Rumoured Xabi Alonso

[Jase 43,479]

http://football-italia.net/41162/alonso-%E2%80%98rejects%E2%80%99-juventus-option

Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso has reportedly told Juventus that he has no interest in a summer move to Turin.

The playmaker could potentially be available on a Bosman free transfer and he’s been paired with the Old Lady.

According to Marca, Juventus officials have been told by the 31-year-old’s agent that he doesn’t want a move to Italy.

The Bianconeri believe that the former Liverpool man, today linked with a possible January move to Chelsea, wants a switch back to England.

The international is on the verge of returning to first team action after spending the last five months out with injury.

Although Alonso is set to discuss a new contract at Real, Marca believe he won’t extend and will quit the club when his present agreement expires in June.

Andrea Pirlo’s contract with Juventus is also set to come to an end next summer.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Would take him in a heart-beat. Perfect mentor for Marco.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Ramires - Alonso pivot would actually be fantastic. Alonso's lack of legs can be countered by Ramires, or if we wanted to keep it tight and solid perhaps a midfield 3 of Alonso - Mikel - Ramires would also suffice...

Would be a great short term signing.

[didierforever 7,349]

no. would be a poor signing. would be another stop-gap signing. he will turn 32 in never, will be back from a 6 month lay-off, moreover if we buy him, i dont see us buying a long-term solution in summer as we have some options in this area in rambo, lamps (maybe no extension), essien, mikel, mvg, chalobah, josh.

for a short-term solution this might work but not the most ideal signing for me specially considering his age and recent injuries.

better would be to sell ba and mikel in the window, generate some funds (if needed) and buy bender/witsel.

[dkim2 73]

Alonso is the perfect solution for our pivot.

1. Alonso is 'Pirloesque' player. He understands pivot position perfectly and knows how to position himself, protect defenders and have decent tackle ability. Ramires' speed will compliment him perfectly. He can be real threat for at least 2 more years same like Pirlo who is 3.5 yrs older than him. Alonso's passing ability will just boost our entire offense no doubt.

2. We have great crop of young English talents on Baker, Chalobah, RLC, Swift and all these guys are just 2-3 years away to compete for Chelsea first team. We will let go Lampard, Cole, Terry sooner or later and Chelsea desperately need future England national team players. We need to give youth the proper chance as they are tearing up all the youth competitions. Youth Cub, U-21 league, U-21 Champions Leauge. Even Mourinho himself said many times he will give chances to our youth players. Alonso will be great mentor as he is the best in this business and true professional, and will bring much needed bridge between our need in midfield and time to prepare our youth players.

3. He is free! what more can you say? to a player of his quality, for free?

I would take Alonso for free all day every day. Then let us buy Matic or Imbula (Imbula is my favorite. He has all the assets to be true WC midfielder),

let Lampard and Essien walk out next summer.

Torres

Andre Oscar Hazard

Alonso Ramires

Cole Terry Luiz Ivanovic

Lukaku

Willian Mata KDB

Imbula(Matic) Mikel

Bertie Cahill Mangala Azpil

Isn't that mouth watering.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Isnt Imbula just a DM? Does he posses any long passing or creativity? Because Rambo-Imbula would be strong pivot but little creativity from deep

Also he is very unexperienced and I would want someone calm and experienced to play in our pivot. Someone who can control tempo and create chances for strikers...

[dkim2 73]

Imbula is more of B2B player. He can pass and can defend. He is more of Gundogan style. Imbula is very good at dribbling past midfielders and has very rare skill set: to get out of opposition players' pressing. If you have seen Dortmund or Barca games their players constantly pressing opposition players to force turnovers. Gundogan, Iniesta, Xavi, and Mordric are few players who can get out of tough pressing and Imbula does have that kind of skill set. He needs more bulk up IMO. But truly has all skill sets for WC midfielder: First Touch, Dribbling, Long Shots, Passing and Technique and he knows how to defend. Granted, Imbula is far from finished product but he already holds his own while playing against Dortmund, PSG, and Arsenal at CL group stage. Just turned 21 yrs old, within a few years he will be one of the best in his position. Yes, he is not experienced enough, but is already better than say, 35yrs old Lampard. That's why I want Chelsea to get both Alonso and Imbula.

2014: Alonso, Mikel, Ramires, Imbula.

RLC, Baker, Swift (age 17-19; loan to Championship)

Chalobah (age:19; loan to PL side)

Ginkel (Rehab)

2015: Alonso, Mikel, Ramires, Imbula, Ginkel

RLC, Baker, Swift (age 18-20; loan to bottom half PL side)

Chalobah (age 20; loan to decent PL side: West Brom, Everton, etc..)

2016: Mikel, Ramires, Imbula, Ginkel, Chalobah

RLC, Baker, Swift (age 19-21; loan to decent PL side)

By 2017 Mikel and Ramires will both turn 30. We will have spot for our youth English players and maybe Ramires, who is really dependent on his superior stamina and athleticism can be sold to make room for Chalobah, Baker, RLC.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Imbula wont develop here anyway. Currently he is little too young and unexperienced to have such important role as holding mid in our team. Especialy Mou wants more mature players who have experience. Imbula might play several games and impress, but he will be nowhere near that level here atm. Hazard was ligue best player and he still isnt half as good and influental as he was there (he is great here, but he was beast in france). That is because he isnt old enough to take that much responsibility at our club yet. Same would be with Imbula. If we buy him now and keep Lamps for another season and also Alonso, he would sit on bench most of time, because Mou prefers older players. Imbula wouldnt develop here by sitting on bench and eventualy lose his touch or simply leave. Even if we dont get Alonso, I dont think Mou would risk with such young player in important position. Azpi is good example, he is very good but Mou prefers Iva due to his age and experience.

[3sphinx 18]

Imbula wont develop here anyway. Currently he is little too young and unexperienced to have such important role as holding mid in our team. Especialy Mou wants more mature players who have experience. Imbula might play several games and impress, but he will be nowhere near that level here atm. Hazard was ligue best player and he still isnt half as good and influental as he was there (he is great here, but he was beast in france). That is because he isnt old enough to take that much responsibility at our club yet. Same would be with Imbula. If we buy him now and keep Lamps for another season and also Alonso, he would sit on bench most of time, because Mou prefers older players. Imbula wouldnt develop here by sitting on bench and eventualy lose his touch or simply leave. Even if we dont get Alonso, I dont think Mou would risk with such young player in important position. Azpi is good example, he is very good but Mou prefers Iva due to his age and experience.

Think it's more down to tactics with ivan. Can change to 3 at the back easier and also a set piece threat

[dkim2 73]

Imbula wont develop here anyway. Currently he is little too young and unexperienced to have such important role as holding mid in our team. Especialy Mou wants more mature players who have experience. Imbula might play several games and impress, but he will be nowhere near that level here atm. Hazard was ligue best player and he still isnt half as good and influental as he was there (he is great here, but he was beast in france). That is because he isnt old enough to take that much responsibility at our club yet. Same would be with Imbula. If we buy him now and keep Lamps for another season and also Alonso, he would sit on bench most of time, because Mou prefers older players. Imbula wouldnt develop here by sitting on bench and eventualy lose his touch or simply leave. Even if we dont get Alonso, I dont think Mou would risk with such young player in important position. Azpi is good example, he is very good but Mou prefers Iva due to his age and experience.

How about Ronaldo, Messi, Varane, Verratti, Pogba and etc? People would have said same thing to Varane, Pogba and others. Varane barely played at League 1 and Pogba only played for U-21 side. One year later Pogba is key player for Juventus and Varane is one of the best defenders in La Liga. Imbula already is a quality player, Don't let his age and his league fool you, and Lamps will walk out next summer.

[didierforever 7,349]

Alonso is the perfect solution for our pivot.

1. Alonso is 'Pirloesque' player. He understands pivot position perfectly and knows how to position himself, protect defenders and have decent tackle ability. Ramires' speed will compliment him perfectly. He can be real threat for at least 2 more years same like Pirlo who is 3.5 yrs older than him. Alonso's passing ability will just boost our entire offense no doubt.

2. We have great crop of young English talents on Baker, Chalobah, RLC, Swift and all these guys are just 2-3 years away to compete for Chelsea first team. We will let go Lampard, Cole, Terry sooner or later and Chelsea desperately need future England national team players. We need to give youth the proper chance as they are tearing up all the youth competitions. Youth Cub, U-21 league, U-21 Champions Leauge. Even Mourinho himself said many times he will give chances to our youth players. Alonso will be great mentor as he is the best in this business and true professional, and will bring much needed bridge between our need in midfield and time to prepare our youth players.

3. He is free! what more can you say? to a player of his quality, for free?

I would take Alonso for free all day every day. Then let us buy Matic or Imbula (Imbula is my favorite. He has all the assets to be true WC midfielder),

let Lampard and Essien walk out next summer.

Torres

Andre Oscar Hazard

Alonso Ramires

Cole Terry Luiz Ivanovic

Lukaku

Willian Mata KDB

Imbula(Matic) Mikel

Bertie Cahill Mangala Azpil

Isn't that mouth watering.

we have the likes of romeu, chalobah, josh, ginkel on the fringes along with rlc and baker in the academy, why do u want to buy a squad midfielder.

plus matic will come for close to 30-35mil. no way. i would rather that jose trusts our youth.

[dkim2 73]

we have the likes of romeu, chalobah, josh, ginkel on the fringes along with rlc and baker in the academy, why do u want to buy a squad midfielder.

plus matic will come for close to 30-35mil. no way. i would rather that jose trusts our youth.

Because Chelsea have 60-70 games a year? If we buy Matic or Imbula, it is not for squad member. Eventually they will take over Alonso spot and team up with Ramires in pivot positions. I love to see youth games but they are at least 2-3 years away to even make bench for Chelsea 1st team. Real has Alonso, Illarramendi, Modric, Khedira, and Casemiro. Treble winning side 12/13 Munich had Javi Martinez, Gustavo, Tymoshchuk, Emre Can, and Schweinsteiger. And Chelsea has much more games than Real and Munich due to 2 cup games, 20 teams, plus boxing day schedules. I don't think it is luxury to have 4 midfielders since we time to time try 4-3-3 as well. Matic(Imbula) Alonso Mikel Ramires are too much for Chelsea caliber team? Van Ginkel needs at least one more year and even more to properly heal from torn ligament and our youth players are nowhere near ready yet.

[didierforever 7,349]

Because Chelsea have 60-70 games a year? If we buy Matic or Imbula, it is not for squad member. Eventually they will take over Alonso spot and team up with Ramires in pivot positions. I love to see youth games but they are at least 2-3 years away to even make bench for Chelsea 1st team. Real has Alonso, Illarramendi, Modric, Khedira, and Casemiro. Treble winning side 12/13 Munich had Javi Martinez, Gustavo, Tymoshchuk, Emre Can, and Schweinsteiger. And Chelsea has much more games than Real and Munich due to 2 cup games, 20 teams, plus boxing day schedules. I don't think it is luxury to have 4 midfielders since we time to time try 4-3-3 as well. Matic(Imbula) Alonso Mikel Ramires are too much for Chelsea caliber team? Van Ginkel needs at least one more year and even more to properly heal from torn ligament and our youth players are nowhere near ready yet.

2-3 years away? i think romeu and josh were 2-3 years away even 2 years ago. they are not magically going to become "good enough" to play for the first team in a single day. remember what romeu had done against city 2 years ago? we have a lot of potential in our youth players and that potential will come out only if they are trusted and given a chance to prove. look what matic has been able to acheive in 2 years' time.

also mvg is already good enough to play. if he was not then tell me why mourinho took a decision of putting his name in the CL squad but not essien. this cleanly indicates that mou thinks mvg was more than ready to play a part for us this season itself. so as i see it, next year we will have mikel, rambo, alonso(?), mvg with the option of romeu, josh and lamps or essien for the squad role. there is no place and absolutely no need to go out and spend big money on a midfielder (that is if we get alonso, if not then splash the cash on witsel).

[dkim2 73]

2-3 years away? i think romeu and josh were 2-3 years away even 2 years ago. they are not magically going to become "good enough" to play for the first team in a single day. remember what romeu had done against city 2 years ago? we have a lot of potential in our youth players and that potential will come out only if they are trusted and given a chance to prove. look what matic has been able to acheive in 2 years' time.

also mvg is already good enough to play. if he was not then tell me why mourinho took a decision of putting his name in the CL squad but not essien. this cleanly indicates that mou thinks mvg was more than ready to play a part for us this season itself. so as i see it, next year we will have mikel, rambo, alonso(?), mvg with the option of romeu, josh and lamps or essien for the squad role. there is no place and absolutely no need to go out and spend big money on a midfielder (that is if we get alonso, if not then splash the cash on witsel).

Romeu and Josh are close to bust. Valencia fans i talked to said Romeu is nowhere near 1st team quality in mid-table Valencia team. Josh is just average in mid-table Championship team. There are dozens of prospects but only handful can succeed in highest level. That is why we are using loan system to give as many chances as possible. Chelsea is no Arsenal. We compete for titles year in and year out. For MVG's case, his injury is serious enough to take 2 years to get back in form.

[didierforever 7,349]

Romeu and Josh are close to bust. Valencia fans i talked to said Romeu is nowhere near 1st team quality in mid-table Valencia team. Josh is just average in mid-table Championship team. There are dozens of prospects but only handful can succeed in highest level. That is why we are using loan system to give as many chances as possible. Chelsea is no Arsenal. We compete for titles year in and year out. For MVG's case, his injury is serious enough to take 2 years to get back in form.

matic too was considered to be "no where near our required quality". but when given a chance, he has become "should be bought at 40mil" quality player now.

josh is 20 right now. his career has barely started and u call it bust already. romeu already has proven that he is there-thereabouts. if u r telling me that romeu cant play a squad role alongside the likes of rambo, mikel, alonso/witsel, mvg... i ll have to say there is something wrong with u cos just a season ago he was deemed to be good enough to be one of our main cdms when we had only rambo, mikel, lamps and romeu as our options.

moral of the story - we dont need to buy a squad player for 20-40mil. our players are good enough to do the job. jose has said that chalobah could already have made the squad.

[dkim2 73]

It is good to overrate our own youth players but I don't find Josh and Romeu anything special. They are like Kakuta. Once was highly touted but now very average player. Romeu had torn knee ligament surgery which killed his already-not-so-good athleticism and his form is horrendous in Valencia. Josh cannot even shine at Watford and Middlesborough. Chalobah yes, he was one of the better midfielders in Championship despite being the youngest. If we have about 10 prospects we are extremely luck if we can get 2-3 enough to be listed in Chelsea bench selection. This is Josh's third loan in a row and he was average in all the teams he was involved with. Romeu was nothing speical when playing for us and we were 6th place in PL when Romeu was shown some promises. If we get likes of Alonso, Imbula, Matic, they will be 1st team player as we will lose Essien and Lampard. When was last time we playing dominant football against decent teams in CL? 4 yrs ago? We desperately need pivot players. Matic, Alonso, or Imbula would walk in straight into our first team squad sheet.

[3sphinx 18]

matic too was considered to be "no where near our required quality". but when given a chance, he has become "should be bought at 40mil" quality player now.

josh is 20 right now. his career has barely started and u call it bust already. romeu already has proven that he is there-thereabouts. if u r telling me that romeu cant play a squad role alongside the likes of rambo, mikel, alonso/witsel, mvg... i ll have to say there is something wrong with u cos just a season ago he was deemed to be good enough to be one of our main cdms when we had only rambo, mikel, lamps and romeu as our options.

moral of the story - we dont need to buy a squad player for 20-40mil. our players are good enough to do the job. jose has said that chalobah could already have made the squad.

There is nothing wrong with him - there was something wrong with AVB. If he is really ready to play for us (even in a squad role) then why isn't he getting any time at all in a Valencia side that is struggling mightily at the moment? He doesn't even get on their bench at times.

[Reddish-Blue 2,513]

There is nothing wrong with him - there was something wrong with AVB. If he is really ready to play for us (even in a squad role) then why isn't he getting any time at all in a Valencia side that is struggling mightily at the moment? He doesn't even get on their bench at times.

Romeu just seems to have lost all his confidence since the injury. As for him not getting any time in the Valencia side, maybe the coach doesn't rate him or maybe he's lacking match fitness?

There could be many reasons why he's not playing at Valencia...

At the end of the day, He's not a bad player...but maybe sending him to a lesser league (like Holland) would have been better for him.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Romeu isn't a bad player but that injury came at the worst possible time for him. There was an opportunity for him to stake a claim but unfortunately sometimes that chance can be snatched from you and not come back round again. That's first-class sport for you.

Josh has never been overly impressive even at the Championship level. He has plenty of skill but struggles to impose himself on matches and may already be in the last-chance saloon.Personally I'd like to see him have some time under Jose but I'm nowhere near as confident about him making it here as I once was.

Alonso for me is a no-brainer. He is a short-term fix but that's not always a bad thing. He knows the league and he knows Mourinho - that to me makes him a perfect deputy for Lamps in the pivot and I reckon he'd be a great character to have in the dressing room and on the training pitches.

[didierforever 7,349]

There is nothing wrong with him - there was something wrong with AVB. If he is really ready to play for us (even in a squad role) then why isn't he getting any time at all in a Valencia side that is struggling mightily at the moment? He doesn't even get on their bench at times.

i have no idea of what is going on at valencia. but i ll like to comment on what i have actually seen. and what i have seen is the fact that he is a decent player and will get better with age (unless he is totally hampered by injuries). also avb was not the only one who trusted him. rdm went into a season with just 2 cdms out of which one was romeu. RAFA on the other hand chose him ahead of mikel in the short time that romeu was fit before he had his injury. so that 3 out of 3 managers in chelsea that he had a chance to play for.