Report: Chelsea now decide to block the sale of Cesar Azpilicueta and one of their current players, they’re ‘angry’ at rival club

Reports suggest Chelsea are set to block the sales of Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso this summer.

According to Sport, the Blues are angry with Barcelona, and are now not prepared to sell the Spanish pair to the Catalan side.

It has been reported all summer that the two Premier League winners were linked with moves, as the Blues looked set for a full defensive rebuild following departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.

It appears the moves relied on Thomas Tuchel managing to sign the defensive targets he was looking for.

While they have secured the services of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, the Blues are yet to reach the level of the three reported signings the German is looking for.

Chelsea block sale of Cesar Azpilicueta and Alonso

Barcelona could have themselves to blame for this, with Sport reporting their hijack of a deal for Jules Kounde has angered the club to not wanting to sell either Azpilicueta or Alonso to them.

The Frenchman looked set to finally complete a deal to take him to Stamford Bridge, having seen a deal fall through more than a year ago.

However, the lack of decisiveness in completing a deal has allowed Barcelona to pursue the transfer, with them now reportedly agreeing personal terms with the player.

Despite not upgrading on the pair as they would’ve hoped to have done at this stage of the window, the need to keep the experienced duo is now obvious, in order to maintain depth at the back.

Both first choice full backs, Reece James and Ben Chilwell, require cover, especially after the pair both experienced injuries that ruled them out at different points of last season.

Azpilicueta is also likely to be utilised as a centre-back if he stays, with the current squad not having enough depth to go on without him.