It is far from a done deal yet, but Chelsea’s pursuit of Xabi Alonso certainly makes a lot of sense.

The news, broken on The Athletic on Monday, that Chelsea are exploring a deal to make the former Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder their new head coach, is not a great surprise. Alonso has been on their wish list from the moment Liam Rosenior was sacked last month. Bournemouth’s departing Andoni Iraola is also still regarded as a strong contender, having been earmarked from the outset.

But what this dressing room needs is someone that can command instant respect from the moment they walk into the room.

As reported when Rosenior left Stamford Bridge, the lack of a bond between himself and the players was a major factor in why his tenure stretched to only 107 days. Alonso’s playing career alone will make the players want to listen to what he has to say. He has achieved a lot more than they have done across his career as a player and a head coach, and that makes a big difference.

He won 11 major trophies with Liverpool, Madrid and Bayern, including two Champions League titles. He was also part of the Spain squad that triumphed at the World Cup in 2010 and claimed two European Championships, in 2008 and 2012.

Most of the current squad were at Chelsea when they won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup last season. Captain Reece James is the only one left from the 2021 Champions League success, while Enzo Fernandez lifted the World Cup with Argentina in 2022. But their records still pale in comparison with that of Alonso.

Xabi Alonso next to the Champions League torphy he claimed with Liverpool and Real Madrid (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Granted, being a great player does not necessarily make you a guaranteed winner as a coach. But it sure grabs the players’ attention — knowing you have achieved the kind of sustained success they have yet to taste.

What makes Alonso even more appealing, though, is that he has proved himself as a manager in his own right too.

When he was put in charge of Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022, having started out learning his trade with Real Madrid Under-14s and Real Sociedad B, they were in the Bundesliga’s relegation zone. Alonso took over a team struggling for confidence and results, just like Chelsea have been for months.

Within two years, he had guided Leverkusen to the first Bundesliga title in their history and won the German Cup as well. Bayer Leverkusen, remarkably, did so by going unbeaten in the domestic campaign. Their only loss in any competition across a 53-game campaign was against Atalanta in the Europa League final.

He set his team up to play very entertaining football in a 3-4-2-1 formation, a system that certainly suits the players in Chelsea’s squad. They have been accustomed to playing with three at the back in possession under Enzo Maresca and Rosenior for the past two seasons.

Xabi Alonso left Bayer Leverkusen a hero (Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Crucially, Alonso improved players while he was there, including Florian Wirtz, who joined Liverpool in a deal worth up to £116million ($158m) last summer. Wirtz, at his best, plays with a similar swagger to Cole Palmer, an elite player who has lost some of his sparkle over the last 18 months. That can be put partly down to injury and fatigue, yet there has always been a suspicion he preferred the more attacking style and freedom introduced to the side by Mauricio Pochettino in 2023-24.

Another beneficiary from working with Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen was Jeremie Frimpong, who also moved to Liverpool last year. Speaking to The Athletic in 2024, the right-back lavished Alonso with praise for the transformative effect he had on his career.

“Everybody understands him,” he said. “When he has an idea, he can make it make sense to all the players. I always feel like he knows how to use my abilities.”

Crucially, Alonso knows the demands of the Premier League from his playing days. It will not take time for him to adapt. His language skills will also be a major asset. Given the Spanish-speaking contingent were left particularly upset by Maresca’s departure in January, this would appear a very easy way to ensure everyone is back onside.

There are some obvious caveats when it comes to Alonso’s candidacy for the job. His performance at Bayer Leverkusen has already been rewarded with that move to Madrid, a club that carries far greater pressure and expectations. After being officially announced last May, he was sacked just seven months into a three-year contract.

A major factor in his dismissal, other than results, was his struggle to handle the big egos in the dressing room. That does sound worryingly familiar to everything Rosenior has just endured.

But Madrid is on another level when it comes to such politics and intense scrutiny. Alonso is not the first to suffer a short stint in the dug-out at the Bernabeu. You could argue he has actually learned some valuable lessons from the experience that he will carry forward into his next job.

Xabi Alonso lasted just seven months at Real Madrid (Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

Alonso also has a very strong connection with one of Chelsea’s fierce rivals in Liverpool. When Chelsea hired Rafael Benitez as interim head coach in 2012, the decision was poorly received by the fans.

Admittedly, that was born of angst that had built up over the years Benitez was in charge at Anfield and the two clubs played out a number of significant games against each other, including three Champions League semi-finals. Benitez was prone to making what were perceived as inflammatory comments about Chelsea in press conferences during his spell on Merseyside — remarks he was not allowed to forget when he was appointed at Stamford Bridge.

Alonso was a key Liverpool player under Benitez from 2004 to 2009, one of his main lieutenants out on the pitch, before leaving for Real Madrid, but was actually never the target for any animosity from the Chelsea crowd. Their hostility tended to be reserved for Steven Gerrard.

In truth, those who follow Chelsea have grown so tired of seeing their club become an also-ran — they have not won the Premier League since 2017 and have finished in the top four just once since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium bought them in 2022 — that Alonso’s past will be forgotten if he makes them a genuine force again.

There are certainly more positives than negatives when it comes to his candidacy. Of all those who have been linked, perhaps only Cesc Fabregas would be welcomed more by Chelsea supporters, a legacy of how he shone as a midfielder at Stamford Bridge from 2014 to 2019. Yet prising him away from Como will be difficult. Alonso, in contrast, is available now.

The process is still ongoing and no one should get too carried away until an official announcement is made. Iraola has certainly earned a lot of respect from the work he has done with Bournemouth, who are six points above Chelsea with two games to play this season.

Yet it is hard to ignore that Alonso at Chelsea could be a very good fit.