Marcos Alonso insists he is still happy at Chelsea despite his desire to return to play in Spain amid links to Barcelona.
The 31-year-old has one year left on his current contract at Stamford Bridge and is heading into the latter stages of his footballing career.
He has played in Italy and England with Fiorentina, Bolton and Sunderland before making the switch to Chelsea back in 2016.
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Alonso has gone on to make over 200 appearances for the Blues in all competitions but is no longer first choice left-back following the arrival of Ben Chilwell. The England international is expected to be back in time for pre-season with an early return to Cobham scheduled to get up to speed before the rest of the squad report back on 2 July.
After finishing the 2021/22 season with Chelsea, Alonso has been with the Spain national team for their Nations League fixtures. During his time away with his country, he spoke with Spanish radio station Onda Cero regarding his future and the possibility of playing in his home country one day.
“On paper, I have a contract for one more year and that is where we’re at today. I’ve already said that I would like to play in Spain again, but it doesn’t depend entirely on me,” the defender admitted.
“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, honestly.”
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Barcelona have been linked with Alonso and he is keen on a switch, but nothing concrete has yet developed.
Chelsea are set to welcome back Emerson Palmieri next month. His loan spell at Lyon came to an end and it’s believed Thomas Tuchel wants him to play as Chilwell’s back-up in the side next season.
The Italy international also provided an update on his future last week: “I didn’t speak with Thomas Tuchel just yet. have a contract with Chelsea. I played there for three seasons and I have a lot of friends there and if I come back, I'll be happy. It's a good place and club for me. I don’t know (whether I will return), let’s see what can happen.”
He added: “For me, it was a good season because I played a lot of games.
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“Of course (it felt good that Chelsea wanted me back in January). Lyon said no, so I didn’t come back. It didn’t depend on me and those conversations were between the clubs.
“Lyon said no and I respected that because when I signed there I signed for one year, not six months. But now I will go back to Chelsea for the pre-season and let’s see what happens in the next month.”
Featured Image Credit: News Images / AlamyTopics: Chelsea, Marcos Alonso, Barcelona, Football, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours