It was a day of endings in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola left Manchester City after a decade, alongside Bernardo Silva and John Stones. Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson brought an end to their Liverpool careers as well. And Chelsea fans will also be hoping that this spell the end of their period of disappointments and failure under BlueCo.
There is cause for optimism. Xabi Alonso will be arriving as the new manager this summer. And he has a lot of work to do, with a team that could only finished 10th in the Premier League.
Naturally, Alonso will have to be backed this summer. Yes, he is a very good manager. But you can only be as good as your team. And this current one does not seem to be up to the standards expected at Chelsea Football Club.
The club have already agreed their first signing of the summer. Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Valentin Barco will be joining from Strasbourg, giving it the ‘here we go’. He also mentioned at the end of the video that he is ready to be a part of Alonso’s squad.
Valentin Barco will be part of Xabi Alonso’s squad at Chelsea
That final part is especially interesting. That is because the signing of Barco had been decided upon by the club before Alonso got the job. So, there had been some speculation about his future at Chelsea and whether he would have a role.
But based on Romano’s comments, it looks like he will be in Alonso’s squad next season, rather than going out on loan somewhere. And to be honest, he has the qualities to be an important part of it.
Barco has been immense in Ligue 1 this season as a midfielder. He has created more big chances and won more fouls than any other. But in Alonso’s system, he might be even better suited as a left wing-back, the role Alejandro Grimaldo played to so much success at Bayer Leverkusen.
Valentin Barco could replace Marc Cucurellla on the left
Marc Cucurella is one of the players who could leave this summer. Barco might be the one to replace him on the left flank, albeit a bit further up the pitch. Jorrel Hato has been immense over the past few months but he will need competition for that spot. Geovany Quenda might have a few things to say about that role as well, having played it so well at Sporting CP. Alonso will have his options, that is for sure.
Of course, many will point out that Alonso did play with a back four at Real Madrid. And they would be absolutely correct. But considering that Calum McFarlane has consistently lined the team up with three at the back over the past few weeks, that might be a hint at what system the Spaniard might be looking to play next season.
At the very least, he would have gotten an idea of what he is working with. And it might not be much to be honest.
Sourav Mahanty
Sourav Mahanty has covered teams like Chelsea, Celtic, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG and more over a career that has now lasted a decade. His work has been featured on Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports, SB Nation, FanSided, The Sportster and aggregated through Bleacher Report and NewsNow. Outside of football, he is also interested in basketball, cricket and professional wrestling.
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