Why the sale of Trevoh Chalobah to Como makes little sense for Xabi Alonso and Chelsea

[p]Called up as a late replacement for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/livramento-valentino/fkessXOF/"]Tino Livramento[/a], after a season in which he continued to impress, the 27-year-old would've had every right to feel a little miffed that he didn't get on the pitch until the very last knockings of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a]'s third-place play-off game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/QkGeVG1n/"]France[/a].[/p][h2]Como agree £30.8m deal for Chalobah[/h2][p]After returning from the United States, the defender would then have had to deal with the news that he was regarded as surplus to requirements by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alonso-xabi/hAcTWKKN/"]Xabi Alonso[/a] and, as such, would need to look for a new club.[/p][p]Fortunately, help seems to be at hand thanks to former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/chelsea/4fGZN2oK/"]Chelsea[/a] ace and ex-Spain teammate of Alonso's, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fabregas-cesc/YXIDwoe5/"]Cesc Fabregas[/a].[/p][embed guid="c87ff91f-4b6b-43c7-b359-3b3c1f9f1b2f" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2084279180632428899" social-type="twitter" /][p]Currently working wonders at Serie A side Como, Fabregas and the club's board have moved quickly to agree a £30.8m (€36m) deal with the Blues, with the deal being worth an initial £25.7m (€30m) plus a further £5.1m (€6m) in potential add-ons.[/p][p]With personal terms also already agreed, it seems to only be a matter of time before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chalobah-trevoh/2N61AJte/"]Chalobah[/a] makes his way to Italy to start a new chapter in his football career.[/p][h2]Superb defensive numbers[/h2][p]Though he was on loan to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/crystal-palace/AovF1Mia/"]Crystal Palace[/a] once before, he returned from South London to become an important player for the West London outfit, so what exactly are Chelsea losing out on by allowing the player to move on?[/p][p]With 4,109 minutes played across all competitions in 2025/26, he was one of the most utilised first-team squad members, starting in 45 of his 52 total appearances.[/p][image alt="Trevoh Chalobah radar graphic - Premier League 2025/26" id="15571e9a-768a-4218-a207-5a31b67b6af6" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="4305806e-5c9c-478c-a2a4-eacce91ddaf7" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]The 246 clearances he made in the heart of the Blues' defence were at least 59 more than any other player; 138 headed clearances were also the most in the squad, and 25 tackles won from 41 attempted gave him one of the highest success percentages at 60.98%.[/p][p]Of those players who had contested 300+ one-on-one duels last season, Chalobah had the best success rate. Some 182 were completed from 313 attempted, for a 58.15% showing.[/p][p]One or two other squad members had a slightly higher percentage, but had contested significantly less than the England man.[/p][h2]Almost unbeatable in the air[/h2][p]As might be expected, his 187 aerial duels attempted were the most in the squad, as were his successes in this regard, with Chalobah winning 109 of his headers, whilst 165 ball recoveries were the fifth-highest across the whole first-team.[/p][p]If there was an expectancy that a weakness in his game might be found in his passing, there too he excelled.[/p][embed guid="adef8b51-ef33-4a51-8756-4b77578cdc62" url="https://x.com/ChelseaFC/status/2054879898641326289" social-type="twitter" /][p]Only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caicedo-moises/tIqaAkDs/"]Moises Caicedo[/a] attempted more than Chalobah's 3,175 passes, and with 2,958 completed, he ended the campaign with a 93.17% completion rate.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/badiashile-benoit/bqJ7TZrU/"]Benoit Badiashile[/a] was the only Chelsea player to top that percentage (93.68), but with only 1,170 passes attempted, his output can't realistically be compared.[/p][h2]Could Chalobah's sale be a purely financial decision?[/h2][p]All of which begs the question of why Alonso would consider allowing Chalobah to take his excellence in all areas elsewhere, particularly when he is at an age that might be considered a player's peak years.[/p][p]With eight players having come through the Stamford Bridge doors so far this summer ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Morgan Rogers[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lacroix-maxence/j5bGWFU7/"]Maxence Lacroix[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palestra-marco/Y3DYaDdP/"]Marco Palestra[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/quenda-geovany/StyGYS8e/"]Geovany Quenda[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barco-valentin/MXX0tUs3/"]Valentin Barco[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/emegha-emanuel/by8Xcffd/"]Emmanuel Emegha[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/welbeck-danny/86PvpO11/"]Danny Welbeck[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henderson-jordan/UFMlUD6r/"]Jordan Henderson[/a]), perhaps the issue is simply a financial one.[/p][image alt="Chelsea's final league position in the 2025/26 Premier League table" id="96e30bcc-09df-4a69-afe2-2982fc299820" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="97ce5ea4-846b-4797-b465-ab26c0f4eabf" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]A saving on Chalobah's wages (£50,000 per week) and a reasonable transfer fee to boot isn't to be sniffed at, though supporters of the club would be within their rights to think such a move is counter-productive to everything the Blues are trying to achieve.[/p][p]You don't just sell your best defender unless you've very good reason to do so, and however you look at Chalobah's situation - he still has two years to run on his contract, so there's no immediate need to sell - it makes little sense.[/p][p]For Alonso, he has to be given the benefit of the doubt to begin with, but if Chalobah isn't adequately replaced, the player's sale could come back and bite the Spaniard.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]