James

The transfer window closed earlier this month with Stamford Bridge having been a hive of activity when it comes to players leaving the club. In total, the deadline passed with 33 players, including the likes of Juan Cuadrado and Victor Moses, having left Chelsea on loan. Some are unlikely to return to a place in the team, some will likely spend more time out on loan, but there are a few who will be hoping to use this season as a springboard to a spot in Jose Mourinho's long-term plans. Here are three players for whom it's likely to be an important year if they want to eventually become a first-team regular at Stamford Bridge. NATHAN AKE The Dutch-born Ake clearly must be held in some regard at Chelsea as he was given a new five-year contract by the club prior to joining Watford on a season-long loan. Now 20, Ake made his debut for the Blues as a 17-year-old during the 2012/13 season and featured six times in total during that campaign. Under Jose Mourinho, though, he hasn't progressed quite as quickly as may have been expected following that early breakthrough. He featured just once in 2013/14 and made four appearances in the cup last season prior to a brief spell on loan at Reading. He then returned to Chelsea to play against West Brom after the title had been won. Capable of playing in central defence, at left-back or in defensive midfield, Ake has the potential to be a useful member of the squad, but he needs experience. And that is a concern after failing to make Watford's bench in the first four Premier League games. PATRICK BAMFORD The 22-year-old striker has yet to make his Chelsea debut after joining in January 2012 from Nottingham Forest. He is spending this season on loan at Crystal Palace, who could be worth taking up any free bet offers on for a top-10 finish. Bamford is certainly capable of helping Palace fulfil that aim, and maybe finish even higher, if he is given the opportunity after several previous impressive loan spells. He has shone at MK Dons, Derby and Middlesbrough already, and is clearly now ready for a chance in the Premier League. Bamford is confident he can make his mark at Chelsea if he is given a chance and there is likely to be a striking spot up for grabs next summer, with Radamel Falcao only on loan. It's up to Bamford to break into the Palace team and score the goals to prove he can be one of Mourinho's three strikers in 2016/17. ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN Christensen has been given the perfect platform to prove why he can be a long-term defensive solution for Chelsea after joining Borussia Monchengladbach on loan for the season. He will have the chance to play in a competitive Bundesliga and also the opportunity to gain Champions League experience. In his Chelsea career to date, Christensen started the Capital One Cup tie against Shrewsbury last season and also the shock FA Cup home defeat by Bradford in the FA Cup. He then made his Premier League debut as a late substitute on the final day of the season against Sunderland. The 19-year-old made his senior Denmark debut in the summer and has the all-round talent to be a fine defender. However, his Gladbach stint didn't start in the best possible fashion with a 4-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund, and he will have noted from afar how Chelsea signed Papy Djilobodji and Michael Hector before the transfer window closed. Click here to view the article

Its only a few weeks into the 2015/16 Premier League season but many pundits are already saying that Chelsea will not be able to retain the title. People should not be so quick to make such bold judgements. It hasn't been the best of starts for the reigning champions but Chelsea fans know that their manager and team have what it takes to bounce back from this slow start and prove the doubters wrong. Here is a look at why Chelsea will win the Premier League again this season. The Special One Chelsea have one of the best managers of all time at the helm. Some statistics surrounding Jose Mourinho will come as great comfort to the fans. Over his managerial career he now averages a trophy every 34 matches. When Mourinho has won the league with a team, he usually retains the title the following year. The only time this hasn't happened was with Real Madrid in 2012/13 when they finished second. The teams he successfully won back-to-back league titles with were Porto (2002/03 & 2003/04), Chelsea (2004/05 & 2005/6), and Inter Milan (2008/09 & 2009/10). At the time of writing, 32red are giving odds of 7/2 on Mourinho producing this again. When The Special One finds the winning formula within a team, it is very hard to knock that team of its perch. Good Signings When Mourinho made his return to Chelsea in 2013, many thought that he would instantly take the Premier League by storm again, but even he admitted that he needed some time to build his team. They finished third that season, and in the following transfer window the manager addressed the key areas in which the team were weak. The two main signings were Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, who instantly made up where the team were lacking and were pivotal in the race for the title. After winning the league so emphatically, it didn't seem like the team really needed any big name reinforcements. However, after the poor start to the new campaign, it quickly became apparent that some signings would have to be made. With concern over the fitness of Oscar, and with Costas hamstring issues, Chelsea needed back up in their attack. The acquisition of Pedro (see below) looks to be a very shrewd move indeed, as he made his transition to the Premier League seamlessly. In the win against West Bromwich Albion, Pedro provided extra pace to the attack, and chipped in with a goal and an assist as well. The former Barcelona talisman can play in any of the attacking midfield positions and will be very useful indeed. Chelsea havent been so solid defensively so far this season, and this is an area that needs refreshing. The transfer saga of Everton centre-back John Stones dragged on and the likes of 10bet at one stage had him at 1/11 to join Chelsea before the window closed. However, Everton held firm. Chelsea instead turned their attention to bringing in Michael Hector from Reading and Papy Djilobodji from Nantes. These arrivals and the signing of left-back Abdul Rahman Baba will help freshen up a back line that remained very much unchanged throughout last season. It could do the current defenders some good to have some competition for places. As it stands, nobody is a definite starter in the back four. Favourable Fixtures Up to the end of December, Chelsea have a very favourable run of fixtures. They only meet one of last seasons top four teams (Arsenal) until they play Manchester United on 28th December. This is the perfect opportunity to put the shaky start behind them and gain some serious momentum. If they were to put together an unbeaten run until Christmas, things could look a lot differently indeed. 32red and others have Manchester City as Chelseas biggest rivals for the title, and they have a slightly tougher run of games up to the New Year. This should allow the reigning champions to gain up some lost ground on them. Without any real competition, last season was just too easy for Chelsea, and this had allowed them to relax. It is fair to say that this campaign wont be so much of a walk in the Park for Mourinho's men, but there is no reason that they cant turn things around and retain the title. They are perfectly capable of doing it. Click here to view the article

After Chelsea completed the signing of Papy Djilobodji from Nantes yesterday most of you were probably left scratching your head to who is he? What type of player is he? Djilobodji has played in defensive midfield for Nantes previously, but is more at home in central defence. At 6ft 4in, the Senegal player is a powerful but pacey left-footer and his stats from last season demonstrate his combative approach to the game. Djilobodji ranked fourth in Ligue 1 for clearances in 2014/15 (8.3 per game) and in the top 10 for interceptions (3.3 per game). Only 16 players won more aerial duels per game than his 3.1 in contrast, Chelsea's top players in this category last season were Gary Cahill with 3.3, followed by John Terry with 2.6. The 26-year-old was also the top Nantes player in 2014/15, according to WhoScored.com's statistical rankings, demonstrating his consistency across his 30 starts for the club. Nantes may have finished 14th in Ligue 1 last season as they continued to establish themselves in France's top flight following their promotion from Ligue 2 in 2012/13 but they recorded the fifth-best defensive record. Djilobodji played a key role, with the team conceding just 40 times in 38 games. What's his history? Djilobodji was born in Kaolack, Senegal in 1988 and, after emerging through the youth ranks at local club ASC Saloum, made the decision at 19 years old to pursue a career in football in Europe. Unsuccessful trials at Lille and Lazio didn't deter Djilobodji and he eventually landed a place with French fourth-division side US Sénart-Moissy in 2009. By 2010 the defender had been snapped up by Ligue 2 Nantes, where he went on to make over 160 appearances, helping them to promotion to the top flight in 2012/13. International duty Djilobodji made his international debut in 2013 and last January was called up for the Africa Cup of Nations. It was a disappointing tournament for both player and country, though, with Djilobodji unable to prevent Senegal crashing out at the group stage after taking four points from their three games. Click here to view the article

Juan Cuadrado joined Chelsea in January for a little over £23million, and signed a four-and-a-half year deal. After paying so much money for the player, it was surprising how little he was used. Now, he’s been shipped off on a season-long loan to Juventus. Cuadrado's spell at Chelsea was short lived to say the least, and he has now returned to Italy as they look to rebuild their side following some high-profile departures. Despite the likes of Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal exiting Turin, though, Massimiliano Allegri's men still head the Serie A betting even though they did suffer defeat in their opening game of the season against Udinese. This is due to the results of the other opening games. Fortunately for Juventus, their other main rivals for the league title also had a shaky start to the campaign. In the opening games, Roma drew with Verona, and Milan and Napoli both lost their matches to Fiorentina and Sassuolo, respectively. Cuadrado will be looking to try and make an immediate impact and get his career back on track after a disappointing time in London. The Colombian winger had an excellent World Cup (see below), where he tied with Toni Kroos of Germany as the competition's assist leader. His performances in the competition will have been a big factor behind Jose Mourinho's decision to sign him for Chelsea. Perhaps the main reason as to why Cuadrado failed to make a serious impact at Chelsea was because the squad that went on to win the league title were just too strong. His natural position would be as a right winger but he can also play as a right-back. In the Chelsea team that won the league Cuadrado would have had to have displaced Branislav Ivanovic or Willian, both of whom were key components to the side. He only managed four Premier League starts for the club. There is a chance that this loan move could be a tactic to curry favour with the Italian side before they make a move for their prized midfielder, Paul Pogba. This is purely speculation at the moment but according to The Daily Mirror, Chelsea are planning to splash big cash for the highly-rated French youngster. This move could end up being very beneficial to Cuadrado's career. In the Juventus team it is likely that he will see a lot more first-team action than he would have done at Chelsea. As the Italian side are also looking to defend their title he will get some experience of playing for a big club under pressure. And there is a lot of pressure. Last season, Juventus came so close to winning the treble of the domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup, but lost out in the Champions League final to Barcelona. After Cuadrado's loan move is complete, he may be able to come back to England and make a proper case for his inclusion in the Chelsea team. Click here to view the article

Worth signing for the name alone. Papiss Mbouba Mbwiwa Abu Fuongo Baba Mison Djilobodji

Welcome to the forums im off to Colombia next week.

Juventus appear to be moving closer to the signing of Juan Cuadrado after releasing pictures of the winger being welcomed in Italy. Juve chief executive Giuseppe Marotta was quoted over the weekend saying the Champions League finalists were hopeful of landing the Colombia international on loan. The Turin club have now further declared their interest by releasing a brief clip of the 27-year-old apparently being mobbed by fans on arrival at Malpensa Airport in northern Italy. An accompanying tweet translated as: 'Has come! He quickly found an extraordinary welcome ! #WelcomeCuadrado.' Cuadrado, one of Colombia's star players at last year's World Cup, has failed to make an impact at Stamford Bridge since moving from Fiorentina for an initial £23.3million in February. He signed a four-and-a-half year contract at Chelsea but it seems the club are already willing to allow him to play elsewhere. Click here to view the article

Both teams had disappointing starts to their season and the three points here have huge importance. West Bromwich started the season with a loss against Manchester City and then drew Watford. The Baggies still haven’t scored a goal this season and need to improve their attacking play if they want to win something from this match. Chelsea had a terrible start to the season, drawing against Swansea on the opening day and losing heavily to Manchester City in the last round. Jose Mourinho decided to splash the cash on Abdul Rahman Baba and Pedro in order to straighten the squad. Other title rivals won their games and now Chelsea have been put in an unfavorable position from the early start. Match Facts • WBA won three and drew one from their last four home fixtures against Chelsea • Tony Pulis has won two league games against Jose Mourinho (no one has ever managed to win three in the Premier League) • West Brom haven’t scored in the Premier League in this campaign • Saido Berahino scored 85% of his goals last season at the Hawthorns Chelsea will be very motivated to catch up with other title contenders and despite the fact that WBA can provide a tough challenge, a win for the Blues looks imminent.The Baggies aren't in good form and are having some trouble in front of the opposition goal, so we at sportsbettingsitez.co.uk don't think they have what it takes to take something from this fixture. We are one of the best sports betting websites out there and if you're interested in online gambling, make sure to check out our top bookmaker reviews. Team News Ben Foster will definitely miss out while Serge Gnabry isn’t fit to start yet. New signing Salomon Rondon came from the bench in the last match against Watford and will probably start here, replacing Ricky Lambert. Jose Mourinho doesn’t have any major injury problems with Oscar being the only doubt. Thibaut Courtois returns from his suspension and probably will replace Asmir Begovic in goal, even though that the Bosnian did very well against City. New signing Rahman Baba and Pedro have already trained with the team, but it’s unknown whether the Chelsea manager will start them on Sunday. Possible Line-Ups WBA: Myhill, Dawson, McAuley, Lescott, Brunt, Gardner, Morrison, Jacob, Fletcher, Berahino, Rondon Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Terry, Baba, Matic, Ramires, Willian, Fabregas, Hazard, Costa Prediction West Bromwich Albion have strengthened their squad with the addition of striker Salomon Rondon who made his debut against Watford coming off the bench. Now he is likely to start against Chelsea and the Venezuelan international is keen to make an instant impact in the Premier League. With the support from Saido Berahino, Chelsea’s unstable defenders need to be on their toes to avoid the same result from last season. WBA haven’t been impressive when going forward this season and couldn’t even make a shot on target against Watford. Chelsea didn’t start the season the way they planned and manager Jose Mourinho decided to splash the cash on two new signings. Many of the players know that their place in the team is now at stake and will try to up their performances in the next games. Branislav Ivanovic may be benched for this one if Rahman Baba is ready to start while Pedro will probably be left on the bench. Still, we never know what surprises Jose has in his mind and everything is possible. West Brom attacked mostly through the right flank, so the Blues will need to be aware of the danger that can come from that area. The Baggies’ midfield is very narrow because their wingers like to cut inside to allow more space for the full-backs to go forward. Chelsea are likely to dominate possession with the hosts sitting deep and waiting to pounce on the counter. The Blues rarely lose two times in a row and the three points are vital for Jose Mourinho. Despite WBA and Tony Pulis being a bogey team for him, I think that the Portuguese manager can motivate his players to win all the points from this fixture. Bet365(read full review) are offering excellent odds of 4/7 for a Chelsea win so if you’re interested in betting, make sure to check out their website for the best odds out there. Diego Costa hasn't scored in a long time and the odds of 15/4 for first goalscorer in the game look very tempting. Click here to view the article

This morning Chelsea finally launched their 3rd kit for the 15/16 season, featuring the likes of Diego Costa and Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic. The new kit designed by adidas is matte black with horizontal stripes along the front as well as stripes on the shoulder. Its like they've tried to make a kit that resembles our new kit sponsor Yokohama Tyres. The release of the kit comes just in time for our visit to West Brom on Sunday. Click here to view the article

State of those fucking shorts.

I think its a team from the Canary Islands where Pedro comes from.

Wow

On 13 July 2015, Chelsea signed Begović on a four-year deal for a fee of £8 million. As part of the deal Chelsea also offered midfielder Marco van Ginkel in part exchange to Stoke on loan for the 201516 season. He made his debut nine days later on Chelsea's pre-season tour, coming on at half time for Thibaut Courtois with Chelsea 10 up against the New York Red Bulls, but the match ended in a 24 defeat. Manager José Mourinho defended Begović's performance, attributing it to fatigue. His first competitive fixture was the 2015 FA Community Shield on 2 August at Wembley Stadium, in which he was unused in a 10 loss to rivals Arsenal. Six days later he came on as a substitute for Oscar when Courtois was sent off for conceding a penalty with a foul on Bafétimbi Gomis, who converted it for a 22 draw. On 16 August, Begović made his first competitive start for Chelsea in a 30 away loss to Manchester City. Click here to view the record

On 16 August 2015, Rahman signed for Chelsea, for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £21.7 million, for a five-year deal Click here to view the record

Like 1 minute from me.

The 2015/16 Premier League season kicked off last weekend and it was an opening set of fixtures that provided a few shock results including Chelsea dropping points at home to Swansea City. Chelsea come into this new Premier League campaign as the reigning champions and the weight of expectation is on their shoulders as they look to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since 2006. The Premier League is one of the most popular events for betting, with more and more sites offering odds on the matches. The Stamford Bridge club had started the campaign as the hot favourites to win the title this season but their opening day set back against the Swans in a 2-2 draw with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois being sent off combined with Manchester City tearing apart West Brom 3-0 away has seen Chelsea slip to second favourites with bookmakers. As it stands, City are the 15/8 favourites with most bookmakers with punters flocking to back Manuel Pellegrini's side as they appear to have started this season continuing the fine form that they ended last season in. Chelsea have dropped to being 2/1 second favourites with punters doubting their credentials after they laboured to a score draw at home to last season's mid-table Swansea. The fact that they are set to be without the suspended Courtois for their crucial early season clash with Manchester City this weekend has added backing to this doubt. Jose Mourinho will be keen to play down the speculation that his side do not have the mentality to retain their title. No team has retained the Premier League title since Manchester United, then under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, won their third title in a row in 2009. However, Mourinho has an impressive record of retaining titles in his management career. He won the Primeira Liga in Portugal with Porto in 2003 and 2004. He then won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2005 and 2006. He then went on to win the Serie A with Inter Milan in 2009/2010. Real Madrid is the only club he has failed to win back-to-back titles with and even then he still won La Liga in 2012 with them. Another market that is showing signs of Chelsea losing ground is the top goalscorer market. Last season, Chelsea had two players in the top 10 scorers in the Premier League. Diego Costa finished 2nd with 21 goals and Eden Hazard finished 6th with 14 goals. However, no-one could come close to Manchester City's Sergio Aguero who ended up with 26 goals. Bookmakers could not separate Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero before the season started but despite both players failing to hit the back of the net in their opening matches, Aguero is now the 3/1 clear favourite to finish as the season's top scorer ahead of Costa who is available at just 8/1 with some bookmakers. Hazard is even further back at odds of just 28/1. There is still a long way to go yet and other markets being offered by bookmakers suggest that Chelsea are not being written off just yet. A Premier League title win and top scorer double of Chelsea and Diego Costa is available at just 10/1. The price on a Chelsea win with Aguero as top scorer is 14/1. There is also Chelsea to win with Rooney as top scorer at 33/1. Bookmakers are also still showing faith in a Chelsea win. Firstly, there is a market being offered without Chelsea. There is not such a market for Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, or any other Premier League rivals. There are also odds being offered on a top 2 finish and Chelsea are being firmly backed to manage that at odds of 8/15. That shows that bookmakers still believe they will finish in the top two positions suggesting they think Chelsea will push their rivals right until the end even if they don't win the league title. The Premier League is always one of the most tightly contested leagues in the world. There are so many twists and turns along the way. It is no surprise that Chelsea's odds of winning the title slumped after that opening day draw with Swansea. It will also be no surprise if they go on and beat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to completely flip those odds on their head. That is the unpredictable nature of the Premier League. It could be argued that Chelsea did well to get a point against Swansea after going down to 10 men. A victory against Pellegrini's side will well and truly re-establish Mourinho's side as the team to beat. That is until the next round of Premier League fixtures when anything could once again happen. Click here to view the article

Cant believe someone else from Beccles is on here that's where i live.

On 3 July 2015, Chelsea signed Falcao on a season-long loan deal with the option of a permanent transfer at the end of the season. The move reunited him with his Colombia team-mate Juan Cuadrado and former Atlético Madrid team-mates Diego Costa, Filipe Luís and Thibaut Courtois. Midfielder Mario Pašalić went to Monaco on loan in exchange for Falcao joining Chelsea. Falcao made his debut on 2 August in the 2015 FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium, replacing Loïc Rémy at half time as Chelsea lost 1–0 to rivals Arsenal. His league debut came six days later in a 2–2 home draw with Swansea City, playing the final six minutes in place of Willian. Click here to view the record

Mohamed Salah has joined Roma on a season-long loan Chelsea have announced. The winger who left Basel to join the Blues in January last year, became the first Egyptian to turn out for the Stamford Bridge outfit but has found regular football hard to come by. The Rome club have an option to buy the 23-year-old at any time during the loan agreement. Last season he scored twice in 19 appearances for the blues but had more joy out on loan at Fiorentina in the second half of last season, scoring nine times in 26 games. Click here to view the article

After selling Filipe Luis back to Atletico Madrid the blues have been in search of a new left-back. It looks like Ghana international Abdul Baba Rahman is set to be that man. Jose Mourinho has been tracking the defender for some time and it appears a deal has been agreed. Augsburg his current club appear to have signed his replacement already, that's 21-year-old left back Philipp Max from Schalke 04. Rahman is said to be keen to get the deal over the line so his agent Sascha Empacher says, personal terms are all set as the teams continue to negotiate. He told Sport Bild: "It is only the clubs that have to find an agreement. We on our side are agreed."There's also been stupid rumours going around that we're after Tottenham's Danny Rose for £15 million!? This of course has to an absolute joke. Hopefully the signing of Baba Rahman is sorted out soon Click here to view the article

The goal for this month didn't get set up for some reason.

The news that Chelsea have agreed terms with Monaco for Radamel Falcao to join the London club on a season-long loan deal next season, subject to extensive medical checks after the Copa America, has caused rumours to circulate regarding Loïc Rémy's future at the club. The imminent arrival of Falcao has raised concerns that the France international's playing time at Chelsea could be limited in the build up to next summer's Euro 2016. Opta-powered fantasy football game www.oulala.com took to the task of comparing the Colombian and the Frenchman from last season's Premier League on a per minute basis to see whether the doubts are justified, or whether Rémy can still play a prominent role at the club and in-turn make it into the French national squad next summer. Despite playing half the amount of minutes than Falcao in the Premier League last season, Rémy's stats were remarkably better. The Frenchman led for goals (7 to 4), minutes per goal (99 to 326), strike-rate (23% to 11%) and shot accuracy (59% to 55%).After 7 goals from just 6 league starts, including important winners against both Hull and Stoke, Rémy played a big part in helping Chelsea to their first league title for five years last season and the 28-year-old will be hoping to play an even bigger role next season. Crystal Palace and West Ham are rumoured to be closely monitoring the situation, however, should Rémy leave the most likely destination will be his hometown club Lyon. A move that would see Champions League football and plenty of game-time in the hope of catching the eye of his international manager Didier Deschamps. What is clear is that should Loïc Rémy remain at Stamford Bridge next season, Falcao's arrival will unlikely have any impact on his position at the club. It will in-fact be the Colombian that will be struggling for regular game-time. Click here to view the article

There has been talk in recent weeks that Filipe Luis could be offloaded by Chelsea this summer after the Brazilian saw limited action in his debut season at Stamford Bridge. The left-back was one of five big money signings made by Jose Mourinho last season, with the 29-year-old costing £15.8 million from 2013-14 Spanish La Liga champions Atletico Madrid. While he wasn't the type of signing to make you go out and book home and away tickets for all Chelsea games for the season, he was expected to have a much bigger impact on the team and provide a dependable, quality option at the back. Filipe Luis made only nine starts in the league, although he did make a further six substitute appearances, as well as starting five of Chelsea's eight Champions League matches, starting one of their two FA Cup matches and five of their six on the way to glory in the League Cup. However, the Brazilian international didn't look like displacing Cesar Azpilicueta anytime soon for the starting full-back role. The Spanish international, four years his younger was one of the top left-backs in the country over the past season. Luis' appearances were often to give Azpilicueta a rest, or simply Mourinho rotating his squad in the cup. His win record in the league was only better than Ruben Loftus-Cheek (0 wins in 2 starts) as Luis was involved in only four wins in his nine Premier League matches as a starter. Chelsea don't have too many options at full-back, so if the Premier League champions are to let Filipe Luis leave over the summer, a player will have to join the club first. Toby Alderweireld has been linked over the weekend after a solid season on loan at Southampton. The Belgian spent most of the season on the south coast at centre-back before filling in at holding midfield towards the end. Currently owned by Atletico Madrid, he has some experience in both full-back roles. Ryan Bertrand left permanently in the January transfer window, going on to be named as the PFA Team of the Year left-back, alongside three Chelsea defenders. 20-year-old Cristian Cuevas spent the past season on loan at Universidad de Chile, whilst it would be big surprise to see highly-rated 17-year-old Jay Dasilva in the first-team squad next season. Filipe Luis will also have a busy June as he is at the Copa America representing Brazil – meaning any transfer may have to wait until July or August. In all likelihood, there is a good chance he will remain at Stamford Bridge for the 2015-16 season. Click here to view the article