Chelsea have appointed former Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso as their new manager.
The Blues announced on Sunday morning that they had appointed the 44-year-old as their new manager, with the Spaniard set to take charge from July 1.
The west London outfit have had Calum McFarlane in temporary charge since Liam Rosenior was sacked in April, but the Englishman will step aside when Alonso takes the hot seat over the summer.
Alonso has been without a job since being dismissed from Real Madrid in January, having struggled during his first six months in charge in the Spanish capital.
After spells in charge of Real’s academy sides and Real Sociedad B, the ex-Spain international’s first venture into senior first team management came in 2022 when he was appointed as Bayer Leverkusen manager, succeeding Gerardo Seoane after just eight games of the league season.
Having finished sixth at the end of that season, Alonso enjoyed a hugely successful first full term with Leverkusen, guiding the club to their first ever Bundesliga title at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
Alonso guided Leverkusen to the club’s first ever Bundesliga title in 2024 (Photo: Associated Press/Alamy)
The following season his side finished second behind Bayern Munich, and Alonso then departed to take charge of Real Madrid ahead of the start of the current campaign.
Having won 24 of his 34 matches in charge of the Spanish giants, Alonso was sacked in January and replaced by former Liverpool teammate Alvaro Arbeloa.
In recent weeks Alonso had been linked with a possible return to former club Liverpool, amid uncertainty surrounding the future of current head coach Arne Slot.
The Reds have so far stuck with Slot, though, and Alonso is now set to join one of their fiercest rivals this summer.
Alonso has signed a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge, and has been given the job title of ‘manager’, as opposed to his predecessor Rosenior who was the club’s ‘head coach’.