Chelsea gave Xabi Alonso four years. No coach since 2015 started a third season.
Chelsea appointed Xabi Alonso as manager on a four-year contract on 17 May, the day after losing the FA Cup final. He started work on 1 July.
What happened
Alonso’s four-year contract came into force on , six weeks after his appointment was announced, giving him the full window and a clean pre-season before the league opens on .
Chelsea named Xabi Alonso as manager on , on a four-year contract. The news came less than 24 hours after Chelsea lost the FA Cup final 1-0 to Manchester City at Wembley, with interim coach Calum McFarlane still in charge.
The job had in effect been empty for five months. Enzo Maresca resigned on New Year’s Day, 18 months into the job and six months after he made Chelsea world champions. He left after one league win in seven, a long dispute with the club’s medical staff, and interest from Manchester City, who saw him as a possible successor to Pep Guardiola.
Alonso won the Bundesliga at Bayer Leverkusen without losing a game, the first Bundesliga title in the club’s history. His next job, at Real Madrid, ended with the sack in January, less than eight months after it began. At Chelsea he has the whole transfer window, which closes on .
Sources: Chelsea FC, Al Jazeera, Sky Sports, ESPN, Premier League
The Pattern
None of Chelsea’s last seven head coaches started a third season. We looked at every permanent coach since José Mourinho’s second spell ended in 2015. Four of the seven won a trophy, and it did not change the result. The five most recent are below.
Show the other 3 cases
The Read
The market asked whether Chelsea would announce a signing of £50m or more by . The club’s own habits point to yes. Under the Boehly-Clearlake owners, Chelsea have spent more than £50m on a single player in every summer window. Alonso starts with a four-year contract and the backing to spend.
There are reasons for doubt. At Chelsea, signings are decided above the head coach, so his arrival may change less than it seems. The World Cup runs to , which pushes big deals into August for buyers and sellers. A £50m signing agreed on would still mean no for this market.
The bigger question is how long Alonso stays, and the market cannot ask it yet. Seven coaches in a row left before a third season, four of them after winning a trophy. Long contracts did not keep them: Graham Potter signed for five years and was sacked after seven months.
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