Alonso wants Chelsea to be hungry for wins and keep Fernandez

Xabi Alonso wants Chelsea to have a strong desire to win. He also said he wants midfielder Enzo Fernandez to stay at Stamford Bridge during his first press conference as the new Chelsea boss.

The former Real Madrid manager did not go into details about specific goals for his first season. He mentioned that getting into Europe is a target for the team.

"For sure that’s a goal," he stated at the press conference on Monday.

"But to reach that goal, you need to do many right things, and to be part of that process, how do we want to play? How do we want to see ourselves? How do we want to approach a game wherever we go?"

Alonso said this is his job. He is eager to have the entire squad together. He mentioned that there are some bids coming in, but it is still early days.

"But for sure, we want to be there and time will tell. But we are ambitious and we in Chelsea need to share that energy, that ambition, as well as that hunger to want to have success," he added.

Alonso also made it clear that Chelsea wants to keep Fernandez. Earlier this month, Real Madrid said they are not interested in signing the Chelsea midfielder. He is part of the Argentina team that will face England in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

"Yes, we have spoken.

"But as you can understand, what we have spoken about remains private. But yes, we have spoken," Alonso said.

When asked if he wants Fernandez to stay at Stamford Bridge, Alonso answered: "Yes."

Fernandez is one of four Chelsea players still in the World Cup. The other players are Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah from England, and Malo Gusto from France.

Chelsea last lifted the Premier League trophy ten years ago under Antonio Conte. Since then, many managers have come and gone. Liam Rosenior, who was Alonso's immediate predecessor, was in charge for just three and a half months.

Alonso, who has signed a four-year contract, was careful when asked if he would get enough time from the Chelsea management to challenge for the title.

But he said: "What I am sure is that we have the ambition to want to win a lot of games, to be competitive.

"We need to take important decisions, we need to build strong principles and a strong mentality and culture in the club.

"Time will tell. I’m not going to say what will happen in May… But I am confident, I am optimistic that we can have a great season."