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Chelsea's £60m machine, the bizarre Enzo Fernandez transfer situation and Xabi Alonso excitement Chelsea wrapped their pre-season up on Saturday afternoon and there have been several talking points from Xabi Alonso's first summer in charge at Stamford Bridge Xabi Alonso will be feeling a whole lot better about life as Chelsea manager after the Blues concluded their pre-season on Saturday afternoon. Chelsea welcomed Alonso's former club Real Sociedad to Stamford Bridge and then sent the Spaniards packing after a 3-1 victory in the west London sunshine. It was the Blues' sixth (eighth if you include behind-closed-doors friendlies) - and final - pre-season match of a busy summer for Alonso and his players before the real business gets underway in seven days' time. When Alonso officially started his role as Chelsea manager on July 1, the feeling would have been mostly excitement but there were still a lot of unknowns for the 44-year-old to contend with. While there is still uncertainty around a number of things, Alonso will surely be feeling a lot better now after a month-and-a-half of working with his new squad. FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page The results this summer haven't been perfect. The performances haven't, either, but pre-season is more to do with fitness and gaining a deeper understanding of the players available to the manager. So, with that being said, football.london takes a look at the five main takeaways from Alonso's first pre-season. Fernandez and the bizarre transfer saga Ironically, one of the biggest talking points from this summer is about a player who has played just once. Enzo Fernandez. It is a bizarre transfer saga. A unique one, too. The unofficial deadline Chelsea set gave Manchester City somewhat of an ultimatum, with the Blues saying 5pm last Friday was the final chance for potential suitors to get Fernandez for the reduced price of £120million. If that was used as a ploy to deter Man City, it doesn't look as if it has worked. All the noise coming from the Etihad Stadium suggests last season's runners-up, managed by former Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, will make a move for the Argentina international. Fernandez's first and only appearance of pre-season came in Saturday's win over Real Sociedad when he was introduced on 62 minutes. He was booed by some supporters, while others responded by chanting his name in a remarkable situation in SW6. It is strange to see a player cause so much division amongst the fan base and equally intriguing to see how this saga concludes. Chelsea's goal-scoring monster Joao Pedro finished pre-season with eight goals in seven matches (including the behind-closed-doors friendlies). A remarkable return with the Brazilian forward, whose omission from the World Cup squad becomes more baffling with each brilliant goal he scores, picking up where he left off his debut season at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea signed Joao Pedro for a £60m total package 13-and-a-half months ago - a fee that raised a few eyebrows at the time, but one that now looks increasingly like a bargain from the Blues' perspective. The 24-year-old versatile forward performed remarkably well in his first campaign as a Chelsea player, yet he looks ready to take his game to the next level under Alonso. The prospect of Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers linking up with Joao Pedro in the upcoming season is such an exciting one for Chelsea supporters. And Alonso, of course. Alonso flexibility and excitement It was intriguing to see Alonso use his Bayer Leverkusen formation on Saturday. The Spaniard, who led the German club to an unprecedented unbeaten season in 2023/24, set his Chelsea side up in a 3-4-2-1/3-4-3 system against La Real - a similar shape to how Bayer lined up for their record-breaking campaign. Whether or not he uses the same setup when Chelsea make the short trip to Craven Cottage next week remains to be seen. Alonso used a 4-2-3-1 formation for the majority of the Blues' pre-season campaign but the manager showcased his flexibility at the weekend. Keeping opponents guessing will be huge for Alonso in his debut term in the capital. Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa knows Alonso really well as a person yet will be none the wiser as to what formation the Chelsea manager will run in seven days' time.