{"id":33754,"date":"2026-05-17T10:47:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T10:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/xabi-alonso-breaks-his-silence-and-joins-chelsea-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T10:47:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T10:47:29","slug":"xabi-alonso-breaks-his-silence-and-joins-chelsea-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/xabi-alonso-breaks-his-silence-and-joins-chelsea-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Xabi Alonso breaks his silence and joins Chelsea | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Chelsea have announced that Xabi Alonso will be their new manager. Alonso, who will take up his new post on July 1, has a four-year contract with the club but has been unemployed since leaving Real Madrid in January after just seven months at the helm of the Spanish giants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Chelsea&#8217;s owners Bruco are hoping Alonso, whom they consider one of the most talented managers in European football, will lead their long-term vision at Stamford Bridge. Alonso will be given the title of &#8216;manager&#8217; rather than &#8216;head coach&#8217;, making him the first player to hold that title since Jose Mourinho during his second spell in 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Sources said Alonso will be given greater powers and will work with the club&#8217;s five-strong sports coaching team during this summer&#8217;s transfer window. Alonso is understood to have agreed with sporting directors the areas of the squad that need strengthening towards the end of the season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Alonso said: &#8220;Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football and I am extremely proud to be the manager of this great club.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cFrom our conversations with the ownership group and leaders in the sport, it is clear that we share the same ambitions. We always want to build a team that can compete at the highest level and fight for trophies.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;This football club has great talent and huge potential and I&#8217;m delighted to be leading the team. Our focus now is on working hard, building the right culture and winning trophies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A statement from the club said: &#8220;Chelsea Football Club is united in our determination to bring success to Stamford Bridge, a symbol of the club&#8217;s history and future, and we look forward to working with Xavi to take this next step with confidence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Chelsea bosses have been looking for a suitable candidate to replace Liam Rosenior and were shown the door last month, just three months after signing a six-and-a-half year contract.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Frank Lampard was also linked with a surprise return to Stamford Bridge, although Alonso, Andoni Iraola and Marco Silva were considered for the role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>However, Alonso becomes the fifth permanent manager under Bruco&#8217;s ownership, following Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca and Rosenior.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>football.london understands that Alonso wanted assurances about how much control he would retain over all aspects of the team&#8217;s operations, particularly after being pushed out by player power during his brief stay at the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Alonso&#8217;s signing is seen as a significant coup for Chelsea, with the former Bayer Leverkusen manager still widely considered to be one of the best managers in European football. The 44-year-old has long been touted as a potential successor to Liverpool should the Reds choose to part ways with Arne Slott, but the Dutchman continues to enjoy the support of the Anfield hierarchy despite his difficulties qualifying for the Champions League this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Saturday&#8217;s FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City at Wembley means Chelsea will miss out on European football next season for the second time in their BlueCo era.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2206410\/xabi-alonso-chelsea-appointment-liverpoool\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea have announced that Xabi Alonso will be their new manager. Alonso, who will take up his new post on July 1, has a four-year contract with the club but has been unemployed since leaving Real Madrid in January after just seven months at the helm of the Spanish giants. Chelsea&#8217;s owners Bruco are hoping<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Xabi Alonso breaks his silence and joins Chelsea | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/xabi-alonso-breaks-his-silence-and-joins-chelsea-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Xabi Alonso breaks his silence and joins Chelsea | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chelsea have announced that Xabi Alonso will be their new manager. 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