Bayer Leverkusen’s impressive run and turbulent Real Madrid reign: A look at Xavi Alonso’s managerial profile ahead of Chelsea tenure
Chelsea have officially confirmed the appointment of Xabi Alonso as their new manager, handing the 44-year-old Spaniard a four-year contract.
Alonso is set to officially take the reins during preseason. His tenure will kick off on July 1, 2026, arriving at Stamford Bridge with the monumental task of bringing stability to a club that has endured a chaotic and dismal campaign.
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The incoming boss, Chelsea’s sixth permanent manager of the BlueCo ownership era, faces a daunting task.
Chelsea currently sits ninth in the Premier League table and must finish at least eighth to qualify for the UEFA Conference League, having already missed out on a Europa League berth following their failure to win the FA Cup.
Managerial resume
While Alonso boasts a decorated, chequered career as one of modern football’s finest midfielders, his managerial resume at the highest level remains relatively compact, dominated by standout spells at Bayer Leverkusen and a brief tenure at Real Madrid.
Alonso’s coaching journey began in earnest in 2018, when he took charge of Real Madrid’s U14 team while completing his UEFA Elite coaching course alongside legendary contemporaries like Raúl, Xavi, and Víctor Valdés.
In 2019, he returned to his boyhood club, Real Sociedad, taking over the ‘B’ team and famously guiding them to a historic promotion to the Segunda División in his second season.
Leverkusen
His profile garnered wide appeal globally after he was named head coach of Bayer Leverkusen in 2022. In Germany, Alonso achieved footballing immortality by guiding Leverkusen to an unprecedented, unbeaten domestic double in 2024, securing the club’s first-ever Bundesliga title and their first DFB-Pokal since 1993.
That historic success earned him a blockbuster return to another former home.
Madrid’s tenure
In June 2025, Alonso was appointed head coach of Real Madrid, signing a three-year contract at the Santiago Bernabéu, where he had previously won five major trophies as a player. However, his managerial stint in the Spanish capital proved short-lived.
Enduring a high-pressure environment and a difficult run of results, his tenure lasted just seven months, culminating in his departure in January 2026 without any silverware.
Now, Alonso returns to a country where he enjoyed some of the most memorable years of his playing career.
Over a five-year spell in the Premier League with Liverpool, he became a fan favourite and memorably helped the Reds lift the Champions League trophy in 2005.
A serial winner, Alonso’s club career also spanned elite stints with Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. On the international stage, he retired after the 2014 World Cup with 114 caps, making him the eighth most-capped player in Spain’s history, and played a pivotal role in the golden generation that conquered the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships.
Chelsea fans will be hoping that the mentality that defined Alonso’s playing days and his historic run with Leverkusen, can finally anchor a drifting project in West London.
