Xabi Alonso gives his first interview and press conference as new Chelsea manager

Xabi Alonso gives his first interview and press conference as the new Chelsea manager, as preparations for the 2026/27 season begin.

An agreement has been completed for the 44 year old, taking up the role, on a four-year contract, having been the club’s top target.

The search narrowed down, with Andoni Iraola and Marco Silva also included in the three-man shortlist.

He had been available following his departure from Real Madrid by mutual consent back in January, less than eight months into a three-year contract.

He has also previously had a three year spell in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, guiding then to their first Bundesliga title in 2024, and German Cup champions.

Now he is looking to improve Chelsea following a season they finished 10th and missed out of European qualification…

He spoke on becoming Chelsea manager in his first interview, posted on chelseafc.com:

“It feels great, but it’s a big honour. For sure. To be part of this great club, that is one of the best in the world, with great success in the last decades, it’s a big privilege to be a part of it.

“Now I’m looking forward to the challenge. We have challenges – nice challenges – ahead of us, but this is the beauty of the moment.”

On getting the appointment done early:

“The timings are always important, and it came at the right time for all parts and for sure, believing that the potential and the opportunity to come to this club, was the right one. The potential of the team and the squad made me very excited, to find a squad to work with, to create a football idea, and to bring excitement to the stadium and to connect with the fans, and that they really like what we’re doing.

“I’ve been there, at Stamford Bridge – mostly on the other side – but I know the energy that this stadium has, and we need to create that energy and this bond with all the parts.”

Anyone who cannot access the full interview here it is pic.twitter.com/50i7OlJtNE

— Adeel (@cfcadeel) July 9, 2026

On Chelsea being an exciting proposition for him:

“The way they have, not so long ago, played and competed on the highest level gave me assurance that the potential of the team was there, because of the quality of the players, because of the quality of the way they have played. So now it will be the work to carry on many of the things that they’ve done and to know that we come in a very competitive level, the Premier League, but that’s the challenge.

“”But I’m sure that with the commitment of everyone, with, for sure, hard work, that’s a must, and with the quality on the decisions that we have to take, for sure, we will be there to enjoy a great season. That’s what we want.”

On the history and the winning mentality instilled within him:

“Absolutely, because I have loved and lived for football. Because I was born and raised around football, so that’s in my veins and that’s something that I did as a player, and now I do that as a coach.

“I want to transmit that to the team, I want to transmit that to the players, that we feel that passion for the game, that hunger to be better, to be competitive, to feel that wherever we go we can win. That’s all about when you have that feeling. I was doing this as a player, and now I’m enjoying doing that on the sidelines when I see that “okay, these players are doing that” – it gives me a lot of excitement.”

On the training ground and pre-season:

“Oh, it’s brilliant! The setting, it’s wonderful. The standards of the club are of the highest quality. The structure is great, but you need to give soul, you need to give purpose, you need to bring good work, good energy, positiveness, that we are in a nice place to work, and we have all the ingredients for that.

“So, I’m looking forward to it. Tomorrow [on Thursday] I will be with the guys, and you start creating this connection, because this is all about the human connections, for them to feel good. And when you feel good, normally you perform well.”

On bonding, connecting and building a relationship:

“How important? It’s the most important. I know the qualities they have, but now we need to share a common view, a common belief for what we want to do, and this is what I like, this is what I want to create with them, and that they feel this excitement about how we can compete in all the competitions we have to play.”

On expectations, standards and demands:

“For me, there are football principles that are unnegotiable. To feel passion for what you do. In football, you need to be willing to pay all the price to compete on the highest level. So you can’t hold back anything. You need to give everything you have for the benefit of the team. The team is always the most important thing.

“We need to create that culture, which is a process, and the process is on a daily basis here in Cobham, training every day to prepare for when we have to perform in front of our fans. But on a daily basis, we need to be the best, and we need to know that the team is the most important.”

On finding the right culture:

“I think there’s a strong culture already built. There’s an important core of the team. And those players they have established throughout the years, they need to help the young ones to feel that. That’s with their professionalism, with their work ethic, with knowing that the team is the most important thing, and on a daily basis, we will be able to have that perception and that we create that culture, because that culture that we are able to build here, 100 per cent will be transmitted onto Stamford Bridge and wherever we play on the weekends. So we will have time for that.”

On looking forward to experiencing Stamford Bridge:

“Absolutely, I will feel goosebumps, for sure. Those days, they are special. When you are in a new home and you want to perform good. That day, in the Carabao Cup or against Brighton, you want to have that feeling from the first day and that is marked on our calendars. We will get ready for that.

“The stadium can create this heat but it works both ways. It’s the people with us, and it’s the team with the fans and with the crowd. We need to create that bond to feel that when we play at home, we are strong.”

Asked how much do you think the league has changed and evolved in that time, he replied:

“Yeah it has changed, I played there a long time ago!

“They were good years, I have to say. They were good years, and Chelsea were top in those years. But I have followed a lot [since] and while I haven’t been on the ground, I have been following. I have many friends that have been playing, they have been working.

“It’s the most competitive environment in the world. This is what excites me, this challenge. This chance to prove that we can do great things, that we can create a solid base to be competitive as soon as possible, and we want to start well in the first years and the first games.

“I’m not thinking about May, I’m thinking about September. More going in short blocks and we want to start well. And for that, we need to have a good pre-season for that.”

On his excitement of returning to the Premier League:

“Yeah, before we mentioned about the timings. Timings for everything are important, and I think that the timing for me, after my experiences in Germany and Spain, I was always excited about trying sometime in the Premier League, and it came in the right moment, at the right club, with a good opportunity and feeling. The Premier League is exciting and now I’m really looking forward to feeling it on the sideline.”

On taking elements of coaching and management styles from big managers:

“Always. Always, because I have always had a collective vision, even when I was playing. So, I had almost the need to understand the game when I was playing it and that way of understanding football has helped me want to try to be a coach and now take the steps to be where I am right now, at Chelsea.

“That’s very common in midfielders and it’s common when you have had big influences from many coaches, in San Sebastián, Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and the national team as well, so they have helped me, all of them.

“But at the end you need to be your own coach, your own style, and you need to be authentic. You need to be able to transmit with authenticity and to have your own way of understanding football.”

On facing familiar faces this year:

“Yeah, it’s a pretty unique case, I would say. That in such a competitive environment that is the Premier League, that three kids coming from almost the same neighbourhood in San Sebastián, that we end up being managers of three of the biggest clubs in the Premier League. So I’m looking forward to it. But I’m sure that everyone is and each of us are really focused on our clubs.”

On his upbringing of football being part of your DNA:

“Always. Because I had the influence of my father, he was a player and he was a coach later. So throughout my childhood I’ve been really close to football.

“My brother, a couple of years later when were playing football, we both had the chance to become professionals and we are very close. He likes coaching, so he’s someone who I trust his opinion. So football has been in the house, always.”

On his attention of going into management:

“Probably my last years in Germany. It helped me a lot to know that I was coming closer to the end, but feeling that I was coming closer to a beginning, to a start. Because, as I said before, I have always been around the game, and I knew that I was going to try it, and later you start feeling more, you start liking it more, things are going well, and I have been lucky enough to be now where I am, feeling that this is a great opportunity.

“I see a big, big chance to do great things here and I’m looking forward to it, working and having clear what we want.”

On a big move for him and his family:

“Yes, of course, but they have always been a massive support. My wife, Nagore, my kids, my parents, all the family around. I come here with my wife and the girls. My older son, he’s starting university in Spain but it’s always great to have the chance to live in London. To live the London experience in full, not just visiting, because we have come a lot of time visiting, but now they will have the chance to enjoy the city – I will be more focused on the work here in Cobham, but yes, they have been a great support, always.”

On his ambitions and what he wants to achieve during his time at Chelsea:

“That we share a feeling, that we are doing things the right way and that we are on the right way to success. We know that the success is a consequence of the good work, of the quality decisions, of the good culture that we want to build, and that’s the beauty of such a complex but nice process with so many people involved. Always getting the best of everyone, and everyone is committed with the last goal that is being the best we can and giving our best.

“If we all share, day by day, that feeling, I think that we can be optimistic about the future. Tomorrow we start. Tomorrow is day one. We want to feel it. To feel that this is starting something exciting.”

His message to the Chelsea fans:

“The message is that we want to share that belief that good things will come if we are together and we create this strength, this power that the club has.

“It has to come from us, to bring this energy. But together we can achieve great things in the coming years.”