Chelsea
‘What a player’: Some Chelsea fans praise ‘masterclass’ performance of €40m-rated star
A selection of Chelsea fans on Twitter heaped praise on midfielder Jorginho, who produced a sublime midfield display during Italy’s 2-1 win over Belgium at Euro 2020. The Azzurri booked their spot in the last four of the tournament with goals from Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne. Romelu Lukaku scored from the spot for Belgium. Jorginho was one of the many standout performers for the Azzurri on the night. He was splendid with his distribution with 71 of his 72 attempted passes completed. The 29-year-old also won five ground duels, and lost possession on just three occasions. Some of the Blues supporters were delighted with his near flawless performance for the national team, and here are a few reactions on Twitter. The last time Jorginho lost a game with Italy was in 2018 vs Portugal. A ...
Chelsea confirm midfielder’s exit after 16-year stint
Chelsea have confirmed that midfielder Luke McCormick has completed a permanent transfer to AFC Wimbledon. McCormick joined the Blues as a six-year-old and subsequently progressed through the ranks alongside Mason Mount and Trevor Chalobah. He was part of the youth team side that won a clean sweep of three domestic trophies under Jody Morris in 2016/17. He also starred on the European stage, making a significant impact for the club’s U19 team in the UEFA Youth League. He has spent the last two seasons on loan deals with Shrewsbury Town and Bristol Rovers, and will now be eager to cement a regular place with Wimbledon. SL View McCormick was a standout performer for Bristol Rovers last season but was unable to prevent them from sliding into League 2. His willingness to put in crunching chall...
Chelsea ditch Mourinho reject who became a Premier League winner
Victor Moses has ended his miserable spell at Chelsea by completing a permanent move to Spartak Moscow. According to the club’s official website, Moses has agreed to sign for Spartak after enjoying a successful loan spell with them last season. Moses made just 128 appearances for the Blues, although he did collect Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League winners medals during his time with the club. SL View Plenty was expected of Moses when he joined Chelsea from Wigan Athletic in 2012, but he largely failed to live up to expectations. Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge the following year didn’t help Moses, with the Portuguese quickly discarding the player. Loan spells at Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham United didn’t work out, but Antonio Conte’s arrival as manager proved to be a...
Chris Sutton’s two-word reaction as midfielder snubs Rangers for EPL loan move
Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour has joined Norwich City on a season-long loan, with the newly promoted side pipping Rangers and co to his signature. According to the Daily Record, Light Blues boss Steven Gerrard was interested in taking the 20-year-old on a one-year deal if Chelsea agreed to a temporary exit. Although Rangers could have offered Gilmour the chance to play in the Champions League next season, with only two qualifying rounds between them and a place in the group stages of Europe’s elite competition. However, Chelsea preferred to keep him in the Premier League, and the Scottish Premiership giants would have to look elsewhere for midfield reinforcements. Celtic legend Chris Sutton appears to have mocked Rangers for missing out on their academy graduate, reacting thus on Twitte...
Mikel Obi leaves Stoke City, joins Kuwaiti club
Former Nigeria captain John Obi Mikel has joined Al Kuwait SC, the Kuwaiti Premier League side on a year’s deal. The announcement was made by the club on Thursday, after Mikel and Stoke City cancelled their contract by mutual consent. Mikel’s new club finished third in the division last season behind Al-Qadsia and champions Al-Arabi. The Nigerian spent 11 years and made 372 appearances across all competitions for Chelsea. After Chelsea he played for Trabzonspor and Middlesbrough, before heading to China to spend two years with Tianjin Teda in the Chinese Super League. Mikel returned to UK in August 2020 to play Stoke City. Stoke boss Michael O’Neill told the club’s official website: ‘Although John triggered the second year of his contract, we always had an agreement in place whereby we wou...
Five players Chelsea could offload to fund record deal for Erling Haaland – SL View
Chelsea are lining up a move for an elite striker this summer, and they have been heavily linked with the services of Borussia Dortmund star Erling Braut Haaland. Dortmund are reluctant to lose the main striker this summer, particularly after sanctioning the departure of Jadon Sancho to Manchester United. However, Haaland has a £68 million buy-out clause which becomes active in June 2022, and it is claimed that Dormund could be tempted by a significant bid. The Bundesliga outfit reportedly value Haaland at £149 million. The Blues are seriously interested, but may need to recoup funds from player sales. We look at five players, who could be offloaded to recoup funds for Haaland’s transfer. Tammy Abraham Abraham ended last season as the club’s joint-top-scorer with 12 goals across all c...
Rangers reportedly land seven -figure windfall after clause in 2017 deal got activated
Rangers have earned themselves an extra £1 million from the deal that took Scotland international starlet Billy Gilmour to Chelsea in July 2017. The Scottish Premiership reigning champions sold the midfielder for £500,000 at the time, and according to The Scottish Sun, certain clauses were included in the deal which has now landed the Ibrox outfit a seven-figure sum. Gilmour made his Premier League debut under former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard in August 2019, and that activated the £1m windfall, with more still to come through appearances and success. Rangers also insisted on a sell-on clause in the deal and would be landing themselves more windfall going forward should the 20-year-old get sold. Sportslens View Gilmour has handed Rangers a major financial boost as manager Steven Gerrard lo...
2 England, 1 Belgium, 2 Switzerland – Best XI from the round of 16
As the group stages came to a close, the knockout rounds of Euro 2020 begun, and the round of 16 certainly didn’t disappoint. We’ve had everything you could possibly want. Penalty shootouts, giant killings, last gasp winners, eight-goal thrillers, screamers, VAR drama – it’s what we live for as football fans. Here are our picks for the best XI from the round of 16. Jordan Pickford (GK) – England’s goalkeeper position has been the subject of debate for a while now, with many of the fans preferring the likes of Nick Pope and Dean Henderson over the Everton stopper. However, Gareth Southgate stuck with Pickford and has been rewarded for his faith. Against Germany, the 27-year-old was on top of his game, making crucial saves to deny Timo Werner and Kai Havertz at 0-0. Cesar Azpilicueta (R...
Barcelona could miss out on Chelsea star as Thomas Tuchel wants to keep him
Barcelona could miss out on signing defender Marcos Alonso with Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel keen on keeping him at all costs, Mundo Deportivo reports. The Blaugrana are likely to sell Junior Firpo in the coming days, and it was recently claimed that they could land Alonso as a replacement. The Spaniard had reportedly agreed terms last summer, but a move fell through as the Blaugrana failed to offload Firpo from their ranks. The club have revived their interest, but they are set to face a blow with Tuchel reluctant to part ways with the former Fiorentina man. Tuchel considers Alonso as a key part of his plans for next season and will ask the hierarchy not to do away with the services of the Spaniard. Sportslens view: Alonso barely played during the first half of last season under Frank La...
Chelsea star wants £200,000-a-week to sign new long-term contract – report
German defender Antonio Rudiger is holding out for a higher wage package to sign a new long-term contract with Chelsea, Eurosport reports. The centre-back played a key role for the Blues during the back end of last season as they won the Champions League for the second time in their history. It is now reported that the contract negotiations are being delayed, with the defender said to be demanding a higher salary than initially proposed in March. Rudiger was looking for a £20,000 pay rise on his £140,000-a-week salary, but he now wants around £200,000-a-week to commit his future to the club. With just 12 months left on his contract, Rudiger remains in a strong position to negotiate and believes he needs to be appreciated for his efforts. Sportslens view: Rudiger has divided ...
‘Phenomenal’, ‘Truly deserves’: Some Chelsea fans praise international display of £145,000-a-week star
A selection of Chelsea fans on Twitter heaped praise on Cesar Azpilicueta following his sublime performance during Spain’s 5-3 win over Croatia at Euro 2020. The Blues captain started the second game running for La Roja. He produced a solid all-round play capped with a brilliant headed goal. Azpilicueta gave La Roja the lead (2-1) in the 57th minute of the round of 16 clash. It was his first-ever goal for the national team in what was his 27th cap. The experienced right-back also made a terrific goal-line clearance when Spain were leading 3-1, but Croatia quickly scored off the rebound. Croatia made a stunning comeback from two goals down to make it 3-3, but they were eventually beaten 5-3 after the game went to extra-time. Azpilicueta had an impressive performance as he won six of his 10 ...
‘Who needs Declan Rice’: Some Chelsea fans react to ‘masterclass’ performance from 25-year-old
A selection of Chelsea fans hailed the performance of Andreas Christensen during Denmark’s stunning 4-0 win over Wales at Euro 2020. The Danes progressed to the last eight of the competition with a sublime showing in Amsterdam where Christensen excelled from his midfield role. The Blues star initially started on the right side of a back three for Denmark, but was shifted to midfield after a dominating 15 minutes for Wales. The 25-year-old produced a solid display from the centre of the park, and he did a brilliant job of man-marking and nullifying the threat of Aaron Ramsey. He dropped back into defence after the hour mark. Some Blues fans were delighted with his display and believe he could play a similar role at club level. Twitter reactions: Andreas Christensen is some player 👏 ...
