Chelsea’s players believe Xabi Alonso is the ideal candidate to become their next head coach. Talks with Alonso’s camp are moving in the right direction and the feeling in the dressing room is that the former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen manager is the man to get the team back on track.

No agreement is in place and Chelsea are keeping an open mind as they work to appoint a successor to Liam Rosenior, who was sacked last month after 106 days. Alonso is the frontrunner but others on the shortlist include Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola, Fulham’s Marco Silva, Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner and the former Flamengo manager Filipe Luís. Cesc Fàbregas has indicated that he wants to stay at Como.

The situation is expected to accelerate after Chelsea face Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final. Chelsea have tracked Alonso’s progress since he began his managerial career at Bayer Leverkusen in 2022 and have been waiting for him to come on the market. Alonso, who won the Bundesliga title in 2024, has been out of work since leaving Madrid in January.

The 44-year-old has been keen to learn the lessons from his time at Madrid, where he lasted 34 games after failing to win over influential elements of the dressing room. Chelsea are looking for their sixth permanent manager since BlueCo’s takeover in 2022, but Alonso has not been put off the idea of joining. He is said to want assurances over certain elements, including a say over signings, but the indications are that Chelsea intend to give him what he needs.

The recruitment structure is not about to change – the club have a team of five sporting directors, headed by Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart – but there is a recognition that someone of Alonso’s stature must be listened to when it comes to signings. There would be zero desire on Chelsea’s part to impose players on him.

If Chelsea can thrash out a deal with Alonso it would help improve dressing-room morale. Influential players have not hidden their disquiet over Enzo Maresca leaving. Maresca was highly rated and Rosenior struggled to convince, the team in effect downing tools before Rosenior was sacked.

The players believe the next manager must be someone who can command the respect of the dressing room and keep strong egos in line. Alonso appears to fit the bill. He was one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, winning multiple honours, including Champions League titles with Liverpool and Madrid and domestic trophies with Bayern. He was a key member of the Spain team that won two European Championships and the World Cup between 2008 and 2012.

It is felt that Alonso’s standing would be a plus when Chelsea try to convince players to join. There is a growing sense within the industry that a deal will be agreed, particularly as there is unlikely to be competition from Liverpool, who have not contacted Alonso and are poised to keep Arne Slot.

Chelsea’s pursuit of Alonso has played into Palace’s optimism about their chances of landing Iraola, who is leaving Bournemouth. The worry for Palace is that they could miss out on Iraola if he is offered the Chelsea job. Glasner is stepping down after this month’s Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano.

Reece James is poised to return to Chelsea’s starting lineup for the Cup final. The captain made his comeback as a 63rd-minute substitute in the 1-1 Premier League draw at Liverpool last Saturday, having not played since 14 March because of a hamstring injury.

James came on in midfield, playing well alongside Moisés Caicedo, and experienced no negative reaction. The interim head coach, Calum McFarlane, said on Thursday that James had trained well all week – a boost not only for the club but England before the World Cup. James is Thomas Tuchel’s No 1 choice for the right-back position.

McFarlane started James in midfield for the first game of his first Chelsea caretaker spell at City in January. The match finished 1-1 with James excelling. McFarlane reported that Robert Sánchez, Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho were available after injuries. Estêvão Willian and Jamie Gittens are out.

“We were confident that Reece was able to play those minutes in Liverpool,” McFarlane said. “He came through them well and has trained well this week. We’re really hopeful he can finish the season in that sort of form.”