Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso is edging closer to a move away after hinting he wants to leave.
The Lowdown: Resurgent Season
Before this year the 31-year-old’s game time had been decreasing. This culminated in the Spain international only making 13 appearances for the Blues in the 2020-21 season, falling behind Ben Chilwell in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
However, the 25-year-old has been out for the majority of this campaign, missing 43 games recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament injury.
In his absence, Alonso has returned to the starting 11, making 28 league appearances, the most for the former Fiorentina fullback since 2018-19.
The Latest: Wants to Return Home
In an interview with Spanish publication Onda Cero, the Madrid-born left-back has hinted that he would like to return to Spain, despite being happy at Chelsea.
“On paper, I have one more year of contract and that is what there is until today. I’ve already said other times that I would like to but it doesn’t depend entirely on me. There are two games left here and then it’s time to rest.
“I’ve played 50 games, we’ve been world champions, we’ve had bad luck in the cup finals. I can’t complain about anything at Chelsea but the desire to play in Spain is there.
“It doesn’t depend entirely on me and I’m happy at Chelsea.”
The £100k-per-week wide defender only has a year left on his contract. With Chelsea already being linked to potential replacements such as Marc Cucurella, Thomas Tuchel could already be preparing for the future, especially following the departure of Antonio Rudiger, too.
Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has reported that Barcelona is where the Real Madrid academy graduate would most like to go.
The Verdict: Don’t Sell Key Man
Alonso has performed well when deputising for Chilwell. In the Premier League he has four goals and four assists, a decent return at wingback, and his WhoScored rating of 7.09 is the third highest out of players that have made ten appearances for the west London club.
He has also been a good servant at Stamford Bridge, making 212 appearances and winning six trophies since he joined in 2016. In 2018, former Blues boss Maurizio Sarri claimed that the £13.5m-rated defender was the “best in Europe” in his position.
“Alonso, at the moment, this position at left-back is maybe the best in Europe. Physical qualities at a top level, I think. He’s doing very well in the offensive phase.”
In a summer where Chelsea have bigger priorities, such as at centre back, they could do a lot worse than keeping Alonso for a bit longer.
AND in other news, International boss thinks £37.8m-rated star with 10 G/A is “under-appreciated” at Chelsea…
