Chelsea learn harsh reality of Premier League title race as Xabi Alonso trophy agreement reached

Xabi Alonso has already taken promising strides towards fulfilling his targets at Chelsea, but trophies are won in May and not in pre-season.

Xabi Alonso has raised eyebrows for all the right reasons ahead of the new Premier League season. The new Blues manager has taken to life at Stamford Bridge like a duck to water, delivering a fresh and exciting brand of football that has the potential to blossom into something special.

Fortunately for Alonso, he will have more time than most on the training pitch this term, allowing him to stamp his mark on the side. When the Spaniard put pen to paper on a long-term contract with Chelsea earlier this summer, he outlined his ambition to 'build the right culture and win trophies'.

"Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football, and it fills me with immense pride to become manager of this great club," said Alonso, who stepped down as the Real Madrid head coach at the start of the year.

"From my conversations with the ownership group and sporting leadership, it is clear we share the same ambition. We want to build a team capable of competing consistently at the highest level and fighting for trophies.

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"There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this football club, and it will be my great honour to lead it. Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies."

Bobby Vincent

I think Chelsea supporters have several reasons to be optimistic ahead of the new campaign beginning. The first, the biggest one, is the arrival of Xabi Alonso. I'm super intrigued to see how the Spaniard does in his debut season at Stamford Bridge.

The second one is the transfer window. Thus far, on paper, the west Londoners have recruited well - and learned from their mistakes in previous summers where they added mostly just young talent. BlueCo have clearly realised that on its own isn't enough. There now seems to be a good balance in the squad.

Finally, and bizarrely, no European football - in my opinion - will become a blessing in disguise. Don't get me wrong, Chelsea still have a lot of football to play, but it's less than their rivals and that could benefit them over the course of the campaign.

Chelsea could really be challenging for the 'best of the rest' - I think Arsenal are, unfortunately, too good at the time of writing. A third-place finish in Alonso's debut season and a domestic cup would be seriously impressive for Alonso in his debut season. And I think it could happen.

Jake Stokes

I am really looking forward to seeing the direction Xabi Alonso takes Chelsea this season.

Although the Spaniard was by far the best head coach on the market, I was initially apprehensive about whether he would be the right fit, having gone against his own philosophy of a free-flowing back-three at Bayer Leverkusen to a back-four at Real Madrid just to appease the big names.

Of course, the Blues don't have as many, if any, players who perhaps deserve to be built around as at the Santiago Bernabéu, but it was the principle. That said, Alonso has made great progress in such a short time at Stamford Bridge, deploying a fluid system that looks to bring out the best in the players at his disposal.

BlueCo will be delighted so far. In many ways, it's a match made in heaven. This season, the Spaniard will benefit massively from having no European football. He can establish the core of his squad, adapt his tactics to the needs of the Premier League, and then just plug any holes next summer.

There will be teething problems, as with any new manager, but I think Chelsea will bag a third-place finish. A cheeky piece of silverware wouldn't go amiss either!