Chelsea: Alonso ‘not informed’ of Cucurella deal as £52m sale tipped to ‘trigger’ three more exits | OneFootball

According to reports, new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso was ‘not informed’ about the Premier League giants selling Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid.

Liverpool legend Alonso recently joined Chelsea as Liam Rosenior’s permanent replacement following his exit from Real Madrid at the start of this year.

It has been reported that Chelsea have lured Alonso to Stamford Bridge by giving him more control over transfers than his predecessors, which has been hinted at by him being named manager instead of head coach.

Still, Alonso faces an incredibly difficult summer after Chelsea failed to qualify for Europe, with the Premier League giants facing having to offload several key players to balance the books.

Captain Enzo Fernandez has been among those heavily linked with an exit, but Spain international Cucurella is the first out of the door.

Cucurella, like Fernandez, has been outspoken against Chelsea’s hierarchy in recent months and was one of their better performers in 2025/26.

And the left-back has swiftly completed a move to Real Madrid in a deal worth around £52m including add-ons.

Earlier this week, journalist Ben Jacobs revealed three reasons why Chelsea opted to cash in on Cucurella.

Jacobs said on X: ‘Understand Cucurella expressed a desire to return to Spain for personal and family reasons.

‘Chelsea worked to find the best solution. €55m+€5m viewed as strong fee by the club.

‘Jorrel Hato’s development last season was also a contributing factor in sanctioning the exit.

‘Chelsea now want to add at least two starting-level players that can immediately compete in the Premier League.’

Xabi Alonso in the dark over Marc Cucurella

Now, if journalist Matteo Moretto is to be believed, Alonso was given no say over the sale of Cucurella.

Moretto (as cited by The Chelsea Chronicle) claims Alonso was ‘not informed’ of Cucurella’s move to Real Madrid before it was completed, so they seemingly did not get the manager’s permission to let the left-back leave.

And a report from Football Insider claims Cucurella’s sale is to ‘trigger a string of exits, with Fernandez, Liam Delap and Tyrique George named as players facing uncertain futures.

Ex-Everton CEO Keith Wyness has shed light on the apparent “dissatisfaction” at Chelsea. He said: “Look, there’s going to be a few more sales yet because those numbers don’t look very good for Chelsea, and they’re going to have to work extra hard.

“Cucurella showed the dissatisfaction within the camp as much as anything else. Chelsea is not a happy ship right now, and they’re going to have to remove some more of the higher-paid players as well to be able to fit those ratios. And they’re doing it, of course, with no European football.

“That’s the big thing as well for Chelsea in terms of the Champions League. It’s a big puzzle that they’ve got themselves into, all of their own making. But yes, I expect a few more to go from Chelsea before the end of the window, but be sure about that.”