Marcos Alonso finalising Barcelona transfer as Thomas Tuchel accepts Chelsea absence

Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Marcos Alonso is finalising his transfer to Barcelona which is why he is absent from the Chelsea squad. 

The 31-year-old is on the verge of signing for the Spanish giants after waiting for the green light to put pen to paper following Barcelona’s current financial situation.

After activating a fourth economic level on Friday (12 August), Alonso’s switch looks near to completion and he is pushing to finalise his move back to Spain. 

Alonso missed the 1-0 win over Everton last weekend as Chelsea opened their 2022/23 Premier League campaign with a win, and Tuchel confirmed he hasn’t been training ahead of their London derby versus Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. 

“He (Marcos Alonso) is not in training at the moment and tries to finalise his transfer so he will not be available for (Sunday’s) game,” Tuchel told reporters at Cobham on Friday afternoon.

Alonso isn’t the only player who will have joined Barcelona this summer after Andreas Christensen completed a free transfer after his Chelsea contract expired at the end of last season. 

But Alonso won’t be joined by current Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta, who signed a new two-year contract to end any links to also joining up with Xavi Hernandez’s side. 

"I always stayed committed to the club, it's how I've been since day one,” Azpilicueta said to Sky Sports.

"This is my home and I never took the selfish decision (to leave).

"After the Club World Cup, I shared my feelings (about leaving), it was never a decision about contract years or wages.

“I expressed my feelings and then everything changed with the ownership and sanctions.

"I dealt with the situation in my own way. We [he and the new owners] had honest conversations and I'm really proud to be the Chelsea captain and I'm looking forward for the next years. I decided that the best thing for everybody was to stay."

With Alonso’s departure imminent, Chelsea have three wing-backs available on the left-hand side - Ben Chilwell, Emerson Palmieri and new arrival Marc Cucurella.

As the defensive rebuild continues, Tuchel confirmed he would ideally like one more central defender to complete the summer business at the back. 

He added: “We could use one more central defender. If you look at the numbers and we play with a back three. The profile of the guys in the three is a little bit different, I admit.

"Playing with Azpi, more a full-back than central defender. Cucurella it’s possible. Both of them cannot play as central defenders. We could use one more central defender. Let’s see what happens.”