Vesper

link https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cwywk1yx772o

"Let Estevao cook, let him play!" It's time to unleash the puppeteer https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/let-estevao-cook-let-him-play As Chelsea head into the season run in that has become very important now in the race for Champions League football, it might finally be time to just ‘let Estevao cook.’ For once, I’ll let someone else do the talking here though. One of the best strikers to ever play the game - Thierry Henry. “Let Estevao cook, let him play. We need to enjoy this type of players in this type of games. It doesn’t have to be scripted all the time,” Thierry Henry said on CBS Sport at the weekend after the Brazilian shone. “You wouldn’t like to play against him because he’s coming at you all the time, he’s coming at you the whole game, whether he’s having a good game or not a good game. “He’s trying to test you all the time and see if you’re going to stop him or not.” Yes, the old maverick-type players who are more of a rarity these days. Let them play, let them cook, let them express themselves. Estevao is an exciting young player. When he is on the pitch at Stamford Bridge you can just feel the energy in the crowd lift. Fans get off their seats when he has the ball, this is something that doesn’t really happen with any of our other players right now. That says it all about the potential Estevao has. I’m not against how he’s been eased into our club. I think it’s probably been smart. But in this season run in, it might now be time to hand him the keys to our UCL race.

this Braga player (plays all over the MF and also plays wingback)reminds me a bit of Michael Essien, who just happened to coach him last season at Nordsjælland in Denmark: Mario Dorgeles

Núñez has ONE good season 34 goals in only 2823 minutes, BUT it was in Liga NOS all the rest were meh he was a huge bust at Pool hard pass for moi

Chelsea told they have ruined Everton and West Ham target Cesare Casadei’s career https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/Chelsea-told-they-have-ruined-everton-and-west-ham-target-cesare-casadeis-career/ It’s the end of the January transfer window in 2025, and Enzo Maresca has rubber-stamped the permanent exit of Cesare Casadei, ending an indifferent stint at Stamford Bridge. The Italian midfielder had joined Chelsea two and a half years before that, in the summer of 2022 from Inter Milan. Another example of Chelsea signing a young player, but failing to give them the platform. Many young players struggle to play for Chelsea these days, given the size and bloated nature of the squad Liam Rosenior has inherited. It means the talented youngsters Chelsea sign end up failing to play. Casadei managed just 17 senior appearances for the Blues, going on loan to Reading and Leicester during his time in England. Eventually, the inevitable occurred, and Casadei left. He joined Torino for £12.5m. Chelsea lost money and Casadei’s development was affected This is a player that has been called up by Italy, and has clocked up 16 appearances for Italy’s U21 side. But there was simply no room for Casadei at Chelsea. Since then, he’s played 45 times for Torino. This season, he has five goals in 30 games for the Serie A side. Glimpses of quality, but a rawness that might have already been ironed out of his game, had he actually been given a chance at Chelsea. Speaking over the weekend via FCInter1908, Torino boss Roberto D’Aversa explained why he believes Chelsea are to blame for Casadei’s inconsistency. Casadei is still young at 23, but there is room to go. “He is a strong midfielder; he can get all the headers, but he can also play football. He needs consistency. He paid for a crucial move, to Chelsea. He didn’t play, and missed playing at a team where you can grow.” Chelsea bought Casadei for the best part of £17m, meaning they made a £4m loss on the midfielder. This is the ugly side of Todd Boehly’s approach as Chelsea owner, stunting the growth of some real gems. Cesare Casadei has unfinished business in the Premier League Earlier this month, reports emerged from Italy that suggested Casadei could well be back in England. Indeed, his goals, albeit inconsistent in Serie A this season, have caught the eye of top-tier English sides. According to TuttoMercatoWeb, talented midfielder Casadei is a target for both Everton and West Ham ahead of the summer window. That is, of course, if West Ham manage to remain in the Premier League. Casadei will feel he has plenty left to prove in England and a move to a mid-table Premier League side will certainly give him that chance. Whether he can ever emulate the hype around him as a teen, is unclear.

WILL ROSENIOR LIFT ENZO FERNANDEZ SUSPENSION? | MOREIRA Chelsea RETURN?

BARCO TO Chelsea ✅ | COLE PALMER BIG UPDATES | OWNERSHIP LIE TO Chelsea FANS

massive Spanish rumour mongers no offence meant to you at all btw

6 THINGS WE LEARNT FROM Chelsea 7-0 PORT VALE

could have had him for around £22-26m now he may go for £44-50m or so 6 months later 🤬

Chelsea have a favourable buy-back clause for Diego Moreira, whose fine form at Strasbourg has started to attract interest from Borussia Dortmund ahead of the upcoming transfer window. (Florian Plettenberg)

This article shows everything that is wrong now with transfers and the rest of Europe, etc, scamming the EPL teams. Plus the title is laughable when it uses the word steal (saying the BUYING team will 'steal' this player, lolol) as Bayer Leverkusen just bought him (he comes in summer 2026) for £7m and want to sell him for £26m without him ever even playing a game for them. Man Utd and Chelsea In talks to steal €30m wing wizard from German giants https://www.caughtoffside.com/2026/04/06/Chelsea-man-united-kerim-alajbegovic-transfer/ Chelsea and Manchester United are interested in signing Kerim Alajbegovic at the end of the season. The 18 year-old winger has impressed with Red Bull Salzburg, and his performances have attracted the attention of the Premier League club. However, Bayer Leverkusen recently announced that the player will join them in a long-term deal. He was a youth player for the German club, and they have decided to bring him back following his impressive performances in Austria. According to a report from Reprezentacija, the German outfit could be open to selling him immediately for a profit, and a deal could be worth around €30 million. Chelsea and Manchester United have already made contact to sign him. Chelsea and Manchester United could use more quality on the flanks, and the 18-year-old could be a solid long-term acquisition. He will add goals, creativity and unpredictability in the final third. The opportunity to move to England could be exciting for him. Chelsea and Manchester United are elite clubs, and they could groom him into a future star. Alajbegovic should look to join a club that will give him regular opportunities. Sitting on the bench at a big club could be detrimental to his growth. If Chelsea or Manchester United fail to provide him with the necessary assurance, it would be ideal for him to return to his former club in Germany. The 18-year-old should focus on his development for now. He is a promising player with a bright future, and he will have plenty of opportunities to join a bigger club in future. Alajbegovic is a left-sided winger, but he is versatile enough to operate on either flank. He has 11 goals and three assists to his name in all competitions this season.

Jorrel Hato coming on strong in the perfect moment He might need to do more of a regular left back job very soon https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/jorrel-hato-coming-on-strong-in-the Jorrel Hato was frustrated with his start at Chelsea and was wanting more chances to play, our sources heard at the time. But lately, he has become much happier with his game time and has been pleased with the chances he’s had. And also lately, he has more than taken those chances with an uptick in form and some fine performances. Hato’s rise of late might come in the perfect moment, because he’s performing well as a left back. As we know, there’s a real situation brewing up with Marc Cucurella, and despite what might be being reported out there in attempts to sweep everything under the rug right now, Cucurella has been and still is seriously doubting his immediate Chelsea future. As I’ve reported a number of times, Chelsea are looking into the left back market for this summer just in case they need to make a move there. So Hato turning up the ante on his own performances and finding for, is good timing indeed, for more reasons than one. ‘It’s my tournament, isn’t it?’ Hato said with a smile reflecting on the Port Vale win this week. ‘I was very happy to score my first goal [against Charlton] and now my first goal at Stamford Bridge, so I’m very happy. ‘It was a great result and we played great football. It’s a good way to come back after the international break.’ Hato has been very good in recent games and I’ve been enjoying watching him play as a left back rather than a centre back, where he can actually look a bit more vulnerable at times. I rated the signing of Hato at the time, but I also knew that at just 19, he was still a very raw player and still will be. And we’ve seen that in his inconsistencies so far this season.

yes, the entire team is all Gen Z not one is born in the last Millennial birth-year (1996) or before Sterling was the last Millennial on the roster before him we had 3 Millennials who left last summer, Marcus Bettinelli, Kepa, and Chilwell (barely for Chilly, as if he was born 11 days later, he would have been Gen Z) before them, we still had only one more, Romelu Lukaku, who left 2 summers back you have to go back 3 summers ago to when many left

Best of Como: Cesc Fabregas | Philadelphia Coach of the Month: March 2026 | Serie A 2025/26

lol almost EVERY major player transfer is linked to Barca, yet they cannot even afford Rashford on a cut-rate price they would have to sell so SO many of their players (and these are players who basically refuse to leave Barca) just to buy the top 5 or so transfers linked to them examples of players linked to Barca: most are just silly, as you will quickly see, once the ovwerall cost is taken into account Erling Haaland (that actually makes sense, IF Pep leaves and IF Barca cash in on enough players they have now who they do not need) Michael Olise Moisés Caicedo João Neves Vitinha Hugo Ekitiké Julián Alvarez Alessandro Bastoni (this makes sense as well, but again, they will HAVE to sell big names) Khvicha Kvaratskhelia William Saliba Sandro Tonali Yan Diomande Jurriën Timber Dayot Upamecano Kenan Yıldız João Pedro Bruno Guimarães Gabriel Victor Osimhen Bradley Barcola Luka Vuskovic Adam Wharton Elliot Anderson Riccardo Calafiori Nico O'Reilly Alphonso Davies etc etc

“I can absolutely understand fans who feel an emptiness about supporting Chelsea at the moment because of the americanisation of elements of the club. But the heartbeat will [still] be there once the Americans have made their money and moved on.” [Henry Winter via @talkSPORT] https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2809310492743408

Potter 🗣️”Chelsea isn’t being run like a football club it’s being run like a business experiment. Fans are the ones paying for it. If you change 7 players in every windows, the instability of that is hard to deal with. Also no clear structure at Chelsea ” https://www.facebook.com/reel/2548598945556199

Home kit for next season apparently

big problem with him (and other high quality CMFs who I will soon list like I did with DMFs) is that IF we have no CL, he will not want to come here (and TBH, he really does not want to leave Real at all)

Kova. Pure winner. 22 major trophies, including 4 CLs, 4 FIFA World Club Cups, 4 UEFA Super Cups, plus a Europa League and 9 domestic leagues titles or cups. He also was in a World Cup final and won 3rd place in another, plus was in a Nations League final, all with a nation of less than 4 million people (for comparison, just the London metro area is 4 times bigger, with close to 16 million people now). Only downside was the 3 FA Cup finals, 2 League Cup finals, and 2 Community Shields he lost with us and Citeh between 2018 and 2024. He had a Wembley curse (like we STILL do, ffs), but has won his last 2 finals there with Citeh. Let's hope we break our curse and put him on a new one this time.

they only CMFs and DMFs on the planet I would pay £100m (or more in a few cases) for it is not a big group (10 atm) Pedri Jude Bellingham (also plays a lot at AMF) Federico Valverde Moisés Caicedo João Neves Vitinha Dominik Szoboszlai (also plays a lot at AMF) Sandro Tonali Adam Wharton Declan Rice close, but probably not Elliot Anderson Ryan Gravenberch Aleksandar Pavlovic next (to make it the sweet 16) Enzo Fernández Bruno Guimarães Warren Zaïre-Emery

no team on the planet will pay that for him, other than maybe a team in Saudi

in terms of DMFs, here are the 2 types DMFs - the great ones, but ones who are very unrealistic for multiple reasons, especially IF we miss out on CL, but not just limited to that, as some simply will not want to leave their club for Chels, or are simply too expensive. No need to bold any, as I rate them all. Rodri is not on the list as he is too old for BlueCo, too injured, and would never come here anyway, he will end up in Spain at one of the Big Three I think. João Neves (zero chance atm) Vitinha (zero chance atm) Sandro Tonali (obviously a huge target, along with Wharton, but both will likely be FAILS for us) Adam Wharton (obviously a huge target, along with Tonali, but both will likely be FAILS for us) Ryan Gravenberch (Pool would demand over £100m, and likely would not sell him to another EPL club anyway) Aleksandar Pavlovic (we have tried multiple times, no way will Bayern sell him unless we waived £100m plus in their faces) Martín Zubimendi (Arse would not sell him to us for less than £80m or so, nor would he come here unless we had CL, plus I do not think he is what we need) Aurélien Tchouaméni (although IF we get CL we might be able to get Real Madrid to toss him in as makeweight for Enzo) Joshua Kimmich (too old now anyway, for BlueCo, I still rate the HELL out of him, he was, is, and will be a magnificent player) Marc Bernal (Barca and he himself have turned us down already) Kennet Eichhorn (likely the next German superstar DMF after Kimmich, but he is only 16yo atm and also EVERYBODY wants him, including Bayern, Real Madrid, Barca, PSG, Citeh, Pool, Manure, Arse, Inter, Juve, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, and Dortmund) 2nd type: DMFs that we probably have a shot at (bold ones I really rate, and unfortunately there are not that many and almsot none of those, even in in bold below, make we go 'BUY HIM') Carlos Baleba (but will be really expensive I fear and he loves Manure, and he laso has regressed a wee bit) Nico González (but Citeh will want big money (especially IF Rodri leaves), and we absolutely would need to have CL I think) Amadou Onana (he will want CL for sure, and I just do not think he is what we need atm) Morten Hjulmand Angelo Stiller Boubacar Kamara (injury issues) James Garner Alan Varela Máximo Perrone (he has blown up at Como, IF we had Cesc for our gaffer he would be a prime target) Ardon Jashari Hayden Hackney Aleksandar Stanković Leon Avdullahu Tyler Morton Samuele Ricci André Rúben Neves (I rate him, BUT he is 29yo, 30yo late next winter, plus he is on crazy money in Saudi, that said, I dread him going to Manure, he would be perfect for them atm) Marc Casadó (Barca will want big money and he has $audi written all over him, plus I worry about him being bullied in the EPL) Mandela Keita (but I am not sure he is truly what we need to win the league and/or CL, so put him down as a bit of a dice roll) Hakan Çalhanoğlu (I rate him, BUT he is 32yo and is the type who you add when you are stacked everywhere and think you are a top 4 or 5 club on planet and want to win the CL and your league NOW)

I see him much more as a MFer but sure, he could fill in at LB if need be LB is VERY light position-wise in terrms of REAL quality LBs who will actually want to move, and who will come here (especially if we have no CL) and all those will have all or most of the 10 to 12 'Big Boy' clubs chasing them Of the clear top 3 I listed Nico O'Reilly (1.93m) Alphonso Davies (1.85m) Nathaniel Brown (the one I would try to go for first, BUT so so many clubs want him) (1.76m, he is the only sub 6 footer (under 1.83m) on this list) only Brown is at a selling club Then you have a big drop off (at least for NOW as 3 of the 4 listed below are youth) Antonee Robinson would have been perfect 5 or so years ago, but now he turns 29yo in only 3 months (1.83m) Davide Bartesaghi of AC Milan is deffo a 'BlueCo' type of buy (20yo, tall,same height as Nico O'Reilly, and pacy) BUT he has every top 6 to 8 club drooling (1.93m) over him Dayann Methalie of Toulouse FC is also tall and pacy, and is also 20yo, and is less costly, less coveted (atm) so he is proably the one BlueCo move for (1.88m) Kauã Prates (turns 18yo in mid-August so JUST makes the age cut-off for the summer '26 window) is off the board, as Dortmund just signed him for this summer (1.84m) Diego Moreira of Strasbourg would be a wild card, he has exploded as a LeftMFer since he left us and is a left-footer. He just still needs work defensively. the other non-listed TOP top LBs are all unavailable AND/OR would never come here now, atm, or, in Balde's case, are too injury-prone IMHO Nuno Mendes best LB on the planet by far Álvaro Carreras (why would he leave Real madrid for us?, plus I really do not tate him as high as many do) Alejandro Balde (doesnt want to leave Barca, BUT they are sick of his injuries. That said, they will want BIG money probably) Riccardo Calafiori (main place he would leave for is back to Italy, Inter most likely, or perhaps Real or Barca. No way he comes here) Federico Dimarco (doesnt want to leave Italy and I cannot see him coming here, plus, like Carreras and Balde and Lewis-Skelly (Myles NOW, after his regression) I just do not rate Dimarco all THAT much) Jorrel Hato (already Chels) Myles Lewis-Skelly (has regressed a lot and also openly said he does not want to play for Chels, he absolutely wants to stay at Arse, especially IF Calafiori leaves) Lewis Hall (he is pissed we sold him, he would be PERFECT to replace CuCu) Ian Maatsen (another pissed-off ex Chels) Andrea Cambiaso turns 27 in February '27, and says IF he was to leave Juve, he wants a CL club for sure, plus Juve want cray money for him Theo Hernández is too old now for BlueCo (basically same age as Antonee Robinson at Fulham), plus is making insane Saudi money, plus has always been suspect defensively, especially for the EPL El Hadji Malick Diouf might be worth a look but pass (in most cases HARD pass) on many other LB big names: Milos Kerkez Rayan Aït-Nouri Patrick Dorgu Destiny Udogie Djed Spence Ferdi Kadıoğlu Carlos Augusto Tyrick Mitchell Carlos Romero Adrien Truffert Gerard Martín Maxi Araújo Neco Williams Vitaliy Mykolenko Alejandro Grimaldo Matteo Ruggeri Leif Davis Ryan Sessegnon Lucas Hernández Quilindschy Hartman (still has not FULLY recovered from a terrible injury) Maximilian Mittelstädt Miguel Gutiérrez Caio Henrique Mathías Olivera Rico Henry Pervis Estupiñán Renan Lodi Fran García Angeliño Oleksandr Zinchenko Luke Shaw