Chelsea held negotiations with Villarreal left-back Alfonso Pedraza. The Spanish defender could cost nearly €20m, while his arrival at the London club could cast doubts on the futures of Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri.
The Blues’ focus in the transfer market has been acquiring a top-rated centre-forward with a right-sided centre-back.
Their striker targets ranged from Erling Haaland to Robert Lewandowski, and it looks Chelsea have finally settled on bringing Romelu Lukaku, who is ready to rejoin the Champions League holders.
However, their chase for Sevilla defender Jules Kounde has somewhat tailed off in the past few days, although the Blues are hopeful of concluding a deal for the French centre-back.
Chelsea are also looking into bringing a new left-back despite having many alternatives within their ranks. Emerson Palmieri and Marcos Alonso have been in and out of the club last campaign behind first-choice Ben Chilwell.
The Blues might look to offload the duo mentioned above and bring in a replacement. With Marcos and Emerson failing to provide any meaningful competition to Ben, the German manager is searching for a footballer to do that.
Their main target seems like the 25-year-old defender, who had an excellent campaign with the Spanish club, winning the Europa League.
Barcelona were also showing an interest recently, but with the Catalan club’s well-documented financial struggles, which has seen forward Lionel Messi depart the club, a move for Alfonso looks unlikely.
It leaves the Blues as the frontrunner to add Pedraza. However, before Chelsea make a move, they have to make sure the likes of Alonso or Palmieri leave.
There has been some interest in Emerson from Italian clubs, according to a report, although they may not be willing to meet the London club’s demand for at least €20m. Likewise, Marcos is attracting interest from Spanish clubs, but nothing concrete yet.
The Blues had even included Alonso in an offer for Romelu Lukaku in addition to £85m in cash, according to Skysports. However, Inter Milan were not interested in Alonso.
However, with the Blues readying to move for Alfonso, it seems like both Emerson and Alonso will get their moves away from Chelsea, although it could be late in the transfer window. The German coach wants Alfonso to provide him with a different option to Ben Chilwell.
Meaning, we could see Thomas Tuchel regularly rotate his left-backs given the type of opponents they might face. Overall, Alfonso is proven quality and will bring value if signed by the Blues.
