Xabi Alonso Accused Of 'Two Tier' Chelsea Selection On Pre-Season Tour, Club Deny & Back New Manager | OneFootball

Pre-season is almost over for Xabi Alonso and Chelsea, as the new campaign nears. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Chelsea’s pre-season tour of Australia and Asia may have come to an end, but Xabi Alonso’s first ‘problem’ in the hot seat may well be on the horizon.

With five matches taking place in just under two weeks, Chelsea are firmly into pre-season, and the ideas of new manager Alonso are starting to come together. The tour started with 28 players heading to Sydney and ended with at least 30 players on the plane back to London.

Having such a large squad does, unfortunately, come with consequences, regardless of the opportunities handed out. It creates a tricky balancing act to keep everyone happy, which is an impossible task.

Now, according to The Athletic, some players within the camp felt that ‘Alonso had an A and a B team’ because they happened to be training and playing alongside members of the academy and other ‘fringe’ players whose futures potentially lie away from Stamford Bridge.

Alonso opted to rotate his side throughout the matches in Australia and Asia, with the final two matches against AC Milan and Johor Darul Ta'zim seeing two different sides as they navigated back-to-back matches in the space of 24 hours. The stronger side was played against Milan, while the remaining players were played against the Malaysian side.

The Athletic's report concluded by saying Chelsea do not believe ‘a two-tier system’ took place and that everyone on the tour had an opportunity to impress the new boss.

Alonso will be hoping to see departures accelerate before the season starts. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Those who feel there is a divide will have one final chance to lay down a marker on Saturday against Copa del Rey winners Real Sociedad in front of a likely sold-out crowd at Stamford Bridge, the last pre-season fixture before the season gets underway.

Naturally, most of the academy players who joined the tour will either secure loan arrangements or return to the Under-21 or Under-18 levels. The reality is that the overall squad size will have to come down considerably between now and September’s transfer deadline.

The arrivals don’t stop. This week will see the expected return of Enzo Fernandez amid interest from both Real Madrid and Manchester City following his World Cup involvement.

Club-record signing Morgan Rogers is set to return, along with England teammate and club captain Reece James. Jordon Henderson has also been signed this summer.

Malo Gusto will also be joined by his fellow French compatriot Maxence Lacroix, while Rayo Vallecano's Pep Chavarria is set to be unveiled as the club's latest signing.

All of the expected arrivals will likely be starting players under Alonso, so further talk of an 'A or B team' could intensify if departures don’t accelerate in the coming days.

Academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah has joined Como in a €30 million move. Filip Jorgensen is on the verge of joining RC Strasbourg on loan. Andrey Santos joined Manchester United in a big-money move earlier this summer. Marc Cucurella has moved to Real Madrid, and Alejandro Garnacho departed for Aston Villa, initially on loan, with an expected obligation to be triggered next summer.

With just under one month of the window remaining, players including Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile, who weren't included in the squad for the pre-season tour, are still awaiting transfers. Meanwhile, the likes of Liam Delap, Nicolas Jackson, Tosin Adarabioyo and Mamadou Sarr all have question marks over their futures.

Alonso’s task is already set to be a challenging one, and with the Blues not involved in any form of European competition, those who don’t find a move before September’s deadline could provide an unwanted distraction.