Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Marcos Alonso was left out of the Chelsea squad to face Everton today because the Spaniard is hoping to leave the club in the near future.
Reports surfaced in Spain ahead of the contest at Goodison Park that Alonso, who joined the Blues in the summer of 2016, had asked not to be included in the matchday squad amid a potential move to Barcelona.
When asked by football.london if that was the case, Tuchel "That is the case. He tries to leave and we agreed to this wish. That's why it would not have made sense to put him on the pitch today. He would've been on the pitch otherwise but in this situation, it was the right thing to do."
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With no Alonso, Tuchel opted to deploy Ben Chilwell at left wing-back against Everton and the England international won the penalty, dispatched by Jorginho, that proved enough for Chelsea to claim their victory at Goodison Park since 2017.
"It's always about the win when you play Premier League. A win is a win and it's most important because it's what we play for. It's important to build confidence, belief, the atmosphere, and also to be open for improvement and criticism because there are a lot of things to improve.
"There are also a lot of good things to take away. We have struggled in the last years to steal the points here and win and today we got all three and a clean sheet. From here we go."
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