Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admitted after his team's 1-0 win over Everton that left back Marco Alonso requested to be omitted from the squad ahead of the team's opening league game because he desires to leave for Barcelona.

Barcelona have become Chelsea’s nightmare this summer with the Catalans hijacking deals for Brazilian forward Raphinha as well as defender Jules Koundé who were on the cusp of signing for the Blues.

Barcelona also signed centre-back Andreas Christensen from Chelsea who had earlier lost Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid.

Chelsea were however lucky not to concede defeat and humiliation as regards César Azpilicueta who decided to renew his contract despite interest from Barcelona.

With Alonso wanting to join the bandwagon at Barcelona albeit the club are finding it difficult to register new payers for the new season, it could be time to start scouring the market for able replacement.

In continuation of our series on players that could fit into the top 6 sides in the Premier League, we consider Zaidu Sanusi as a good option to make the move to Stamford Bridge.

Sanusi plays for Portuguese giants Porto and has tons of UEFA Champions League experience already in the kitty.

He has similar playing style as the Spaniard who is good at making the forward runs down the flank.

Sanusi also defends very well but like Alonso his bigger attributes is contributing to the attacking phase from the left channel or sometimes coming infield to ensure the midfield are dominant in a 3-4-3 formation.

Alonso's deal to Barcelona is expected to accelerate once some or all of Barcelona's new signings are registered for the 2022-2023 La Liga season and then a possible scramble for a replacement begins.

Marc Cucurella and Ben Chilwell are set to slug it out for the first choice left back role but Sanusi can be a capable back up to one of them while the other is deployed at wing-back.

Izuchukwu Michael

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