Chelsea
Chelsea have been hit by injury news ahead of the new season. Xabi Alonso lost defenders Mamadou Sarr and Aaron Anselmino in the same pre-season game, a fresh worry before football returns.
Aaron Anselmino left in tears as second injury rocks Chelsea
Chelsea’s new boss Xabi Alonso is facing a testing start to pre-season. As reported by Chelsea FC’s official website, Sarr pulled out just before kickoff against Johor Darul Ta’zim, with Anselmino then forced off in tears midway through the first half. Alonso had made wholesale changes for the game, coming just 24 hours after Chelsea’s win over AC Milan. He had handed fringe players a rare chance to impress before he settles on his strongest side for the season.
Neither Mamadou Sarr nor Aaron Anselmino has been a first team regular under the new boss. Losing both inside one half, on what was supposed to be an audition match, only adds to the pressure building around Chelsea’s back line this summer.
Anselmino’s stats in the 2025-26 season at Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg, as per FOTMOB:
Competitions Matches Tackles Interceptions Aerial duels won %
Bundesliga 6 9 5 60%
DFB Pokal 1 2 3 100%
UCL 3 5 2 50%
Squad options Chelsea still have
Mamadou Sarr, 20, and Aaron Anselmino, 21, are both fairly new to first team football at Chelsea. Sarr joined from Strasbourg in 2025, spent most of that season back on loan there, and only returned to Stamford Bridge this past February. He has made just six appearances for the club since. As reported by The Sun, Aaron Anselmino arrived in 2024 from Boca Juniors but has since had loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg too. He has played only three minutes of senior football for Chelsea in total, a striking return for a player two years into his deal.
None of this leaves Alonso short at centre back. Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana and Tosin Adarabioyo sit ahead of Sarr and Anselmino in the pecking order. Josh Acheampong has also pushed above them this season. Maxence Lacroix, a reported £52 million signing from Crystal Palace, adds further competition at centre back. Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah and Axel Disasi remain on the books too, though all three look set to leave before the transfer window closes on September 1. With that much depth already in place, these two injuries are a minor concern rather than a genuine defensive crisis.
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Bright signs despite the pre-season setbacks
It has not been all bad news for Alonso this summer. Marco Palestra has caught the eye in both wing back spots, showing exactly the versatility his manager wanted. “He is having a great impact,”Xabi Alonso said, as reported by Chelsea FC’s official website, after a 3-0 win over AC Milan earlier in the week. Romeo Lavia also played a full ninety minutes for the first time in two years. A run of fitness issues that limited him to substitute appearances for most of last season, a genuine marker of progress for Chelsea’s midfield.
Alonso already has strong depth at centre-back to call upon, and Saturday’s game against JDT was always going to test fringe players more than his first choice side. The bigger concern is goalkeeper Mike Penders, left out of the squad entirely with no injury confirmed by the club. Chelsea’s pre-season has thrown up more questions than answers, but the pieces for a competitive Premier League campaign are starting to take shape.
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