Chelsea’s summer invited interpretation. As if they were swapping a nursery for a nursing home. As if the emphasis on youth had been replaced by a yearning for experience. As if Xabi Alonso now had unprecedented power over this Premier League club’s recruitment model.
The reality is rather more nuanced.
It is true that Alonso aired certain concerns during his initial interview process to become Chelsea’s manager. Those talks in May were understood to include him expressing the need for better balance, specifically via more maturity within the squad, to succeed.
But Alonso was glad to hear Chelsea’s sporting directors already agreed with his dressing-room diagnosis. The 44-year-old Spaniard told us so himself as we chatted with him at the team’s hotel in Sydney.
Chelsea plunged into this summer with a plan to target proven players. ‘Ready-made’ was the term used by co-owner Behdad Eghbali at a Los Angeles conference in April – a month before Alonso was announced – and their business conducted in this window was via a collaboration.
We occasionally hear tales. How this purchase was a Paul Winstanley one. How that signing was a Laurence Stewart one. How he arrived because of Joe Shields, or Sam Jewell, or Dave Fallows, who is their newest and fifth sporting director.
Chelsea changed tack in their recruitment strategy this summer, bringing in some experienced Premier League operators like Danny Welbeck
Though Xabi Alonso agreed with Blues chiefs’ diagnosis on Chelsea’s dressing room, he was not running the club’s recruitment this summer
Such is the size of Chelsea’s squad, new boss Alonso had to split his training sessions into two – one involving his main group, and the other for those considered surplus
However, Chelsea sources insist that is far from the truth. They say no singular signing is manager-driven, director-driven, owner-driven, data-driven or scout-driven.
It is described as a partnership, and one crucial area of their summer centred on the person they were bringing in, as well as the player. For example, there is a section of Chelsea’s scouting department solely devoted to checking the character of the transfer target under consideration.
Speaking to those who understand the person behind the player is the best way to build that picture, and that means making countless phone calls. Not only to those who have coached him or played with him, but to kit-men, to physios, to any connection points within clubs who are in the know and whose appraisals can be trusted.
The idea is to accumulate as much information as possible in what is a thorough background check, and then review whether to proceed.
It can be a trickier process when tracking younger players – there is less information available on the South American teenager whose performances have him earning rave reviews locally.
When targeting more established stars, it’s easier, and especially when it came to Danny Welbeck. Winstanley was Brighton’s head of recruitment when they signed him from Watford in 2020. Jewell was there, too. They already knew the person and player they were pursuing.
Chelsea had heard the 35-year-old might be leaving Brighton this summer, and it is believed Welbeck already had up to four offers for his consideration. It was thought he could be a good addition and so the idea was put to Alonso, who agreed, having played against Welbeck more than once in his career.
One of those games came in the Champions League in February 2013. Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid versus Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for Real in the 30th minute after Welbeck had opened the scoring at the Bernabeu. The game finished 1-1.
Alonso vouched for his former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka (left), but Sunderland held firm on their captain
The Spaniard helped Romeo Lavia overcome his mental block around playing 90 minutes, keeping him on against AC Milan
Morgan Rogers was one of the most eye-catching additions Chelsea made this summer, joining from Aston Villa for £117m
Daily Mail Sport was in Sydney when we broke the news of Chelsea’s interest in Welbeck and, truthfully, we were sceptical when we received the tip, too. When trying to have it verified with other contacts at the club, we may or may not have included an apology alongside our WhatsApp messages, in case we were wasting their time. It was while sitting in Hotel Sweeney’s rooftop bar that a call came back to confirm they were indeed in for the Brighton striker and an agreement was close.
Welbeck was announced first with Jordan Henderson, 36, then following from Brentford. Two Englishmen, together adding 863 Premier League games’ worth of experience to a squad which had previously broken records for being so young.
Welbeck is not only at Chelsea for his personality, however. He scored 13 goals in the Premier League for Brighton last season and is seen as a standard-setter in training, and he travelled to join his new team-mates as they moved on to Hong Kong.
At the same time, one of Chelsea’s sporting directors flew from Sydney to London, while another made his way from London to Hong Kong. The club made sure to have members of their sporting leadership team both at home and abroad, covering all bases and time zones.
Before Welbeck and Henderson, Chelsea initially made a move for Granit Xhaka, the 33-year-old Sunderland captain. Alonso knew him from their time together at Bayer Leverkusen, and vouched for his leadership qualities.
However, Chelsea’s £8million bid was dismissed as disrespectful by the Black Cats. ‘Insulting’ was the word used by one source at the Stadium of Light at the time. The Blues planned on returning with a second offer worth less than £15m when news broke of Xhaka reaffirming his commitment to his current club. That surprised Chelsea, but they moved on, and are happy that they were able to secure both Welbeck and Henderson for next to nothing.
They also signed Marco Palestra from Atalanta for £43m, Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for £117m, Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace for £52m and Pep Chavarria from Rayo Vallecano for £16.3m – all considered to meet the ‘ready-made’ criteria craved by Chelsea this summer and, of course, they passed the background checks.
All of those incomings involved Alonso, though Chelsea sources deny that they did not likewise consult his predecessors on each and every signing made, Enzo Maresca included before their messy break-up.
Joao Pedro was the standout performer in pre-season, scoring eight goals in eight games and being handed the No 9 shirt
New signing Marco Palestra should get plenty of minutes this season, with his versatility a prized asset
Versatility was one key consideration for Palestra and Co with Alonso using systems involving both back threes and back fours in their summer friendlies. Chelsea played eight fixtures in total if we include those secretly staged at Cobham, with Daily Mail Sport reporting at the time how they won 3-1 and 3-0 over Crawley and Bromley respectively behind closed doors.
Joao Pedro was the standout performer, scoring eight goals in those eight games and being handed the No 9 shirt which last season belonged to Liam Delap, who is available for sale or loan.
When conducting interviews, Chelsea’s players have said how much they enjoyed working and speaking with Alonso, and Romeo Lavia was among the beneficiaries this summer.
Since signing from Southampton in 2023, the 22-year-old midfielder has never completed a full 90 in a competitive game, and the most league appearances he has managed in a season was 16 in 2024-25.
Alonso spoke with Lavia about his hellish injury record and learned he had a mental block about completing a match. The Chelsea manager’s response was to start him against AC Milan in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and leave him on.
Lavia tired towards the end. Another coach might have substituted him. But Alonso decided the 90 would be more beneficial and that he would actually appreciate his legs feeling like jelly come full-time. Lavia did, and his team-mates celebrated with their exhausted comrade. A dozen boxes from the nearby Pizza Marzano were delivered to Chelsea’s dressing room. Lavia had earned his slices in this 3-0 win over Milan.
Alonso was refreshingly open with the media covering his club’s tour. Saying how they needed to offload at least half of their 10 centre backs. Explaining why Gianni Infantino should never be allowed to privatise the World Cup. Admitting that Real Madrid left him with a scar which has now healed.
While polite, he appeared a little more cautious in his pre-Fulham press conference at Cobham this week, though it was a packed room, and he was being quizzed on the £120m question mark hanging over Enzo Fernandez.
While polite, Xabi Alonso appeared a little more cautious in his pre-Fulham press conference at Cobham this week
Overall, Chelsea spent up to 56 hours in the air on their pre-season tour, covering 24,456 miles as they flew from London to Sydney to Hong Kong to Indonesia to Malaysia to home. It is probably helpful that their fixture schedule currently has them not leaving the capital until October, when they visit Everton.
Chelsea’s summer is not over yet, of course. They have sales and loans to finalise so that Alonso is not left with a squad larger than necessary, especially with no European football. He has even had to split his training sessions into two – one involving his main group, and the other for those considered surplus and who need to up fitness.
But this has already been a whirlwind window of change for a club who hope to return to the big time after another reset.
