{"id":18431,"date":"2026-07-18T07:24:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18431"},"modified":"2026-07-18T07:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:24:25","slug":"world-cup-winger-puts-european-transfer-on-hold-after-learning-chelsea-want-to-sign-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18431","title":{"rendered":"World Cup winger puts European transfer &#8216;on hold&#8217; after learning Chelsea want to sign him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-377529\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\">  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Chelsea\u2019s summer transfer plans have taken an exciting turn, with a top European talent choosing to freeze his current move following late interest from Xabi Alonso.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chelsea\u2018s winger situation has taken a chaotic turn, with word spreading that Alejandro Garnacho has been frozen out of training and is entirely free to leave the club. It\u2019s a twist for a player who arrived with so much hype, but it seems Xabi Alonso is already looking to clear the decks. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<p>The competition out wide is brutal anyway, especially with Jamie Gittens and Geovany Quenda both battling it out for those starting spots. <\/p>\n<p>Estevao Willian and Pedro Neto are the nailed on starters, but there\u2019s definitely room for another given the raw nature with Quenda and Gittens. <\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"5a9c74ee-9dfb-4c17-80a3-f12c2bcadb5e\" data-story-name=\"Talk Chelsea\" data-comment-id=\"3df06f4b-931c-40ed-aef1-f726083682bc\" data-story-slug=\"talk-chelsea\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<p><h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">How do you feel about this, Chelsea fans?\ud83e\udd14<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/transfer-rumour-2-819x1024.png\" alt=\"Chelsea in talks over Shakhtar Donetsk playing at Stamford Bridge\" class=\"wp-image-377523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/transfer-rumour-2-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/transfer-rumour-2-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/transfer-rumour-2-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/transfer-rumour-2-912x1140.png 912w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/transfer-rumour-2-600x750.png 600w, https:\/\/cdn1.thechelseachronicle.com\/uploads\/17\/2026\/07\/transfer-rumour-2.png 1080w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"A generic interior partial view of Stamford Bridge is seen ahead of the VisitMalta weekender soccer match between Chelsea FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge in London, United Kingdom, on August 8, 2025. (Photo by Domenic Aquilina\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\">Photo by Domenic Aquilina\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chelsea-want-to-hijack-kerim-alajbegovic-transfer\">Chelsea want to hijack Kerim Alajbegovic transfer<\/h2>\n<p>Chelsea\u2019s summer rebuild under Xabi Alonso has taken another intriguing turn following reports that the Blues are actively tracking Bosnian wonderkid Kerim Alajbegovic. <\/p>\n<p>The highly-rated winger was heavily tipped to complete a move to Serie A side Atalanta, but that deal has now been abruptly put on hold after the Blues registered their interest, according to Faktor. <\/p>\n<p>Regarded as one of the brightest young talents coming out of his region, Alajbegovic is exactly the profile of explosive wide player Alonso wants to mold. <\/p>\n<p>The late intervention from Stamford Bridge has completely stalled the Italian move as Chelsea look to hijack the deal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thechelseachronicle.com\/transfer-news\/world-cup-winger-puts-european-transfer-on-hold-after-learning-chelsea-want-to-sign-him\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>grvLoadAnalytics = () => {(function(d,s,i){var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0),j=d.createElement(s);j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=\"+i;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(document,'script','G-E7VRWQHDP6');(function(d,s,i){if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){var e=d.createElement(s);var n=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0);e.type=\"text\/javascript\";e.async=true;e.src=\"https:\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js\";n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);}})(document,\"script\",\"G-E7VRWQHDP6\");(function(){let s=document.createElement(\"script\");s.async=true;s.dataset.domain=\"thechelseachronicle.com\/MFj4XQ\";s.src=\"https:\/\/api.publytics.net\/js\/script.manual.ping.min.js\";document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")(0).appendChild(s);})();if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){setTimeout(function(){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','663509325503632');fbq('track','PageView');fbq('track','ViewContent',{content_name:'World Cup winger puts European transfer &#8216;on hold&#8217; after learning Chelsea want to sign him',content_category:'Transfer News',content_ids:(377529),content_type:'post',});},3000);}}<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google Chelsea\u2019s summer transfer plans have taken an exciting turn,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}