Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez was absent from Chelsea\u2019s matchday squad for a second straight game as Xabi Alonso made clear he wants only players who are fully aligned with the team\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n
Speaking before the meeting with Brighton, Alonso said the midfielder remains a \u201ctop player\u201d but stressed that selection depends on attitude as much as ability. \u201cWe assess what\u2019s best for the team and considering everything, the situation, we need a team that is focused, with everyone involved that\u2019s fully committed and engaged with the game,\u201d Alonso told Sky Sports before the clash at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n
That left Fern\u00e1ndez out again, despite his status as one of the more discussed figures in the squad. Chelsea are still trying to manage the situation around his future, with Manchester City\u2019s interest having been the subject of recent attention. The club reportedly set an Aug. 14 deadline for a bid, but City did not respond to that ultimatum.<\/p>\n
While Chelsea continue to weigh replacements, Mois\u00e9s Caicedo returned to the bench after missing out on the previous matchday roster. Reece James was also among the substitutes, leaving Malo Gusto to fill an unfamiliar midfield role alongside Rom\u00e9o Lavia.<\/p>\n
Chelsea kept their attacking structure intact, with Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Jo\u00e3o Pedro starting together again in what has become a familiar front line.<\/p>\n
There was also a first Chelsea start for Emiliano Mart\u00ednez, who was introduced only hours after his unveiling. Alonso was clearly pleased with the goalkeeper\u2019s arrival. \u201cWe are delighted to have him,\u201d he gushed. \u201cTo have a goalkeeper of his stature, his personality, I think he will bring a lot of qualities. I\u2019m sure he can have a straight impact. We spoke, he felt ready to play, so here we go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alonso explained why Fern\u00e1ndez was omitted again, with Chelsea still managing his uncertain future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,172],"tags":[1836,180,182],"class_list":["post-18836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-epl","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18836","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=18836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}