Chelsea fans should not be quick to push Marcos Alonso out with a ban

Marcos Alonso is one of the favorite scapegoats of the Chelsea fans. They should not be so quick to push him away if the ban is in place this summer.

Marcos Alonso is reportedly for Real Madrid again this summer. The player himself has not dismissed the rumors because of course he would not; Real Madrid is unfortunately a tier above Chelsea right now. Almost universally, the comments were met with jubilation at the notion of Alonso leaving Chelsea.

Alonso has been one of the favored scapegoats of fans this season. The system leaves the fullbacks very much exposed coming and going and Alonso has faced criticism that Emerson simply has not for facing the same exposure. The former is more defensive but struggles to help the team offensively and the latter could care less about helping the team defensively but is helpful with the ball.

Both left backs are useful in their own circumstances but neither is good enough to start for a club like Chelsea. But with the transfer ban still in play, Chelsea cannot afford to lose either player. If the ban is delayed, this becomes a much different story.

With the ban, many will say Ola Aina or Jay Dasilva should return to deputize Emerson. And that would be a fair argument if both did not have buy clauses on their loans. Of course, the players themselves would need to agree to any transfer and outside factors could play a role as well. Dasilva seems less keen on a permanent move and Torino may be unable to justify signing Aina without European football.

Both Bristol City and Torino would be silly not to try to keep the players permanently. If Chelsea is able to bring either back next season, that would change the calculus on keeping Alonso or not. But as it stands, the better move with a ban would be to stick to Alonso and Emerson for another season.

There is one wild card option worth mentioning: Cesar Azpilicueta. The Spaniard has not played left back since 2015/2016 and was far more defensive on that side of the field than on the right. But if the tactics were adjusted to make room for Reece James, it may be beneficial to use Azpilicueta on the left again if Alonso departs and creates a vacancy.

Now, if the ban is delayed, there is no question that Chelsea needs to sell one of the two left backs and bring in a truly quality player. Neither Alonso nor Emerson are truly good enough to be Chelsea starters and the Blues should prioritize a new left back almost to the same degree as a new striker.

But without knowing the fate of the ban and without knowing if Bristol City or Torino will be able to buy their respective loaned players, Alonso has to stay. For all his faults, he has been the best left back Chelsea has had since Azpilicueta vacated the position and since Ashley Cole started to tail off.

Chelsea is living in a state of reaction to other variables right now. They do not get to choose the army they go into battle with next season as things stand. And for now, Alonso is a part of that army whether fans like it or not.