Inter Milan prioritising Marcos Alonso, see Emerson as alternative — report

According to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter Milan remain keen on adding one of Chelsea’s two left-backs in the upcoming winter transfer window.

Their priority is Marcos Alonso, which isn’t surprising given his prior success under Antonio Conte and his recent reminder over the weekend in Frank Lampard’s 3-4-3. Since Conte has continued to use his favoured 3-5-2 system at Inter for most of the season thus far, Alonso could be a really good fit for his plans.

However, Inter do not want to spend a lot of money. Therefore they’re hoping to arrange a good ol’ loan-to-buy agreement, which would cost them at most €20 million — or only half of Chelsea’s supposed asking price.

Alternatives to Alonso could be fellow Chelsea teammate Emerson Palmieri, although he might be a bit more difficult to acquire as apparently he wishes to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge instead; and Paris Saint-Germain’s Layvin Kurzawa, who has not seen a lot of action with the French giants this season.

But whether Emerson or Alonso leaves Chelsea would seem to largely depend on the club’s ability to secure a (better) replacement. The obvious name here would Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell, although the Foxes are (obviously) not too keen in seeing a key player leave, now or in the future.