Xabi Alonso’s reign at Chelsea has begun with a clear message: soul, purpose and good energy — and a determination to keep Enzo Fernandez at the club.
The 44-year-old, who agreed a four-year deal in May and officially started work on 1 July, was unveiled at Stamford Bridge on Monday. In his first wide-ranging news conference, Alonso replied “yes” when asked whether he wanted to keep the Argentina midfielder, adding: “We have spoken. But, as you can understand, what we said will remain private.”
“Xabi Alonso wants to keep Enzo Fernandez at Chelsea as he begins pre-season with a focus on physicality.”
Fernandez, 25, is on international duty with Argentina at the World Cup and preparing to face England in the semi-finals. He is open to leaving and was recently linked with Real Madrid, but the Spanish club denied pursuing a move last week, leaving him with no known alternative destination and a sizeable £120m asking price.
Alonso’s early focus in training has been on improving physicality after Chelsea were outrun by opponents in all but one of their Premier League matches last season, when they finished 10th. His coaching at Cobham suggests he has paid close attention to those shortcomings, though he has been keen not to dwell on them.
“Soul, purpose and good energy” were among the key messages Alonso highlighted in his first in-house interview. He praised the core of his squad but said Chelsea would have to get a lot right on both the training pitch and in the transfer market to qualify for Europe again.
Alonso and his wife, Nagore Aranburu, are in the process of finding a permanent home in London, having remained in Spain until the day before the first training session. From there he worked remotely with the club’s five-strong sporting director team, with whom he appears to have quickly built a positive relationship.
It was from Spain that Alonso spoke to Marc Cucurella before his move to Real Madrid, called Enzo Fernandez to discuss his future and contacted transfer targets, including new full-back Marco Palestra, to outline his project.
Last Thursday, Alonso had the players in for a full day, settled into his new office, undertook in-house media duties and then took charge of his first training session. He is now working with a large squad including Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro and Levi Colwill, with only eight Chelsea players away at the World Cup.
Winger Alejandro Garnacho has not returned to training under Alonso; the manager said there is an agreement for Garnacho to stay away while he seeks a move, with Italian club Roma among those interested. Striker Nicolas Jackson, however, will return for at least the pre-season tour of Australia and Asia after Bayern Munich decided against making his loan move permanent. “Nico Jackson is joining the tour in Asia and we are looking forward to him working with us,” said Alonso.
Midfielder Andrey Santos joined Manchester United an hour before the news conference. Asked whether a lack of European football meant the squad needed trimming, Alonso said: “[It changed] the small details for sure but the main focus about how we want to start the competition in August, it doesn’t change much. We are aligned with the sporting directors on what we want to reach. The team is good and where we want to reinforce in terms of positions is clear.”
The real picture of Alonso’s Chelsea will not emerge until he faces his former team-mate and Real Madrid managerial successor Alvaro Arbeloa at Fulham on the opening day of the Premier League season in late August. But his start has been likened more to a Mauricio Pochettino blueprint than an Enzo Maresca one — a manager intent on building from the ground up.
