Two Chelsea stars have asked to leave in January
Martin Macdonald
- 17 Dec 2021 14:48 GMT
- 3 min read
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is at risk of losing to senior players from his squad as Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso have reportedly asked their agents to engineer a January move away from Stamford Bridge.
At the moment, the Blues are going through a tough run of form largely due to the injuries suffered by key midfielders N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic, while Romelu Lukaku has only recently returned to the side following an injury.
Azpilicueta, who is the Chelsea captain, has lost his place in the side this season.
At right wing-back, it is Reece James who is the preferred option, while at centre-back Azpilicueta has had to fight for minutes up against Trevoh Chalobah, Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger.
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The Spaniard has started just 10 out of the opening 17 matches of the Premier League season so far.
His contract with the club runs out in June of 2022, but according to the Sun, he is eager to move before then to get settled in a new side ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar next winter.
Alonso, meanwhile, was the first-choice left wing-back at the start of the season but lost his place due to the impressive form of Ben Chilwell.
Following a serious injury to Chilwell, Alonso emerged as the only option on the left wing and has started every game recently.
But, that hasn't done enough to convince the player that Tuchel values him enough to stay.
Both Azpilicueta and Alonso want to become key players for their club in order to guarantee selection for Spain for the World Cup.
Who wants to sign Azpilicueta and Alonso?
Due to their current financial problems, Barcelona are mainly shopping in the free transfer market at the moment which is why Camp Nou has been mentioned as a possible destination for Azpilicueta.
If he wants to sign for the Blaugrana, though, he will likely need to wait until the summer when he can do so as a free agent.
Alonso has also been linked with a possible move to Barca, though a fee would need to be agreed for him as he is under contract until 2023.
Who are Chelsea looking to sign in January?
Tuchel has already conceded that Chelsea will be looking to sign a left-sided player as a replacement for the injured Chilwell, depending on how long the England international is out for.
Any new signing could also, of course, act as a replacement for want-away Alonso.
“First we must be sure what we do with Ben,” Tuchel said at a press conference ahead of Chelsea’s fixture against Everton.
“Then we decide if we go for internal solutions and if we trust that we can overcome this period.
“Everything depends on Ben Chilwell and how long he is out. Then on the alternatives, if there is something to do, if there is a chance to do something.
“But we did not start this process because we want to protect ourselves and not lose focus on the most important things. The most important things right now are Ben and Marcos. From there we go.”
