Chelsea at Arsenal: Marcos Alonso’s mysterious absence

Ladies and gentleman, get ready because it’s time to put on your tinfoil hats. The football world can get fairly odd sometimes with its conspiracy theories and rumors flying  around every which way. We’ve seen fans track flights of suspected transfers, claim to have spoken to their families about moves and other out of the ordinary everyday activities, as well. Chelsea fans usually refrain from this kind of behavior, but they are not totally innocent in this regard.

Marcos Alonso has been in and out of the squad ever since his arrival prior to the 2016/17 season. A favorite of Antonio Conte during the Blues’ title-winning season, the Italian actually wanted to replace Alonso with Alex Sandro in year two. However, that pursuit was not successful and the Spaniard has remained in SW6 ever since. He’s divided both managerial and fan opinions as both Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard seemingly preferred Emerson by the end of their tenures. Thomas Tuchel’s arrival and the subsequent switch to a 3-4-3 meant Alonso came back into the side. Ironically enough, Tuchel’s arrival could also mean the end of Alonso’s Chelsea career—it’s time to read into a cryptic move by the club ahead of the preseason match at Arsenal.

Could Marcos Alonso be on his way out after being left out of the Chelsea squad?

Popular Chelsea Twitter account @CarefreeYouth dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon when he was reporting team news for The Mind Series’ first clash between the Champions of Europe and the Gunners. In the midst of discussing loan army players who would not feature, the account revealed to the world that Alonso would be absent from the team on Sunday. There was no reason given, but this was later confirmed when the Blues dropped the team news for the contest via their official social media accounts. This has supporters wondering.

I must preface this discussion by saying that random absences in this day and age are not the surprise they used to be a few years prior. We saw this with Tino Anjorin earlier in the preseason when he was isolating due to COVID-19 protocols; the same could be true for Alonso now. Nevertheless, the timing seems all too convenient.

Fabrizio Romano confirmed over the last few days that the Blues had offered up numerous players in the possible deal for Jules Kounde. Sevilla was not interested in taking on Emerson and Kurt Zouma seemingly wants to go elsewhere or stay at Stamford Bridge, so could Alonso’s nonattendance be a sign the club is offering him up next? The former Real Madrid and Spanish international would likely be keen on a return home and it’s easy to see why Sevilla would be enticed by his services. Alonso has a track record of successful fullback and wingback play across Europe, winning almost everything there is to win with the Blues too. Chelsea desperately wants to thin out the squad and sign Kounde. Therefore, the possibility of this rumored swap deal becoming a reality is on the table.

The Blues have been open to selling fringe players like Alonso for the last two seasons. Even when healthy and in a suitable system, the 30-year-old is a back-up to Ben Chilwell. A move to La Liga could see him become a regular in the starting XI once again as his career takes a turn toward the back nine. This would be a questionable decision by the club though as the expected sale of Emerson and an offloading of Alonso would leave Tuchel thin on options at left wingback. Fans will get a look at both Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi in the wingback spots on Sunday against Arsenal, but these cameos don’t rattle the depth charts or instill confidence.

Alonso wouldn’t be a healthy scratch from this game. There are three possible reasons for his absence: injury, pending transfer and sickness/personal reasons. No matter the situation, The Pride of London would like to wish Alonso the best during this time.

What do you think about the Alonso situation? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!