Marcos Alonso reiterates 'desire to play in Spain'

Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has reiterated his desire to return to La Liga amid interest from Barcelona, although he insisted he is 'happy' at Chelsea.

90min understands Alonso has informally asked to leave Chelsea after six trophy-laden years at Stamford Bridge, although he has stopped short of submitting a transfer request.

The Spain international has previously admitted he wants to return to his home country, and sources have told 90min Barcelona are confident of completing a deal - although they are waiting to discover how much the Blues will demand by way of a transfer fee as they do not want to pay over the odds for a player who is out of contract in a year.

Speaking to OndaCero about his situation while away on international duty, Alonso said: “On paper I have one more year of contract and that is what there is until today I’ve already said other times that I would like to [return to Spain] but it doesn’t depend entirely on me.

“There are two games left here [with Spain] and then it’s time to rest.

“I’ve played 50 games, we’ve been world champions, we’ve had bad luck in the cup finals.

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“I can’t complain about anything at Chelsea but the desire to play in Spain is there. It doesn’t depend entirely on me and I’m happy at Chelsea, I’m sincere.”

90min understands that Emerson Palmieri - who impressed on loan at Lyon last term - will be welcomed back to the club in pre-season to provide depth and competition to Chilwell on the left side of defence.

Although Alonso featured regularly last season in Chilwell's long-term injury absence, the England man's recovery and Emerson's return will likely push him to the bottom of the left full-back pecking order.

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