{
"$type": "site.standard.document",
"bskyPostRef": {
"cid": "bafyreibmqvfvoqxa7oukv6etp2idj6gtkfu4wyuc2zomk6jro5zs3xdjoe",
"uri": "at://did:plc:b7afdzqsmwksxypciqnplglk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnp62vqonat2"
},
"coverImage": {
"$type": "blob",
"ref": {
"$link": "bafkreihaf6rfs67vprfo6qjnojlqxhiyoxrcr3g3lkmkhewxlyqahk4c5a"
},
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"size": 50445
},
"path": "/2026/06/07/xabi-alonso-told-sell-30m-chelsea-star-he-looks-like-a-championship-player-28681127/",
"publishedAt": "2026-06-07T10:38:10.000Z",
"site": "https://metro.co.uk",
"tags": [
"Football",
"Sport",
"Chelsea FC",
"Chelsea transfer news",
"Everton",
"Everton Transfer News",
"Liam Delap",
"Premier League",
"Transfer News and Rumours",
"Xabi Alonso",
"Chelsea",
"Liverpool",
"Real Madrid",
"appointed their new manager on a four-year contract",
"Liam Rosenior",
"Arsenal",
"Sign up here",
"urged Alonso to replace No. 1 goalkeeper Robert Sanchez",
"beat Manchester United and Newcastle United to a £30m deal for Delap 12 months ago",
"OLBG",
"Grosvenor Casinos",
"check our sport page",
"Facebook",
"Twitter",
"Instagram",
"Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
],
"textContent": "Incoming Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso (Picture: Getty)\n\nXabi Alonso has been told to sell a second Chelsea player as he prepares to take over at Stamford Bridge.\n\nThe former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder takes charge of Chelsea in July after being appointed their new manager on a four-year contract.\n\nAlonso, who left Real Madrid in January and won the Bundesliga title at Bayer Leverkusen, emerged as Chelsea’s top managerial target after Liam Rosenior’s sacking.\n\nThe 44-year-old former Spain international takes over a Chelsea side that finished just 10th in the Premier League last season, 33 points behind new champions Arsenal.\n\n## All the World Cup action\n\nGet everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day. Sign up here.\n\nAlonso will hope to bolster his Chelsea squad with several summer signings but must also work on outgoings given the number of players at Stamford Bridge.\n\nA number of pundits have already urged Alonso to replace No. 1 goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and Andy Townsend has also named Liam Delap as a player who should be moved on.\n\nChelsea beat Manchester United and Newcastle United to a £30m deal for Delap 12 months ago but he endured a miserable first season in west London, scoring just two goals.\n\nChelsea spent £30m on Liam Delap last summer (Picture: Getty)\n\nTownsend believes it in the interests of all parties for Delap to leave and says he has ‘looked like a Championship player trying to cut it at a top Premier League team’.\n\n‘Liam Delap’s next club? Everton are desperate for a striker,’ the former Chelsea midfielder told OLBG. ‘They’ve got Beto and Tierno Barry, and neither of them are good enough, so Everton definitely need one.\n\n‘Liam at Chelsea, when compared to Ipswich, he’s always looked a little inhibited. Is it the way the team plays, or is it just being a higher-profile player now at a bigger club?\n\nEx-Chelsea midfielder Andy Townsend (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘Whenever he’s come on as a sub, he’s rarely had an impact. I’ve very rarely seen anything where I’ve thought, “Wow, now I can see what Chelsea have invested in.” I just haven’t seen anything from him yet, to be honest.\n\n‘But that happens, he’s not the first striker to go to a club where it doesn’t work out. For whatever reason, sometimes you can’t always put your finger on it. Certain players go to certain clubs, and it just doesn’t happen.\n\n‘Fernando Torres, moving from Liverpool to Chelsea, was a world apart. So, for Liam Delap, I think a move to somewhere where he’s going to be the main man, regular, and consistent is necessary, but he’s got to find a little bit more to his game.\n\nChelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘He’s looked like a Championship player trying to cut it at a top Premier League team and he’s looked awkward and it hasn’t just looked like it’s the right sort of fit.\n\n‘So I think he’s got to believe in himself a bit more. I’d like to think in the summer he will keep himself in really good nick in case something happens.\n\n‘But if I was him, I would be pushing to get away from Chelsea because if he’s not gonna play, you know, you can only sit on a bench for so long before too much of your game starts to disappear.\n\nChelsea owner Todd Boehly (Picture: Getty)\n\n‘So he needs to get playing now this year. And Everton are desperate for a striker. And if he goes in there and starts bashing in a few goals and starts looking like he’s aggressive they’ll love him there for that.\n\n‘I think that’s the Liam Delap that we all expected to see, but there’s been no signs of that at all at Chelsea.’\n\nEx-Chelsea winger Pat Nevin has also questioned Delap’s future at Stamford Bridge and suggested a summer move to Everton.\n\n‘I don’t see him going back to Ipswich,’ he told Grosvenor Casinos. ‘Everton would be the obvious place – that looks absolutely nailed on.\n\n‘I’m not saying it’s a done deal, but I think Everton want him and I think it would be brilliant for everyone. And it’s a safer bet for him.\n\n‘Delap is nailed for Everton. There’s technical reasons why. When people talk about the number of goals scored, it’s actually not exactly about that for Everton.\n\n‘You need a certain type of player to hold up the ball, to run the channels, to stretch the game so that three quality players behind you and they have got brilliant players behind them, get a chance to shine.\n\n‘Delap would be perfect. I don’t know if they’ll get them but Chelsea’s not the right place for him.’\n\n**For more stories like this, check our sport page**.\n\n**Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on**Facebook,** Twitter and Instagram**.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
"title": "Xabi Alonso told to sell £30m Chelsea star: ‘He looks like a Championship player’"
}