Xabi Alonso arrives at Chelsea on a four-year deal and, according to reports, will have a “big say” on transfers. The club\u2019s hierarchy appear willing to hand the Spaniard significant control as he begins a project aimed at restoring Chelsea\u2019s standing after a turbulent spell. Alonso\u2019s Real Madrid tenure was brief and the Los Blancos side he left has been described as “utterly uncoachable”. The incoming manager is expected to prioritise “experienced” additions across key positions this summer.<\/p>\n
Mike Penders has impressed on loan at Strasbourg and his form has earned him a place in Belgium\u2019s World Cup squad. He is presented in the draft as a candidate who could push Robert S\u00e1nchez for Chelsea\u2019s No. 1 shirt, though the club may still add further depth. The piece argues S\u00e1nchez cannot be relied upon as the long-term starter and suggests a managerial change could allow the club to move on.<\/p>\n
Sunderland\u2019s Robin Roes is also highlighted as a goalkeeper who brings calm and control. According to Opta, he ranks second in the division with 104 saves and has the second-highest save percentage at 70.3%. At 23, he is portrayed as a keeper with room to develop and someone Sunderland might sell if the price is right.<\/p>\n
At centre back, Ousmane Diomande is framed as a long-term target. The 22-year-old has experience with title-winning Sporting CP sides under Ruben Amorim and helped the club reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since the competition\u2019s rebrand. His passing and versatility in both back three and back four systems are listed as traits that would interest Alonso.<\/p>\n
Finally, the article identifies Anthony Gordon as an attacking option Chelsea might pursue. Gordon\u2019s work rate without the ball and ability to operate wide left are noted, as is his potential to provide cover centrally. The draft also mentions squad balance options such as Marcos Senesi as experienced rotation behind Levi Colwill.<\/p>\n
Alonso\u2019s first transfer window will be judged on how those priorities are addressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alonso will have a “big say” in Chelsea transfers, prioritising “experienced” options this summer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,172,1397],"tags":[1073,506,673],"class_list":["post-13879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-epl","category-transfer-news","tag-acl-injury","tag-anthony-gordon","tag-bradley-barcola"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}