"Manager on the pitch" - Fabrizio Romano explains how important Granit Xhaka would be for Xabi Alonso | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano has provided further insight into the surprise Granit Xhaka to Chelsea transfer story that has broken today.

The experienced Switzerland international is not the typical kind of signing Chelsea have made in recent years, with the current Blues ownership focusing a lot on recruiting the best young players in the world.

Still, Xhaka is 33 years of age and so clearly wouldn’t be a particularly long-term signing for Chelsea, though it seems new manager Xabi Alonso was eager to work with him again.

The pair enjoyed a lot of success together at Bayer Leverkusen, and Romano has spoken on his YouTube channel about why Alonso felt it was important to add him to his new team.

Granit Xhaka can be Xabi Alonso’s manager on the pitch for Chelsea

Discussing the Xhaka story, Romano made it clear that the former Arsenal midfielder has communicated that he’s really keen for this move to go through.

Alonso also seems to have been a major driving force, along with Xhaka’s desire to live in London again.

See below as Romano has given some insight into what Chelsea fans can expect from Xhaka under Alonso…

“The relationship (between Xhaka and Alonso) is fantastic – they were together at Bayer Leverkusen, winning together, showing a perfect match,” Romano said.

“Granit Xhaka was the manager on the pitch for Xabi Alonso and so to have Granit Xhaka for Xabi Alonso is absolutely considered as a priority in this summer transfer window.

“Now it depends on club to club, it depends on what’s going to happen between Chelsea and Sunderland in terms of conversations, but Granit Xhaka already told Chelsea that he wants to go back to London and he wants to make this move happen.”

Granit Xhaka can lift Chelsea out of their rut

Xhaka was a key part of Arsenal’s revival under Mikel Arteta, and he also clearly clicked really well with Alonso at Leverkusen.

In short, this is a special character who can surely have a big impact on a Chelsea team that has found itself out of sorts and lacking leaders for a while now.

CFC fans might have reservations about Xhaka because of his age, and it’s true that he won’t be the most long-term addition to this squad, but he’s also still playing at a very high level and can be important for what he does off the pitch as well as on it.

This will surely be seen by many Chelsea supporters as a very welcome change of direction that means it’s not all about throwing together a bunch of talented young players and hoping something happens.