Xabi Alonso going undefeated as manager of Bayer Leverkusen is starting to look more and more like a miracle, because even though many Real Madrid fans turned on their own superstar players in order to defend Alonso despite his own horrendous attitude, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Vincius Junior reminded everyone at the World Cup who they really are as top, top players and characters. And it is telling that Jose Mourinho has already gone to bat for them harder than Alonso ever did.
Since getting canned after totally antagonizing Real Madrid and losing at a rate worse than his predecessors, Alonso has taken the job with Chelsea after Liverpool preferred to hire Andoni Iraola over him. And already, Alonso is starting to make some Chelsea fans regret the hiring, with fans of rival Premier League clubs mocking the Spanish coach for his latest transfer targets.
According to reporting from Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are about to make a surprise free transfer from local rivals Brentford, bringing in the aging Jordan Henderson. They are reportedly leading the race to sign Henderson. In addition, Romano reports that Alonso has approved the signing of Danny Welbeck as a veteran striker option behind Joao Pedro.
Xabi Alonso has no idea how to build an elite team
Whlie these are not the worst signings as depth options, it seems bizarre for Chelsea, a club based around signing elite players and top young talents with the goal of competing for the Premier League title, to suddenly go after a bunch of older players like Henderson, Welbeck, and Granit Xhaka. At least Xhaka is still a good player, even if he only plays for Sunderland, but Welbeck in 2026 as a striker for Chelsea is insane and Henderson being anywhere near Chelsea is blasphemous.
These are the kinds of players Xabi Alonso wants at Chelsea, and these players are a real downgrade from the likes of Yan Diomande, Marc Cucurella, and Denzel Dumfries that Jose Mournho has been bringing to Real Madrid. Alonso's ideas were already horrible last summer for Madrid, like getting rid of Luka Modric, keeping Dani Ceballos instead, and trying to sign Martin Zubimendi, who got benched by Arsenal not long after signing.
Real Madrid are in a better place right now without Alonso, who has already been making bizarre decisions at Chelsea with players like Jordan Henderson on the radar. There is a huge difference in the quality of these clubs, the quality of the players coming in, and, now, the quality of the managers.
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