Xabi Alonso Set to Become Chelsea's New Head Coach

Chelsea are closing in on appointing Spaniard Xabi Alonso as the club's next permanent head coach.

The former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen boss, 44, is expected to sign a four-year deal in the coming days.

The Stamford Bridge club have been keen to secure a replacement for Liam Rosenior, who was sacked last month.

BBC Sport reported on Monday that Chelsea had started contacting prospective new managers, including Alonso, Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola, Fulham's Marco Silva and Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner.

However, former Real and Liverpool midfielder Alonso has emerged as the club's preferred candidate and talks are now reaching a conclusion.

The club were keen to get the FA Cup final against Manchester City out of the way before making any knowledge of their appointment public.

Talks have been ongoing for a number of weeks and Alonso is understood to have been open to the role if he received certain assurances.

Alonso has been linked with a potential move to Liverpool, where he spent five seasons as a player, in recent weeks with the pressure on Arne Slot increasing following a disappointing season.

But it is understood the Anfield club are preparing to stick with Slot for next season - although it remains to be seen whether Liverpool's stance alters should the team fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Alonso has been out of work since he left Real after less than eight months in charge in January.

He led Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title - secured without losing a game - as well as the German Cup in his first full season as a senior club manager during the 2023-24 campaign before moving to the Bernabeu last summer.

Alonso was always open to moving to London and working at Chelsea, and is now understood to be highly enthusiastic about the role.

He is also keen to relocate and is ready to return to a top-level club job six months after his departure from Real.

Any initial concerns during early negotiations about the much-criticised BlueCo project have now been allayed.

However, it remains a tough task to galvanise Chelsea in a season in which two permanent head coaches left the club.

Players have been accused of downing tools, while Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez have appeared openly critical of the project in interviews in their native language.

It is hoped Alonso will have the personality, gravitas from his playing career and tactical acumen to bring the club back to the standards it expects by qualifying for the Champions League and winning trophies.

He may have to do so without European football, with Chelsea ninth and needing to finish at least eighth to qualify for the Conference League after missing the chance to reach the Europa League by winning the FA Cup.

Alonso, a World Cup winner in 2010, took up his first coaching role with Real Madrid's under-14s side in 2018.

After impressing in three years in charge of Real Sociedad's B team, his first managerial role in first-team football came when he took over at Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022.

He lifted the club from second from bottom to a sixth-place finish in the 2022-23 Bundesliga, before securing the club's first German title the following season and becoming the first side to win the competition with an unbeaten record.

A Europa League final defeat by Atalanta represented their only loss in 53 games in all competitions, before they completed a domestic double in the German Cup.

Alonso, a double European Championship winner with Spain, was linked with Real, Liverpool, where he won the Champions League in 2005, and Bayern last year, but said in March 2024 that he wanted to stay at Leverkusen following talks with the club's hierarchy.

Despite losing just three times in the Bundesliga in the 2024-25 season, Leverkusen were unable to defend their title.

Alonso's side were knocked out of this season's Champions league in the last 16 by Bayern Munich, while they suffered a shock loss to third-tier Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup semi-finals.

Having joined Real initially on a three-year deal, succeeding Carlo Ancelotti, he won 24 of his 34 games in charge.

He departed after a loss to rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup and also suffered a heavy defeat by city rivals Atletico in September as well as losses to both Liverpool and Manchester City in the Champions League.

BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague said that there was "a clash between a coach with a clear methodology and players who want to rely on instinct".