The €100m duo fighting to save their Chelsea careers

8 Oct 2026 09:29 BST 3 min read

Cameron Smith | Digital Content Producer

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After a 3-0 loss to Brentford before the international break, Xabi Alonso has been given three weeks to stew on Chelsea’s subpar start to the new Premier League season.

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The Blues began the campaign in scintillating fashion thanks to a 3-2 win over Fulham and a 4-3 victory at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, but their fortunes have taken a turn for the worse ever since.

They were narrowly beaten 2-1 by rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, before a hugely underwhelming 2-2 draw against Hull City, despite going ahead in the seventh minute. Alonso’s side were then thrashed 3-0 by Brentford, who swatted aside their west London rivals with relative ease in the second-half.

Chelsea sit 10th in the Premier League table at the resumption of the 2026-27 campaign and they face winless Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon as they bid to secure their first league victory since August.

The next few months will be crucial in determining the success of Alonso’s first season at Chelsea, and for Malo Gusto and Jamie Gittens, in particular, it may be a chance for them to save their long-term careers at Stamford Bridge.

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Malo Gusto and Jamie Gittens playing for their Chelsea careers

Gusto and Gittens were both linked with a Chelsea exit over the summer, with the former attracting interest from Liverpool and the latter wanted by AS Roma amid talks over a possible swap deal with Manu Kone.

Both players, who have a combined Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €98.7 million, eventually stayed put in west London, but their long-term future is far from guaranteed.

Gusto has played a prominent role for Chelsea so far this season, racking up 386 minutes of action across all competitions and starting three of the club’s five Premier League fixtures. However, that is largely due to the fact Marco Palestra has been injured.

The Italy star was a standout figure during pre-season and having arrived from Atalanta for close to €60m, he is expected to become an immediate starter upon his return to full fitness.

Palestra is reportedly nearing a return to action and it’s highly likely that he will quickly usurp Gusto in the pecking order. That is unless the Frenchman is able to excel over the coming weeks.

After being omitted from Zinedine Zidane’s first squad as France boss, Gusto has been able to work with Alonso throughout the international break, but he is running out of time to prove himself as reliable enough to be a key player for Chelsea.

His form has dipped ever since a promising debut campaign at the club and with Palestra expected to take his starting XI place soon, Gusto faces a race against time to cement his spot in the Blues squad.

Gittens, on the other hand, has been an unused substitute in all five of Chelsea’s league matches so far this season, while he has just 55 Carabao Cup minutes under his belt.

The England U21 international was hooked at half-time during Chelsea’s highly entertaining 6-3 win over Leeds United in the cup and he hasn’t even been given a chance in the Premier League, largely due to the eye-catching form of summer signing Morgan Rogers.

He withdrew from the England U21 squad after suffering an ankle injury against Kazakhstan in late September and while the severity of the issue remains unknown, Gittens needs to return to fitness soon, otherwise he risks being unceremoniously cast aside in January.