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Antonio Conte has been pretty quiet in the transfer market thus far, with his big signing seeing Michy Batshuayi come in from Marseille for a fee in excess of £30 million. The passionate Italian has identified a need to bring in another full-back though, as a deal for ex-Bolton man, Marcos Alonso has been completed for £23 million.
Alonso, 25, was plying his trade out in the Serie A with Fiorentina, before Chelsea’s interest in the Spaniard came to the table. The Italian side will be more than pleased with this business too. They picked up Alonso on a free transfer just a few years ago after he refused to sign a new deal with Bolton Wanderers.
Since then, Alonso has made a real impression out in Italy, playing 75 times in the two full seasons he spent with Fiorentina.
The versatile left-back will obviously be excited to return to England and the Premier League, and there is no doubt that he fits Antonio Conte’s system down to a tee. He has all the attacking abilities as well as being a stern defender, and he also possesses amazing fitness levels, meaning he’ll be able to maraud up and down that left flank all game long.
It certainly will not be easy for him to break into the team however. He has Cesar Azpilicueta in front of him at the moment, and the Spaniard is definitely one of the best full-backs in the world on his day. You’d imagine that one of Chelsea’s most underrated performers will be the number one choice for the time being, but don’t count Marcos Alonso out.
You may feel that a £23 million for Marcos Alonso is probably a bit on the steep side, but Conte feels he is worth the risk, and it would’ve been tough going into the season without any real quality in terms of a backup for the aforementioned Azpilicueta.
The champions of a couple of seasons ago have made a stunning start to the season, and they are only going to improve. Their squad looks much stronger after this astute addition from the Stamford Bridge club, and there may well be a familiar face returning before the 11pm deadline…
Chelsea fans seemed quite pleased about this deal on the whole, check out some of their best reactions on Twitter below:
Welcome to chelsea Marcos Alonso👏👏
— Nanda Prasetya (@prasetyaa8)
http://twitter.com/BlueTweets10/status/771014207106080769
OHHHHHHHHHH MARCOS ALONSO
— Harry Miles (@harrymiles99)
http://twitter.com/MotivatorDe/status/771013995822256128
Best of luck to at Chelsea. Superb player at us, massive hit with the fans too
— Matt Dodge Donnelly (@dodgestweet)
Other fans were quick to have their say about the £25 million fee however, in addition to the fact that it was hardly a stellar name…
Marcos Alonso to Chelsea. It’s hardly a value deal, but Alonso is exactly the type of functional full-back Conte has had success with.
— Sam Tighe – Ranks FC Podcast (@stighefootball)
http://twitter.com/ChandlerLouie/status/771014090307342336
Always thought Marcos Alonso was more than decent at Sunderland. £23m though is farcical and shows the complete state of the market
— Cameron Strutt (@CameronStrutt95)
http://twitter.com/rob_cfc/status/771014029737426944
http://twitter.com/ConnallV/status/771014219718418432
Chelsea signing Marcos Alonso and David Luiz for around £60 million
— James Sherry (@JSHERRYEFC)
Chelsea have signed a defender – but it's not David Luiz!
Fiorentina have confirmed Marcos Alonso has joined the Premier League club
— DanaBlue (@cfcdk)
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