McFarlane was unbothered by talk of his possible successor and focused on leading Chelsea to the FA Cup title

Chelsea manager Calum McFarlane on Thursday dismissed speculation about his permanent successor, insisting his sole focus remains on ending the club’s domestic trophy drought in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

McFarlane’s side head to Wembley looking to reverse a dismal run in the domestic final, having lost their last six outings at the national stadium.

Chelsea have also failed to beat Pep Guardiola’s side in their last 13 meetings in all competitions.

Despite reports in the English media linking Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and other high-profile candidates with the Stamford Bridge vacancy, McFarlane told reporters he was only interested in guiding Chelsea to victory at Wembley.

“There are a lot of names associated with the job,” McFarlane said. «It’s not really my place to say who should get it, or who is a good manager. My job is to prepare the team for Saturday and that’s all I’ll concentrate on.»

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McFarlane received a boost to his squad’s availability with defenders Reece James and Levi Colwill both training fully this week after successful rehabilitation periods.

“Reece has trained well this week and is happy with him,” McFarlane said. «It’s a similar story with Levi Colwill. We are hopeful that they can finish the season in this form.»

The manager also confirmed that strikers Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho, along with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, have shown ‘positive signs’ in training and are expected to be available for the Wembley showpiece.

Chelsea have not won a domestic trophy since their 2018 FA Cup victory over Manchester United, but McFarlane was confident his side could cause an upset.

“City are an exceptional team with an exceptional coach, but these players have shown that when they are at their best they can beat anyone,” he said.

Published on May 14, 2026