Xabi Alonso's clear transfer wish was granted - but Chelsea star now finds himself in wilderness

Xabi Alonso could not have been clearer with reporters when asked in July how many central defenders he wanted at Chelsea beyond the summer transfer window. "Four or five," said Alonso , with a smirk on his face. "Is that accurate enough?" the Blues manager followed up with. It was. It was refreshing, and surprising, to see a manager be so transparent with reporters when asked about the club's transfer plans. Usually tactics are deployed to skirt around the question but Alonso was very clear. FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page That interaction with Alonso was way back on July 31, in Sydney during Chelsea's pre-season tour. Just over a month later, the Blues manager's wish was granted. Chelsea finished the summer transfer window with five centre-back options. Technically six if you count Jorrel Hato , but he has spent the majority of time under Alonso as a left wing-back. Levi Colwill , Maxence Lacroix , Josh Acheampong , Wesley Fofana and Aaron Anselmino. The first four have been Alonso's go-to picks in a back three in the early parts of the season, while the latter, Anselmino, is nowhere to be seen. Chelsea signed the 21-year-old defender in 2024 after agreeing a £15million deal with Boca Juniors. Anselmino penned a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge, with his existing deal running until the summer of 2031. Anselmino, though, remained at Boca for the upcoming 2024/25 campaign on a loan deal. And loans have dominated the Argentine's Stamford Bridge tenure thus far - spending the first half of last season with Borussia Dortmund before being sent to Chelsea's sister club Strasbourg to finish the campaign. However, last season was an injury nightmare for the central defender, who made a combined nine league appearances for Dortmund and Strasbourg. Anselmino ended up staying put at Chelsea and will be with the club until January at the very least. His agonising injury in the Blues' final pre-season tour game against Johor Darul Ta'zim would have played a part in Anselmino not getting a loan move, but he is fit and available for selection now. It appears, though, that the Argentinian youngster is not part of Alonso's first-team plans this season. So much so that Anselmino was not even included in the club's recent squad photo. There is undeniably a player in there. Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said last November that he wanted to keep Anselmino at Signal Iduna Park beyond his loan spell. Ironically, Chelsea didn't even allow the German club to keep him for the agreed time, as they sent him to Strasbourg following Mamadou Sarr's recall when Liam Rosenior was in charge of the Blues in late-January. Thus far this term, Anselmino has been included in one matchday squad for Chelsea's senior side. That was against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup second round on August 27. He was an unused sub in that game - and that was rather telling; if he can't get on in a fixture of that magnitude, when will he? That is the thing. It appears he won't. He's been training with the first-team squad at times, but not all of the time. It will be interesting to see if Chelsea decide to take the Kendry Paez route with Anselmino. The Blues are using Paez in the Cobham Next Gen (Under-21s) side this season in order for him to get some competitive minutes under his belt. So far, there is no indication Anselmino will follow suit. If he doesn't, though, it will be a season wasted in the Argentine's development. To this day, Anselmino has made just one competitive first-team appearance for Chelsea. There are no signs of a second one coming anytime soon.