But Alonso arrives at Chelsea empowered, the first to be given the title of manager under this ownership, and, he says, healed after his bruising experience in the Spanish capital. BlueCo made Alonso their fifth permanent managerial appointment in four years, the 44-year-old who is hoping to do what his four predecessors - the ones chosen to lead the first team under this ownership - in Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior couldn't do: stay in the position for more than 18 months. If they do not finish top in May, that will mark a decade since they were last crowned champions of England.
However, after joining Real Madrid in May last year, he left by mutual consent following reports in Spain of disputes with key players such as Vinicius Jr. In the four months between Alonso leaving Madrid and joining Chelsea, he used that time to "reset energy". 'Luckily there are not too many scars in my career,' Alonso tells us. 'So, OK, I got a scar, but this heals. Now it is healed and now I am very motivated and determined to enjoy this next step, as I did when I started in Madrid. You move on. 'I used my time to reset the energy because you need to be full of energy as a manager to pull from the rest,' Alonso continues. 'It is very important for me to transmit this passion, this enthusiasm for the game in every training session, every game plan. I used that time mainly for that. I didn't watch much football. It was mainly about myself, about feeling it. You learn from the disappointment of things that were not meant to be and you think things will be better.'
"I had a view of Chelsea from the outside," he explained, revealing how carefully he considered the move to Stamford Bridge and the early discussions with sporting directors about his vision for the club. "I could see the positives and my concerns, so I addressed them.