Reports: Barcelona set to make stunning move for 27-year-old Chelsea star 

What's the story?

Barcelona had been linked to David Alaba in the last few days and now latest reports in Spanish daily Don Balon claim that the Catalan giants have turned their attention from Alaba to Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso.

Alonso was one of Chelsea's most impressive players in both the legs of the Champions League clash against Barcelona and according to Don Balon, Barcelona's most important player, Lionel Messi, has also approved of the club going for Alonso instead of Bayern Munich star Alaba.

In case you didn't know...

Marcos Alonso was in fine form against Barcelona

Although Chelsea have suffered an up and down season, Alonso has been one of the Blues' standout players and has contributed excellently in both defence and attack this season. Having already made 40 appearances for Chelsea this season, Alonso also earned a call-up to the Spain national squad thanks to his impressive performances.

One thing which might make this transfer slightly controversial is that Alonso is a Real Madrid academy graduate and it will be interesting to see how the fans react if the move does indeed come to fruition in the summer transfer window.

The heart of the matter

According to The Guardian's rumour mill, should Marcos Alonso move to Barcelona, Chelsea might just make a move for out of favour Manchester United defender Luke Shaw. The potential move for Alonso might signal the end of Lucas Digne's Barcelona journey as no club can afford to keep 3 quality left-backs in the same squad.

Real Madrid have also been linked with Alonso in the past few days and while the Blues will certainly not want to lose out on their star man, the wing back might be tempted at the offer of playing in his home country once again.

Rumour rating/probability

5/10

With Jordi Alba in fine form, it looks highly unlikely that Barcelona will be ready to spend serious money on the left-back position. Lucas Digne is also a quality second choice to have and the Blaugrana certainly do not need to break the bank for a wing-back at the moment.

Also, Alonso himself being a Madrid Academy graduate, might prefer a move to Real Madrid instead of Barcelona and it will indeed be surprising if the Chelsea star does indeed join Barcelona in the summer.

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Author's take

While Alonso is definitely a world class player, Barcelona already have the likes of Jordi Alba and Lucas Digne and the Catalan giants should use the funds to strengthen in another area instead of the left-back position.