Chelsea will look to make moves in the summer transfer window to hand Xabi Alonso the perfect squad to challenge at the top of the Premier League table next season.

Alonso has arrived at Stamford Bridge following a tumultuous campaign in west London, with the Blues finishing 10th in the table, failing to qualify for European competition and sacking two managers in the process.

Alonso will be tasked with steadying the ship and improving the Blues‘ fortunes on the pitch, much like he did with Bayer Leverkusen, leading the German side to an unbeaten season in claiming the domestic double in 2023/24.

Palestra may be joined by Granit Xhaka

The signing of a number of talented youngsters have already been agreed, prior to Alonso arriving at the club, but Chelsea have yet to announce a first signing of the Spaniard’s tenure, although a deal to sign Atalanta wing-back Marco Palestra is understood to be close.

The 21-year-old will become Alonso’s first signing at Stamford Bridge, but he is already working on a second and it may come as something of a surprise.

The Blues have made a move to sign 34-year-old midfielder Granit Xhaka – who made his name in the English Premier League with Chelsea’s rivals Arsenal – from Sunderland.

Xhaka made the move to the Black Cats just last year having been part of that Leverkusen side under Alonso. And GIVEMESPORT understands he now wants to reunite with his former boss in west London.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano explained more about the potential move. He said: “Chelsea have started the conversations to understand how to try and get the deal done with Sunderland for Granit Xhaka and the agreement between Chelsea and Xhaka on the contract is not a problem.

“Xhaka told Chelsea in a very clear way he wants to go back to London, he wants to live in London, he wants to play for Chelsea, he wants to play for Xabi Alonso. So the connections are all going in that direction now. It’s about reaching an agreement between clubs.

Sunderland were planning for next season with Xhaka

“Sunderland are quite surprised. Sunderland were not expecting Granit Xhaka to inform them that he wanted to leave. They were building the squad for next season, believing that Granit Xhaka was going to be a crucial part of the team, but now Xhaka wants to go to Chelsea.

“Sunderland insist they don’t want to sell, they want big money eventually, if there is a chance to open doors, but what I can tell you is that Chelsea are playing down reports about paying €30million or €40million for Granit Xhaka.

“Chelsea’s position would be to pay less in order to reach an agreement with Xhaka, not because the player is not worth that money, but because of the age. So now it’s on the club-to-club, because on the player’s side he’s ready to accept any contract condition, and it’s not a problem. I told you already, personal terms will not be an issue, he wants to play for Xabi Alonso. He wants to play London, and he wants to play for Chelsea.”

Tottenham are preparing to offer West Ham a swap deal in order to complete a deal to sign Mateus Fernandes this summer, according to reports.

Spurs have been in talks with Fernandes and his representatives over a deal to bring the Portuguese to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer, with the Hammers looking for a fee in the region of £85million to sanction a deal.

West Ham are hoping there is a bidding war for the Portuguese star, with Manchester United also heavily linked with a move for the 21-year-old. Both teams are in talks over completing a deal with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reporting that the player does not have a preference over where he ends up.

Fernandes open to Man Utd and Spurs moves

via Reuters

Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said: “The reality of this story is that Mateus Fernandes is prepared to go to Man United or Tottenham. The player is open to both moves.

“The player is ready to accept both projects. It now depends on the club, so who can agree terms with West Ham will get the player, and it’s about the money, because they start at £85million, could be more if these clubs keep fighting for the same player, and also payment tariffs are also important for West Ham, so it’s not just about the fee, it’s also about the timing to pay this money.”

Now, Tottenham are hoping to steal a march on United by offering a swap deal to the Hammers as part of the transfer.

In a post on X, WestHam_Central, in conjunction with Hammers insider ExWHUEmployee stated that “Spurs have offered players to tempt us”.

Tottenham preparing swap deal offer

And one of those players is reported as being youngster Mikey Moore.

The 18-year-old is a highly-regarded prospect at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and enjoyed a fine season away from the club on loan with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership in the 2025/26 season.

The teenager played 47 times across all competitions for the Gers, named in the starting XI for 32 of them. He scored seven goals and laid on four assists and earned rave reviews for his performances out wide.

Many Tottenham supporters are excited to see him return to the club, but with no European football in the upcoming season, he may find first-team chances harder to come by.

And according the the Hammers insiders, Moore has been offered to the east London club on loan as part of the deal to take Fernandes to Spurs.

With Crysensico Summerville another Hammer linked with an exit from the London Stadium, Moore could be the perfect addition to help them get back into the Premier League, while also securing first team experience in England before returning once more to Tottenham.

When it comes to naming the top three drivers on the 2026 Formula 1 grid, there are a wealth of differing opinions depending on the ranker’s persuasion and biases.

To start, there’s the question of how you judge them with there being so many facets to an F1 driver. Do you judge just their current form or their past performances as well? Are they underperforming because the car is slow or because of their ability? Judging their championship standings or how they actually did in the race, crashes, DNFs, the list goes on. Luck versus skill versus top engineering?

Every Formula 1 fan would have a different opinion based on what they regard as important.

However, Alan Permane, the team principal of Racing Bulls, has decided to take on the challenge, but he has snubbed some big names in doing so, including the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Racing Bull Principal Names Top 3 Drivers on F1 Grid

While his drivers, Liam Lawson and the 2026 season’s only rookie, Arvid Lindblad, haven’t been out in front getting the headlines, they have been quietly toiling away and taking tidy points hauls.

However, it is not Permane’s own drivers that he has highlighted, as he has looked to other teams to make his list.

Despite his underwhelming 2026 season with Aston Martin, in a car burdened by the new regulations, Permane has listed Fernando Alonso in his top three.

Permane was involved in Alonso’s most successful period in Formula 1 working with Renault, watching the Spaniard become a back-to-back champion in 2005 and 2006, ending the legendary Michael Schumacher‘s run of five consecutive championships with Ferrari.

The 44-year-old has the most race starts in the sport and is in his 23rd season, but has struggled with his choice of team ever since. At McLaren, in 2007, he finished behind then-rookie Hamilton, despite ending the season on the same number of points as the Brit, who had more second-place finishes. He joined Ferrari at the time of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull‘s dominance, but it was his era in red when he would last win a race, in Barcelona in 2013.

Permane’s other inclusions are the four-time world champion Max Verstappen, and the reigning world champion Lando Norris. Both Verstappen and Norris are also struggling with the new regulations, though, not as much as Alonso.

Verstappen is languishing in seventh, which is an unusual sight for the Dutchman, who recovered to second in the championship after a tough start in 2025. Norris, meanwhile, is in fifth, ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri.

However, Permane is standing by his decision and told Mundo Deportivo: “Honestly, I think I put him [Alonso] among the best. I’d probably put Max [Verstappen] first.

Verstappen and Norris were at the forefront of the narrative last year, but have had to fade into the background as Kimi Antonelli has stormed to success with Mercedes, leading the championship at just 19 years of age.

Permane, while continuing to discuss the veteran Spaniard, revealed how impressed he has been by Alonso’s determination and grit at the back of the grid, still seeing the same speed and ability to extract the most performance out of a car, with his easily adaptable driving style.

He added: “What I remember most about Fernando is his ability to extract the absolute maximum performance from any car.

“These days there is a lot of talk about driving style, that one car suits one driver and another doesn’t. I honestly don’t think Fernando has a specific driving style. And I think Max [Verstappen] is similar, although I’ve never worked with him.

With questions being asked about when Alonso will hang up his driving gloves and if this poor season will have any baring on his decision, it is clear that the Spaniard is still highly regarded in the paddock and his talent and work ethic is not going ignored.