New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso was unveiled at Stamford Bridge on Monday and said he wants to keep Enzo Fernandez at the club.
The report indicates that new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso was unveiled at Stamford Bridge on Monday and stated he wants to keep Enzo Fernandez at the club.
It further notes that the 25-year-old Argentina midfielder, who is preparing to face England in the World Cup semi-finals, is open to leaving and was recently linked with Real Madrid.
However, the Spanish club denied pursuing a move for Fernandez last week, leaving him with no known alternative destination and a sizeable £120m asking price.
Alonso replied “yes” when asked whether he wanted to keep Fernandez, adding: “We have spoken. But, as you can understand, what we stated will remain private.”
It was part of his first wide-ranging news conference since taking charge of Chelsea following his departure from Real Madrid in January. He also stated striker Nicolas Jackson will return to the squad for at least the club’s pre-season tour of Australia and Asia after Bayern Munich decided against making his loan move permanent.
“Nico Jackson is joining the tour in Asia and we are looking forward to him working with us,” stated Alonso.
In addition, winger Alejandro Garnacho has not returned to training under Alonso, who took over last Thursday.
Alonso stated there is an agreement for Garnacho to stay away from the first-team squad while he seeks a move, with Italian club Roma among those interested.
When Alonso was appointed, Chelsea were still in contention to qualify for Europe but fell short with a final-day defeat by Sunderland.
Midfielder Andrey Santos joined Manchester United an hour before the media conference, and Alonso was asked whether a lack of European football meant the squad needed trimming.
“[It changed] the small details for sure but the main focus about how we want to start the competition in August, it doesn’t change much,” Alonso said.
“We are aligned with the sporting directors on what we want to reach. The team is good and where we want to reinforce in terms of positions is clear. There are some weeks to go but we are working in a very aligned way – and this is the right way.”
Alonso entered the Drake Suite, which celebrates Chelsea‘s league title-winning managers, and stated it was a “privilege and honour” to lead a club with such a successful history.
He has been training a large squad, including Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro and Levi Colwill, at Cobham, with only eight Chelsea players away at the World Cup.
