LONDON (AP) — Chelsea’s new manager, Xabi Alonso, says he has spoken to midfielder Enzo Fernandes, whose future with the club is in doubt. doubtful for months.
alonso signed as a coach He was appointed in May, took office on July 1 and held his first press conference at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
What was handed to Fernandes was Internal suspension for 2 games In April, amid speculation that he would move to Real Madrid, he announced on a podcast that he wanted to live in Madrid. Real Madrid denied interest in signing Fernandes earlier this month.
Asked if he wanted Fernandes to stay at Stamford Bridge, Alonso said: “Yes.”
“We talked,” Alonso added. “But, as you understand, what we talked about remains private.”
Fernandes is at the World Cup with Argentina, who will face England in the semi-finals in Atlanta on Wednesday. He is one of four Chelsea players to feature in the World Cup, along with England’s Reece James and Trevor Chalobah and France’s Maro Gusto.
Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League last season, dropping from 4th place the previous season.
Alonso said one of his goals was to qualify for Europe.
“It was certainly a goal,” said the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid manager. “But in order to achieve that goal, we need to do a lot of things right and be part of the process: wherever we go, how we want to play, how we want to see ourselves, how we want to approach the game.
“That’s my job. So I’m really looking forward to getting the whole team together. We’re ambitious and we at Chelsea need to share that energy, that ambition and that hunger to succeed.”
Chelsea last won the Premier League in 2017 under manager Antonio Conte. Alonso becomes the club’s eighth permanent manager since then.
The 44-year-old Spaniard broached the subject when asked if he was confident he would be given enough time to build a team capable of challenging for the title.
“What I’m sure of is that we have the ambition to win a lot of games and be competitive,” he said.
“I’m not going to say what’s going to happen in May. It’s definitely too early to say, but I’m confident and optimistic that we’ll have a great season.”
