It's fair to say that Marcos Alonso is a divisive player at Chelsea. Whilst most fans would recognise his importance going forward, owing to his tremendous goalscoring record, his defensive work has long split the Stamford Bridge fanbase.

Occasionally found out of position and undoubtedly enjoying himself more in the enemy half that in his own penalty area, there is no denying that the defensive side of his game is the weaker facet of Alonso's skill set.

However, that doesn't mean that he's poor at the back. To the contrary, in fact, and Chelsea appear to recognise that, as they seem to rate him very highly. Alonso recently confirmed that he's close to signing a new contract at Stamford Bridge - despite the fact that he still has a few years left on his current deal.

Clearly, given Chelsea's plan and eagerness to give Alonso a new deal, that indicates just how highly they rate him, and that's in stark contrast to how most fans would rate him.

When you think of Chelsea's most important players, you generally think of individuals like Eden Hazard, N'Golo Kante, and even Cesar Azpilicueta. However, Marcos Alonso rarely comes up in the conversation, and that makes little sense. He's started practically every game this season, and he's impressed unanimously. Defensively, he's been far from the worst of Chelsea's defenders, and with 1 goal and 2 assists, he's already been able to make a significant impact going forward.

The Spaniard's ability to pop up with an important goal is also hugely underrated. He was Chelsea's hero when they beat Arsenal earlier in the season, and that wasn't for the first time. He's a match-winner, and Chelsea don't have many of those.

It's time for Alonso to start being talked about as one of Chelsea's players. Indeed, it's time for him to be in the conversation when discussing Europe's best left-backs, because the form he's showing at the moment indicates that he is. Chelsea clearly recognise that, given their contract plans, and it's about time fans did too.