Xabi Alonso has been handed a firm no from the player he wanted to bring to Chelsea. Florian Wirtz and his father and agent Hans-Joachim Wirtz have told the Stamford Bridge club they are not interested in a January move, with the midfielder’s camp ruling out a Chelsea switch for the time being.
Alonso took over at Chelsea on 1 July 2026 on a four-year deal, as confirmed by the club at the time, and had tried to persuade his old Bayer Leverkusen playmaker to follow him across London. Wirtz’s answer has killed that line of thinking before it reached a formal bid.
The Chelsea play falls flat
Chelsea had positioned themselves as the warmest home for a Wirtz exit, with Alonso’s past relationship the obvious selling point. The Spaniard built his Leverkusen side around the German, and the pitch to Stamford Bridge rested on that familiarity.
Wirtz has not had the start to life at Anfield that his transfer fee suggested he would, and that was supposed to be Chelsea’s opening. The player himself has not taken it. His camp, led by Hans-Joachim, has made the position clear in private to the London club, with no suggestion that it will shift in the coming weeks.
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Mac Allister changes the tune
The second strand of the story may matter more for Andoni Iraola’s squad planning. Alexis Mac Allister, whose current contract runs until the summer of 2028, had gone cold on the idea of an extension after Liverpool told him in September that no new deal was on the table.
That is where Liverpool’s changing structure comes in. Julian Ward has returned as sporting director for a second spell, having first held the role in 2022-23, and 1892 Holdings have taken a roughly 38 per cent minority stake with an option on majority ownership. Sports Illustrated reported that the Argentina midfielder now sees those shifts as reason to leave the question open.
“The situation didn’t change. But there’s a new sporting director, there’s a new ownership coming into the club, so everything can happen and we will see,” he told Sports Illustrated.
He added that he was focused on his football for now, calling Liverpool “one of the best in the world.”
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Real Madrid are planning a move for Mac Allister in 2027, with the Spanish club prepared to use player makeweights to cut the cost. His own preference, as the published comments make plain, is to stay.
Where it leaves Iraola
Wirtz is tied to a long-term deal he signed on arrival from Leverkusen in June 2025. Iraola heads into the November international break with both players publicly committed to Anfield, and the next move on Mac Allister’s deal sits with Ward and the 1892 Holdings board.
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