Conor Gallagher will remain at Crystal Palace for the remainder of the season.
The Blues midfielder joined the Eagles this summer on a season-long loan.
He has scored six goals in 16 Premier League appearances for Patrick Vieira’s side this term and Chelsea loan coach Carlo Cudicini explains why he was sent to Crystal Palace.
‘We are all extremely happy and proud of the path that Conor Gallagher is currently following, right from his first loan move to Charlton in League One to his step up to the Premier League. He’s a fantastic kid to work with; hard-working, humble, and of course extremely talented,’ Cudicini told Ladbrokes.
‘He’s having a fantastic season and it was a perfect move for him to go to Crystal Palace and work under a manager like Patrick Vieira.
‘Also, what was important this season was finding a club who would play him in the right position; this is exactly the perfect position to highlight his qualities.
‘He’s almost playing as a 10, although he’s part of a three in midfield, but his generosity and willingness to press every ball for 90 minutes has seen him sometimes drop a little deeper than we’d like, but that in itself is an exceptional quality; it’s a characteristic of is personality and we should not restrict him because he’s proving he can offer so much to his team.’
The Champions League draw is always a lottery, with even the supposed safety net of the seedings not always working in a club’s favour, as clubs underperform in the group stages. When the draw was made last week, there were collective sighs of relief from Chelsea fans. There is no doubt that there were certainly tougher clubs that could have been drawn out of the hat, but the club and its fans would be naïve to already be looking forward to the next stage. LOSC is not the gimme some are thinking it will be.
There are other factors that will undoubtedly come into play. There is no doubt that that old chestnut fixture congestion will raise its head, but that is something that will have to be managed as it always is at this stage of the season. Chelsea’s form has dipped at just the wrong time, but if there are going to be postponements, it could help get the club back playing the way they were at the beginning of the season, but it will kick the whole fixture congestion can down the road for the latter stages of the Champions League.
Tough opponents
LOSC were a team few outside France would have heard much of prior to their incredible season last year. Ligue 1 had become almost meaningless in terms of the title race with PSG facing a battle with Celtic and Bayern to see who would secure their domestic title earliest in the year. Last season LOSC turned that on the head, pipping the Qatari owned outfit to the title by one point.
That result did not come out of nowhere for those who follow French football. Two seasons earlier they had finished second, albeit 16 points behind PSG, and the following season they came in fourth. Christophe Galtier was the man who was largely responsible for resurrecting Lille’s fortunes. From the time he took over the side in December 2017, a side that looked on the verge of relegation, he built a team that was capable of not just staying in Ligue 1, but one that could challenge for a Champions League place. They did that of course and more, eventually winning the title. Just days after achieving that however, he resigned, moving to Nice.
New coach blues
New head coach Jocelyn Gourvennec has not found it easy to carry on where Galtier left off. The team currently sit in 11th place, 20 points behind PSG. They also looked like they would struggle to qualify for the last sixteen in the Champions League. In a group with Sevilla, Wolfsburg and Salzburg, LOSC opened their campaign with a 0-0 home draw to Wolfsburg, a loss in Salzburg and another goalless affair at home to Sevilla. Three straight wins, notching up six goals and conceding just 2 not only got them into the draw but also shows that they do offer Tuchel’s side a sterner test than many would assume.
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On paper, Lille don’t have any world-class, stand out stars. Their forward line, and the two players who have scored the vast majority of the Champions League goals are Jonathan David and Burak Yılmaz, from Canada and Turkey respectively. Dutch centre half Sven Botman, forward Timothy Weah and midfielder Renato Sanches are the other players to look out for.
The club, based in the Hauts-de-France region in the north of France, not far from the Belgium border, have turned their form around, and at the time of writing were 10 games unbeaten in all competitions, their last defeat a narrow 2 – 1 loss away to PSG. Momentum is huge in cup competition and the club will in all likelihood be in better form than Chelsea going into their fixtures together.
There is something else that may change the footballing landscape for the two clubs, and that is the little matter of the January transfer window. There are many rumours circulating concerning Chelsea, both in and out. That will be the same just over the English Channel, and we won’t know exactly how both clubs are looking until the first week of February.
The Serie A club wants Szalai as a replacement for Kostas Manolas.
Napoli joins the race for Chelsea transfer target Attila Szalai. The Serie A giants are pushing to close a deal for Fenerbahce’s Hungarian centre-back.
Napoli needed a player in their defence as they lost Kostas Manolas for Olympiakos.
The Italian side is confident to sign the Hungarian in the winter transfer window. The deal will go through in January, and according to Calciomercato.com, the Serie A club want Szalai as his replacement.
The 24-year-old has appeared 23 times for Hungary and has been outstanding for Fenerbahce in the league. He has made 24 appearances in the Turkish league, providing two assists to his teammates.
Chelsea is also searching for options in defence as their key defenders are seeing their contract expiring next summer. They need a young player for the future perspective.
Thomas Tuchel doubtful whether suspending Premier League would help.
The Blues had a goalless draw against Wolves in their last weekend clash.
Prior to that, the club has urged the league to suspend the game due to several COVID cases in the camp.
Thomas Tuchel said that they were forced to play the game but a Premier League suspension was discussed earlier this week on Monday.
The Blues will be facing Brentford for their Carabao Cup quarter-finals clash on Wednesday evening.
The manager claims that he doesn’t have a solution for this ongoing Covid-19 situation.
Tuchel said to BBC Sport: “I understand it is not easy to postpone games but for isolated situations like ours, we thought we had a strong case.
“I shared my thoughts with everybody and we accept the situation. We accepted the challenge and we will accept the next challenge.
“I don’t know if [a stoppage] would help and I don’t want to give the impression I have the solution. They were my thoughts, particularly for the last two days around the Wolves game and coming into it. That was my concern.”
Thomas Tuchel reveals has no intention to risk N’Golo Kante.
Chelsea is facing a double crisis due to COVID cases and a large number of injured players out from the current squad.
Players such as Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell have been out with Covid but fortunately, Jorginho is available for the EFL Cup clash against Brentford.
Thomas Tuchel admitted that he won’t force Kante to play again in the Carabao Cup clash on Wednesday.
Tuchel said: “What we did with N’Golo Kante for 90 minutes was close to being irresponsible. Will he be involved in the squad against Brentford? No. Simply no.
“Would it be possible if it was the last game of the season? Yes, but we cannot do this. I will not do it. We will now give him time to recover and prepare for the Aston Villa game, and this is the situation.
“To have a team with 13 or 14 players for one match. This is a problem, but not the big problem. We can do and we can fight, but from the match, we have Trevoh Chalobah injured, we have him in big doubts, we have N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic involved, which was taking huge, huge risks and now we are paying for this.
“They cannot simply start with three matches or five matches in two weeks, or three matches in one week. It is simply impossible. So the problem and situation will increase, and we cannot let players suffer because other players are not there. It is simply impossible.”
PSG is also looking to boost their defence with the signing of Rudiger.
Antonio Rudiger is supposed to leave Chelsea next year and he is linked with Real Madrid. Los Blancos are closing in on a pre-contract agreement with the Blues defender.
The German centre-back is out of contract in the summer at Stamford Bridge.
As per the reports of the journalist Rudy Galetti, Real Madrid and the 28-year-old are in talks about a contract from next season.
His source suggests that Carlo Ancelotti’s side want Chelsea centre-back to sign in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain is also linked with him and they are also looking to boost their defence with the signing of the German. They already have Sergio Ramos and with the inclusion of the 28-year-old defender, they would be a formidable defence in Europe.
Antonio Rudiger names who could be beneficial for Chelsea this season.
The Blues have dropped to third in the Premier League table after winning just three of their last eight Premier League games.
They also have had a number of key players missing due to COVID-19 but fortunately were able to welcome back N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic to the squad.
‘It is not easy for him [Kante], he has been out for a number of time,’ Rudiger said.
‘The same for Kova. They came in and were lively. That is very important for us because it is clear that we need them.’
The Blues have fallen six points behind league-leaders Manchester City after their recent goalless draw against Wolves.
“We were struggling with the preparation because we had several consecutive days with positive Covid tests and then we travelled together for three hours with the team, we had dinner together we had another positive test with Jorginho,” Tuchel said after the match.
“People are worried because they were on the same bus and had the same dinner.
“Obviously it was not enough to postpone the match and we had to play but you cannot demand 100 per cent focus.
Matthijs de Ligt is being tracked as a solution to Chelsea’s defence problem.
Chelsea have been encouraged in their interest in Juventus defender. Matthijs de Ligt is being tracked as a solution to Chelsea’s defence problem amid Rudiger and Silva’s chances of leaving the club. Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has been keeping tabs on the 22-year-old Serie A defender.
Chelsea gonna lose Toni Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva next summer. They haven’t agreed on any contract extension to any defender.
Mino Raiola on Matthijs de Ligt next step: “I think we all know which clubs to mention for Matthijs de Ligt as ‘next step’. We will see this summer”, he told NOS. ??? #transfers
“Premier League? It can be Barcelona too, or Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain…”, Raiola said. pic.twitter.com/W1hr1bp0lh
Thomas Tuchel is worried about the recent COVID outbreak in the camp.
The Blues were held in a goalless draw against Wolves which saw them slip three points behind the league-leaders Manchester City.
Six players have already been tested positive for the virus and Jorginho could be another player added to the list.
Tuchel said: “I understand the decision. They say, ‘Look, they have 14 players,’ but if you look a bit more in detail you see Trevoh Chalobah with two training sessions, Mateo Kovacic, one training session, you see N’Golo Kante has one training session.
“We put a huge health and safety risk physically and not only from Covid. This was the decision and of course, that’s it. I’m not sure if I catch it and hopefully I will not catch it. Will I do sports the very next day if I have to isolate for 10 days?
“We put Kova into a Premier League match the second day after a Covid infection. So if you count this as 14 valuable players to play in the Premier League – the toughest league in the world – on the level that it needs, okay it is like this.
“We can survive a game, but we will pay the price. At some point we will pay the price for sure.”
Six first-team Chelsea players are currently in isolation.
Chelsea starters such as Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Ben Chilwell have tested positive for Covid earlier this week.
After Chelsea’s draw against Wolves, Tuchel has confirmed that Jorginho has also tested positive for the coronavirus and believes the situation needs to be handled more maturely.
Tuchel said: “We were struggling with the preparation because we had several consecutive days with positive Covid tests and then we travelled together for three hours with the team, we had dinner together we had another positive test with Jorginho.
“People are worried because they were on the same bus and had the same dinner. Obviously it was not enough to postponement the match and we had to play but you cannot demand 100% focus otherwise it would be stupid to normally focus if you can do this without being calm. It was everything else but calm.
“I don’t care so much about the next games I just care about the next tests and the health of the players. Today we let Kovacic play 30 minutes one day after 10 days of Covid. We make him play, who takes responsibility for that? We have Kanté one training session, Chalobah with two training sessions and maybe another injury. It is like this. We need to keep on going if they say we need to keep going.”
