Xabi Alonso agrees four-year deal to be new Chelsea manager

Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali says they will add ‘ready-made players’ to their squad, veering from the strategy of targeting promising youngsters - Robin Jones/Getty Images

After sacking Liam Rosenior and installing Calum McFarlane as interim head coach, Chelsea spoke to Alonso, Andoni Iraola, Marco Silva and Oliver Glasner as part of their recruitment process.

Alonso was always viewed as the standout candidate thanks to his stellar playing career with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and an excellent spell as Bayer Leverkusen head coach during which he won the Bundesliga title.

Xabi Alonso won the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 - Getty Images

Chelsea are not concerned that Alonso was sacked after less than a season in charge of Real Madrid and believe he is perfectly suited to working with the squad of players they have.

Alonso has agreed to take the Chelsea job, despite the fact the team may not be playing in European competition under him next season.

Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat meant Chelsea have not qualified for the Europa League and face an uphill battle to qualify for any European competition through the Premier League.

Chelsea are ninth in the Premier League table, six points behind sixth-placed Bournemouth and four behind Brighton in seventh, with two games remaining.

They host Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night, before finishing their season against Sunderland next Sunday and will most likely need to win both to stand any chance of qualifying for Europe.

Failure to do so could be seen as a blessing in disguise for Alonso, who would get much longer to work with the squad and impose his ideas, but it would be a financial and reputational blow to Chelsea.

Asked what missing out on Europe would mean for Chelsea, McFarlane said: “You’re asking an interim coach what the implications of the club are going to be. I’m not privy to that information. My job is to prepare the team for games and training, which I’ll be doing on Tuesday for Spurs, which is a massive game for this club.”

On the squad Alonso will be inheriting, McFarlane added: “It’s a really talented group. Lots and lots of quality. The fight and heart has been questioned at times. But the last two performances, I don’t think you can question that. I think they gave everything today to try to win that trophy for the club.”

Chelsea had two penalty appeals rejected by referee Darren England at Wembley, the second of which, on Jorrel Hato, McFarlane thought should have been awarded.

“They’re tough calls, but for me, the Jorrel Hato and [Abdukodir] Khusanov collision in the box is a penalty,” said McFarlane. “Jorrel gets in front and it’s a collision in the back. If that’s anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a foul.”

How Chelsea’s football leadership team works

Chelsea’s leadership team of Paul Winstanley, Laurence Stewart, Joe Shields, Sam Jewell and Dave Fallows retain the confidence of the club’s BlueCo owners.

The five men have come under fire from critics of Chelsea, but Telegraph Sport understands the club’s owners remain committed to the current structure and its ability to deliver success.

Joe Shields (left to right), Paul Winstanley, Jose Feliciano, Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, Laurence Stewart and Sam Jewell after last season’s Conference League triumph - Darren Walsh/Getty Images

Chelsea are ninth in the Premier League table, six points behind sixth-placed Bournemouth, with two games to play and may not qualify for Europe at all.

It is not just Chelsea’s players, who, barring a miracle sequence of results, will be hit in the pocket by failure to qualify for the Champions League, with the football leadership team also in line to give up lucrative bonuses.

Telegraph Sport reported that Chelsea players will miss out on pay rises of approximately 20 per cent by failing to qualify for the Champions League and it can now be revealed the same is true of the football leadership team.

Winstanley, Stewart, Shields and Jewell all signed new contracts through to 2031 last summer, but the foursome were not handed pay rises and their deals are, like those of the players, heavily incentivised with performance-based bonuses. Fallows, who worked at Liverpool, has since been added to Chelsea’s leadership team.

Chelsea announced there would be a period of “self-reflection” after sacking former head coach Liam Rosenior and there is internal acknowledgement that mistakes have been made.

But there is no appetite from Chelsea to scapegoat anybody for Rosenior’s demise, amid a sense that the club win as a team and lose as a team, and that the football leadership team must move forwards together.

Winstanley, Stewart, Shields and Jewell are credited internally with making a good appointment in former head coach Enzo Maresca, who won two trophies and qualified for the Champions League with a style of football that suited the squad in his first season in charge.

Enzo Maresca guided Chelsea to Conference League and Club World Cup success last season - James Gill /Getty Images

Unforeseen circumstances, including Maresca informing Chelsea that representatives of City and Juventus had approached him, contributed to the Italian’s exit. That, ultimately, derailed Chelsea’s season and they expect there to be further clarity around Maresca’s departure this summer.

Chelsea believe there is widespread misunderstanding over the roles of Winstanley, Stewart, Shields, Jewell and Fallows, who are often grouped under the umbrella of “sporting directors”. There is also insistence within the club that the reputations of the five men inside football are far more favourable than outside perceptions.

Winstanley and Stewart were announced as co-sporting directors in February 2023, but have since allowed some of their responsibilities and power to be shared out.

Here, Telegraph Sport looks at what each of Chelsea’s football leadership team is responsible for.

Paul Winstanley (co-sporting director)

Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Contrary to popular opinion, Winstanley is not responsible for the identification of transfer targets. His work centres more around the delivery of targets, through talking to and negotiating with clubs and agents. He is also heavily involved in player sales and the renewal of contracts. As reported by Telegraph Sport, Tottenham Hotspur made checks on Winstanley as part of their search for a new sporting director, but the ex-Brighton man is not expected to leave Chelsea. Winstanley is also involved in player support and football operations, such as performance and medical.

Laurence Stewart (co-sporting director)

Geoff Pugh

Despite his title, Stewart’s role is more akin to a technical director. He is responsible for budget planning and style of play and football philosophy. That has included setting a broad style of football that Chelsea want their academy and first teams to play, so there is continuity throughout the club. Stewart started his football career in analysis, working for City and England at the 2014 World Cup, and that remains an area he works on at Chelsea. Like Winstanley, Stewart’s other responsibilities include medical and the pair share a close working relationship.

Joe Shields (co-director of recruitment and talent)

Darren Walsh/Getty Images

Another former City man, Shields is responsible for player identification through scouting and squad planning for the first team and the academy. A number of Chelsea’s recent signings, including Cole Palmer, Tosin Adarabioyo, Roméo Lavia, Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap, have played at former clubs of Shields, who moved from City to Southampton before joining Chelsea. Shields is also said to be involved with the loans department and works closely with Stewart.

Sam Jewell (director of global recruitment)

Robin Jones/Getty Images

Co-heading squad identification and scouting, Jewell’s remit extends past Chelsea and to BlueCo’s other club Strasbourg. There have been several deals between Chelsea and Strasbourg in recent years, with striker Emmanuel Emegha due to move to London from the Ligue 1 club this summer. Jewell works closely with Winstanley, who he has known for years, and also helps with negotiations with agents.

Dave Fallows (director of development)

The newest member of Chelsea’s football leadership team, Fallows is integrating himself into the set-up. His responsibilities include data, scouting and background checks on prospective signings, which Chelsea are likely to lean more heavily on this summer. Suggestions that Fallows has been leading the interest in Xabi Alonso through his links with Liverpool, where he spent 12 years, have been played down. Like Stewart and Shields, Fallows has previously worked at City.

How the new head coach will fit in

Chelsea’s next permanent head coach can expect to be made an equal partner in the identification and signing of players, even though he will not be given the final say on everything. He will help to evolve and ultimately deliver the football philosophy of the club and will have a more meaningful role than some of the previous head coaches.

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