Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed the Blues left-back, Marcos Alonso is on the brink of a move to Barcelona.
The Spaniard was left out of the Chelsea squad that won 1-0 against Everton on Saturday at his own request. And following the £62million arrival of Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella, Alonso is nearing an exit from Stamford Bridge, with Barcelona, the reported destination.
The 31-year-old had made his desire to move back to Spain known, and it now looks like he will now get his move this week.
Speaking after his side’s win over Everton, Tuchel confirmed that Alonso had been left out of the matchday squad because he was nearing a move away from the club.
“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 said.
“He would have been on the pitch otherwise, but I think in this situation it was the right thing to do.”
Alonso made 154 appearances for the Blues who he joined in August 2016.
Meanwhile, Everton boss Frank Lampard has admitted that he is weighing up his options after losing Ben Godfrey to a leg injury in his side’s loss to Chelsea on Saturday.
The defender broke his leg in a challenge just 10 minutes into the Chelsea game and could be out for two or three months, casting huge doubt over Everton’s preparedness to navigate the season.
The Toffees could face an early season defensive injury crisis, as Yerry Mina limped out of the game with 20 minutes to go.
However, Lampard insists he has the cover to cope, even though he has already been linked with a move for Wolves’ Conor Coady to bolster his backline, which is still awaiting Seamus Coleman’s return.
“It’s a small fracture of his fibula bone,” Lampard said of Godfrey’s injury.
“We are thinking two or three months, that is a really quick assessment.”
