Xabi Alonso Hints At Dastan Satpayev Plan After Strong Chelsea Pre-Season Display | OneFootball

Things Chelsea can expect from Xabi Alonso in pre-season. Video: Absolute Chelsea

Xabi Alonso was full of praise for Dastan Satpayev after his goal-scoring performance in the pre-season win over Western Sydney Wanderers.

The Blues secured their first win in the pre-season tour in Australia and Asia in a 6-4 thriller against Western Sydney Wanderers.

Alonso opted to start the game with mostly academy players before unleashing most of the senior players in the last 30 minutes. Joao Pedro was among those changes, and he netted a nine-minute hat-trick to begin his pre-season in the best way possible.

Among the decisions that Alonso made on his starting line-up was deploying Satpayev on the left wing.

The young Kazakh, who will officially join Chelsea when he turns 18 on August 12, primarily plays as a centre-forward for both the national team and his previous club, Kairat Almaty.

He is versatile enough to play from the flanks, as shown by the 11 appearances he made for Kairat as a wide player last season.

Satpayev scored the opening goal in the match after just six minutes by making a diagonal run from wide, taking advantage of the space left behind by Liam Delap, who drifted to the right.

After the match, Alonso commented that he sees Satpayev’s potential as an inside forward.

“I knew Dastan from last year, from Almaty, and you see that he is a different player,” said Alonso about the young attacker.

“He is a goal threat, he attacks very well this inner channel, close to the striker, coming from outside.

“For him, who’s coming from Almaty, from his first experience in the club, he has been good.”

Asked whether Satpayev is physical enough for the Premier League, Alonso responded: “He is really strong, really quick, you will be really impressed with him.”

Satpayev’s versatility could be key to his chance of making Chelsea’s squad this season

There is fierce competition for spots at Chelsea heading into the season, especially among the attackers.

For the striker spot, for example, Satpayev is competing with the likes of Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Emmanuel Emegha, and maybe even Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, if the latter two fail to secure summer exits.

Chelsea are also in talks with Brighton and Hove Albion for striker Danny Welbeck, who they are keen to bring to the club as they look to add experience to the dressing room.

However, there is, arguably, less competition for the left winger spot.

As it stands, Morgan Rogers, Jamie Gittens, and Pedro Neto are the main options for the left wing.

It is also worth noting that Rogers is primarily a number 10 and Neto mostly plays on the right.

Of course, Satpayev may still end up leaving Chelsea on loan this season, which could prove beneficial for his development as a player, too.

Even so, if he were to be part of Alonso’s first-team squad for the season, this would likely be down to his.