Xabi Alonso has provided a positive fitness update on Aaron Anselmino and revealed the conversation between Chelsea and Argentina that led to the young centre-back’s international call-up.

Anselmino is currently the only senior outfield player at Chelsea who has yet to play a single competitive minute this season.

He made the bench once, when Chelsea beat League One side Luton Town 2-0 in the second round of the Carabao Cup, but it was the last time he even made the team sheet.

Last week, Alonso confirmed that the 21-year-old suffered from “a few injuries” and was not expected to be fully fit for a few weeks.

However, Anselmino returned to Chelsea training earlier than expected and has even earned his first senior Argentina call-up for the upcoming international break. Fellow Blues Emiliano Martinez and Valentin Barco also made the cut.

Alonso made it clear that, just like in Anselmino’s case, he never hinders Chelsea players from representing their countries as long as they are fit enough to do so.

“I never tell (my players not to go on international duty),” Alonso said in Friday’s press conference.

“Whenever a player is fully fit, he’s selectable. When he’s not fit, we try to give the national teams reasonable information to decide, sometimes together, because it’s not good for the player.

“For example, Anselmino. He’s been called up by Argentina. They asked us, and he’s been training better for the last 10 days, and for him, it’s very important to have this first call-up.

“With the others, quite the same.”

Obviously, the initial question was about Palmer’s omission from the England squad and whether Alonso had anything to do with the attacking midfielder’s withdrawal from the previous England squad.

Palmer previously had to pull out because of an injury, but since he played a full 90 minutes against Brentford before the break and 87 minutes against Bournemouth right after the break, there were speculations that the withdrawal was mere load management.

However, given Palmer’s injury record in the past year, it is very understandable that Chelsea are rather cautious when handling their ace.

Meanwhile, for Anselmino, the upcoming international break will be special. He will hopefully get to make his senior Argentina debut and earn some minutes to improve his match fitness after struggling with injuries.

Argentina will play two friendly games against Uruguay on Saturday, November 14, and Costa Rica on Tuesday, November 17, local time. Both matches will take place in Argentina.

It remains unclear whether he will make the squad against Sunderland, but considering Maxence Lacroix and Jorrel Hato’s injury absences, an extra centre-back is a welcome addition for Chelsea.

Aside from Anselmino, Alonso still has Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Josh Acheampong, and academy star Tayo Subuloye in central defence. Colwill and Fofana started as a centre-back pair in the 2-0 win over Manchester United last weekend, while Acheampong was deployed at right-back.