Maxence Lacroix: Chelsea ramp up pursuit for Crystal Palace star as Xabi Alonso rebuild continues | OneFootball

The Blues are eyeing defensive reinforcements this summer as Xabi Alonso rebuild continues

Standard Sport understands the Blues are still keen on landing Lacroix and the situation is escalating after his World Cup campaign with France came to an end.

The west London outfit and Palace have held a fresh round of talks over a potential deal, with the Eagles insistent that they will not let him go for a cut price.

The 26-year-old played three times for his country during their run to the World Cup semi-finals, including in the 6-4 defeat to England in the third-place play-off in Miami, Florida on Saturday.

In demand: Maxence Lacroix

PA

While there is no agreement to sign Lacroix at this stage, it is clear Chelsea’s transfer spending is showing no signs of stopping after their £117million move to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa and their £45m signing of Marco Palestra from Atalanta.

Xabi Alonso continues to try and shape the squad in his own image as he embarks on his first managerial chapter in the Premier League.

The Spaniard took over the reins from Liam Rosenior at Stamford Bridge, with the latter sacked in April after five consecutive defeats that saw the west Londoners not score a goal.

The former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid head coach - whose title in the capital will be manager - held his first press conference at Cobham last week, where he declared that Chelsea had “great potential” and “a strong base”, while also revealing that winger Alejandro Garnacho had no place in his plans.