Chelsea ‘contact’ Xabi Alonso after two managerial candidates reject BlueCo
Chelsea have made contact with former Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso in order to convince him to move to Stamford Bridge, according to journalist Ben Jacobs, who has also revealed Cesc Fabregas and Francesco Farioli’s stance on taking the role at Stamford Bridge.
Calum McFarlane is the interim manager of Chelsea at the moment, having been appointed to the role in April 2026, following the sacking of Liam Rosenior.
Rosenior himself was made Chelsea manager in January 2026 after Enzo Maresca parted ways with the London club.
According to Ben Jacobs, former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso is now “a leading contender’ for the Chelsea managerial role.
The talkSPORT journalist has claimed that Chelsea owners, BlueCo, have already made contact with Alonso, who is without a managerial job at the moment after parting ways with Madrid in January 2026.
Alonso, who won the Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen in 2023/24, was appointed the Madrid manager only at the end of last season.
READ: Manager tells Chelsea owners BlueCo they ‘messed up’ as he hits out at mistake
There has been persistent speculation linking Alonso with replacing Arne Slot as the Liverpool manager at the end of the season.
Jacobs, who has over 708,000 followers on X, has named Marco Silva of Fulham and outgoing Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola as two other candidates for the managerial role at Chelsea.
Former Flamengo manager Filipe Luis and Oliver Glasner, who will leave his managerial role at Crystal Palace at the end of the season, are the two other candidates.
Jacobs has added that Como manager and former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas is not keen on leaving his role right now, while Francesco Farioli will stay in charge of FC Porto.
BlueCo contact Xabi Alonso to become new Chelsea manager
The journalist wrote on X at 5:47pm on May 11: “Understand Chelsea hope to appoint a successor to replace Liam Rosenior before the World Cup starts.
“Xabi Alonso is currently a leading contender and Chelsea have already made contact with the former Real Madrid and Leverkusen boss.
“Alonso is keen on a Premier League job this summer.
“Fulham’s Marco Silva and outgoing Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola both remain on the list.
“Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner and ex-Flamengo coach Filipe Luis are new names under consideration, as @Matt_Law_DT and @SamiMokbel_BBC called.
“Luis was a name Chelsea discussed before appointing Rosenior with talks eventually centring on a potential switch to Strasbourg prior to Gary O’Neil’s appointment.
“And Cesc Fabregas and Francesco Fariola both have admirers.
“However, Fabregas has said he’s in no rush to leave Como, while sources close to Fariola insist he’ll remain in Portugal.”
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