Bosnia and Herzegovina's Kerim Alajbegovic featuring at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea missed out on Kerim Alajbegovic to Juventus.Manh Tung - Breaking Media

Chelsea will regret Kerim Alajbegovic deal, his stats are incredible

Senior Correspondent AUTHORITY Senior football journalist specialising in refereeing and officiating; former contributor to The Football League Paper, Late Tackle, and the Premier League; University of Derby graduate. FOCUS Refereeing controversies, football finance and governance, PGMOL decisions, and officiating analysis across the Premier League, EFL, and SPFL. THE INSIGHT Harri utilises a network of officiating and industry contacts to deliver verified, expert analysis of refereeing decisions and PGMOL policy. He provides the regulatory clarity behind the controversy to ensure fans get the full picture.

Published on:

29 Sep 2026, 7:45 pm

Chelsea had a chance to sign one of Europe's biggest and brightest, and Kerim Alajbegovic has only gone from strength to strength since.

During the summer transfer window, the Blues saw an offer of £25.7million rejected by Bayer Leverkusen, before his big-money move to Juventus.

It is understood that Xabi Alonso even picked up the phone to the 19-year-old winger, but it was not enough to persuade him to move to West London.

While he only has one goal contribution in his first five games for the Serie A giants, Alajbegovic undoubtedly would have given Pedro Neto some competition at Stamford Bridge.

Alonso's system means that Chelsea often play with a left-wing-back, rather than a left-winger and left-back, which would have been perfect for the 19-year-old.

And although some may not be convinced by his early start at Juventus, his displays on the international stage should certainly impress.

Kerim Alajbegovic leaves Chelsea in deep regret

Alajbegovic played the full 90 minutes of Bosnia and Herzegovina's 4-2 win over Romania on Monday, 28 September, and caused plenty of chaos.

He created two chances, saw one of his two shots saved, completed 100 per cent of his dribbles, the joint-most of anyone, and made five passes into the final third [FotMob].

Defensively, he was just as important, making five recoveries, winning 71 per cent of his ground duels, and winning two fouls.

He is exactly the type of figure that fits the mould at Stamford Bridge. Sadly for the Blues, it doesn't appear that he'll be moving to the Premier League anytime soon.

With Joao Pedro, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer all ahead of him, Chelsea would have been even more of a force to be reckoned with, but they missed out this summer.

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Who else will Xabi Alonso regret missing out on?

Unsurprisingly, the Blues were linked with an endless stream of players, finally completing deals for the likes of Emi Martinez, Rogers, Maxence Lacroix and Danny Welbeck.

Supporters were certainly left baffled by some of the decisions, especially when there were very strong links to Monaco's Lamine Camara.

The talented midfielder was supposed to fill the void left by Enzo Fernandez on deadline day, but Monaco pulled out at the 11th hour.

Quite rightly, Chelsea were furious, and with Liverpool now interested as well, the club could face further transfer frustrations in the future.

Xabi Alonso Olano