02/08/2026
🚨🎙️XABI ALONSO SPEAKING TO THE MEDIA TODAY IN A FULL PRESS CONFERENCE.🗣️
🚨Xabi Alonso on joining Chelsea:
🗣 "It has to come from the gut. I felt it was good timing for the club and good timing for myself. It was a good opportunity and I felt I had the chance to enjoy being a manager."
🚨Xabi Alonso on Real Madrid exit:
"Luckily, there are not too many scars in my career. I got a scar, now it is healed and I am determined to enjoy this next step as I did when I started in Madrid."
"For the things that didn't work, I have been very critical of myself, thinking about what I could have done better. You learn from the disappointment of things."
🚨 Xabi Alonso held discreet meetings in London and his hometown of San Sebastian over three weeks in early May to ensure Chelsea was the right fit:
"I had a view of Chelsea from the outside."
"I could see the positives and my concerns, so I addressed them. We had the same ideas, the same analysis, to start building momentum together. That is why we are taking these steps together and making decisions to build a good team."
🚨Xabi Alonso on being backed by Chelsea:
"We have taken a few steps but I feel that we can still take a few more." 💪
🚨Xabi Alonso on reshaping the Chelsea squad:
"You need the right balance of personalities and stages of maturity, with players in their early 20s, early 30s and everything in between.
🚨Xabi Alonso on addressing culture:
"In the Basque Country, we have a strong sense of collective purpose and culture."
🚨Xabi Alonso sees Chelsea as an exciting opportunity:
"The situation was not as bad as it looked at the end of last season," he said when explaining why he took the job."
"There is big potential to improve and let's see how long it takes."
🚨Xabi Alonso: “To compare (what happened before) is difficult — I was not in the process with the other ones (former head coaches). It is not only my decision, it is a collective decision.
It is not that I have the full power and I ha