Brighton and Hove Albion v Chelsea Pre-Season Friendly 29/08/2020. Chelsea Defender Marcos Alonso gestures during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Chelsea at the American Express Community Stadium, Brighton and Hove, England on 29 August 2020. Brighton and Hove American Express Community Stadium East Sussex England Editorial use only PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUK , Copyright: xPhilxDuncanx PSI-10406-0056
According to Mundo Deportivo (h/t Daily Mail), Barcelona are considering signing a left-back and Chelsea star Marcos Alonso is one of the names being considered. They are looking to bring in a replacement for Junior Firpo who could leave the club on loan. Jose Gaya is another name that is on their replacement list.
Antonio Conte brought Alonso to Chelsea and tried him at wing-back. The decision paid off tremendously as Alonso went on to become one of the most lethal defenders in the league. In 152 appearances for the Blues, he has scored 22 goals and assisted 18 (h/t Transfermarkt).
Over the summer, Chelsea spent a fortune on Ben Chilwell to bring him over from Leicester City. Since then, he has made the left-back spot his own. Emerson has only featured occasionally.
It’s rather puzzling as to how such an important player for Chelsea is now on the fringes. It was under Frank Lampard that the wing-back started getting lesser game time. Alonso’s defensive fragilities as an orthodox full-back led to him becoming a bit-part player.
While Alonso may represent an upgrade on the likes of Firpo, he comes with the same set of problems as Firpo. The Spaniard is a wing-back and is suited to teams playing a back three or back five. Now, Barcelona have hardly been known to use either of those formations in recent history. The club have mostly stuck to orthodox back four formations.
There are also Alonso’s defensive deficiencies to think about. The Chelsea man can bomb up and down the flank easily but when it comes to his primary duties as a defender, he can often drop the ball. That is hardly something an already fragile Barcelona side can handle.
That leads us to the last but most important factor. Barcelona need to invest their cash wisely on players in positions of need. A centre-back and striker are of utmost importance.
Even if Alonso can be recruited on a cheap, Barcelona would be better off redirecting those funds elsewhere. Alonso may be a decent player but he is not someone Barca need at the moment.