Chelsea\u2019s recruitment direction looks set to shift with Mauricio Alonso thought to have increased sway after a sporting-director structure that presided over a 10th-place Premier League finish last season. An incoming coach will likely prioritize left-back options that fit his preferred patterns, blending ball progression with defensive reliability.<\/p>\n
Myles Lewis-Skelly is exactly the type of versatile, silky, ball-centric player that would suit Alonso. Chelsea also have a history of poaching Arsenal\u2019s homegrown left-back talents. However, any deal would be costly given the teenager\u2019s lengthy contract and Arsenal\u2019s apparent reluctance to part ways.<\/p>\n
“La minestra riscaldata non \u00e8 mai buona, reheated soup never tastes as good.” Still, a return could appeal if presented as a clearer pathway than the one Lewis Hall currently faces at Newcastle United. Hall left west London for the north east in 2023 and has blossomed into a well-rounded defender who offers creativity and solidity. Newcastle, as a collective, have not mirrored Hall\u2019s rise and managed to finish even lower than Chelsea last term. It remains to be seen if Alonso would want to tempt Hall back south, but he wouldn\u2019t be the first gem Chelsea bought back after initially letting go.<\/p>\n
Antonee Robinson presents a different profile. During the 2024\u201325 season, he became the first Fulham player to ever register 10 Premier League assists in a single campaign. The tireless force of nature was just as productive defensively, earning links to some of the division\u2019s elite. Robinson hasn\u2019t created a top-flight goal for any teammate since February 2025. Knee surgery last summer derailed his start to the 2025\u201326 campaign, which largely served as a setting for the U.S. international to work his way back to full health ahead of a home World Cup. Now fit and firing once again, Robinson\u2019s stock is back on the rise and Manchester United are reportedly sniffing around. At 28, he is older than the talents Chelsea have typically targeted under BlueCo, but some experience could be valuable for a squad that has struggled with excessive youth.<\/p>\n
Less than two years ago, Ars\u00e8ne Kouassi was playing in France\u2019s third tier. The 22-year-old took Ligue 1 by storm last season, operating chiefly as a wingback in Lorient\u2019s 3-4-2-1. Kouassi racked up six assists, a tally bettered by only one other defender in the French top flight. If Alonso experiments with a back-three, Kouassi could be an ideal outlet down the left.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea left-back options under Alonso: young prospects, experienced choices and tactical fits. 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,1383],"tags":[1446,1689,1637],"class_list":["post-14338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-chelsea-news","tag-academy","tag-antonee-robinson","tag-assists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14338","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=14338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}