Chelsea 2026: Midfield shortage despite £349m spent
Xabi Alonso faces a midfield crisis at Chelsea after a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, despite the club spending £349m during the summer transfer window.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Chelsea finished their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal with two natural right-backs in midfield.
- Moises Caicedo's injury against Brighton has left Xabi Alonso with a major midfield dilemma.
- The club missed out on deadline-day moves for Lamine Camara, Alex Scott, and Manu Kone.
- Enzo Fernandez was sold to Manchester City for £125m without a direct replacement signed.
Chelsea concluded Sunday's 2-1 defeat by champions Arsenal at Emirates Stadium with two players who began their careers as right-backs positioned alongside each other in midfield. After spending a massive 349 million pounds during the summer transfer window, how did the club reach this precarious point?
The first defeat for Xabi Alonso as Chelsea manager occurred after Reece James failed to track captain Martin Odegaard, who scored Arsenal's winner. Nevertheless, Alonso expressed belief that James can develop into one of the best midfielders globally, despite James spending nearly half of last season playing in central roles.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Legitimate questions remain regarding Chelsea's squad depth in that area after Malo Gusto replaced midfielder Romeo Lavia during the second half. Lax marking directly contributed to Odegaard's decisive goal, while a lack of creativity from the bench ultimately hindered Chelsea's chances against Mikel Arteta's side.
"You look at Lavia, who was injured a lot last season. The front line are going to send fear throughout the league but behind that you see the midfield and they're playing right-backs there."
The primary issue stems from the absence of midfielder Moises Caicedo. The Ecuador international is sidelined with an unspecified injury after breaking down just 11 minutes into a substitute appearance against Brighton last week, leaving Alonso in largely uncharted territory.
The absence of Moises Caicedo, coupled with Jordan Henderson's ongoing recovery from a broken arm and failed pursuits of central midfielders like Lamine Camara and Alex Scott on transfer deadline day, has exposed a glaring imbalance in Chelsea's squad. Despite heavy investment in attacking talents, Xabi Alonso's reliance on full-backs in midfield highlights deep structural depth issues that could threaten their season objectives.
Compounding the situation, Chelsea sold Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City for a joint British-record fee of 125 million pounds on deadline day without securing a direct replacement. Meanwhile, natural midfielder Valentin Barco has been overlooked in favor of Gusto across all three Premier League fixtures.
Source: BBC Sport
Found something wrong in this article? Report an issue with this article
Comments
Leave a Comment