In our latest episode of The Chelsea Spot Podcast, Paree (Owner – @CFCParee) was joined by Orlando (Admin – @0rland1nho) & Rob (Admin – @CFCRobL) to discuss the “one-off” 3-0 loss to Leeds, the terrible signings we are about to make and the need for a DOF, Chalobah leaving alongside Hudson-Odoi, Gilmour’s situation and much more!
Make sure to check us out on all our social media platforms, including our website, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, ITunes, Amazon Music, Google and Youtube.
In our latest episode of The Chelsea Spot Podcast, Paree (Owner – @CFCParee) was joined by Dan (Admin – @danbarkzr_) & Sairam (Writer – @ftblsairam) to discuss the second version of the Battle of the Bridge, as well as the latest transfer news. From a potential boxing card between Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte, to what we have heard on the likes of Zaha, Anthony Gordon, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Armando Broja and a lot more!
Make sure to check us out on all our social media platforms, including our website, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, ITunes, Amazon Music, Google and Youtube.
Another player that West Ham are interested in is Kurt Zouma. Chelsea are believed to value the Frenchman at £30million but that is a figure that West Ham are unlikely to be able to afford. (Football London)
Tino Livramento
Livramento is expcted to leave Chelsea “imminently”. (Football London)
Jules Kounde
Chelsea are prepared to do whatever it takes to sign Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde this summer.
Kounde’s France team-mate is of more interest to the La Liga club but there are still complications in this regard. The 26-year-old Zouma is settled in London and is now subject of interest from West Ham.
“Chelsea want Kounde no matter what. He has been earmarked as a player they have been wanting to buy for the past two years. Zouma is the player that is being looked at to go the other way, but Chelsea are going to try and find a way to get this done regardless.” (The Athletic)
Ian Maatsen
Ian Maatsen has joined Coventry City on loan for the upcoming season.
Maatsen impressed in League One at Charlton and has now stepped up to the Championship with Coventry.Conor Gallagher
Conor Gallagher has completed a move to Crystal Palace that will see him spend the 2021/22 campaign on loan at Selhurst Park.
In a relatively young Palace side, Gallagher will provide youthful experience to the side from South London.
Image Source : Crystal Palace
Hakim Ziyech
AC Milan have maintained contacts with the entourage of Chelsea forward Hakim Ziyech and the player seems tempted by a new experience, a report claims.
AC Milan seemingly have good relations with Chelsea after quick and swift moves with Giroud and Tomori. (SempreMilan)
Andreas Christensen
It is also understood that Sevilla are admirers of Christensen, but Chelsea are looking to keep the Denmark international.
Chelsea have opened talks over a contract extension following the 25-year-old’s fine form in 2021.
Christensen can discuss a pre-contract with foreign clubs from January and leave on a free transfer next summer. (The Athletic)
Antonio Rudiger
Rudiger can discuss a pre-contract with foreign clubs from January and leave on a free transfer next summer.
Rudiger wants to be made one of Chelsea’s highest-paid players. He was also not prepared to hold new talks until he returned from his break following the European Championship with Germany. (The Athletic)
“I was told on 17th July that Chelsea have lined up a £130M bid for Erling Braut Haaland to ‘test the waters’ of BVB which will be offered imminently. However, it is said that the offer would be kept in secret till BVB finish the transfer of Malen so that PSV don’t take advantage of the bid.
The ‘Team Haaland’ as Jan Aage Fjortoft says are tempted by Chelsea’s offer. They see Chelsea as a significant step in improving Haaland’s game with the chances Tuchel’s team create game after game. They are also excited about the financial package Chelsea offers: Haaland can get his wages tripled (£100k/week to £300k/week) while Alfie and Raiola gets €40M which will be settled from personal cheques by Roman Abramovich (this will be accounted outside Chelsea’s transfer budget).
If the bid does get rejected by Borussia Dortmund, then I’m told Chelsea will go in with another bid which will be £130m + £20m add on bonuses. The bonuses include: * £5M for winning PL * £5M for winning CL * £5M for fixed number of appearances at Chelsea * £5M for fixed number of goals scored at Chelsea The feeling inside CFC is that they are confident they will land Erling Haaland this summer.” (CFCNewspage)Ross Barkley
Newcastle also hold an interest in other box-to-box midfielders including Ross Barkley. (The Athletic)
Conor Gallagher
Newcastle also are interested in Conor Gallagher as they search for a new box-to-box midfielder. (The Athletic)
Crystal Palace are ‘optimistic’ of winning the loan race ahead of Leeds United and Newcastle United to sign Conor Gallagher. (Alan Nixon)
Leeds United and Crystal Palace hope to find out next week whether Chelsea are willing to let Conor Gallagher go on loan.
Chelsea view him as part of their long-term plans and are unwilling to sell him permanently, but could sanction a loan to give him more top-flight experience. (Daily Mail)
Henry Lawrence
Chelsea youngster Henry Lawrence is set to complete a loan move to AFC Wimbledon tomorrow.
It will initially be a six month loan but likely be extended in January.
He had offers from Wigan and other teams in the Championship but he will get good playing time at the Dons. (Nizaar Kinsella)
Tammy Abraham
Chelsea are willing to let Abraham go out on loan this summer with a pathway to a permanent deal being on the cards later on.
Arsenal are willing to match the 23-year-old’s wage demands of £125,000 a week as Arteta looks to strengthen his team for the upcoming season. (Daily Express)
Davide Zappacosta
Fiorentina are chasing a permanent deal for Davide Zappacosta.
The Viola see Zappacosta as a replacement for Pol Lirola. (Tribal Football)
Chelsea have been the talk of the football world this summer following an extremely ambitious, decisive period of transfer signings. Over the past calendar year, the club welcomed Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic to the fold permanently, and followed that up with Hakim Ziyech putting pen to paper in the late winter just 3 months after THAT comeback against Ziyech’s Ajax. Of course, Frank Lampard and Co. then kicked off summer with a bang, bringing Timo Werner aboard and in recent weeks finishing off long-rumoured signings Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz as well as a cheeky Thiago Silva stop along the way. The club were put in a position to bring these players in however due to the impressive form of a handful of academy debutants, who played a major part in a 4th place finish. That was just the tip of the academy iceberg though, as this offseason we welcomed back another handful of young players loaned off to the far stretches of Europe. Can they have a similar impact to their counterparts and take Chelsea even further this year?
It’s no secret that Chelsea’s 2019-2020 campaign was impressive, but at the same time it was also unimpressive. The team regularly lacked a central defender with either positional awareness, aerial ability, the ability to actually make a tackle or all three – arguably bar Kurt Zouma. With Antonio Rudiger’s football agent talents on full display this summer, he is sure to have added another year onto his Chelsea lifeline at the very least despite the number of ghastly high profile errors he made last season. However, Rudiger’s friends Timo Werner and Kai Havertz aren’t the only talents coming from the Bundesliga to Chelsea.
Enter Ethan Ampadu, who for the third consecutive offseason has been pegged by Chelsea fans as a potential breakout star in defence and in midfield. This time however, Ampadu has yet again found himself out on loan, this season at Sheffield United with manager Chris Wilder running the show. Besides Ethan Ampadu in defence, returning are Jake Clarke-Salter and Matt Miazga. Who? The soon-23 year old and 25 year old center halves each made their senior debut in that 2015-16 season under Guus Hiddink, and only Miazga played in any senior Chelsea match since then (just one additional appearance). With 3 senior Chelsea appearances between them in 4 seasons, it’s probably a make or break time as the Loan Army XI is going to be welcoming some new faces. Miazga filled in for Cahill and Terry pretty admirably for a then 20 year old from the MLS, and Terry pegged the younger Clarke-Salter as his potential replacement and also remarked that he was a vocal player. While that could still happen, Clarke-Salter is now buried behind Zouma, Silva, Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and even Fikayo Tomori.
In addition to our defensive struggles, Frank Lampard has also had to battle with inconsistency in the midfield from time to time. With some ho-hum impact-less performances from Jorginho and N’golo Kante either injured or at times giving his best headless chicken, the base of the midfield is in a tepid situation at best. With this summer bringing about Declan Rice rumors, West Ham have been sure to protect their young star with a hefty rumored £80 million price tag. While Rice is a promising midfielder with the versatility to play at the back as well as the intangibles of a captain, the price tag does not suit a team who have already spent a fortune since the late winter while upgrading the team much more than Rice ever would. Chelsea might have better luck trying out other local options, which include the returning Tiemoue Bakayoko and Conor Gallagher, injury prone Ruben Loftus-Cheek or the recovering Billy Gilmour as understudies to either Kante or Jorginho. It seems highly unlikely that Frank Lampard would trust young midfielders to command the base of the midfield in such a promising and high pressure second season at Chelsea, although Conor Gallagher does have much more experience than the higher regarded Gilmour. Bakayoko isn’t a sexy option by any means and hasn’t always looked the part in a Chelsea shirt but hasn’t really played under tactics that fit his style. And, when comparing his 16/17 metrics to Rice’s 19/20, there isn’t a whole lot that separates the two. With the addition of Kai Havertz, a pivot of a more disciplined and refined Bakayoko and a healthy Kante could still be devastating to play against. With a move to Milan on the cards, he might not be seen in a Chelsea shirt again but I maintain that he’s at least worth a shot if he stays with us longer than anticipated. Additionally, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is more known for his power and offensive prowess, but giving him a try at the base of a midfield with some coaching might be a good move for him at this stage in his career in a bid to stay healthy and still play. The oft-injured midfielder would bring size and more technical ability than Kante and Jorginho combined and perhaps give Chelsea a little more kick in the final third, as well as someone who can win in the air and on the ground.
It’s been an exciting and also unnerving period for us fans after all the transfers and newly lofted expectations along with the uncertainty of some of the others on the current squad. However, it’s important to remember that even the greatest managers, such as our own Special One, and some of the greatest sides ever, never won without a little bit of experimentation along the way.
Questions have been flying around on social media over what happens to the midfield next year: Who’s starting? Who’s going to be left out? Who should we sell? Well, in this article, I try and answer all of the questions. The key word there is ‘try’, because if I’m being totally honest, we don’t have a clue what Frank Lampard is going to do.
Let’s have a look at the midfield. In the midfield for next season, we have a hugely talented list: Kovacic, Kante, Jorginho, Mount, Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech, Barkley, Gilmour, Ampadu, Gallagher and Anjorin. Eleven midfielders who Frank has to somehow entertain, whether that is on loan or kept, or even to be sold. Let’s go through each player…
Kovacic. Most people would say this season’s best player for Chelsea. He has just been outstanding, and his progress from Sarri to Lampard has been unbelievable to watch. We can always rely on the Croatian midfielder, with him even picking up a few goals, something which Chelsea fans never thought they would see. He’s guaranteed to stay next season and should be starting almost every single game.
Kante. The French midfielder has struggled this season especially with injuries, and this has led to many Chelsea fans debating whether it could be worth trying to cash out in the Summer. There is no doubt he has got tons of talent and on his day is one of the best midfielders in the world, but at the age of 29, he may be coming towards the latter stages of his career. I assume that he will still be here next season, but we never know what the board will do.
Jorginho. Another very difficult situation with the Italian. He has turned the fans’ perspective of himself in just a season, with boos turning into cheers. However, despite improving in the Premier League this season, he has still struggled a bit and hasn’t managed to hit the form which he struck at the beginning of the season. With being a vocal leader on and off the pitch, as well as taking the vice-captaincy role, I assume he will also stay next season at Chelsea.
Image Source: Getty Images
Mount. The English midfielder has certainly had ups and downs this season, showing impressive signs for a first season in the English First Division. His form dipped after playing many games through injury and having a long wait for a goal, but he managed to get through the season and started to regain his best form after the international break. He is definitely going nowhere this season.
Loftus-Cheek. Unfortunately, Ruben was just getting back into the groove with training, but didn’t manage to get an appearance for the first team this season. His injury problems are something to keep an eye on, with him hitting the age of 24 with only 70 Premier League appearances under his belt. I certainly would keep him, as he’s such a talented player, and Lampard surely can’t wait to include him into the squad as one of the more experienced players.
Ziyech. Our new Moroccan signing is someone who Chelsea fans cannot wait to see play at the Bridge, but his debut may be delayed as we currently do not know what is going to happen with the COVID situation. We are also unaware whether he has been signed to play on the wing or in the midfield, but his versitality is something we will enjoy. Obviously, he’ll be here next season, and we cannot wait to see him play in the Blue shirt.
Image Source: GiveMeSport
We’re already six midfielders in, and personally I feel that they will all stay at the club. The average club keeps aroudn 6-7 midfielders, so these next few choices will be very interesting…
Barkley. Ross has certainly had more downs than ups this season, with off the pitch mentality certainly causing problems in the media. However, Lampard has praised his hard-work in the last few months and is a big fan of the English midfielder. He is one who certainly has the talent, yet is so frustrating because we only see this talent a couple times a season. I love the player, but personally for me, it’ll be time to say goodbye.
Gilmour. The Scottish Iniesta, as they say. Recently impressing the world with two Man of the Match Performances in a row against Liverpool and Everton, he certainly will be here next season. The perfect young player to have, who can play almost anywhere in the midfield, as well as having the mentality and ability to go right to the very top.
Ampadu. The Welshman has received little game time at his loan spell in Germany, leaving many Chelsea fans disapppointed. However, he definitely would have learnt many new skills with top players around him, and we all know the immense talent he has. For me, he is one who should stay at the club and we would have seen a real improvement in his game, showing glimpses of what he can be with his Champions League performance against Spurs.
Gallagher. Conor is a player who I have doubted many times over the last few seasons, and was shocked to see him pick up the Player of the Season for the academy last year. However, he has proved me completely wrong, and shown huge signs at both Charlton and Swansea. Saying that, I would still try and send him on loan to a Premier League club next season where he can get some proper experience, especially as he may struggle to break into the Chelsea first team next season.
Image Source: Getty Images
Anjorin. And finally, Tino. The Chelsea Spot understand that the plan has always been for Anjorin to stay at the club and try and breakthrough directly like Hudson-Odoi and Gilmour have done. However, things may have obviously changed in the last few months since we heard this news, and it may best for him to go try and get some gametime, as we all know he is way too good for youth football.
I haven’t gone into too much detail on some of the players as possible, as in the next few days there will be more detailed articles on The Chelsea Spot on what to do with Kante and Barkley, so make sure to follow us on all our social media platforms!
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