Chelsea's Premier League season: Everything to know as Xabi Alonso attempts to lead Blues bounce-back campaign

Welcome to the 2026-27 Premier League season. Rarely has there been such a promise of turbulence at the top of the league with nine clubs having changed their head coach in the off season and a host of transfers in and out of the English game threatening to shake up the competition.

In other words, the Premier League has spent this off-season being the most Chelsea version of itself it can be. Of course, the Blues have kept up their end of the bargain with a new head coach and big-money signings. As we look ahead to the 2026-27 season for some of England's biggest clubs, let's check in at Stamford Bridge, where the drama is rarely in short supply.

There were few more remorseless winning machines in English football than Chelsea under the ownership of Roman Abramovich, and even though the sale of the club to BlueCo in 2022 brought a downturn in league form, this has been a club that has found its way to silverware, most notably the Club World Cup.

Then again, if you just want trophies then (for the time being) Manchester City or Arsenal might be your best bet. What Chelsea offer is plenty of winning but without the insistence on being such a quiet organisation. Not the boys at Stamford Bridge. For two decades or more, barely a year has gone by without a ride on the coaching carousel, tales of dressing room malcontents or big-money transfers. A fan of Days of Our Lives? You still might find the plot twists at Chelsea to be too outlandish.

It is probably better than last season's table would have you believe. Chelsea ended the season in 10th, but with the division's sixth-best goal difference and fourth-best expected goal difference. Almost every statistic you might read about Chelsea in 2025-26 is coloured by a disastrous disciplinary record: their eight dismissals (plus one for former head coach Enzo Maresca) were more than twice as many as any other side and only one short of the Premier League record. It is hard to get a confident read on a team that spent nearly 10% of their league minutes a man down and whose internal discipline was shot during Liam Rosenior's brief tenure.

Perhaps when there is such a preponderance of disciplinary issues -- since the change of ownership Chelsea have 18 red cards for players and staff, three more than any other Premier League team -- it tells us something about the attitude of a squad that was recruited with an eye on youth and selling on in the future. Certainly the club itself seems to have acknowledged that the time is right for something of a rebalancing in terms of age and experience.

Gone, for now, are the largely inexperienced managers who populated the Stamford Bridge dugout. Senior figures at Chelsea were said to view the head coaching job as a largely peripheral driver of success at the club last season. This year, the reins have been handed over to Xabi Alonso, who has brought with him a sizeable backroom staff and has found himself empowered to have a bit more of a say on matters of transfers.

No wonder then that one of the first targets Chelsea pursued this summer was Sunderland's Granit Xhaka, the 33-year-old who Alonso considered a key lieutenant in the Bayer Leverkusen side that went unbeaten domestically through the 2023-24 season. That pursuit was unsuccessful, but the commitment to getting experienced voices for the dressing room remained. The question is whether Jordan Henderson, taken by England to the last two major tournaments because his voice commands such respect, and Danny Welbeck can be valuable enough on the field that their locker room influence holds.

Aside from Xhaka's ties with Alonso, the compelling reason to go after the Swiss international is he played like one of the Premier League's best central midfielders last season, his distribution on the ball and strength off it ideally suited to partner Moises Caicedo in a double pivot. Henderson was adequate enough for Brentford over 32 Premier League appearances, 22 as a starter, but at 36 is he more than just a minutes eater for a side aspiring to qualify for the Champions League? Having failed to even reach the Conference League this season, it is not like there is that much playing time to go around in a squad as big as Chelsea's.

The excellent Maxence Lacroix is no one's idea of an old man, but 26-year-olds have often been yesterday's men at Stamford Bridge. Meanwhile, Pep Chavarria is another veteran to arrive, the 28-year-old coming to vie with Jorrel Hato for the left back berth previously held by Marc Cucurella, now at Real Madrid. Or will that be wing back? Alonso used a back three at Leverkusen and a back four at Real Madrid. In preseason, he seems to have flitted between both. Much will depend on the final shape of his squad. Would the possible departure of Enzo Fernandez encourage him to swing towards a Leverkusen-y 3-4-2-1 with two of Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers playing off the striker?

Room will certainly have to be found for Rogers, the most expensive English player in history after his $158 million move from Aston Villa. Last season was one of thrilling moments for the 24-year-old: a goal in the Europa League final, a brilliant double against Manchester United, that free kick at Elland Road. The aggregate, though, posed questions, particularly at a price tag that should have Rogers considered among the best players in England.

He might be skeptical about the value of expected goals, but even the players who consistently get way out ahead of their xG don't do so on a consistent basis like Rogers did last season. The case for him as a really plus scoring midfielder would require him to be one of the best ball strikers in the game's recent history. That aside, he did not offer much for Villa in terms of chance creation or as an outlet. Maybe that is because Unai Emery did not need him to. Alonso might not either, particularly if Palmer gets back to the best version of himself as a creator for others. Still, those are a lot of maybe...

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