Xabi Alonso’s latest Chelsea signing is 28-year-old left-back Pep Chavarria (£5.0m), who arrives from Rayo Vallecano for an initial £16.3 million.
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On paper, he could be Marc Cucurella’s replacement, so Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers will be interested to know if he’s either an attacking threat or a regular collector of defensive contribution (DefCon) actions.
CAREER SO FAR
Rather than coming through a Spanish academy like many others, Chavarria is a late-bloomer who began in the fourth tier at Figueres, gradually moving up the leagues via Olot and then Real Zaragoza.
| STARTS (SUB) | GOALS | ASSISTS | DEFCON PER 90 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Rayo Vallecano | La Liga | 29 (4) | 1 | 2 | 6.21 |
| 2024/25 | Rayo Vallecano | La Liga | 28 (6) | 0 | 1 | 6.20 |
| 2023/24 | Rayo Vallecano | La Liga | 12 (10) | 1 | 1 | 4.33 |
| 2022/23 | Rayo Vallecano | La Liga | 2 (14) | 0 | 2 | 3.79 |
In fact, he didn’t make his La Liga debut until Andoni Iraola snapped him up at the age of 24.
“I’m a player that loves this intensity, one-to-one battles – I love it. Xabi [Alonso] was a top player, and now, for me, he’s one of the best managers in the world. I spoke to him, and he explained his ideas and how I can fit into that. He wants my intensity, those one-on-ones, box-to-box attacking and defending runs – and this is how I play.” – Pep Chavarria
Chavarria was initially a back-up player, but became more important over the last couple of campaigns. After helping the small Madrid-based club achieve back-to-back eighth-placed finishes and reach last season’s Conference League final, it’s time for a new chapter.
UNDERLYING NUMBERS
| Season | Apps | Mins | Shots | Shots in the box | Chances created |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/2026 | 33 | 2682 | 18 | 5 | 27 |
| 2024/2025 | 34 | 2584 | 11 | 6 | 24 |
| 2023/2024 | 23 | 1166 | 11 | 6 | 13 |
| 2022/2023 | 16 | 357 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
The lack of goal threat is evident in the shot tallies, especially those closer to goal.
Chavarria’s chance creation is a bit more noteworthy, although his minutes-per-key-pass average of 99.3 last season would only just have squeezed into the top 30 FPL defenders who made at least 10 appearances.
ANY FPL POTENTIAL?
Chelsea’s early run ranks in the middle of our free-for-all Fixture Ticker.
Right now, FPL managers are hardwired not to pick a defender from the Blues. They lost eight of last season’s closing 11 matches and didn’t register any clean sheets after Gameweek 22.
But it’ll be interesting to see how much of a difference Alonso makes.
The formation will be intriguing, and it could change regularly. The wing-back system he has previously favoured was in evidence in recent friendlies against AC Milan and Johor Darul Ta’zim. However, it was a back four in the preceding kickabouts.
Let’s see what he does against Real Sociedad this weekend.
“We want to be versatile in our approach and system. I think we have the players to adapt to different ones because they understand how to support each other. The principles are the same but the movements can change; we need to be unpredictable, we want to be flexible, and we want to have a threat.” – Xabi Alonso
In any event, Marco Palestra (£5.5m) has been deployed in both full-back/wing-back positions. Jorell Hato (£4.5m) is also an option at left-back, if it is a back four. So, Chavarria is very much a wait-and-see FPL asset.
Historically low on attacking returns and DefCon actions per 90, he doesn’t carry much appeal at present. If he a) establishes himself as first choice and b) Alonso uses him as wing-back, unearthing some dormant goal threat, then that obviously changes.
