Xabi Alonso has not even arrived as Chelsea manager yet. But we all know he will have his work cut out for him. This is a team that has failed to even qualify for Europe when nine other English teams have. Also, a number of the Blues’ best players look out of form. Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo have both had below-par seasons. Estevao spent a lot of time injured. The same rings even truer for Levi Colwill, who only featured a few times towards the end.
So, Alonso will have a long to-do list this summer. He needs to identify and sign quality players. He needs to part ways with those who are not good enough. And he also needs to restore the confidence of a few who have lost their way a bit.
The manager should also have a look at those out on loan and see if there is any talent he can use in the first-team next season. And rumours had broken out that Alonso had already identified Tyrique George as someone he wanted in the fold at Chelsea.
As it turns out, that was not on the mark. According to Nizaar Kinsella of BBC Sport, it’s not true that Alonso has told George that he is part of his plans. There are no known conversations with any squad members at this time.
Rumours about Alonso calling George back to Chelsea already are false
To be very honest, it was an eyebrow-raiser to begin with. George has spent the season out on loan at Everton. And he was not a prominent member of their plans.
He made 11 appearances and managed to start just once. So, one can only wonder what would have prompted Alonso to make such a call. And it looks like nothing did in the first place.
The report from Kinsella goes on to state that Everton are still weighing up whether to trigger George’s option-to-buy clause.
That figure is believed to be in the region of £25 million. One would imagine that it is unlikely that Everton would take that up for someone who could get just one start. But you never know.
Alonso will need to make the most of this squad
Coming back to Alonso, it is safe to say that he has a lot of talent to have a look at. That is one thing that Chelsea have done over the past four seasons.
They have brought in talents from all around the globe. And Alonso is the kind of manager who could get something out of a few that others did not see much in.
He did take a relegation contender of a team at Bayer Leverkusen and turn them into champions within two years. So, he can get the best out of people. We know that.
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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