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Marcos Alonso looks done at Chelsea after the events of last weekend, but there’s isn’t much time left to sort things out. The transfer window closes in just four days, and while the reports about Alonso’s unprofessional behavior following his half-time substitution off against West Brom are quite damning, they’re not necessarily final judgement.
Still, Chelsea have one too many left backs — and that’s not even counting César Azpilicueta, who can certainly play there as well, and play quite well — and so one of them has to go. That looked to be Emerson for most of the summer, but he’s been involved more than expected so far, and looks set to serve as backup to Ben Chilwell going forward.
If Alonso’s to leave, he’d most likely end up back in Italy, where he signed from on Transfer Deadline Day in 2016. A reunion with old boss Antonio Conte seems likely, and Inter are about to discard a left back, Dalbert Henrique, probably to Rennes, which could free up a spot.
Comme annoncé par Sky Sport Italia, #Dalbert arrive à Rennes. Le stade Rennais vient de trouver un accord avec l'Inter Milan. Le joueur arrive ce soir en Bretagne et va passer la visite medicale demain matin. Pret avec, option d'achat. #RMCsport
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) October 1, 2020
In fact, Sky Italia (as relayed by Sky Sports) are reporting that not only would Inter look to fill that spot with Alonso physically, but financially as well. Dalbert’s move is said to be a loan with an option to buy at €12m. Sky claims that Inter are preparing a similar loan bid for Alonso, with the one crucial difference that the €12m fee would be an obligation to buy before next summer.
While the fee is well below any previously reported asking price from Chelsea, we might not be able to do any better. Alonso will turn 30 in just a couple months, and he still has three, relatively highly paid years left on his Chelsea contract at the moment. Getting a concrete fee in this pandemic-affected market alone could be considered a win.
However, it should be noted that later in the day yesterday, Transfer Oracle Di Marzio played down the earlier reports of preparing said bid, although he did stop short of categorically claiming that the transfer market is closed for Inter now. But Inter might be signing Matteo Darmian instead (as opposed to in addition), after which they’d be done.
L’Inter non conferma un tentativo per #Alonso, mercato in entrata chiuso con #Darmian (@DiMarzio)
— Calciomercato Inter (@InterCM16) October 1, 2020