New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has plenty of accolades to his name from his playing career, so we found out how he would get on in this current Chelsea side.
Alonso’s time as Chelsea boss got underway on Thursday as he conducted his first interview and training session at Cobham.
His only experiences at Stamford Bridge in the past came as a rival player, however thanks to EA Sports FC 26 Career Mode, we can see how he would have performed in his prime alongside the likes of Cole Palmer and Reece James.
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I added Xabi Alonso as a player to current Chelsea squad
A few ground rules before we start – the career mode was completely simulated, meaning no signings were made in the three years we ran this experiment for.
The Chelsea squad available was the one which finished off the 2025/26 season. This means Marc Cucurella was available, while Marco Palestra was not at the club. Let’s take a look at season one.
It seems Alonso slotted straight into the starting side alongside Moises Caicedo, meaning that Enzo Fernandez had to settle for sporadic minutes off the bench.
In 57 appearances in all competitions, the Spaniard scored five goals and assisted 11, making him the second highest assister in the squad.
This was only behind a reintegrated Nicolas Jackson, who interestingly also ended the campaign with the Premier League golden boot award, even though the Blues could only finish in sixth place.
Ahead of season two, Jackson was sold to West Ham, and Alonso spent a portion of the season injured, however still showed the creative quality when he was available.
He would again rack up 11 assists to go alongside four goals, as the Blues finished a place higher in the league in fifth.
The third and final season of our experiment finally saw Chelsea return to the Champions League places, after being top of the table for the first half of the season.
Alonso enjoyed his best goalscoring season, finding the net seven times and assisting six goals.
The Spaniard was given the backing in this career mode save as the manager too, with him not being sacked despite pressure mounting from the first two seasons.
Perhaps there can be some lessons learned by Todd Boehly and co regarding giving the manager time to succeed, with him clearly having a job on his hands next season.
One thing for certain is that Alonso as a player would be a sensational addition to this current side in a hypothetical world, as they continue to examine the transfer market for a new signing in real life.
Andrey Santos is now set to be confirmed as a new Manchester United player, while Fernandez is still pushing for his dream move to Real Madrid.
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