Chelsea will back incoming manager Xabi Alonso in the transfer market this summer and are ‘preparing a bid’ to sign goalkeeper Robin Roefs.
Former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Alonso is preparing to take over at Stamford Bridge after being confirmed as Chelsea’s new manager on a four-year contract.
Alonso, who was sacked by Real Madrid in January, emerged as Chelsea’s top managerial target following the sacking of Liam Rosenior last month.
Rosenior only arrived at Stamford Bridge in January following Enzo Maresca’s departure but lasted just 106 days in the job before being moved on.
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Given he has been appointed as a manager and not just a head coach, Alonso will have a say on Chelsea’s recruitment going forward, a privilege that was not bestowed onto Rosenior or Maresca.
The two-time Champions League winner will be keen to bolster a Chelsea squad that is in danger of finishing in the bottom-half of the Premier League this season.
Gary Neville has urged Alonso to sign at least four new players this summer, bringing in a new goalkeeper, two defenders and a striker.
Goalkeeper has been one of the only positions Chelsea have not invested in recently but that could change in the summer as the Blues are interested in Sunderland’s Roefs.
The Dutch shot-stopper has enjoyed a brilliant first season in the Premier League, helping Sunderland not only avoid relegation but climb into the top-half of the Premier League – above Chelsea.
Sunderland signed the 23-year-old for just £9m last summer but now value him at around £50m given the interest from Chelsea and fellow Premier League giants Liverpool.
The Sun say that price tag has not put off Chelsea, who are ‘preparing a bid’ for Roefs amid long-term doubts over Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen.
Both Sanchez and Jorgensen have made high-profile and costly mistakes this season, with a number of pundits of the opinion a new goalkeeper is needed for Chelsea to return to the top.
Manchester United legend Neville, for example, said over the weekend: ‘Chelsea have such an inexperience in the club at every single department. They’ve got inexperience on the pitch and they’re going to have to change their model.
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‘This strategy of only signing young player on massive contracts… no one is saying that signing young players but only signing young players is a big mistake.
‘So the first thing I think Xabi Alonso will do, he will want a new goalkeeper, a centre back and a centre forward with experience.
‘They’ve got some experience in central midfielder with Caicedo, Fernandez and Lavia, so they can keep those together and they’ve got something there.
‘They’ve also got a sprinkling of those fizzy wingers but they need a top centre forward. Joao Pedro is very good by the way, I like him, and Liam Delap is young.
‘But they need a top centre forward with strength and class, they need a centre back or two and they definitely need a new goalkeeper.
‘I think if they can get those four players by spending a couple of hundred million and recycle fee out of the club, Chelsea can become a decent side very quickly, very quickly. They just lack experience and physicality down the spine.’
Roefs, who is expected to be part of the Netherlands World Cup squad this summer, has kept ten clean sheets in the Premier League this season, the seventh most in the division.
Chelsea expressed interest in signing a new goalkeeper last summer and were heavily linked with Mike Maignan and Gianluigi Donnarumma, who of course ended up at Manchester City.
Jody Morris, who was Frank Lampard’s assistant manager at Chelsea, believes the Blues should have signed Donnarumma ahead of City.
‘It looked like we were trying to get Mike Maignan last summer, but it didn’t get over the line,’ he told FindSisterSites.
‘I felt that a club like Chelsea should have been going for [Gianluigi] Donnarumma. It wasn’t a lot of money and he’s not old for a goalkeeper.’
Chelsea’s season suffered another blow on Saturday as Calum McFarlane’s side were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Interim boss McFarlane will take charge of Chelsea’s final two games of the season – against Tottenham and Sunderland – before Alonso’s arrival in July.
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