 Alonso withChelsea in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcos Alonso Mendoza[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1990-12-28)28 December 1990 (age 34)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Celta | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Alcobendas | |||||||||||||||||
| Unión Adarve | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2008 | Real Madrid | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Real Madrid B | 39 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Real Madrid | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Bolton Wanderers | 35 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Fiorentina | 58 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | →Sunderland (loan) | 16 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2022 | Chelsea | 154 | (25) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Barcelona | 29 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Celta | 40 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Spain U19 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2022 | Spain | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:03, 9 November 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Marcos Alonso Mendoza (born 28 December 1990) is a Spanish professionalfootballer who plays either as aleft-back orcentre-back forLa Liga clubCelta de Vigo.
He started his career atReal Madrid but went on to make his name withBolton Wanderers in England and later withFiorentina in Italy. His success at the latter club ledChelsea to sign him for an estimated £24 million in 2016, going on to win multiple honours including thePremier League in the2016–17 season and theUEFA Champions League in2021. He returned to his country in summer 2022, winningLa Liga in2022–23 withBarcelona.
Alonso made his full debut forSpain in March 2018. He went on to earn ninecaps in four years.
Alonso was born inMadrid. He started his career atAlcobendas andUnión Adarve, also having an unsuccessful trial atAtlético Madrid.[3][4][5]
Aged 11, Alonso joinedReal Madrid's youth academy, going on to represent every youth side the following years.[3] In 2008, he reachedReal Madrid Castilla which competed in theSegunda División B, and first appeared for thereserve team on 22 February 2009, playing the entire 1–0 home loss againstAlcorcón.[6][7]
On 11 December 2009, Alonso was first summoned by the main squad – coached byManuel Pellegrini – for aLa Liga match atValencia. Eventually, he did not make the final list of 18, and his debut arrived on 4 April of the following year as he came on as asubstitute forGonzalo Higuaín in the 90th minute of a 2–0 away win overRacing de Santander.[8][9]
Alonso joinedBolton Wanderers of thePremier League for an undisclosed fee, on 27 July 2010.[10][11] He made his competitive debut for the club in a1–0 away win againstSouthampton in theLeague Cup on 24 August.[12] His first league appearance arrived on 1 January 2011, starting for suspendedPaul Robinson in a 2–1 away loss toLiverpool atAnfield.[13]
Alonso scored his first goal for Bolton on 31 March 2012, the second of an eventual 3–2 away victory overWolverhampton Wanderers.[14] At the end of the2012–13 season, he was votedThe Bolton News' player of the year, winning 37% of the vote: Marc Iles wrote, "...this has been a break-out season for the former Real Madrid starlet. Alonso has grown in stature and become a consistent performer at full-back – chipping in with some important goals too."[15]
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In May 2013, Alonso signed for Italian sideFiorentina on a three-year deal, despite being offered a new contract by Bolton managerDougie Freedman.[16] As he was under the age of 23 when leaving, the former were forced to pay the latter £400,000 in compensation.[5]
On 30 December 2013,Sunderland bossGus Poyet announced that Alonso would join on 1 January 2014, on loan until the end ofthe campaign.[17] He played his first match on 7 January 2014, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win overManchester United in theLeague Cup semi-final first leg and being given thePlayer of the match award bySky Sports.[18][19] He took part in thefinal of the competition on 2 March, not being able to prevent a 3–1 loss againstManchester City;[20] he contributed 20 appearances in all competitions, helping his team toretain their top-flight status.[21][22]
Upon his return from loan, Alonso became a regular, making over 70 appearances in his final two seasons in purple. On 19 March 2015, he scored his first goal for theViola, in a 3–0 defeat of fellow ItaliansRoma in theround of 16 of theUEFA Europa League.[23]
On 30 August 2016, after 85 games with Fiorentina, Alonso completed his move back to England after signing a five-year contract withChelsea worth around £24 million.[24][25] He made his debut on 20 September, featuring 120 minutes in the 4–2 win atLeicester City in theLeague Cup third round,[26] and four days later he first appeared in the league in a 3–0 away defeat toArsenal, coming off the bench forCesc Fàbregas in the 55th minute.[27]
Alonso scored his first goal for the club on 5 November 2016, in a 5–0 victory overEverton atStamford Bridge.[28] He added two more at theKing Power Stadium, in a 3–0 win against Leicester on 14 January 2017;[29] he eventually totalled six goals for theleague champions.[30]
In April 2018, Alonso came under extensive criticism for seemingly purposely digging thestuds of his boots intoShane Long's leg during a tackle in a league game against Southampton. He was not reprimanded in any way by refereeMike Dean – who came under similar criticism – but was later charged with violent conduct byThe Football Association,[31] and later issued a three-match ban.[32] He scored a career-best seven league goals duringthe campaign, eight in all competitions, adding his onlyFA Cup bybeating Manchester United 1–0.[30]
Alonso scored his first goal of2020–21 on 31 January 2021, scoring the second in a 2–0 home win overBurnley and helping new head coachThomas Tuchel to his first victory.[33] On 8 May, he netted the winner as his team defeatedManchester City 2–1 at theEtihad Stadium.[34] He was an unused substitute inthe final of theUEFA Champions League inPorto against the same opposition (1–0 victory),[35] but started and finished both legs of the round of 16 tie against Atlético Madrid.[30]
Alonso scored Chelsea's opening goal of thefollowing season, from afree kick in the 3–0 home win overCrystal Palace.[36] Hecaptained the club for the first time on 11 September 2021, in a league fixture at home toAston Villa.[37][30]
In his six-year spell, Alonso made 212 appearances, scored 29 goals and provided 23assists.[38]
On 2 September 2022, Alonso agreed to a one-year contract atBarcelona after leaving Chelsea by mutual consent a day earlier.[39] He scored his only Champions League goal on 1 November, opening the 4–2 away win overViktoria Plzeň in thegroup stage.[40]
In March 2023, Alonso's former sides Unión Adarve and Bolton Wanderers questioned the legality of the transfer and lodged complaints toFIFA over it; they alleged that they were due compensation, stating entitlement as he was on their books before the age of 23.[5] He made 24 appearances for the eventualleague champions (37 overall),[41] scoring his only goal onNew Year's Eve in the 1–1 home draw withEspanyol in theDerbi Barceloní.[42]
Alonso signed an initial one-year deal withCelta de Vigo on 28 August 2024, as afree agent.[43] He finished hisdebut campaign with four goals, three in the league for the seventh-placed side.[44][45][46]
On 16 March 2018, Alonso received his first call-up for theSpain national team forfriendlies againstGermany andArgentina later that month.[47] He debuted against the latter on the 27th in a 6–1 win at theWanda Metropolitano where he replacedJordi Alba with 11 minutes left,[48] making the Alonsos the first Spanish family to have three generations of internationals and seventh worldwide.[49]
Alonso's grandfather, Marcos Alonso Imaz (better known asMarquitos), played with Real Madrid's first team for eight years. His father,Marcos Alonso Peña, spent several seasons in Spain's top flight, most notably with Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, and both represented Spain at senior level.[50][51]
On 3 May 2011, Alonso was the driver in an accident causing the death of a young woman in Madrid. He was the driver of a car that collided with a wall, killing one of the passengers, a 22-year-old woman, having been driving at 112.8 km/h (70.1 mph) in wet conditions in a 50 km/h (30 mph) zone, with ablood alcohol content of 0.93 mg/mL of blood.[52][53] He faced 21 months in prison when sentenced in February 2016, but his punishment was changed to a €61,000 fine and a driving ban of three years and four months, which had already been spent.[54]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Real Madrid B | 2008–09 | Segunda División B | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Segunda División B | 28 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 28 | 3 | |||||
| Total | 39 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 39 | 3 | ||||||
| Real Madrid | 2009–10 | La Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Bolton Wanderers | 2010–11 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Premier League | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2012–13 | Championship | 26 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 4 | |||
| Total | 35 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 46 | 5 | ||||
| Fiorentina | 2013–14 | Serie A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6[c] | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Serie A | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 10[c] | 1 | — | 35 | 2 | |||
| 2015–16 | Serie A | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 7[c] | 0 | — | 39 | 3 | |||
| 2016–17 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 58 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | 23 | 1 | — | 85 | 5 | ||||
| Sunderland (loan) | 2013–14 | Premier League | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| Chelsea | 2016–17 | Premier League | 31 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 6 | ||
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 33 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 46 | 8 | |
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 31 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[c] | 2 | 1[e] | 0 | 39 | 4 | |
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 18 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[d] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4 | |
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | — | 17 | 2 | ||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 28 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8[d] | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 46 | 5 | |
| Total | 154 | 25 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 212 | 29 | ||
| Barcelona | 2022–23 | La Liga | 24 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 7[g] | 2 | 1[h] | 0 | 37 | 3 | |
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[d] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Total | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 3 | |||
| Celta | 2024–25 | La Liga | 31 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 33 | 4 | |||
| 2025–26 | La Liga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| Total | 40 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 45 | 4 | ||||
| Career total | 372 | 40 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 62 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 493 | 48 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2018 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 9 | 0 | |
Sunderland
Chelsea
Barcelona
Spain
Individual
