As Chelsea prepare for Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City, caretaker manager Calum McFarlane is keeping his eyes firmly on the prize—not on the swirling rumors about who might take the helm permanently. Amid reports that the Blues have approached Xabi Alonso for the head coach role, McFarlane made it clear where his priorities lie.

"There's a lot of names linked with the job. It's not really my place to say who should get it, or who's a good manager, who's not a good manager. My job is to prepare the team for Saturday, and that's all I'll be focusing on," McFarlane told the media ahead of the Wembley showdown.

Alonso, 44, has emerged as a leading candidate after an impressive stint at Bayer Leverkusen, where he guided the German side to their first-ever Bundesliga title in the 2023/24 season—an invincible campaign that remains the only unbeaten season in German football history. Since leaving Real Madrid in January after just eight months, the Spaniard is reportedly open to a Premier League challenge. Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola, who will depart the Cherries at the end of the season, has also been linked with the Stamford Bridge vacancy.

For now, McFarlane is focused solely on the FA Cup final, and he delivered some good news for Chelsea fans: captain Reece James is fit and available. "He's trained well this week; we're happy with Reece. It was good to get him minutes against Liverpool, and I felt he played well when he came on. So, it's largely positive around Reece," McFarlane said. "In the lead-up to the Liverpool game, we were confident he was able to play those minutes, and he came through them well. He's trained well this week, and we're really hopeful he can finish the season in that sort of form."

With the FA Cup trophy on the line, McFarlane's message is clear: distractions can wait. The focus is on Saturday, and that's where it will stay.