Gave his entire life to football. Dedicated his body to this sport. Made it 100x bigger than it already was. Global. Icon. Legend. The greatest to ever do it.
Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Xabi Alonso as Manager of the Men’s Team.
The Spaniard will begin his role on July 1, 2026, having agreed a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Welcome to Chelsea, Xabi!
🚨 BREAKING: Xabi Alonso has accepted to become Chelsea next manager, HERE WE GO! 🔵🔜
The agreement is set to be completed.
#CFC prepare official announcement for the upcoming days, but Xabi said YES. 💣
🚨 🗣️ Luis Enrique on the toughest opponent he have faced in his career
"Honestly I've been a football manager for more than a decade, I've faced top teams like Real Madrid, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Liverpool with my PSG side, and I've Also faced the great PSG, Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, Juventus, and so on with my Barcelona side" But honestly I had an intense match with Bayern Munich which ended 5-4 in our favour, we really deserve to win, draw and lose this game because of how intense it was".
"But this Bayern Munich side is one of the toughest but not the toughest team I've faced in my life, I'll always remember the Chelsea and Enzo Maresca side that won us 3-0 in the FIFA club world cup final, they were unstoppable, we did our best to press them but all their players were very quick and sharp".
"So I must say the Chelsea end Enzo Maresca side are the hardest opponent I faced in my entire managerial career, they won us 3-0 at the FIFA club world cup final, they didn't even allow us to press them at all, I learned a lot from Enzo Maresca after the game and that's one of the thing I've added to my managerial career".