The most pressing issues facing Alonso at Chelsea

Xabi Alonso was Chelsea's number one target to become their new manager and he has now agreed to take over on a four-year contract.

The job awaiting the former Liverpool midfielder at Stamford Bridge is a daunting one. Chelsea, currently ninth in the Premier League, could miss out on European qualification entirely after seeing off Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.

Enzo Fernandez, the £105m midfielder, has created uncertainty around his future by flirting with a move to Real Madrid. Cole Palmer's form has bottomed out, and there has been speculation that he wants out.

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Chelsea has also not been the easiest place for managers to work. Maresca fell out with the hierarchy over his perceived lack of control, among other things, while Rosenior lasted only three months before being sacked.

Former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen boss Alonso, whose appointment will be announced on Sunday, is set to become the sixth permanent appointment since Blue Co completed their takeover of Chelsea in May 2022.

Alonso's in-tray will be stacked high when he starts work on July 1. Here, Sky Sports News' chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol analyses the most pressing issues facing Chelsea's next boss and reveals details about how he is expected to fit into BlueCo's structure.

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Chelsea had a shortlist of around five names, including Marco Silva and Andoni Iraola, and spoke to all the candidates.

Xabi Alonso agrees to become Chelsea boss

Out of all the candidates they spoke to, they feel that Xabi Alonso is the outstanding candidate. He's the one they want to lead them into the future. They looked at his CV both as a player and as a manager.

As a player, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, he's won it all. With Spain, of course, he won the Euros, won the World Cup as well and was one of the best players of his generation.

As a manager, he doesn't have any Premier League experience, but he had a great season at Bayer Leverkusen, won the double, they were invincible. Then he went to Real Madrid, things went wrong, although he did win 24 out of his 34 games in charge. His win percentage was something like 70 per cent, which is pretty good.

On paper, you would have to say, apart from the fact that he hasn't managed in the Premier League, he was the outstanding candidate.

Alonso is not going to have total control. But he will be Chelsea manager, not head coach. This is in recognition of his experience, track record and because of the key role he will play in helping develop all aspects of the club.

He will have more of a say than, for instance, somebody like Liam Rosenior or maybe even Enzo Maresca.

Don't forget Maresca was doing a pretty good job in his first full season, but then the relationship began to deteriorate behind the scenes.

There was contact from Manchester City about potentially taking over from Pep Guardiola when and if he decides to leave City. So it derailed their relationship, but I think Maresca was unhappy behind the scenes. He wanted more control, the kind of control that traditionally managers have had but you're not going to get anymore.

It was going to change anyway. Chelsea have realised that they need a tweak to their transfer strategy. They recognise they need a bit more experience. They want to sign three to four ready-made first-team players, including a centre-back, in the summer window.

They've seen the benefit a player with experience can bring with Levi Colwill coming back in recently after recovering from his ACL injury.

Chelsea need more players like Colwill with leadership qualities, personality and character who can sort things out when things are going wrong on the pitch.

Alonso will be involved in buying and selling players this summer. He will have a big say on who Chelsea sign but also, they're not just going to say, 'Xabi, you're in charge now. You're in charge of buying and selling players. You can do what you want'. He has to fit into the existing structure at the club.