Chelsea book medical for 11th new signing as key Xabi Alonso deal agreed | OneFootball

New Blues boss steps up squad overhaul in final month of transfer window

The Blues have been locked in talks with LaLiga oufit Rayo Vallecano since the end of June regarding their Spanish left-back, who helped them to reach the final of last season’s Conference League, where they lost to Crystal Palace in Leipzig in May.

The two clubs struggled to agree a financial package for Chavarria, who will help Chelsea to bolster a potential problem position following the surprise £51.7million departure of Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid earlier this summer.

The 28-year-old has a release clause in his contract at Vallecano worth £42.5m, though Chelsea were never willing to go anywhere close to that figure and are believed to have struck a deal worth an initial £16.2m plus a further £1.7m in add-ons.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Chavarria is expected to travel to the UK on Friday in order to undergo a medical and sign a long-term contract at Stamford Bridge.

He will compete with Jorrel Hato for a starting berth on the left side of defence for Chelsea following Cucurella’s exit, with new boss Alonso having already bolstered on the right with the £47m signing of Italy wing-back Marco Palestra from Atalanta, who has impressed on their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia.

Chavarria will become Chelsea’s 11th new arrival overall this summer so far, following deals for Palestra, Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and Harrison Bettoni, plus the pre-agreed moves for Valentin Barco, Geovany Quenda, Emmanuel Emegha and Dastan Satpayev.

A number of exits are expected from Stamford Bridge before the September 1 transfer deadline, with interest mounting in the likes of Pedro Neto, Malo Gusto and Josh Acheampong, while Andrey Santos, Alejandro Garnacho and Tyrique George have already followed Cucurella in departing.

Chelsea have agreed to sell Trevoh Chalobah to Italian club Como, with further centre-back exits anticipated for Axel Disasi and potentially Benoit Badiashile, while there have also been reports of potential loan switches for Mamadou Sarr and Acheampong.

The respective Chelsea futures of striker trio Liam Delap, Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu are also in doubt, while goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is poised to join BlueCo sister club Strasbourg.

Enzo Fernandez continues to be linked with a big-money transfer to Real Madrid, while, per BBC Sport, a raft of youngsters could still leave on loan including Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, Omari Kellyman, Reggie Walsh, Shim Mheuka and Ishe Samuels-Smith.

Standard Sport understands that Kavuma-McQueen has been in talks over a season-long loan move to Portsmouth in the Championship.