Xabi Alonso’s Early Show of Strength Is Exactly What Chelsea Needed From Him
“It was a decision from myself and from the club,” was what Xabi Alonso told the assembled media after leaving Enzo Fernández out of Chelsea’s squad for the Carabao Cup tie with Luton Town.
On the surface, it was no big deal. Premier League team plays lower league opposition in the early stages of a domestic cup competition, there’s always a glut of superstar players rested. So what? Except Alonso is of the belief that “every cup is important, every game is important,” (those were the words that accompanied Chelsea’s confirmed team sheet on social media.)
Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers started, as did fellow new signing Maxence Lacroix. Reece James captained the side and Estêvão played in addition to new signing Danny Welbeck. But there was no Fernández—not even on the bench.
“We assess individually, collectively what’s the best for the team, for tonight, what was better, for other players that were playing and we take the decision,” Alonso explained.
Enzo’s reaction? “He’s a good professional,” the ousted former Real Madrid manager insisted. “He’s training well and I have nothing to say about him. It was just a decision that we had to take, thinking about the game that we’re playing tonight and we’ll see for Sunday.”
Does Fernandez Have One Foot Out of the Chelsea Exit Door?
The will he, won’t he saga involving Fernández has been rumbling on for as long as the Julián Alvarez debacle over in Spain. It all started in March, when the Argentine publicly flirted with the idea of joining Real Madrid—comments that upset then-manager Liam Rosenior and led to an internal suspension.
Fernández returned to action (largely because Chelsea needed him), but his desire to leave for pastures new has not changed. Except it’s not Real Madrid knocking on the door to sign Fernández—they actually distanced themselves with a very Madrid-like statement—but Manchester City instead, now managed by former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea issued an ultimatum to City, making it clear that a bid of £120 million ($162.1 million at current conversion) would need to be made before the start of the Premier League season last Friday. No bid was received, but naturally that’s not the end of the story.
Alonso did not select Fernández for Chelsea’s thrilling 3–2 win over rivals Fulham on Monday night, which provided the Spaniard with the perfect start to his Premier League managerial career. But it’s a clear indicator that things are not right with the former World Cup winner, and a move to the eight-time Premier League winners now feels inevitable.
City must of course bid to make that happen, but bid they are expected to do amid some serious personnel turnover. Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico González have all departed—some serious money has been received as a result—and City look light in the engine room. They need a box-to-box crasher who adds that little bit of quality, and they need somebody who is familiar to the Premier League and familiar to Maresca.
That person is almost certain to be Fernández, who will be seen as the perfect complement to fellow new arrivals Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi. Alonso seems to be at peace with it—though he’d never publicly acknowledge a willingness to sell—and Chelsea will undoubtedly benefit from the approach as they look to return to the upper echelons of the Premier League after a difficult recent period.
