Chelsea close in on £43m Marco Palestra as Xabi Alonso’s first signing

Chelsea It will make Atalanta defender Marco Palestra the first signing for new manager Xabi Alonso for a fee in excess of £43 million.

Palestra was expected to join Italian champions Inter Milan after a successful loan spell at Cagliari last season, where he was named Serie A’s best defender.

But after 24 hours of talks, the Premier League club has emerged as the 21-year-old’s preferred destination, with sources in Italy claiming Inter could not meet Chelsea’s offer on personal terms.

Palestra, who made his international debut for Italy this year, is seen as an exciting option who can play on either wing at Stamford Bridge, both as a wing-back and as a more traditional full-back.

This is also an early sign of the influence of new coach Alonso.

It is understood that the player, who was appointed as technical director instead of head coach, approved of this move; This is the first major signing made by the club since the former Spain midfielder replaced Liam Rosenior in May.

Alonso will officially join Chelsea on July 1 but remains in regular contact with the club hierarchy regarding incoming and outgoing transfers.

Chelsea are also targeting at least one centre-back as well as a midfielder (likely to be Strasbourg’s Valentin Barco), with multiple sources suggesting a deal is close. There is another versatile attacker on the list.

A number of players, including £40million winger Geovany Quenda from Sporting and Strasbourg striker Emmanuel Emegha, are also scheduled to move to West London this summer, with deals completed last year.

While Chelsea is trying to narrow down its squad after a turbulent season in which it finished 10th in the Premier League and failed to qualify for Europe, other transfers are expected to follow Marc Cucurella’s transfer to Real Madrid.