Sky Sports journo ‘staggered’ by Xabi Alonso news on Tuesday afternoon
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Xabi Alonso could hold fire on accepting a new head coach position this summer.DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYSky Sports Dougie Critchley suggested that the Spaniard was highly unlikely to take on the Chelsea job amid links with the position vacated by Liam Rosenior in April.The former Real Madrid boss has also been heavily linked with Arne Slot’s job at Liverpool.Xabi Alonso won’t take the Chelsea head coach roleCritchely hopped onto X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday afternoon to cast some doubt over suggestions that Alonso could be the next Chelsea head coach.
Xabi Alonso rejected Gladbach to continue to develop at Real Sociedad B… Xabi Alonso rejected Liverpool on the back of his unbeaten League and Cup double to continue to develop at Leverkusen… I'm staggered that people think he'd be keen to become the 7th permanent manager… pic.twitter.com/RLKhMmZNTL — Dougie Critchley (@DougieCritchley) May 5, 2026And we’d have to wholeheartedly agree with the reputable journalist that such a move would seem… well… a little bit daft to say the least.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustHere we’re talking about a club that seems to relish in leaving managers next to no time to establish themselves in the position and build a culture.Mind, we don’t think Rosenior was particularly well-equipped to meet the challenge of restoring Chelsea back within the elite class of Premier League clubs.While you’d back Alonso to get more of a tune out of the Blues by comparison, it’s an environment that would prove to be even more toxic than the one he experienced in Madrid.Liverpool or Bayern remain Alonso’s ideal next movesThere are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes involved, but it’s hard to imagine Alonso accepting a step down below what his talents deserve.Yes, perhaps there’s an argument for taking a relatively “safe” role – perhaps at a club comparable to Bayer Leverkusen’s level.But that would be assuming the Bundesliga winner feels his time in Real Madrid was such a failure it necessitates a decision designed to restore his reputation.
And as far as we’re concerned, no such effort is required; we agree with Critchley’s view that his dismissal at Real Madrid was indeed unfair.As such, Xabi Alonso should be aiming for the kind of next step that guided his decision to leave Leverkusen.Having ticked Madrid off his list, that really only leaves jobs of the calibre of Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Vincent Kompany remains extremely settled in Bavaria, but there’s an ongoing question mark over the future of Arne Slot at L4.In that case, it may very well be ideal to wait and see how this situation develops.