Chelsea supporters are waiting for preseason to see how Xabi Alonso will shape the team. The club\u2019s summer business has already hinted at the manager\u2019s intentions: deals to sign Strasbourg striker Emmanuel Emegha and midfielder Valent\u00edn Barco have been agreed, though only Emegha\u2019s move is officially confirmed so far.<\/p>\n
Sources first revealed the club has outbid Inter to sign Atalanta right back Marco Palestra, with Alonso said to have made direct contact to persuade the 21-year-old. The finishing touches are being put on a deal that is expected to cost Chelsea an initial \u20ac57 million ($64.9 million, \u00a349.2 million), plus a further \u20ac3 million ($3.4 million, \u00a32.6 million) in add-ons.<\/p>\n
Palestra delivered a breakthrough season on loan at Cagliari in 2025\u201326, making 37 appearances and earning the division\u2019s award for best defender. The majority of his minutes came as a right wing back, where he contributed one goal and four assists while maintaining his defensive duties. Across those 37 appearances, 33 came as a wing back \u2014 31 on the right and two on the left. He was used as a traditional right back three times and played a total of 79 minutes as a left back.<\/p>\n
Those usage patterns point strongly to a wing back role at Stamford Bridge, which would align with a 3-4-2-1 system many expect under Alonso. Chelsea already possess options at right back in Reece James and Malo Gusto, but formation changes would reshape those roles. There are questions about James\u2019s physical capability to sustain such a demanding position after years of injury struggles, while Gusto is reportedly considering his future.<\/p>\n
Palestra has emphasised his versatility. \u201cIf I have a choice, I obviously prefer the right, but I\u2019m equally comfortable on the left and have no problems,\u201d Palestra reflected to DAZN earlier this summer. \u201cPlaying with both right and left foot is a matter of practice; the more I felt left-footed, the better I got.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are things where I think I can do better with my left foot, and then shoot with my right. But it\u2019s something that comes naturally to me, going after a man with my left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether he replaces Marc Cucurella directly or fills another wing back vacancy, the evidence points to Palestra arriving as a wing back rather than a traditional full back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea target Marco Palestra expected as a wing back after 2025\u201326 loan; fee \u20ac57m + \u20ac3m. Preseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,1383,969],"tags":[1081,983,1637],"class_list":["post-15291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-chelsea-news","category-premier-league","tag-adaptation","tag-agents","tag-assists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15291","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=15291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}