Marcos Alonso to Real Madrid is a thing, apparently. Or, at least, Mundo Deportivo are trying to make it one.
Ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League clash against Barcelona, the Catalan newspaper look at how important this fixture could be for the Spanish defender, who came close to signing for the La Liga leaders before his move to Stamford Bridge.
Mundo explain that it was only his high cost after he renewed with Fiorentina that prevented him from moving to Nou Camp, a stadium where his father, also called Marcos Alonso, played for five years in between spells at Atlético Madrid back in the eighties.
Chelsea’s struggles are briefly mentioned, but they don’t appear to be the reason for this story.
In fact, there doesn’t appear to be a reason behind it other than the fact Real Madrid need to bolster their defence some time soon.
Mundo explain that Marcos Alonso’s main goal, other than doing well against Barcelona, is to impress Julen Lopetegui enough in order to earn a spot in Spain’s squad for the World Cup.
Yet, they also write, in an out of the blue transition: “Marcos knows the game against Barcelona will put him forward because it’ll be a game followed closely in Spain. Nor does he forget that Real Madrid are looking for a centre-back, and they aren’t very happy with the transfer of Theo Hernandez, who has his profile”.
It’s worth pointing out here that Mundo see Alonso as a potential centre-back, where he can play, and his signing would plug two gaps in Zinedine Zidane’s squad.
However, and it’s a big one, his father isn’t too keen on seeing his son go to Real Madrid, even if that’s where he started his career, preferring a transfer to one of the two clubs he played for: Barcelona or Atlético Madrid.
At 27, having excelled in England under Antonio Conte, a transfer back to Spain to end his career could certainly be on the cards at some point, but it remains to be seen if Chelsea would even consider selling their starting left-back.
If they do, they’ll ask for a lot, having spent over £20m on him in the first place, and his value has only gone up.
