Chelsea training pitch at Stamford Bridge with players in competitive pre-season drill under golden hour lighting

Gittens Backed by Alonso but Faces a Higher Bar After Rogers Arrival

By Declan Farrow - 27th Jul 2026, 05:00pm

After a first season at Stamford Bridge that never really got going, Jamie Gittens is talking the right talk ahead of year two – and frankly, with Xabi Alonso now in the building, he’s not the only one who needs to prove something this pre-season.

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BBC Sport‘s Nizaar Kinsella has reported from Sydney that Gittens has spoken openly about his place in Alonso’s plans, confirming he has been told he is part of the squad for next season and describing the new manager as one of the best to do it in the game right now.

Gittens gets his Alonso endorsement – now he has to deliver it on the pitch

The headline from Kinsella’s piece is simple enough: Asked whether he had been told he was part of Alonso’s plans, Gittens initially replied: “Yeah.”. The instruction that came with it – keep being positive, keep taking on players, keep creating chances, keep pushing to the maximum – tells you something about how Alonso sees him. He wants Gittens doing what he does best, not reinventing himself.

Gittens’ respect for Alonso the man is also worth noting. He cited the squad’s collective respect for the manager, grounded in Alonso’s playing career at Real Madrid and Liverpool. He also spoke about facing Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen side while at Dortmund – a team that won the Bundesliga and German Cup in Alonso’s first full season in charge – and described it as really hard. That is not hollow praise from a young player trying to say the right things. That is someone who has experienced what Alonso builds up close.

Close-up portrait of football manager Xabi Alonso looking off-camera at a stadium — Xabi Alonso during his tenure as a football manager.

Frankly, Gittens’ first season here was a disappointment by any measure. The £52m move from Borussia Dortmund – £48.5m base fee with add-ons – carried genuine excitement, but a hamstring injury in January effectively ended his campaign before it had properly started. He showed glimpses. That was about it. He knows it too, admitting as much directly to Kinsella.

The competition is real – and Rogers raises the bar for everyone

What makes this pre-season different is the environment Gittens is walking back into. Alonso is cutting ruthlessly and rebuilding with intent, and the arrival of Morgan Rogers for a British record £117m has reset expectations across the entire attacking group. Gittens and Rogers came through Manchester City’s academy together, which is a nice detail – but it does not change the fact that will raise the bar.

Morgan Rogers celebrating in an Aston Villa kit during a football match — Morgan Rogers celebrates during an Aston Villa match.

Gittens scoring in each of Alonso’s first two behind-closed-doors matches against Crawley and Bromley is a decent start. He says he is 90% fit after a training camp in Portugal and Spain, with the hamstring holding up. , and Gittens will need to be sharp from day one if he wants to be a genuine first-team fixture rather than a squad option.

He finished last season without a trophy, without European football, and with Chelsea sitting 10th in the Premier League. He is right that this has to be a good season. We need it to be. And if Alonso can get the best out of a player who looked special at Dortmund, we should all be rather keen to see what that looks like. We’ll take it.