Chelsea have reached an agreement to appoint Xabi Alonso as head coach.
It comes after the Blues lost to Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday to leave them facing the prospect of no European football for next season unless they qualify via the league, in which they sit ninth.
Standard Sport understands the agreement in principle is now in place and the deal is now to be formalised, with a four-year contract tabled.
Alonso, the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid manager, is expected to be announced before the Blues host Tottenham in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Chelsea had begun the recruitment process as soon as they sacked Liam Rosenior last month.
Alonso was their favoured candidate among five or six throughout that process.
The outgoing Bournemouth and Crystal Palace managers Andoni Iraola and Oliver Glasner were candidates, as was Fulham’s Marco Silva. By plenty inside the club, the former Chelsea fullback and ex-Flamengo manager Filipe Luis was also liked.
It is felt that the Chelsea squad will have immediate respect for Alonso’s glittering playing career and his promising start to management.
He was always expected to return to management this summer and It is expected that the Spaniard will be given greater decision-making responsibilities than some of Chelsea’s recent head coaches.
After Rosenior’s sacking, Calum McFarlane was appointed as interim head coach to see them through to the end of the season, and there was always full confidence at Chelsea that an appointment would have been fully made and publicly announced by the start of this summer’s World Cup.
Speaking after the FA Cup final loss, McFarlane said he was not in a position to comment on the Alonso reports.
"I don't have anything to report on that,” the interim Chelsea boss said.
“My job is to train the team and coach the team in the next two games."
