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Chelsea have added John Stones to their list of centre-back targets as Xabi Alonso looks to strengthen his defence before the new season.<\/strong><\/p>\n Simon Johnson reports\u00a0that the England international is among the players under consideration at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have not yet opened formal talks or submitted a contract proposal.<\/p>\n Stones is available on a free transfer after ending his successful 10-year spell with Manchester City. The defender made 293 appearances and won six Premier League titles during his time at the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n His availability would allow Chelsea to add significant Premier League experience without paying a transfer fee. However, his salary demands and recent injury record would need to fit the club\u2019s recruitment plans.<\/p>\n Maxence Lacroix remains Chelsea\u2019s priority centre-back target, with talks continuing over a possible move from Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n Palace reportedly want a package worth at least \u00a360million. Chelsea have already held discussions, but no agreement has been reached.<\/p>\n ReadChelsea previously reported that\u00a0Chelsea had been warned to expect a sizeable Lacroix fee. The addition of Stones to the shortlist gives Alonso a considerably cheaper and more experienced alternative.<\/p>\n Stones can operate in central defence, at right-back or in midfield. His ability in possession could also suit Alonso\u2019s preference for defenders capable of stepping forward during Chelsea\u2019s build-up play.<\/p>\n The former Everton player featured for England at the World Cup after his City contract expired. Arsenal and clubs in Italy have also been linked with the free agent, so Chelsea may face competition if they decide to advance their interest.<\/p>\n For now, Stones is one of several defenders being considered rather than the subject of active negotiations. Chelsea\u2019s talks for Lacroix could influence whether the club pursue the England international.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chelsea have added John Stones to their list of centre-back targets as Xabi Alonso looks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19740","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\/19740","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=19740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Chelsea consider John Stones as Lacroix alternative<\/h2>\n