After the way Real Madrid quickly moved on from Xabi Alonso and all the drama the former star midfielder endured at the Santiago Bernabeu, any future meetings with his new employers Chelsea in the Champions League are bound to be fraught with emotions and a palpable sense of a man wanting revenge.
Well, Real Madrid and Chelsea are already going to collide competitively this summer, albeit on the transfer market. Not only was defensive midfielder Enzo Fernandez pining for a Bernabeu transfer before Alonso's arrival at Stamford Bridge, but now Real Madrid and Chelsea are both after the same marquee Premier League transfer target.
According to reporting from Hugo Delom of L'Equipe in France, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have still maintained contacts for French national team center back Ibrahima Konae, who will officially leave Liverpool in free agency this summer after all. But in addition to those two long standing admirers of the former RB Leipzig man, Chelsea and former Bundesliga manager Xabi Alonso are also monitoring the status of the 27 year old defender this summer.
Chelsea are desperate for defenders
The Blues should be as desperate for center backs as Real Madrid, given they have the worst set of defenders of any top Champions League club, which is a big reason why they are actually not going to be a top Champions League club next season. Chelsea not signing center backs ended up costing them Enzo Maresca, who left in a fit and is now set to replace his friend Pep Guardiola for England's most successful club of the last decade, Manchester City.
Ibrahima Konate is a bit of an injury risk and is coming off perhaps the worst season of his career, but a lot of Liverpool players are coming off terrible individual seasons with the club mired in instability just a year after winning the Premier League and making blockbuster signings - like Alonso's former pupil Florian Wirtz in midfield.
Konate's transfer battle is going to be tense. A return to the Bundesliga with Bayern, the best team of these three right now, makes sense. Real Madrid are the biggest club overall, have been in on him the longest, and have some big French names who are friends with Konate.
But Chelsea are the X-Factor. Konate knows the Premier League well, and the allure of the Premier League is second to only the Santiago Bernabeu itself these days. Alonso is a charismatic guy who went undefeated for Bayer Leverkusen, so he could have real pull and make a big statement on Real Madrid if he steals Konate from their noses.
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