Rafa Benitez acts as Xabi Alonso warning sign! Liverpool legend told filling ‘hottest seat in world football’ at Chelsea would be a big risk

Benitez - who guided Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005, seeing off Chelsea courtesy of a fabled ‘ghost goal’ along the way - spent 48 games in charge of the Blues when filling an interim post in 2012-13.

He never won over a sceptical fan base - given his professional links to fierce Premier League rivals - despite delivering a Europa League triumph. A man who formed part of his squad that became continental kings some 21 years ago is now being linked with his own move that would see a penchant for red swapped for new allegiances in blue.

Alonso has been out of work since being unceremoniously sacked by Real Madrid in January. He lasted just seven months at Santiago Bernabeu, with his coaching reputation taking a knock after previously seeing it soar during a Bundesliga title-winning spell in charge of Bayer Leverkusen.

The 44-year-old is still considered to be one of the most promising young managers in the game, but the same was true of 41-year-old Liam Rosenior when he took the reins at Chelsea - and his tenure was brought to a shuddering halt after 23 games.

Quizzed on whether Alonso would be putting himself under intense scrutiny and pressure by emulating Benitez and heading to Stamford Bridge, Johnson - speaking exclusively to GOAL in association with BetMGM - said: “Pretty much. I think the Liverpool people would give him time. But as we've seen, if he had that role, the Chelsea fans might not be so...

“We know that the manager will see that Chelsea is probably the hottest seat in world football. It's hard for a young manager to go there knowing that you don't have six months, you don't have a year, you definitely don't have 18 months.

“So you've got to go through that door and win immediately, and that's hard for, as proven, top managers that have won stuff. That's almost impossible for anyone to do. I think it'd be a crazy seat to take for a young new manager, as we've just recently seen.”

Alonso would be given more leeway if a retracing of steps to Merseyside were to be made. The expectation has always been that he will return to Anfield at some stage, having enjoyed five memorable years with Liverpool as a player.

There has been talk of movement on the managerial front there, with Arne Slot failing to build on Premier League title-winning foundations, so could the Reds be tempted to accelerate plans to bring Alonso back onto their books if Chelsea formalised their interest?

Johnson said when that question was put to him: “It's a tricky one and I don't think anyone would know the answer until afterwards.

“Obviously Xabi has been great as a young coach doing what he's been doing. You can understand why people would be interested in him. But yes, managers potentially could only be available now and maybe not again for six, seven years.

“I'm sure they'd be looking, or Arne might be looking over his shoulder, but for me it's like the devil you know is sometimes better than the devil you don't. I know Xabi's a legend at the club, but that doesn't guarantee you're going to be a good manager at that club.

“Obviously things are bad right now by Liverpool standards for sure, but I don't think you can replace a manager like Slot so quickly and willy-nilly.”

Slot has offered no indication that he expects to be moved on, as he works on a contract through to 2027, and is on course to deliver Champions League qualification this term. He was handed a record-shattering transfer war chest last summer and will believe that he deserves the chance to deliver a return on that investment after enduring an injury-hit 2025-26 campaign.

The availability of Alonso is, however, impossible to ignore. He is not the only candidate in the running to take over at Chelsea - as caretaker boss Calum McFarlane prepares to step aside in the summer - and Liverpool know that decisive action is required when it comes to long-term future plans.