Danny Murphy urges Xabi Alonso to block £30m Chelsea star from leaving

Ex-England midfielder Danny Murphy (Picture: BBC)

Danny Murphy says Chelsea could sell ‘struggling’ Alejandro Garnacho but believes Xabi Alonso will give Liam Delap ‘another crack’ next season.

Former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Alonso visited Chelsea’s training ground this week as he prepares to take over the club in July.

Alonso, 44, was appointed as Chelsea’s new manager last month after Liam Rosenior’s dismal spell in charge came to an end.

The ex-Spain international takes over a Chelsea team that finished just 10th in the Premier League last season, failing to qualify for any European competition.

Alonso will hope to use the summer transfer market to strengthen his Chelsea squad but also has one eye on outgoings with several players either seeking or being linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge.

Garnacho and Delap are both in the second category following miserable seasons in west London but ex-England midfielder Murphy believes only one should be moved on.

The pair were seen as shrewd signings given Garnacho is an Argentina international who was once one of the most highly-rated players at Manchester United .

Liam Delap only joined Chelsea last summer (Picture: Getty)

But the struggles that he endured towards the end of his time at Old Trafford continued at Chelsea, where Garnacho scored just one Premier League goal.

Much was also expected of Delap following his impressive first season in the Premier League with Ipswich Town but he quickly slipped down the pecking order at Chelsea, finishing the campaign with just two goals in 41 appearances.

Murphy can see Chelsea offloading Garnacho but believes Alonso will give Delap another season to prove his worth given his unique ‘characteristics’.

Alejandro Garnacho has been linked with a summer move (Picture: Getty)

‘I think any manager coming in has to give players a chance so I think he’ll want to look at them and see what they’ve got,’ Murphy told Metro on behalf of NetBet football .

‘The other thing is that there might not be other clubs who want to take them with the wages they are on or pay the fee for them.

‘That is just the dynamic of football politics and transfers, you can easily say “they haven’t done very well let’s move them on”, but where to, and for how much?

‘I think Alejandro Garnacho has struggled, and the fans haven’t taken to him. A lot of Chelsea’s wide players have struggle to be honest, if you look at their front line, it’s only really Joao Pedro who has done well.

‘If one was going to leave, I think it would more likely be Garnacho than Liam Delap.

‘Delap is a young lad, and he brings some characteristics that Chelsea don’t have. He’s different to Joao Pedro so I think Xabi Alonso will give him a crack.’