Chelsea are working on a deal that will bring Raphinha to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Thomas Tuchel’s side has jumped into the battle for Leeds United winger Raphinha. According to some rumours, Bayern Munich had come to an agreement to sign Raphinha but new reports have insisted that a January transfer is off the cards.
Even Chelsea’s title rivals Liverpool is looking to sign former Rennes star as Klopp is is a known fan of the winger and he look to boost his attack with Salah, Mane and Firmino all entering their 30s.
Liverpool will now face a battle with Chelsea to sign Leeds United star.
According to Sport Italia, Chelsea are working on a deal that will bring the winger to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
The 26-year-old has been in top form for the Whites this year, scoring eight goals in 16 Premier League appearances.
Sergino Dest is a versatile player who can also play at left-back, as a wing-back or at right-wing.
Chelsea are reportedly considering a January swoop for Barcelona full-back Sergino Dest. Thomas Tuchel is looking to add more stability to their squad.
The American joined Catalan giants from Ajax and he was an undisputed starter under former Barca manager Ronald Koeman. Since the arrival of Xavi, the 21-year-old has been one of the biggest losers at Camp Nou. The US International lost his spot in the starting XI.
According to Catalan outlet El Nacional, the full-back wants to leave Camp Nou in January. He is keen on a move to Bayern Munich. According to The Daily Express, Chelsea are among the clubs interested in signing Dest, who is rated at around £30 million by Barcelona.
Sergino Dest has made 57 appearances for Barcelona across all competitions but he is struggling to find a place in the team under Xavi Hernandez. The 21-year-old full-back is a versatile player who can also play at left-back, as a wing-back or at right-wing, and such flexibility only adds more value under his banner.
If Chelsea even firms up their interest in USA full-back and whether they are prepared to shell out £30 million to sign the La Liga sensation in January.
Tuchel brought on Lukaku in the second half to change the game.
Chelsea manager Tuchel is happy with the performance of Romelu Lukaku. He applauds Blues No 9 after securing three points against Aston Villa.
While speaking in his post-match press conference, as quoted by football.london, Thomas Tuchel labelled Romelu Lukaku as a key player for the Blues. Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 3-1 in Premier League on boxing day. Meanwhile, Man City still takes the first spot after Man City’s 6-3 win over Leicester.
Tuchel brought on Lukaku in the second half to change the game. The Belgium striker scored a glancing header to take the lead before going on a marauding run in added time to land a penalty.
“There is no doubt he (Lukaku) is super important. Every player is, but Romelu will be a key player. He was unlucky to get injured. Then struggled to come back in the schedule, then Covid.
“45 minutes was more than the fitness department recommended, but we thought we could take the risk. He does not need me to play a game like this. He does not need a speech. He just needs to get fit. And this is not easy when you have an injury and a body like Rom.”
Tuchel was frustrated after dropping points against Everton and Wolves in the space of three days last week. It was an important victory for him to fight for the title.
Zsolt Low was Hasenhuttl’s No2 during his time at RB Leipzig.
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has admired Chelsea No. 2 Zsolt Low. The current Chelsea assistant manager Low was Hasenhuttl’s No2 during his time at RB Leipzig.
The Southampton manager recalled: “Zsolt is a fantastic coach and person.
“In the second year, before the end of the season, I knew he was going to leave in the summer (2018) to follow Thomas to Paris Saint-Germain. He wanted to work under a new manager whose football was a little bit more possession-orientated, to learn new things.
“We had, in Leipzig at that moment, quite a one-dimensional way of playing football. Or, rather, the guidelines we followed were very one-dimensional. Thomas knew him from before (Mainz) and had seen how his football coaching had developed.”
Tuchel also rates the Hungarian highly having first worked with him at Paris Saint-Germain in 2018. Chelsea become a dominant side in Europe this year.
The Blues boss is happy with his options in the goalkeeping department.
Chelsea’s most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga made his sixth appearance of the season and led a young team to a 2-0 win against Brentford in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
He has been called upon when Mendy is unavailable and Thomas claims the goalkeeper’s hard-work in training hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“I am very happy in general. Happy is maybe not the right word, but I am super impressed with Kepa,” he said.
“It is not a surprise anymore because he is in the state of mind as a person, a character and a sportsman where he just delivers for us, because he does what he does best.
“This is what he shows every day in training and this is why he gets the reward. I am absolutely sure that this is the reason why he has these kinds of performances.
“I am super happy, we need him in this kind of shape. The goalkeepers are a strong group and Kepa is a big part of it.”
Frank’s side put a good performance but conceded twice in the last 10 minutes to lose the game.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank believes his side will benefit from their EFL Cup loss to Chelsea. Frank’s side was knocked out from the League Cup 2021/22.
The Bees reached into the quarterfinal stage of the Carabao Cup and Chelsea will now face Spurs in the two-legged semifinal in January.
Brentford put a good performance but they conceded twice in the last 10 minutes to lose the game.
Frank said, “I think the game was very important for us to get up to speed.
“After six says where we couldn’t train – yes they were running but it’s not the same – you saw the impact of that when training (resumed).
“There were quite a few of the players that didn’t feel that fresh and were struggling in certain spells.
“They got through it because it was only six days but now the system just got that boost and they will be ready to go on Boxing Day.”
Brentford will now play Brighton on Sunday in their last Premier League fixture of this year. They take the 12th spot in the league standings.
Milan could be open to selling Hernandez in January if an offer of around €20million is paid by the interested party.
Chelsea could prepare a January offer for AC Milan ace Theo Hernandez. According to ESPN, Serie A giants could be tempted by an offer for the Milan fullback amidst interest from Chelsea in the January transfer window.
Blues could need some reinforcements next month due to the injury situation of Ben Chilwell. Their interest may depend on the speed of recovery but that is something which remains to be seen.
Hernandez has been excellent for the Rossoneri this season as they try to win their first league title since 2011. They take the second spot in the table and this season, they can go for glory.
The Italian club could be open to selling the defender in January if an offer of around €20million is paid by the interested party. His contract will expire at San Siro in 2024. Chelsea is looking at some good options in defence. Tuchel’s side has also picked Lucas Digne from Everton if they fail to get the Serie A defender.
Hernandez has made 20 appearances this season and scored twice with five assists. He also kept seven clean sheets in 2021/22. Since moving from Real Madrid, Milan ace has become a solid option in defence. Hernandez is being eyed for the longer term and Chelsea can go for him.
Chelsea is going to lose their key defenders next summer and they desperately need options in defence. They haven’t given a contract extension to any defender yet.
Chelsea are preparing a multi-million dollar bid for Euro 2020 hero, Federico Chiesa.
According to Italian journalist Enzo Bucchioni (h/t Football.London), Blues are readying their opening move to sign EURO 2020 winner Federico Chiesa.
The Italian star has established himself as one of the finest wingers in Europe. Last season, he scored 15 goals and provided 11 assists in 46 matches. Hew was a standout performer in EURO 2020. He played an important role for Italy in the EURO triumph. The Fiorentina striker is g etting attention from some big European clubs.
Federico Chiesa was the scorer for Juventus when Chelsea lost to Serie A giants in Champions League this season. Marina Granovskaia’s board has been convinced to make a bid for the Italian after seeing his performances against Chelsea in the group stage of the Champions League.
Italian journalist Enzo Bucchioni said that Chelsea are preparing a £71.7m bid for the Fiorentina loanee and Thomas Tuchel has given his blessings for the move.
“Chelsea have decided to take action and offer £71.7m for Federico Chiesa. Evidently, seeing him play twice closely has removed the last doubts, and Tuchel gave the OK, and the operation has officially started through intermediaries.”
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.
