🔵 View from the Bridge 🔵 Time to deliver
A deal a day?
👋Good morning Blues. It’s gameday again as we bring you pre-match West Ham buildup, injury news, and transfer tidbits aplenty.
📰 Headlines
The biggest (mostly non-transfer) Chelsea news.
🔵In the words of N’Golo Kante: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s matchday!
Chelsea face West Ham tonight (Friday) at the London Stadium in their second Premier League game of the season.
🔵Enzo Maresca has been speaking ahead of the trip (Bobby Vincent, football.london):
He confirmed that Tosin Adarabioyo was fit but Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia remained out.
Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson also miss the game as they seek moves away.
On Wesley Fofana’s decision to delete a set of Chelsea-related pictures on Instagram, he said:
⮑“Well, I speak with Wes every day. He's very, very happy.”
Maresca added: “I think if there is abuse, as you said, on Instagram, never is good.
⮑“It's not good for Wes, it's not good for any player and it's not good for any human being in the world. But it's something that unfortunately we cannot control.
🔵The club’s new third kit was released on Thursday morning with a throwback to the 2004/05 season - Buy it.
The black design features a retro badge in the middle of the shirt with clear nods to the popular Nike T90 style.
Last result: Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace - Premier League. Stamford Bridge.
Next fixture: West Ham (Premier League) - Friday, August 22nd. London Stadium. 8pm.
💸Transfer talk
Cutting to the chase with the gossip you actually need to know, rather than sheer speculation.
🚨Chelsea aim to complete more than one transfer per day for the rest of the window. - Nizaar Kinsella, BBC Sport.
🚨One of those, Renato Veiga, has agreed to join Villarreal on a permanent transfer after the clubs finalised a £21million deal - Fabrizio Romano.
🚨Aaron Anselmino is in talks over a loan to Borussia Dortmund with Carney Chukwuemeka being sold in the same proposal - Patrick Berger, Sky Germany.
🚨There are up to six clubs interested in Nicolas Jackson and his future will become clearer once a final decision on Alexander Isak at Newcastle United has been made - Kaveh Solhekol, Sky Sports.
His value will be determined by Premier League striker prices this summer and Aston Villa have explored the possibility of a loan with a buy option - Matt Law, The Telegraph.
🚨Bayern Munich have enquired over the availability of Alejandro Garnacho but the Manchester United winger only wants to join Chelsea - Peter Rutzler, The Times.
🗣If you could only complete one more transfer for Chelsea this summer, what would you pick? Let us know in the comments below!
🚨Bournemouth are keen on a loan with an option to buy deal for Axel Disasi - Sacha Tavolieri.
🚨BlueCo, the ownership group set up by Clearlake Capital - Todd Boehly, will sign Julio Enciso for RC Strasbourg with the intention of him playing at Chelsea in the future - David Ornstein, The Athletic.
Enciso will cost around £16million but could move to CFC as early as next summer - Ben Jacobs.
Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler said (Soham Mukherjee, GOAL):
⮑“There are rumours and talks but nothing is done yet so we can't comment. He had some injuries but overall a young kid who wants to play, you can feel the passion. There are several reasons [why he is leaving]. Some players perform in some environments. I would not say it is bad time.
⮑“He's a young player with big potential. You can see there is a big interest as he has potential. Some things could be better but it was not a bad period so far.”
Hurzeler and Enciso are believed to have fallen out before his loan to Ipswich Town in January.
⚽Cobham to Kingsmeadow
Catching up with the women’s and academy sides.
📝Harrison Murray-Campbell has signed a new two-year contract - The Chelsea Spot.
🤨His Under-21/Development Squad teammate Genesis Antwi is in talks with Strasbourg over a transfer - The Chelsea Spot.
Antwi has played for the senior men’s team and was part of the win over Manchester City on Monday night.
He and his family have visited the training ground in France.
🦅The Under-18s kick off their season away to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
😝Jake Murphy, Reggie Watson, George Jobling, Josh Henry, Heze Grimwade, and Trey Faromo-Azeez have all been called up for an England Under-16 squad for upcoming matches - The Academy Watch.
✅The Under-15s have been drawn in a Floodlit Cup with Brentford, Palace, and Fulham - The Academy Watch.
😣Lauren James will miss an unspecified period of time after picking up an injury at the Euros with England - Charlotte Harpur and Jessica Hopkins, The Athletic.
She “will undergo a period of rehabilitation with the club.”
💪Sam Kerr is excited to be back in the groove after her lengthy injury lay-off - Carrie Dunn, She Kicks.
⮑“I’m most looking forward to being out there, scoring goals and having fun,” she said in a heartwarming interview
“During an injury, you’re alone a lot. So it's good to be back with the girls, just doing the same training sessions as them rather than solitary rehab sessions. Being in camp like this helps you get to know all the new faces.”
👏Millie Bright and Erin Cuthbert were named in the Women’s Super League Team of the Season at the PFA Awards ceremony on Tuesday.
Despite winning the domestic treble, CFCW did not have more inclusions in the final XI and none of their nominees won the Young Player of the Year.
Emma Hayes was honoured with a Merit Award for “leadership and relentless innovation” in the women’s game.
🎟Tickets for the women’s match against Leicester City at Kingsmeadow go on general sale today at 10am - Chelsea FC.
👀Inside SW6
A look at what has been going on at the club and other tidbits.
🤑Things get a bit complicated here, but Kieran Gill (Daily Mail) has an explainer from UEFA sources on just who does and does not count towards the squad list transfer balancing act.
Gill says that none of Joao Felix, Djordje Petrovic, Armando Broja, or Lesley Ugochukwu help the cause, with the focus now on Jackson and Nkunku, whose sales would count towards the balance.
Gill adds:
“The bottom line is, when Chelsea submit their Champions League squad on September 2, the ‘cost savings’ must be higher than the ‘new costs’ to allow for new additions, and they can register fewer than the allocation of 25 players on their A List if they wish, as a way of meeting that target.
“That could lead to the Blues picking and choosing which players they can afford to add for use in Europe’s elite competition while excluding those they cannot.”
❗As for why Chelsea aren’t buying Enciso outright now, Sub-Prime Goals comes to the rescue with some useful UEFA legislation and logic:
“They could buy and loan him out, but not to Strasbourg because they have already loaned Sarr, Penders, and Paez to Strasbourg this summer.
In a bid to circumvent some of the squad cost limits, it is also explained why it would not happen this summer.
😬 Cole Palmer’s attempts to trademark his ‘Cold Palmer’ nickname have been challenged by a French vineyard- Stephen Moyes, The Sun.
Chateau Palmer, from the Margaux region, has opposed the application which relates to his celebration and iconic ‘Cold’ name.
Lawyers will now hear from both sides before a decision is made.
✅Jason Gannon, the President and Chief Operating Officer (who has a big say in stadium matters) has now been added as a director on Companies House - Mike Keegan, Daily Mail.
📺Matches against Manchester United (5:30pm, Saturday, October 4) and Nottingham Forest (12:30pm, Saturday, October 18) have been selected for TV showings and so have changed kick off time - Liam Morgan, Daily Mail.
📆On this day…
A look back in club history to something memorable.
🙊This is a day that has aged badly for Chelsea strikers/No.9s.
In 2021, Romelu Lukaku bullied Arsenal to score on his second debut after his £97.5million return.
We know how that one ended.
😂That isn’t even the worst #9 of the day, though. In 2006, Khalid Boulahrouz was given the shirt!
🤫Away from No.9s, in 2003, Adrian Mutu was unveiled. The less said about him the better.
😁To finish, the slightly better days of nervy wins over Reading in 2012 and Servette in the Conference League play-offs last season, both at Stamford Bridge…
Not the most glamorous of days, so we can hope for better for Joao Pedro and Liam Delap tonight.
🖥Talk from the terraces
This is the part where we show you what is being said about Chelsea by other fans, pundits, or analysts.
⛔Is it as simple as stopping Palmer to stop Chelsea? Paul Merson thinks so.
“The draw against Crystal Palace was worrying for Chelsea,” he wrote for Sky Sports.
“Chelsea were not good.
“If Cole Palmer isn't going to break a team down, I'm not sure who is for Chelsea. If opposition teams pick him up and mark him well, I'm not sure what threat Chelsea have.
“Pedro Neto and Jamie Gittens have pace, but they struggled to beat their defenders on Sunday. He [Palmer] needs some support.”
🔥On a similar note, Liam Twomey analyses the attack to see if it is good enough to win the league
“Crystal Palace offered an opening weekend reminder at Stamford Bridge that any shiny collection of attacking talent can be shut down by a good opponent with a well-conceived and well-executed game plan,” he says.
“Fans will be hoping that this summer’s signings can succeed where many others have failed, but here is a startling fact: since Diego Costa left Stamford Bridge in 2017, the only Chelsea player to score at least 15 goals from open play in a single Premier League season is Tammy Abraham (2019-20), a Cobham academy graduate who cost the club nothing to acquire…
“Joao Pedro gave a very good impression of being an elite scorer at the Club World Cup, but that has not been the story of his career.
“His best return for open-play league goals in a season is 10, in the Championship with Watford in 2022-23. None of his previous clubs regarded him as a pure No 9 and Chelsea expect the 23-year-old to operate across their attacking line.”
🎙On that note, Liam and the Straight Outta Cobham gang discussed the West Ham clash in detail and offered updates from the transfer market as well.
3️⃣In a new weekly series from The Chelsea Spot called ‘Three Points’, Chris Riley went into detail on Josh Acheampong, breaking down deep defences, and CFCW preparations.
“Something that particularly caught our eye was how Josh drew valuable fouls,” he writes.
“In the 32nd minute he won two successive challenges and got Mateta booked, then around ten minutes later he drew a foul to relieve pressure in his own third – both particularly mature moments.
“This is an opportunity for Josh to prove himself while others are unavailable. He should, on this showing, keep his place against West Ham.”
💭View from the Bridge says
Our take on the latest Chelsea news.
Chelsea could really do with a big thumping win tonight. West Ham are not good, and it would be nice to get one over Graham Potter again.
Ahead of what promises to be a noisy, chaotic, and unpredictable week of transfers to follow, three points on Friday net would set things up well.
Chelsea don’t do things easily, though.
Enjoy the game and we’ll be back on Tuesday with the latest fallout✌
📸Picture of the week
A standout snap from the world of Chelsea.
He’s settling in just fine.
🗣Who am I? I’m Tom Coley, a senior football writer for football.london and a Chelsea nut. I’ve been writing about the club for more than eight years now and have followed them for almost two decades.
I’m chronically online, scouring the news for Chelsea stories, so I’ve taken it upon myself to do the hard yards and compile it all into one place for you. Coming in twice a week, I’ll have all the latest Chelsea news and analysis right to your inbox.
Edition number: 19
Total subscribers: 1,186
Okay, just a note from me this morning.
There is no Straight Outta Cobham episode up as I had imagined there would be! Please excuse that one.
The Under-21s are also in action tonight in their second PL2 match of the season. This is away to Newcastle United.
Xavi Simon is the only player I don't want Chelsea to miss the deal