The wait goes on for Xabi Alonso to make his way to Stamford Bridge after agreeing to become the new Chelsea manager.
Xabi Alonso is still yet to officially start his tenure as Chelsea manager, despite signing a four-year contract weeks ago.
However, the Spaniard has been given a surprising amount of authority behind the scenes to reshape a disjointed squad. He personally approved the £43 million capture of Italian defender Marco Palestra and has already been involved in discussions for Granit Xhaka.
But the real test will be on the pitch for Chelsea, with plenty of new arrivals and a squad that may be low on confidence after a disappointing campaign.
Enzo Fernandez needs to leave Chelsea for the good of the club 👋🏻
Thoughts?
Xabi Alonso’s delayed arrival at Chelsea
Despite his four-year contract technically commencing at the start of July, Xabi Alonso has not yet taken to the grass as Chelsea manager due to the scheduling of the club’s pre-season.
With a significant portion of the senior squad away in North America for the 2026 World Cup, the first-team players who were not called up for international duty have an extended summer holiday.
Alonso is officially scheduled to start at Cobham on July 9, where he will finally command his first session before flying out for a pre-season friendly against Western Sydney Wanderers.
And it’s believed that Chelsea fans will even be treated to a welcome press conference.
What is a fair price for Malo Gusto? 💸
BlueCo are proving stubborn.
We’ve seen some new faces at Cobham already
While the official first-team squad isn’t scheduled to report back until July 9, several players have already begun early training sessions at Cobham.
New £43 million signing Marco Palestra has been on-site completing his orientation and early physical conditioning. He is joined by teenage summer arrivals Geovany Quenda and Dastan Satpayev, who both reported early to get acclimated to the facilities and work in the gym.
Academy midfielder Reggie Walsh is also involved in these early sessions, getting a head start before stars like Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill officially return next week.
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