Chelsea has contacted Xabi Alonso about becoming its next manager at Stamford Bridge, according to Diario AS, as the club looks for a way out of a season that has left it outside the European places. The 44-year-old would not be put off by the idea of taking charge of a side without European football, and the situation could be settled in the coming weeks.
The approach comes with Chelsea still having one FA Cup final and three Premier League matches left to change its position, but the club’s project is already raising doubts. That uncertainty has made Alonso one of the names under discussion even as he has spent time away from the spotlight, resting with his family and disconnected from football.
The wider picture is tangled by Liverpool, which the report describes as the blocked issue. Alonso has an important bond with Anfield, but Arne Slot has kept his job there after winning the Premier League last season, making it unlikely the Merseyside seat will open soon enough to clear the way.
Chelsea’s search has not been a one-name race either. The club has gone through a season of changes that removed Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior from the frame, while other names, including Oliver Glasner and Filipe Luís, have also been linked to the job. That leaves Alonso in a crowded field, with Chelsea’s results over the next three matches and one cup final still able to alter the mood, but not the fact that the club is already planning for what comes next.
For Alonso, the choice now sits between a Chelsea offer that would not embarrass him even without Europe and an Anfield path that may remain shut for a while. The next few weeks should show whether Chelsea is serious enough to keep pushing — or whether Liverpool remains the wall he cannot get past.
