Xabi Alonso began at Chelsea with a 3-2 win at Fulham, a goal inside the first minute and a forward line that looked, for one night at least, like the best in the division. He ended it defending his goalkeeper. Those two facts are the season in miniature, and the transfer window that would let him change one of them closes at 11pm on Tuesday 1 September.
The part that is solved
Morgan Rogers, a club record £117m signing from Aston Villa, scored on his debut, created five chances and pressed aggressively despite a pre-season shortened by England's run to third place at the World Cup. He is the first Chelsea player to score on a Premier League debut since Christopher Nkunku in 2023, and the first to create five chances in a first league appearance since those records began in 2003-04. Joao Pedro, left out of Brazil's World Cup squad and back with eight goals in pre-season, inherited the number nine shirt from Liam Delap and used it after 31 seconds. Cole Palmer, left out of England's squad, had a hand in all three goals.
"Great combination, great quality," Alonso said afterwards. "We know if we reach them in good positions, they have this talent to create special things and I am very happy the three forwards have scored." The verdict from the studio was less measured. Carragher called the trio "as good as anything in the Premier League right now"; Neville rated Palmer's display the best performance he had seen all weekend and valued him, restored to that level, at £120m to £125m.