Marcos Alonso Mendoza (born 28 December 1990) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a centre-back or

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and the Spain national team. Alonso started his career with Real Madrid but went on to make his name with Bolton Wanderers in England and later with

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

in Italy. His success at the latter club led

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

to sign him for an estimated £24 million in 2016, going on to win multiple honours with the club including a Premier League and UEFA Champions League title. Alonso made his full debut for Spain in March 2018.

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Alonso joined Real Madrid's youth academy as a child, going on to represent every youth side in the following years. In 2008, he reached Real Madrid Castilla which competed in Segunda División B, and first appeared for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

on 22 February 2008, playing the entire match in a 1–0 home loss against

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Sant ...

. On 11 December 2009, Alonso was first summoned by the main squad – coached by

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Lúis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed teams in Spain, England, Argentina, Chile, China and Ecuador. ...

– for a

match at

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

. 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 a substitute for

Gonzalo Higuaín Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (; born 10 December 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''El Pipita'' or ''Pipa'', Higuaín was a prolific striker, known for his eye for goal, strong physique, and o ...

in the 90th minute of a 2–0 win away to

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...

Bolton Wanderers

Alonso joined Bolton Wanderers of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for an undisclosed fee, on 27 July 2010. He made his competitive debut for the club in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

1–0 away win against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 24 August; his first league appearance arrived on 1 January 2011, starting for suspended Paul Robinson in a 2–1 away loss to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

. Alonso scored his first goal for Bolton on 31 March 2012, netting the second in an eventual 3–2 success away to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. At the end of the 2012–13 season, he was voted ''

The Bolton News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and online every day, it is p ...

'' 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." Marcos Alonso 2015 (cropped v2)

Fiorentina

In May 2013, Alonso signed for Italian side ACF Fiorentina on a three-year deal, despite being offered a new contract by Bolton manager

Dougie Freedman Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Crystal Palace. Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Palace and also had spells as ...

. On 30 December, after the player had made nine official appearances, Sunderland boss

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his car ...

announced that he would join on 1 January 2014, on loan until the end of the campaign. Alonso played his first match with Sunderland on 7 January 2014, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win over Manchester United for the League Cup semi-final first leg and being given the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. He played in the final of the competition on 2 March, not being able to prevent a 3–1 loss against Manchester City; he contributed with 20 appearances all competitions comprised, helping his team retain their top flight status. Upon his return from loan, Alonso became a regular, amassing over 70 appearances in his final two seasons in purple. On 19 March 2015 he scored his first goal for the ''Viola'', in a 3–0 win away to fellow Italians

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

for the round of 16 of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Chelsea

On 30 August 2016, after 85 appearances and five goals overall with Fiorentina, Alonso completed his move back to England after signing a five-year contract with

worth around £24 million. He made his debut on 20 September, playing the full 120 minutes in a 4–2 win away to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

for the EFL Cup, and four days later he first appeared in the league in a 3–0 away defeat to Arsenal, coming off the bench for

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when ...

in the 55th minute. Alonso scored his first goal for the club on 5 November 2016, in a 5–0 victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge. He added two more at the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

, in a 3–0 win against Leicester on 14 January 2017. In April 2018, Alonso came under extensive criticism for seemingly purposely digging the studs of his boots into

Shane Long Shane Patrick Long (born 22 January 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Reading and the Republic of Ireland national team. He also played hurling for the Tipperary county team in his early ...

's leg during a tackle in a league game against Southampton. He was not reprimanded in any way by referee Mike Dean – who came under similar criticism – but was later charged with violent conduct by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

, and later issued a three-match ban. Alonso opened his goal account of the 2018–19 season on 18 August 2018, scoring the 3–2 winner in the 81st minute of the home fixture against Arsenal. Alonso scored the only goal against Newcastle United at home on 19 October 2019, giving Chelsea a narrow 1–0 win. It was his first goal of the 2019–20 season. Alonso scored his first goal of the 2020–21 season on 31 January 2021, scoring the second in a 2–0 home win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, helping new head coach

Thomas Tuchel Thomas Tuchel (; born 29 August 1973) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Premier League club Chelsea. Born in Krumbach, Tuchel retired at age 25 after a chronic knee cartilage injury; in 2000, he b ...

to his first victory. On 8 May 2021, Alonso scored the winning goal against Manchester City as Chelsea won 2–1 at the

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

. Alonso did not come off the bench as Chelsea defeated Manchester City 1–0 in the

2021 UEFA Champions League Final The 2021 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Cup to the ...

. Alonso scored Chelsea's opening goal of the 2021–22 season against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, from a free-kick in a 3–0 home win. He captained the club for the first time on 11 September 2021 in a league match at home to Aston Villa.

Barcelona

On 2 September 2022, Alonso signed for La Liga club Barcelona on a one-year contract after leaving Chelsea by mutual consent a day earlier. On 1 November, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 4–2 away win over

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

International career

On 16 March 2018, Alonso received his first call-up for the Spain national team for friendlies against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

later that month. He debuted against the latter on the 27th in a 6–1 win at the

Wanda Metropolitano Metropolitano Stadium (Spanish: ''Estadio Metropolitano''), also referred to as Cívitas Metropolitano for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium in Madrid, Spain. It has been the home stadium of Atlético Madrid since the 2017–18 season. It is lo ...

where he replaced

Jordi Alba Jordi Alba Ramos (born 21 March 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is often regarded as one of the best left-backs of his generation. Alba started his ...

with 11 minutes left, making the Alonsos the first Spanish family to have three generations of internationals and seventh worldwide.

Personal life

Alonso's grandfather, Marcos Alonso Imaz (better known as Marquitos), played with Real Madrid's first team for eight years. His father,

Marcos Alonso Peña Marcos Alonso Peña (born 1 October 1959) is a Spanish retired football player and manager. Known simply as Marcos in his playing days, he played mainly as a right winger but appeared also as a forward. He amassed La Liga totals of 302 games ...

, played several seasons in Spain's top flight, most notably for Atlético Madrid and

, and both represented Spain at senior level. 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 in wet conditions in a zone, with a

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...

of 0.93 mg/mL of blood. 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.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sunderland * Football League Cup runner-up: 2013–14 Chelsea *

: 2016–17 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

: 2020–21 *

: 2018–19 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* FIFA Club World Cup:

* EFL Cup runner-up: 2018–19, 2021–22 Barcelona * Supercopa de España: 2022–23 Spain *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

runner-up: 2020–21 Individual * PFA Team of the Year:

2017–18 Premier League The 2017–18 Premier League was the 26th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 119th season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at the FC Barcelona website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alonso, Marcos 1990 births Living people Footballers from Madrid Spanish footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players Sunderland A.F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players FC Barcelona players Segunda División B players La Liga players Premier League players English Football League players Serie A players UEFA Europa League winning players UEFA Champions League winning players FA Cup Final players Spain youth international footballers Spain international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy

Marcos Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portug ...