Chelsea on the hunt for a left-back as duo want out

By Ben Browning


Published: May 17, 2021 11:56 am

Last Updated: May 17, 2021 11:58 am

A huge two weeks for Chelsea

It is a crucial point of the season for Chelsea. Beaten by Leicester in the FA Cup final last weekend, they face 3 games to save their season. In the worst-case scenario, they could find themselves out of the top four and losing the Champions League final, dropping out of next season’s Champions League in the process. You can read more about that here. This would, in turn, have a massive effect on the calibre of player that Tuchel’s side could attract, with the likes of Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho and Gianluigi Donnarumma probably out of the equation.

However, Chelsea need to offload players before they spend again, with several high profile players including Ross Barkley, Fikayo Tomori and Ross Barkley all out on loan away from the club. According to Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, this could be addressed by the sale of left-sided defenders Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmeiri, both of whom “want to feel important again”.

Marcos Alonso in particular would be a big loss for the west London outfit, having made 17 appearances this season and popping up with 2 crucial goals. In Thomas Tuchel’s back three, he has been rejuvenated and offers a significant threat going forwards. Such is the trust in him that Tuchel chose to start the Spaniard over £50 million acquisition Ben Chillwell in the FA Cup final.

Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri ‘are leaving’ Chelsea this summer, because they ‘want to feel important again’.

– @Gazzetta_it via @Sport_Witness pic.twitter.com/s0OMhkvNSi

— Simon Phillips (@siphillipssport) May 17, 2021

Emerson is a different story entirely. Although the full-back featured in all six games of the Champions League group stages, he has only started 7 games across all competitions this season. Having signed from Roma for £18 million in January 2018, the Brazilian born-turned Italian full-back failed to nail down a position in the Chelsea starting eleven, and is now 26, in the prime of his career. It is unsurprising that he is looking to move on.

Who will Chelsea sign as a replacement?

If both Alonso and Emerson were to move on this summer, Chelsea would be looking for a full-back to provide cover to and challenge Ben Chillwell. They could look to join the race for Arsenal and Leicester City target Ryan Bertrand, who is available on a free transfer this summer.

Alternatively, Chelsea have been tentatively linked with a big-money move for Villareal left-back Alfonso Pedraza, who has a rumoured €35 million release clause and has impressed for Unai Emery’s side this campaign.

Either way, it is shaping up to be another big summer for Chelsea as Tuchel aims to mould the squad in his image.

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Chelsea vs Leicester odds: result, both teams to score, correct score & goalscorers

Chelsea vs Leicester Result/Both teams score	Yes	No
Chelsea	3/1	7/4
Leicester	17/2	7/1
Draw	4/1	9/1

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City FC	36	47	83
2	Manchester United FC	36	28	70
3	Leicester City FC	36	21	66
4	Chelsea FC	36	22	64
5	Liverpool FC	35	20	60
6	Tottenham Hotspur FC	36	22	59
7	West Ham United FC	36	10	59
8	Everton FC	35	4	56
9	Arsenal FC	36	12	55
10	Leeds United	36	4	53
11	Aston Villa FC	36	7	49
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	36	-14	45
13	Crystal Palace FC	36	-21	44
14	Southampton FC	36	-16	43
15	Burnley FC	36	-18	39
16	Newcastle United FC	36	-19	39
17	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	36	-5	38
18	Fulham FC	36	-24	27
19	West Bromwich Albion	35	-36	26
20	Sheffield United FC	35	-44	17

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Player	Team	Goals
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	22
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	22
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	17
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	17
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic	Everton FC	16
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	15
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	13
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa FC	13
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	13
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United FC	12
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	12
Wood, Chris	Burnley FC	12
Gundogan, Ilkay	Manchester City FC	12
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	11
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	11
Iheanacho, Kelechi	Leicester City FC	11
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	10
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	10
Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick	Arsenal FC	10
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	9

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Maguire, Harry	Manchester United FC		11
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC		10
Gallagher, Conor	West Bromwich Albion		10
Milivojevic, Luka	Crystal Palace FC	1	8
Lundstram, John	Sheffield United FC	1	8
Luiz, Douglas	Aston Villa FC		8
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	8
Soucek, Tomas	West Ham United FC	1	7
Hojbjerg, Pierre	Tottenham Hotspur FC		8
Xhaka, Granit	Arsenal FC	1	7
Bellerin, Hector	Arsenal FC		8
Andersen, Joachim	Fulham FC	1	7
Phillips, Kalvin	Leeds United		8
Egan, John	Sheffield United FC	1	7
Holgate, Mason	Everton FC		8
Hayden, Isaac	Newcastle United FC		8
McGoldrick, David	Sheffield United FC		7
Westwood, Ashley	Burnley FC		7
Reid, Bobby	Fulham FC		7
Shaw, Luke	Manchester United FC		7

Player	Team	Assists
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	13
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	11
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	10
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	10
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City FC	10
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	9
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	8
Harrison, Jack	Leeds United	8
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	8
Raphinha	Leeds United	8
Pereira, Matheus	West Bromwich Albion	7
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	7
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	7
Eze, Eberechi	Crystal Palace FC	7
Gross, Pascal	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	7
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	7
Cresswell, Aaron	West Ham United FC	7
Digne, Lucas	Everton FC	7
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	6
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City FC	6

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