Xabi Alonso backs Chelsea’s £117m British record signing Morgan Rogers to have an ‘instant impact’ – but sends clear message to England star on his post-World Cup holiday

Xabi Alonso says Chelsea will be busy until the very end of the summer window – and has told Morgan Rogers and his other players yet to return from their World Cup breaks that they need to be ready for their first Premier League showdown with Fulham.

Rogers is currently enjoying downtime after representing England, having signed from Aston Villa for £117million, making him the most expensive British purchase ever.

Speaking for the first time since hijacking Arsenal’s interest to secure Rogers, Alonso said: ‘All the ones who come later because they reached the final stages of the World Cup, they will be ready. We have a few of them so they have to be ready. It’s a great signing.

‘In that position we needed an important player and I’m sure there were not many better options than Morgan Rogers. We were looking at him for a long time. He’s going to be a key player for the team. Luckily it happened quickly and now we have Morgan.

‘You need players who can have that almost instant impact, and I’m sure Morgan won’t need much time to adapt to the club, to the system, to his team-mates. That was the idea that we wanted and to get a top player and Morgan is one of them.’

Alonso was speaking from Sydney, Australia, where Chelsea are set to stage two friendlies against Western Sydney Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.

Xabi Alonso has backed £117m signing Morgan Rogers to have an ‘instant impact’ at Chelsea

The Spaniard admitted Chelsea had been looking at Rogers for ‘a long time’ before buying him

After Rogers, Chelsea are also set to sign Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace for around £52m. That announcement is believed to be imminent.

Asked about Lacroix, Alonso said: ‘We want to build a competitive team. We are in that process. We have great quality, great talent, and we need to know what it takes to compete in the Premier League. We want a squad with the right balance between quality and mentality. Those things need to match.

‘We have to be ready. The market is open for a few weeks. We need to be aware of different positions, different situations, so for sure, we have a plan, an idea, and we need to assess in the right moments. We can’t say what’s going to happen but some things might happen.’

A great deal of Chelsea’s concentration will need to fall on outgoings with their sporting leadership team in Australia with the squad. Once Lacroix is confirmed, he will be the 10th centre back on their books. The other nine are: Levi Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah, Aaron Anselmino, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Mamadou Sarr, Josh Acheampong, Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile.

‘We need to know that probably there will still be some movements,’ Alonso said. ‘We need to be flexible and quick to act. The main thing is that we have a clear idea, a clear plan that we have built. Probably it will change until the last day of the market being open.

‘I don’t want to talk too early about our goals. We want to have a good season. We want to deserve to be as high as possible. For that, we need to work hard, to develop this team, with new players, a new coach, new ideas. So far, we have good feelings.’

He has told Rogers to ‘be ready’ as the England star enjoys some downtime after the World Cup

Chelsea covered the least distance of all the clubs in the Premier League last season. While managing Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso’s side were towards the top of the running tables.

‘We need to compete,’ Alonso said. ‘We need to have good energy. We need to run. We need to work hard. We need to have the sacrifices which are compulsory and mandatory in each Premier League game. To win each game, it’s tough. We need to prepare for that and we are using this time. We will see in the first game.’

Chelsea face Fulham in their Premier League opener on August 24.