Xabi Alonso sat in the Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge on Monday and was asked directly: does he want to keep Enzo Fernandez at Chelsea? He replied “yes” — then added: “We have spoken. But, as you can understand, what we said will remain private.”
The 25-year-old Argentina midfielder is preparing to face England in the World Cup semi-finals and is open to leaving the club. Fernandez was recently linked with Real Madrid, but the Spanish club denied pursuing a move last week, leaving him with no known alternative destination and a sizeable £120m asking price.
“Xabi Alonso says he wants to keep Enzo Fernandez at Chelsea despite the midfielder's openness to leave.”
Alonso’s answer came during his first wide-ranging news conference since taking charge of Chelsea. The 44-year-old was appointed on 17 May and officially started work on 1 July, after Enzo Maresca left in January and Liam Rosenior was sacked after less than four months. Alonso called it a “privilege and honour” to lead a club with such a successful history.
He has been training a large squad at Cobham, including Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro and Levi Colwill, with only eight players away at the World Cup. Alonso also confirmed that striker Nicolas Jackson will return to the squad for at least the 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,” Alonso said.
Winger Alejandro Garnacho has not returned to training. Alonso said 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. Meanwhile, midfielder Andrey Santos joined Manchester United an hour before the media conference in a deal worth £50m.
Chelsea fell short of European qualification with a final-day defeat by Sunderland, and Alonso was asked whether the 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,” he 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.”
With Fernandez still on the books and a £120m price tag, the question now is whether any club will meet it — or whether Alonso’s private conversation has already persuaded the Argentine to stay.
