21/08/2026
🗣️ Xabi Alonso ahead of Chelsea’s match against Fulham [A] in the Premier League:
🏥 On team news:
“Danny [Welbeck] can be involved, he just needed a couple of days not training that much because of a little thing.
“We expect him to be back [training] on Saturday. We need to go day by day, but that is the plan at the moment.
“With the other players, let’s see. We will check and assess them, but for sure because of the World Cup they came back a little bit later and will need a little more time.
But they are all available and can be selected in the line-up against Fulham, for sure.”
💪 On whether his side are ready for the new season ahead:
“We feel ready. We’ve prepared the whole pre-season these six weeks with some coming, some players from the first day, or the ones coming later. But the desire, the ambition, the hunger to start the Premier League is already in the building in each training and we’re looking forward to it.”
🤝 On whether Alonso is happy with the squad:
“I’m really happy. I think that we have made many right choices. Very good balance in terms of quality, in terms of personality, maturity, different stages of the career. We’ve got good momentum and we are in a good position I would say.”
👍 On whether there is a significant advantage with no European football this season:
“We’ll have more time to prepare each game, that’s a fact. After we need to prove that we use the time in the right way, that we have enough players in good momentum to approach each game.
“For sure we’ll have wanted it, but it is what it is and we need to use the time properly.”
💯 On whether top four is a must for a club like Chelsea this season:
“Ambition is to be as high as possible. Let’s see where we are in May, but it’s still a long way to go there. So for that you need to earn points and to win from early days and that’s our goal. Time will tell, but for sure the hunger to have success, the ambition to do well, to create good energy, good spirit within the team, that’s the first goal because that helps you be more competitive and win more games.”
(Via chelseafc & bobbyvincentfl - Football London)