Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that long-serving left-back star Marcos Alonso is set to depart the club for pastures new in the coming days, with a move to Barcelona likely to be confirmed next week.
Alonso joined the Blues in 2016 for a fee of around £24m after a spate of superb performances for Italian outfit Fiorentina.
But with the arrivals of Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella over the past two years, alongside the emergence of Ian Maatsen and Levi Colwill from the youth team, competition for the wing-back spot is as strong as ever at Stamford Bridge, especially with the rest of the contingency being under the age of 26.
And with the Blaugrana making an official move for his services, Tuchel left him out of the squad that beat Everton 1-0 away from home on Saturday evening – before admitting that the hero was left out with a move on the horizon.
“He tries to leave and we agreed to this wish and that’s why it would not have made sense to put him on the pitch today,” Tuchel told reporters (as relayed by the Daily Mail) after his team’s 1-0 win on Merseyside.
“He would have been on the pitch otherwise but I think in this situation it was the right thing to do.”
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With Barcelona knocking on the door for Alonso with a year left on his contract, it would make sense to take a fee now for a player who is likely to feature much less heavily over the coming year than to lose him on a free in one year’s time.
The 31-year-old has been a stalwart for the west London side, scoring 25 Premier League goals in just 154 appearances over his six-year tenure at Stamford Bridge – a tally that is almost unheard of for a wing-back in any division.
Fans will miss Alonso’s attacking output and dazzling set pieces, although at this stage in the Spaniard’s career, it makes sense for him to go now rather than never.