Five reasons Xabi Alonso should avoid becoming Chelsea manager

If Gabby Agbonlahor was in Xabi Alonso’s shoes, he wouldn’t be going ‘anywhere near’ the Chelsea vacancy.

talkSPORT reported on Monday that Alonso was a leading contender to become the Blues’ next manager, with both parties holding positive talks about the potential marriage.

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A resolution is expected within the next month, as talkSPORT understands Chelsea are keen to have their new manager in place before the 2026 World Cup begins on June 11.

Should Alonso get the role, he will become the sixth different permanent Chelsea manager since BlueCo took control of the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022.

But Agbonlahor warned against the former Real Madrid boss from taking over at Stamford Bridge and outlined five reasons why he should steer clear on Tuesday’s edition of the Sports Breakfast.

Transfer policy

“The club is more focused on profit than success,” Agbonlahor said.

“They like bringing in younger players who have resale value.”

Agbonlahor isn’t wrong.

Since the 2023/24 campaign, Chelsea have brought in just five players who were aged 25 or over when they signed.

Of those five, only two have become important members of Chelsea’s first team: Robert Sanchez and Tosin Adarabioyo.

The youth movement was reflected in the Blues’ summer dealings last year, where all nine permanent signings were aged 23 or under.

Although Chelsea have crafted a squad that could come good in the future, they appear to have forgotten about the here and now, meaning a change in transfer policy may be required this summer.

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Alejandro Garnacho

“This is the main one,” Agbonlahor said.

“You’d have to manage Garnacho. The ego, the lack of quality.

“That’s a player I’m sure Xabi Alonso will say, ‘Ok, you can go, you’re the first one out’.”

Garnacho made the switch from Manchester United to Chelsea last summer for £40million, but talkSPORT understands the Blues are already prepared to cut their losses.

The 21-year-old has 12 goal contributions across all competitions this term for Chelsea, but only six have come in the Premier League and Champions League.

Tellingly, four of his six goals scored in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup were against lower league opposition.

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Wantaway stars

“Their best players tell the world they want to leave every international break,” Agbonlahor said.

“Every player knows you don’t speak to the media unless the club say so. I remember that when I played. We try to get players on, that’s the club first, otherwise they get in trouble by the club.

“You’ve got [Marc] Cucurella flirting with Barcelona, you’ve got Enzo Fernandez flirting with Real Madrid.

“These teams don’t want you. Are you winding me up? I wouldn’t go anywhere near those two players if I was Barcelona or Real Madrid.”

Agbonlahor added: “No offence, I don’t think they’re good enough for those teams they want to go to.”

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Who do you answer to?

“You have to listen to five sporting directors who want to tell you what they think,” Agbonlahor said.

“If you’re the manager, you’re like, ‘I want one person I need to speak to, not five of you.'”

There appears to be plenty of cooks in the kitchen at Chelsea, with Paul Winstanley, Laurence Stewart and David Fallows all listed as sporting directors.

Additionally, the Blues have Sam Jewell and Joe Shields as their director of global recruitment and co-director of recruitment and talent respectively.

For Alonso, trying to maintain positive relations with all five along with focusing on coaching the team would be extremely taxing.

Who’s making the medical calls?

“Also, is it the secretary, is it the club doctor, is it the sports science guy, is it the physio telling you what player can play a certain amount of time,” Agbonlahor said.

“Imagine Xabi Alonso going in and, I know that’s the way of the world in football, but imagine going in and going, ‘Cole Palmer can do 60 (minutes), Lavia can do 50.'”

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The issue of having a player’s game time dictated to them was one which proved particularly frustrating for former Blues boss Enzo Maresca.

talkSPORT understands Chelsea believe the medical department must be autonomous from the manager.

Is Alonso willing to be dictated how long he can use his players for?

Too little, too late?

Aside from Agbonlahor’s five major concerns for Alonso, there’s also serious questions from the Inside Chelsea panel regarding the mentality of the Blues and where it’s led them this season.

In the latest episode of the show, broadcaster Matisse branded the fact Chelsea are all but certain to miss out on Champions League football as ‘nothing short of disgraceful’ in a furious rant.

“I think their mentalities were rightly questioned against Forest,” Matisse said.

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“You lose to that B team, who had prioritised in the Thursday second leg against Villa at home, and not just lose, battered, 3-0 until the consolation, your mentality has to be questioned.

“Because the starting XI technically had enough quality on the pitch to actually take it to Forest. So I think maybe they’ve seen some of the comments, maybe they’ve seen some of the question marks on them.

“I saw some of the pre-match comments saying we want to show that we are committed, we are up for the fight.

“I saw [Wesley] Fofana speaking, and they did show that they were up for it, but is it too little too late? I think a lot of them know that. The football club should not be in this position, especially when there’s six spots up for Champions League, most likely.

“You’re looking at a Bournemouth, a Brighton and a Brentford going to be playing Champions League next season, and we’re not. That is nothing short of disgraceful. It’s just as simple as that.”