonso's appointment expect the club to make a few experienced signings to upgrade the roster, particularly a goalkeeper, center back, and left winger.

With the manager title, we can also expect Alonso to have a say in who these signings are to make sure that they fit within his new Chelsea system.

The expectations for Alonso in the short-term will likely be to stabilize results and climb back into the top part of the table. In the long-term, Chelsea will expect consistent UEFA Champions League qualification and challenging for domestic and European trophies. Things which became a standard during the Abramovich era.

Chelsea's Head Coaches & Managers Under BlueCO Ownership

	Title	Games
Thomas Tuchel (Appointed under Abramovic)	Manager	100
Graham Potter	Head Coach	31
Bruno Saltor	Interim Head Coach	1
Frank Lampard	Interim Head Coach	11
Mauricio Pochettino	Head Coach	51
Enzo Maresca	Head Coach	92
Calum McFarlane	Interim Head Coach	2
Liam Rosenior	Head Coach	23
Calum McFarlane (2)	Interim Head Coach	4
Xabi Alonso	Manager	-