Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso could leave the club sooner than anticipated after his reported bust-up with Thomas Tuchel during last weekend's game against Wolves, according to journalist Pete O'Rourke.

Alonso has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge when the transfer window re-opens next month.

What happened in the Wolves game?

Alonso started the game at left wing-back, and the first half played out with no goals for either side. Somewhat surprisingly, the 31-year-old was hauled off at half time, and it was subsequently reported by journalist Nathan Gissing that the Spanish international was replaced after an altercation with Tuchel.

The German coach has denied that he fell out with Alonso during the interval, and he did start Alonso once again in Chelsea's most recent league outing against Leeds on Wednesday.

However, this is unlikely to quash speculation linking Alonso with a summer switch, and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently claimed that the £100,000-a-week defender wants to move back to Spain, with Barcelona keeping tabs on him.

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What has O'Rourke said about Alonso potentially leaving Chelsea?

There is still some uncertainty about whether a bust-up did occur. O'Rourke has suggested that if it did take place, it could lead to Alonso departing Chelsea in the near future.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “You don’t want bust-ups with players becoming public knowledge, so it’s not great having news like that coming out of your dressing room. And we all know that Alonso has been potentially linked with a move back to Spain for a while now.

“So, that might speed things up if there’s been a bust-up between him and the manager, despite Tuchel saying everything’s fine now.”

Should Chelsea try to keep hold of Alonso?

It seems that Alonso is edging closer to the exit door at Chelsea, but it could be a gamble by the west London club to let him go.

Tuchel only has one other recognised left-back at his disposal in the shape of Ben Chilwell, who has been out of action since November with a serious knee injury.

Chelsea pinning their hopes on Chilwell making a full recovery and hitting the ground running at the start of next season could turn out to be a risky strategy.

Instead, they should look to make sure that they have a replacement for Alonso before allowing him to leave, and if they cannot find someone to provide competition to Chilwell, they should seriously consider trying to convince Alonso to stay for another season.