Granit Xhaka reveals difference between Mikel Arteta and new Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso

Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea reign is soon to get up and running, with the Spaniard’s appointment officially confirmed this morning.

The former Liverpool midfielder has put pen to paper on a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge and his role will begin on July 1 ahead of the new season.

It comes a month on from the departure of Liam Rosenior, who was relieved of his duties after a wretched run of five straight defeats – without scoring a single goal – in the Premier League.

Under-21 boss Calum McFarlane has been overseeing first-team duties on an interim basis in the intervening weeks and was in the dugout yesterday at Wembley as the Blues suffered defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

Alonso established himself as one of the most highly regarded young managers in the game in his first senior position at Bayer Leverkusen, steering the side to the club’s first-ever Bundesliga title without losing a match.

The 44-year-old has been out of job since being sacked by Real Madrid in January, with the La Liga giants deciding to cut ties after a drastic decline in results amid reports of dressing room unrest.

In his opening statement as Chelsea manager, Alonso underlined his ‘ambition’ to take the west London outfit back to competing at the highest level once again.

‘Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football and it fills me with immense pride to become manager of this great club,’ he said.

‘From my conversations with the ownership group and sporting leadership, it is clear we share the same ambition.

We want to build a team capable of competing consistently at the highest level and fighting for trophies.

‘There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this football club and it will be my great honour to lead it. Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies.’

Upon his return to English football, Alonso will be reunited with one of his childhood friends in Mikel Arteta.

The pair grew up together in San Sebastian and played for the same youth club, Antiguoko, before turning professional.

Earlier this season, Arteta even revealed how Alonso had convinced him to sign Piero Hincapie, with his fellow countryman having managed the defender at Bayer Leverkusen.

Hincapie’s former team-mate Xhaka probably knows more than anyone what makes both Arteta and Alonso tick, playing under the former at Arsenal before signing for Leverkusen three years ago.

Explaining the difference between the two during an interview with the PFA in 2024, Xhaka said: ‘Mikel has his philosophy and that’s it. You know this always change the sides, the free man, let him jump for example.

‘Even to play always with a back four and never change to a back five for example, or never change like a 4-4-2 with two proper strikers. So you had this 4-3-3, with one six and two eights.

‘Xabi is a little bit different. I think that Xabi can play a back four, but he can play as well a back five you know?

‘What he wants is always two number sixes, not running everywhere or more of the time be in the position.

‘But I think that if you are a coach you need your own philosophy, your own tactical, your own ideas.

‘Of course you can always change one or two but you can’t change so many things about it you know?’

Alonso will no doubt be relishing the chance to lock horns with Arteta – who he once described as a ‘competitive monster – when Chelsea do battle with bitter rivals Arsenal in the Premier League next season.

‘I was lucky to have a friend in our neighbourhood who was also crazy about football. His name was Mikel,’ Alonso explained in 2024 when addressing his relationship with the Arsenal head coach.

‘Every day, we were taking our skateboards down to the beach to play tennis, to surf and of course, to play football.

‘This kid, he was maybe even crazier than me about football. He was a little bit younger than me and my friends – just a few months maybe, but you know how you always push your “little friends” at that age? Well, we tried, but he was a competitive monster.

‘He wanted to win so badly, even if it was just a game on the beach. It was a love for the game that you cannot teach. You are born with it, I think. It bonded us very closely and it still does, to this day.

‘A few months ago, I got a call from my old friend Mikel and as always, we talked football. He said, “We’ve got Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week, what do you think?”. And I said, “We’ve got West Ham, what do you think?”.

‘If you would have told us back then that we would be managing Arsenal and Leverkusen in 30 years, I think we would have been very happy and very shocked.

‘Of course, we probably would have said, “Wait, we made it as players first, right? Okay, thank God. Just making sure!”‘

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