Incoming Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso wants to bring Kobbie Mainoo to Stamford Bridge in the summer transfer window, but it is extremely unlikely that Manchester United will sell their star midfielder.
Alonso will officially become the new Chelsea manager on July 1, as the club’s owners, BlueCo, hope that the former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid boss changes the fortunes of the team.
Chelsea have not been involved in the Premier League title race for a while now and could not finish in the top five this season.
Alonso has been promised that he would have a say in the players that Chelsea sign in the summer transfer window.
It has now emerged that the former Liverpool midfielder would love to sign Kobbie Mainoo from Man Utd.
According to The Chelsea Forum, Mainno has been internally discussed at Chelsea, along with Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers.
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The account, which has almost 265,000 followers on X, has reported why Alonso fancies Mainoo.
Xabi Alonso wants Kobbie Mainoo at Chelsea
The Chelsea Forum wrote on X at 4:47pm on May 25: ‘EXCL | Alonso’s first signing at Chelsea is expected to be a central midfielder, and sources indicate the profile is very specific.
‘Not a destroyer. Not a playmaker. Alonso wants a box-to-box runner with high pressing output.
‘Someone who covers ground the way Granit Xhaka did at Leverkusen.
‘Kobbie Mainoo has been discussed internally. Morgan Rogers as a No.10 option is also on the board.
‘Two very different players but both represent the same core idea, hunger over reputation. #CFC’
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Man Utd will not sell Kobbie Mainoo
Mainoo has long been on Chelsea’s radar, so it does not come as a huge shock that the midfielder is someone that Alonso would like to work with at Stamford Bridge.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea ‘inquired’ about a permanent deal for Mainoo at the end of last season.
The Blues were willing to pay £40million for Mainoo, but the ‘idea’ of swapping Man Utd for Chelsea ‘held no appeal’ to the England international midfielder.
Mainoo failed to make an impact for Man Utd under then-manager Ruben Amorim in the first half of the season.
However, since Michael Carrick took over at Man Utd in January, the 21-year-old became one of the most important players in the team.
Mainoo established himself as a regular in the Man Utd starting line-up and signed a new contract with the Red Devils in late April.
The midfielder said after signing the new deal: “Manchester United has always been my home; this special club means everything to my family.
“I have grown up seeing the impact that our club has on our city, and I relish the responsibility that comes with wearing this shirt. I have the privilege of living my dream every single day, with the same relentless desire to succeed here as when I joined my first training session at the age of six.
“We can all feel the momentum building inside the club. I am determined to step up and play my role in helping Manchester United to regularly fight for major trophies in the years ahead.”
It is hard to imagine Man Utd selling Mainoo this summer or even the midfielder being willing to move to Chelsea anytime soon.
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