Thomas Tuchel confirms imminent Marcos Alonso exit amid Barcelona links

The Spaniard appeared to reignite his career at Stamford Bridge last term, registering four goals and five assists in 28 matches during Ben Chilwell's lengthy absence.

However, with Chilwell now back in the squad after his serious knee injury, the Englishman has risen back above Alonso in the pecking order.

The arrival of Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion has now relegated Alonso to third choice at Stamford Bridge, and he is due to become a free agent at the end of the season.

Barcelona are now expected to wrap up a deal for the 31-year-old in the coming days after he was missing from Chelsea's squad to take on Everton in Saturday's Premier League clash.

Chilwell was given the nod from the off at Goodison Park and lasted 65 minutes before being withdrawn, while Cucurella featured for 15 minutes in that 1-0 win for his debut.

Speaking to the press after the game, Tuchel confirmed that Alonso asked to sit out the contest due to his desire to leave, but the Blues boss stopped short of naming a destination.

"That is the case, he tries to leave and we agreed to this switch, and that's why it would have never made sense to have him on the pitch today. It's the right thing to do," Tuchel told reporters.

Barcelona have been in the market for a new left-back to provide competition to Jordi Alba and are reportedly set to pay Chelsea less than €10m (£8.4m) for Alonso's services.

The former Bolton Wanderers man is set to leave Chelsea having recorded 29 goals and 23 assists in 211 games for the club since joining in 2016, winning the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Club World Cup, Europa League and UEFA Super Cup in the process.

Chelsea and Barcelona have already butted heads more than once in the current transfer market, with La Blaugrana hijacking the Blues' proposed moves for Jules Kounde and Raphinha.

Barcelona also agreed a new two-year deal with Ousmane Dembele, whom Tuchel was supposedly keen to reunite with, but the two clubs have not been deterred from doing business with one another.

There has been speculation that Alonso could be used as part of a deal to bring Frenkie de Jong to Chelsea, with the Blues prepared to offer another €70m (£59.1m) in straight cash as well as the left-back.

However, De Jong - who remains on the radar of Manchester United - is determined to remain at Barcelona for the 2022-23 season, meaning that Alonso's switch to Camp Nou is expected to be a straightforward transfer.

Alonso would follow Kounde, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie to Catalonia, but Barca saw their bid to register their new signings rejected by La Liga on Friday.

In order to balance the books, the Barcelona board are said to be open to selling Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Tuchel has allegedly urged the powers-that-be at Chelsea to make a move for the ex-Arsenal striker.