Chelsea report: Blues ready to sell Marcos Alonso and could land Barcelona man in return

Chelsea are on the verge of selling Marcos Alonso to Barcelona but they could still land Sergino Dest in return, according to reports.

The Spain international has been linked with a move to the Camp Nou throughout the summer.

Alonso is out of contract at Stamford Bridge next summer and the Blues are ready to cash in after bringing in Marc Cucurella to deputise for Ben Chilwell at left wing-back.

According to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Alonso is close to officially joining the La Liga giants.

Romano states that the fee will be less than £8.5m, but there is still a chance that Chelsea persuade Barcelona to include Dest in the deal.

The Daily Mirror writes that the Blues will try to use Barcelona's interest in Alonso to secure a deal for the United States international, who has also been linked with Manchester United.

Barcelona are willing to cash in on Dest, who is not part of Xavi Hernandez's plans for the upcoming campaign.

The Catalan outfit are in financial difficulty and need to raise funds in order to register their summer signings, including Alonso.

Barcelona are said to value Dest at around £17m, but Chelsea will hope to sign him on more favourable terms.

Barcelona were also keen on Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta, but the long-serving defender extended his contract in west London until 2024 last week.

Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel defended Chelsea's summer recruitment after the new co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were accused of panic buying.

"Panicking? No, I would describe it as 'super hard-working and learning while new on the job,'" he said.

"So, it is pretty much going on - the ownership and then stepping into the transfer market is maybe one of the toughest things you can do when you come from outside but I have nothing but the biggest respect and compliments for both Todd and Behdad."