Juventus chief statement makes it crystal clear that Alex Sandro could end-up as a Chelsea player in the next few days

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As the Ross Barkley transfer reminded us, the rumor mill is 99 per cent speculation and regurgitation and 1 per cent breaking news and actual action. The following story is the former, especially the regurgitation part. Alex Sandro has been linked to Chelsea since last summer, with left wing-back depth (or upgrades) on the agenda for the club after Marcos Alonso handled the workload there all by himself last season. Alonso has done well in the role, while maintaining an almost perfect injury record and also revealing himself to be a very capable goalscorer, both from free kicks and from open play. His height also adds a useful dimension, reminiscent of a key part of Branislav Ivanović’s impact on the opposite flank for many years. Those qualities are part of what has perhaps held Chelsea back from spending a world record amount on the Juventus left wing-back thus far, though after Virgil van Dijk’s recent £75m move from Southampton to Liverpool means that a move at any of the previously rumored outrageous amounts (£50m+) would no longer carry that distinction. Had Chelsea actually submitted a bid in that amount, we might have actually gotten ourselves an Alex Sandro. But we didn’t and so we haven’t.

Still, rumors persist, especially after recent reports of the player’s relationship souring with Juventus, who have yet to agree with him a supposedly promised contract extension. Sandro’s own form has apparently dipped as well, though he clearly remains a very good player and one who could certainly provide great competition for Alonso, to say the least. But at the end of the day, what has also remained as it was before is the situation itself. Here’s Juve chief Beppe Marotta to tell a tale of zero bids and zero movement. 

 “Juventus’ policy is that if a player asks to leave, we won’t hold him back. We know there’s interest from big clubs in Alex Sandro, but at the moment there are no negotiations.” 

As the Barkley situation also reminds us, sometimes, long-running sagas get resolved in the matter of hours. But right now, the Alex Sandro situation appears in no danger of getting anywhere near that stage.

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