Chelsea are leaking goals at a rate that would embarrass a newly-promoted side, Xabi Alonso knows it, and now the Spaniard has gone back to his old club to find the fix. According to reports in Germany, Alonso is leading the race to bring Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen to Stamford Bridge — and the England international might be exactly what his broken 3-4-2-1 has been missing.
The Blues have conceded 12 goals in their opening five Premier League games — more than any other side in the division — and are yet to keep a single clean sheet this season. Chelsea spent the best part of £130 million on four new defensive arrivals in the summer, and the leak has not been plugged. Something has to give.
Here is how one of the Bundesliga’s finest young defenders would transform Alonso’s side — and why the battle to sign him is only just beginning.
The Story: Alonso Leads Chelsea’s Charge for Quansah
According to Bild and SportBild, Chelsea are at the front of the queue for Quansah and have already made contact to enquire about his availability. Football.london reported on 30 September that Alonso himself is “leading the charge” to sign the 23-year-old, leaning on the strong relationship he built with Leverkusen during his trophy-winning spell at the BayArena.
The timing is no coincidence. Chelsea’s start under Alonso has gone from bright to brutal: wins over Fulham (3-2) and Brighton (4-3) gave way to a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal, a 2-2 draw at home to Hull City and then a humiliating 3-0 hammering at Brentford — the heaviest defeat of the Spaniard’s Stamford Bridge reign so far.
“It’s about 95 minutes,” Alonso admitted after the Brentford defeat. “We have not been able to keep that level throughout these few games in the start of the season, and it’s something that we have to do better.”
The defensive crisis is real. Moises Caicedo — the screen in front of the back line — has played just 14 minutes all season because of a persistent calf injury. £47 million summer signing Marco Palestra has not kicked a ball in anger since arriving. Reece James, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer have all been absent or limited at key moments. And Maxence Lacroix, signed from Crystal Palace to shore things up, has not made the difference anyone expected.
The Numbers Behind Quansah’s Remarkable Rise
Just over a year ago, Quansah was a Liverpool squad player. Now he is one of the most coveted young defenders in Europe — and the numbers explain why.
Since joining Leverkusen in a £35 million move in the summer of 2025 (£30 million plus £5 million in add-ons), the 23-year-old has made 49 appearances in all competitions. Last season alone he scored four goals and kept five clean sheets in 28 Bundesliga appearances. This season, under new head coach Carles Martinez Novell, he has started all but one of the club’s league matches.
His rise has been mirrored on the international stage. Thomas Tuchel has made Quansah a regular in his England squad, and the German did not hold back with his praise: “We need Quansah’s speed and ability to think as a centre-back. Top class at the World Cup; top class in training this week; he was excellent in this game.”
The only blemish on his recent record was a red card against Mexico at the World Cup in the summer — a moment of rashness that suggests the aggression is there, even if the timing occasionally needs work.
Tactical Fit: The Right-Sided Centre-Back in Alonso’s 3-4-2-1
Here is where it gets interesting. Alonso’s Chelsea play a 3-4-2-1, and the right-sided centre-back is the most important position in that system. That player must do three things at once: defend the channel one-on-one when the wing-back pushes high, step into midfield to progress the ball, and hold a high line without panicking when the press is broken.
Quansah does all three. Comfortable at centre-back and right-back — he has filled in on the right for both club and country — he is exactly the hybrid profile Alonso’s system demands. His speed, which Tuchel singled out, allows Chelsea to defend the halfway line; his comfort on the ball lets him carry into midfield when opponents sit in a mid-block.
Compare that with Chelsea’s current options. Wesley Fofana remains injury-prone and erratic. Josh Acheampong has enormous potential but is still learning. Lacroix was bought for experience but has looked uncomfortable stepping out with the ball. As one analysis put it this week: Chelsea do not need another project — they need “a difference-maker to bring calm and order to the rearguard.”
Quansah’s goal threat is a bonus. Four goals from a centre-back last season, plus a reputation as a set-piece menace, would help a side that has been conceding from dead balls while offering little threat from its own.
What should encourage Alonso most is the player’s learning curve. Quansah was not a finished product when he left Liverpool in August 2025 — he was a promising academy graduate with 30-odd senior appearances and a buy-back clause the Reds insisted on. Twelve months in Germany under a demanding coaching culture have turned him into, by most Bundesliga accounts, one of the league’s standout defenders. That trajectory is exactly what Alonso saw up close during his own time at Leverkusen, and it is why the Spaniard trusts the development as much as the raw numbers.
There is also a human angle. Quansah has named Jordan Henderson — now back at Chelsea — as one of his idols, having told Liverpool’s official website: “Jordan is very vocal, has very, very high standards on and off the pitch and he drives that constantly.” A reunion at Cobham would be a ready-made mentoring story.
The Transfer Battle: Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Madrid Are Circling
Chelsea will not have a free run at Quansah. The German reports name three heavyweight rivals — and each has a reason to believe.
Arsenal saw a €65 million (£55.5 million) bid rejected last summer. The player had reportedly agreed personal terms with the Gunners, and Bild claims Mikel Arteta’s side could revive their interest. Liverpool hold a buyback clause worth £70 million, valid until June 2027 — meaning the Reds could bring him home or simply trigger it to sell on for profit. And Real Madrid, managed by Jose Mourinho, are said to want at least two new centre-backs next summer and have been scouting Quansah “very closely,” hoping his friendship with Jude Bellingham might tip the scales.
With Leverkusen unlikely to keep him beyond the summer of 2027 and his contract running to 2030, the reported expectation is a fee of around £60 million — steep, but a measure of how far his stock has risen since that £35 million move from Anfield.
Three Ways Quansah Transforms Chelsea — And One Big Risk
1. The right side finally gets its anchor. In Alonso’s 3-4-2-1, the right-sided centre-back must cover for an attacking wing-back. Quansah’s recovery pace and one-v-one defending — honed in the Bundesliga — would instantly stabilise a flank that Brentford ruthlessly exploited.
2. Build-up becomes braver. Chelsea have looked terrified of playing through midfield in their worst moments this season. Quansah’s comfort carrying the ball into midfield gives Alonso the progressive outlet his system needs to breathe, freeing the wing-backs to stay high and wide.
3. Set-piece balance flips. Chelsea have been vulnerable at defensive set pieces and blunt at attacking ones. Quansah scored four league goals last season — most from dead-ball situations — addressing both ends in one signing.
The risk: the price of a project. Not everyone is convinced. Some Chelsea supporters have been scathing on social media — “absolutely not, he’s worse than Fofana” was one typical verdict, while others question whether he is “good on the ball” under pressure. At £60 million, Chelsea would be paying elite money for a 23-year-old who was a Liverpool reserve 18 months ago. That is the gamble.
Verdict: The Fix Chelsea Cannot Afford to Miss
Chelsea’s problem is not a lack of defenders — it is a lack of the right defender. Four summer signings and £130 million later, Alonso’s back line is somehow worse than before. The Spaniard knows Leverkusen, he knows Quansah, and he knows precisely what his 3-4-2-1 demands from that right-sided role.
Whether Chelsea move in January or wait for the summer dogfight with Arsenal, Liverpool and Madrid, one thing is clear: the race for Jarell Quansah has started, and Alonso is determined to win it. For a defence conceding at 2.4 goals a game, it cannot come soon enough.
