Chelsea’s summer transfer window is shaping up to be one of the most significant in recent memory, with incoming manager Xabi Alonso granted more power than any of his predecessors at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have wasted no time since the window opened, with Marc Cucurella completing a move to Real Madrid for a fixed fee of almost £47.4million, with a further £4.3million available in add-ons.

Chelsea moved quickly to reinvest that money, spending in excess of £43million on Atalanta defender Marco Palestra, who is already in London to finalise the deal.

The versatile 21-year-old is expected to be officially confirmed soon, and by all accounts he will be lining up under Alonso when the new season gets underway.

Chelsea are also working on a deal to bring Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix to Stamford Bridge, with the Frenchman identified as the club’s top defensive target this summer.

Multiple further arrivals are expected before the window closes, but the club will simultaneously be looking to offload a significant number of players from their current squad.

Chief among those who could leave is Alejandro Garnacho, the 21-year-old winger who joined from Manchester United less than 12 months ago and has struggled to make a consistent impact since his arrival.

Senior Chelsea reporter Bobby Vincent has argued the club need to act decisively, noting that having spent £40million on the Argentine, Chelsea could recover most of that fee now before his value drops further after another underwhelming season.

Vincent wrote that Garnacho’s off-the-ball work needs serious improvement and suggested that Alonso is unlikely to tolerate that level of inconsistency, making a summer exit the logical outcome for all parties involved.

Jake Stokes added that while Garnacho has shown glimpses of promise and chipped in with occasional goals, he has been unable to consistently showcase the quality required for a club with Champions League ambitions.

Stokes argued that Garnacho is not a player who can be relied upon as a starter week in, week out, describing him as “a live-wire who can sometimes make an impact off the bench.”

The concern, according to Stokes, is that Garnacho has been given a taste of regular first-team football at Chelsea and may now expect that to continue under Alonso despite, as Stokes put it, “not having earned his keep.”

With Chelsea likely to play once, or occasionally twice, per week next season, Stokes concluded that keeping Garnacho simply is not realistic given the squad demands ahead.

Both journalists agree that Chelsea must sign a top left-winger this summer regardless, with Stokes stating plainly that the need for a world-class or near-world-class option on the left flank is “long overdue.”

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