Barcelona scouting three of Antonio Conte's Chelsea stars ahead of the summer?

According to various reports, Barcelona have already begun their search for players to bolster their squad this summer and were at the London Stadium on Monday to watch Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic.

As we know Luis Enrique has announced that he is to leave Barcelona in the summer as he takes a break away from football and it seems that the Spanish giants have already identified potential targets this summer as they plan for life without him.

According to this report in The Sun, Robert Fernandez (Sporting Director ) and Urbano Ortega (Scout) took their seats at The London Stadium to watch Chelsea beat West Ham 2-1. Both would have been impressed with Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso as both started the game with Nemanja Matic a late second half substitute.

So what of any potential moves for the Chelsea trio? I personally cannot see any of three players leaving the club at this stage as all of them have proven to be instrumental in our change of fortunes this season with impressive performances.

Cesar Azpilicueta as been dubbed ‘The best defender in the Premier League” by the likes of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher previously ahead of his switch to centre back as part of a back three under Conte. It’s fair to say that his transition to the new position has been seamless and he has more than made his position his own. ‘Dave’ is one of those players that gives you a minimum performance of seven out of ten week in, week out and is one of our most consistent throughout the course of the season. I cannot see Chelsea letting him go.

Marco Alonso has been really impressive since he joined Chelsea at the beginning of the season. Despite his laboured style and the factt that he isn’t the quickest, Alonso has adapted to the demands placed on him at wing-back by Antonio Conte and has thrived in the Chelsea team.

Do not miss-understand me here, he does more than his fair share of work without the ball down our left hand side but it’s his willingness to work up and down the wing and his ability with the ball that has impressed the most. In addition, he has added some goals to his performances this year and has almost hit the ground running this season.

As Alonso revealed his past week, Barcelona were looking to sign him last summer but he rejected a possible move favouring Chelsea because of his admiration for our club. If Barcelona come knocking again expect them to receive the same response.

Nemanja Matic is going nowhere if Antonio Conte has his way with an additional I have posted alongside this one revealing that Chelsea are looking to reward Matic with a brand-new contract as a reward for his outstanding performances this season. Whether or not that would be enough for the player himself is yet to be seen if this reported interest from the Catalan side has real substance.

I am hopeful that we can hold onto all three players as they have all played their part this year but I am more than certain, are just as important for next season and beyond as its looking likely that we are to head back into the Champions League next season.