Chelsea 'propose Marcos Alonso, Frenkie De Jong swap deal with Barcelona'

Chelsea have allegedly broached the idea of a possible player-plus-cash deal with Barcelona involving Frenkie de Jong and Marcos Alonso.

Blues left-back Alonso only has one year left to run on his contract with Thomas Tuchel's side and is now seemingly third choice in the pecking order.

On Friday, Chelsea confirmed the signing of Alonso's compatriot Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion, with the 24-year-old preparing to battle Ben Chilwell for left-wing back duties.

As a result, Alonso is seemingly edging closer to a departure from Chelsea, who will receive a small fee for the 31-year-old this summer rather than let him walk away for free in 2023.

A recent report claimed that Alonso had already said his goodbyes to Chelsea's training ground staff ahead of an imminent switch to Barcelona, but the structure of the transfer could yet be significantly altered.

© Reuters

According to Sport, Chelsea are considering the idea of sending Alonso to Barcelona and paying an extra €70m (£59.1m) for the services of De Jong as part of an exchange deal.

De Jong's future remains the subject of much debate, with Manchester United refusing to give up in their pursuit of Erik ten Hag's former Ajax protege after reaching a £72m agreement with Barcelona.

However, De Jong has remained defiant in his stance that he wants to remain on the books at Barcelona, who also owe him as much as £14m in deferred wages, which is another factor in his decision to reject Man United's advances.

Chelsea are said to be optimistic that they can wrap up a deal for De Jong, who would be able to play Champions League football at Stamford Bridge, whereas he would have to settle for the Europa League at Old Trafford.

De Jong has been included in Barcelona's squad for their upcoming Joan Gamper Trophy showdown with Pumas, and the report adds that Chelsea are fighting an uphill battle to convince the Netherlands international to leave.

© Reuters

Should Chelsea fail to agree a move for De Jong, Alonso would supposedly join Barcelona in a straightforward transfer that would pocket Chelsea less than €10m (£8.4m).

Alonso is still understood to be in London despite allegedly saying his goodbyes, but he has requested to be left out of the Blues' matchday squads in order to avoid injury before his move to Camp Nou.

The Spain international is seemingly set to leave Chelsea having scored 29 goals and provided 23 assists in 211 games for the Blues since 2016, including four goals and five assists from 28 Premier League games last season.

However, Barcelona have been unsuccessful in their pursuit of Cesar Azpilicueta, who has signed a new deal at Stamford Bridge until the summer of 2024.