The Chelsea sporting leadership team are in a race against time to get everything in place, ready for the arrival of Xabi Alonso.
Chelsea need to resolve the future of Enzo Fernandez before Xabi Alonso takes the reins. The Blues manager will get his feet under the table at Stamford Bridge on July 1, giving senior officials more than enough time to negotiate a deal with Real Madrid.
football.london understands that the 25-year-old midfielder wants to leave this summer. The Blues would rather keep Fernandez, whom they signed from Benfica for £106.7million in 2023, but they won’t stand in his way if they receive an offer worth £120m.
It’s understood that Los Blancos are interested in signing the Argentina international, but, as it stands, it’s unclear whether they would be willing to pay the asking price. Earlier this month, Florentino Perez showed his cards a little early, lodging a €150m (£129m) bid for Julian Alvarez.
The Real Madrid president submitted the offer to Atletico Madrid immediately after he was re-elected in the first contested presidential vote since 2006. Los Colchoneros turned their nose up at the proposal, leaving Perez with cash to splash.
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Los Blancos have since forked out about £52m to sign Marc Cucurella, who left Chelsea to become the first player to officially join Jose Mourinho’s side this summer. Before Perez wrapped up the deal, he had also promised to sign Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries from Liverpool and Inter Milan, respectively, with the former announced on Thursday.
Real Madrid may try to haggle with the Blues, but they’ve put their cards on the table, effectively communicating that they have the resources to sign Fernandez. This should give Chelsea the upper hand in negotiations and allow them to set a deadline for a potential deal.
Although the transfer window doesn’t shut until September 1, it would be in the Blues’ best interest to offload the Argentine before the end of the month. Not only would Chelsea be in a stronger position to get the perfect replacement through the door, but Alonso would have the luxury of inheriting a stable squad.
The Spaniard shouldn’t be expected to solve a problem that he didn’t create. Under the Spaniard, the Blues have the chance to start afresh and sign top players who, firstly, want to be at the club and, secondly, are invested in the new project.
With Arsenal desperate to defend the Premier League title and Tottenham Hotspur determined to qualify for the Champions League, Chelsea can’t afford to be slow out of the blocks this summer. So, it’s imperative that the future of Fernandez is resolved before July 1. That’s 13 days. The clock is ticking.
In the meantime, football.london understands that Alonso will work closely with the five-strong sporting leadership team as he looks to ‘build the right culture and win trophies’. Upon penning a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge, the 44-year-old said: “Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in world football, and it fills me with immense pride to become manager of this great club.
“From my conversations with the ownership group and sporting leadership, it is clear we share the same ambition. We want to build a team capable of competing consistently at the highest level and fighting for trophies.”
Alonso, who parted ways with Real Madrid at the start of the year, added: “There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this football club, and it will be my great honour to lead it. Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies.”
It’s understood that, between Alonso and the higher-ups at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea want to sign a centre-back, a centre-midfielder, and a left-sided winger this summer.
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