Vesper

and on the short bus here

Xavis is a right footer Kendry is a lefty

we paid £107m for him so 200 per cent (ie double) would be £214m (€247.5m) that extra £14m could buy at least one Brasilian 15yo who could come here in 2028 and be loaned out for 3 years, LOLOLOLOL

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cj4ekq5g5yyo

Fichajes bollocks, beware: According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, the Argentine is ‘very popular’ amongst Real Madrid management and they are ‘convinced that he would be a key player in dominating the midfield in the coming years.” They also state that the thinking is Fernandez could be the successor to Toni Kroos after the German retired last year. However, to prise him away from Chelsea is expected to cost a significant amount with the publication suggesting the London club would not let him go for anything less than €130m. Chelsea paid Benfica £106.8m in 2023, making him the club’s most expensive signing. To raise that money, Madrid are reportedly willing to let Eduardo Camavinga, Rodrygo and Fran García leave this summer, a trio they hope could raise €150m in transfer fees.

correct, but he is effective at LW as well, at least when I have seen him play

Ice cold in the Caribbean: Palmer's first trip to St Kitts https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/videos/c3r90wyj7z3o Chelsea and England star Cole Palmer visits the Caribbean island of St Kitts - where his paternal grandfather was born - for the first time. WATCH: Cole Palmer- Made in St Kitts on BBC iPlayer READ MORE: Cole Palmer given hero's reception on St Kitts visit https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cew0q4dd8rgo Cole Palmer was given a hero's welcome on Monday when he arrived in St Kitts for the first time, fresh from playing a starring role in Chelsea beating Paris St-Germain to win the Club World Cup in the United States. The Caribbean island is the birthplace of his grandfather, Sterry, and Palmer wears the flag of St Kitts and Nevis - alongside the England flag - on his football boots to honour his family's roots. Deputy prime minister Geoffrey Hanley and tourism minister Marsha T Henderson greeted the 23-year-old and his family at the airport alongside traditional Masquerade performers. Palmer said: "Landing in St Kitts off the back of winning the Club World Cup felt really special. It's where my grandad's love for football started. The island is beautiful and really chilled. I can't wait to explore the mountains, rainforest and sea - and to try out the food." Terrance Drew, St Kitts' prime minister, added: "Cole Palmer's visit to St Kitts and Nevis is a powerful reminder of the strength and pride of our diaspora. "His presence and mentorship will inspire the next generation to believe that global success is possible, no matter where you come from. We are proud to welcome him home and deeply grateful for his commitment to our young people and to the development of sports in our federation." Henderson said: "The Palmers already have a special connection to the island and that will only grow as they spend time exploring our lush rainforests, picturesque mountains and stunning waters, and savouring our rich culture and cuisine."

almost everytime I watched him play at Bayerns he was shit almost as bad as Upamecano other than Tah (and only on a free) I do not rate anyof their CBs

fake pic

fake pic here is the real one

oh HELL NO

Chelsea https://thedailybriefing.io/i/168546403/Chelsea Nicolas Jackson has emerged as a top target for Aston Villa, with his former manager Unai Emery keen to work with him again. (Dharmesh Sheth, Sky Sports) Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell is expected to become a top priority transfer target for newly-promoted Leeds United this summer. (Football Insider) Chelsea are eyeing Kim Min-jae from Bayern Munich this summer, with some talk of a possible swap deal between the two clubs becoming a serious option. (Tuttomercatoweb) Morgan Rogers to Chelsea could be one to watch as he’s now reportedly their top target for the rest of the summer, though Aston Villa want as much as £80m to let him go. (Sun)

the big issue with Wissa is he turns 29yo in 6 and a half weeks, on September 3rd, so no truly long term future there, once you get past the next 3 seasons or so, his resale value will drop like a rock

Ajax sold Jurriën Timber, a very similar player to Hato (Timber is right footed and plays RB and CB, Hato is left footed and plays LB and CB) to Arse for £34 million + £4.5m in add-ons (£38.5m in toto), so £40m to £50m, (split the difference and say £45m) is a fair price. £60m is fucking extortion as that is a full £21.5m MORE for Hato than Timber. £50m is the absolute max we should go.

Chelsea are champions of the world. So what happens next? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6497531/2025/07/17/Chelsea-cwc-title-transfers-stadium-ownership/ Chelsea are champions of the world. That may sound strange, even to many fans, at the end of a season in which Enzo Maresca’s team finished fourth in the Premier League and lifted UEFA’s third-tier club competition, the Conference League. But there can be no diminishing the emphatic manner of their 3-0 victory over recently-crowned European champions Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Chelsea were deserving winners of Gianni Infantino’s inaugural expanded FIFA Club World Cup, netting $114.6m (£84.5m) in prize money in the process. That triumph, and that financial windfall, opens up a world of possibilities. It also raises a number of questions about what happens next at Chelsea — questions that The Athletic will attempt to answer. What will they do with the cash? Firstly, the players and coaching staff will all receive a sizeable bonus equivalent to that which would have been awarded had Chelsea won the Champions League. This is all in keeping with Chelsea’s policy of handing out incentivised contracts rewarding success. The sudden injection of extra revenue has made no difference to Chelsea’s transfer plans, though. They are already happy with the business done so far this summer in adding three players to their attack in Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens. More arrivals could be made, but they will be dependent upon player departures. That is the main focus for the time being — the plan is to smooth more exits than incomings before the end of the window. The club have a number of squad members who are not part of their long-term plans and are also looking to go elsewhere. Those on the list include Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Joao Felix, Renato Veiga, Armando Broja, Lesley Ugochukwu and Axel Disasi. Among many possible remaining transfer targets are Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers. They have also made an enquiry for Ajax defender Jorrel Hato. Simon Johnson Delap has made a favourable first impression at Chelsea (Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images) How will this affect pre-season? The price of playing a full month of competitive football in the United States is that Chelsea will not have a normal full pre-season. Those who competed at the tournament have now been given three weeks off, which means they will not return to the training ground at Cobham until the first week of August. Estevao Willian, who agreed to join from Palmeiras last year, and Gittens (who signed from Borussia Dortmund) may report earlier, given their teams were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. It is customary these days for footballers to do their own training while away on vacation to stay in shape, but it is obviously not the same as working together with the entire group. Chelsea saw the Club World Cup as part of their pre-season preparations. It is one of the reasons they wanted to secure Delap, Joao Pedro and Gittens early so they could start to integrate with their new team-mates. Maresca also worked on new tactics and systems during the competition with next season in mind. But Chelsea have just two friendlies, against Bayer Leverkusen and Milan, before their opening Premier League game versus Crystal Palace. There are players who have been training at Cobham for 10 days now, but they are returning loanees who are expected to be sold. Simon Johnson Estevao Willian speaks with his future club-mates after Palmeiras’ 2-1 defeat by Chelsea (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images) Are the owners now getting along? Todd Boehly has been the only one to break the public silence on Chelsea’s ownership dynamic since his tensions with majority shareholders Clearlake Capital spilled out last September, giving semi-regular interviews at various business conferences and, most recently, a short exclusive conversation with talkSPORT. But even then, what he did not say was as illuminating as the words he chose. “I think the form that you’ve seen is everything we hoped when we were putting this together with (co-sporting directors) Laurence (Stewart) and Paul (Winstanley),” Boehly told talkSPORT. “Behdad (Eghbali) and I couldn’t be more grateful for the success that they’ve had, and for all Chelsea fans everywhere. We’re just so thrilled, and thank you for sticking with us. We’re really excited about what the future holds.” Boehly did not shed any light on the health of his relationship with Clearlake co-founder Eghbali, the state of which was a prompt for both parties to explore options to buy out the other last year and was detailed by The Athletic. It was a surprise to see Boehly walking out alongside United States President Donald Trump as Chelsea’s representative in the Club World Cup medal ceremony on Sunday, given that it is Eghbali who remains the most actively engaged owner in the club’s daily operations and the most visible member of ownership at most games. The relationship is described by sources with knowledge of the situation as professional, but the issues that arose last year have not gone away. While Chelsea are functioning successfully within the status quo, it is hard to escape the conclusion that something has to give as the club seek to navigate big decisions ahead — chiefly how best to proceed with a stadium plan. Liam Twomey FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Trump, Boehly and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi at MetLife Stadium (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) What is happening with the stadium? Gaining clarity on when — and where — Chelsea might be playing in a new stadium would be an even bigger milestone for the club than winning the Club World Cup. As detailed by The Athletic in March, a stand-by-stand renovation of Stamford Bridge has been discounted due to the costs and disruption involved in such a process, as well as the limited ability to improve match-day experience or capacity. That leaves only two options: demolishing Chelsea’s historic home and building an entirely new arena on the site, or acquiring the large plot of land that formerly housed the Earls Court Exhibition Centre and building there. Staying and redeveloping Stamford Bridge to the specifications that Clearlake and Boehly are looking for is exceptionally complicated, to the point of potentially being unfeasible. It would be logistically far easier to build a modern super-stadium on the much larger Earls Court site, but that land must be purchased from property developer Delancey, Transport for London (TfL), the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF) and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). That is unlikely to be simple, or cheap, and then there is the fact that any permanent move away from Stamford Bridge would require 76 per cent approval in a vote of Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO), the supporter group that owns the freehold to the club’s current home. Roman Abramovich failed to clear that dauntingly high bar when attempting to buy the freehold in 2011. An aerial view of Stamford Bridge in 2000, showing Earls Court Exhibition Centre, top (English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images) Chelsea are currently caught between two unenviable stadium options, and are trying to strike a balance between thorough due diligence and a sense of urgency to avoid the club falling behind the Premier League rivals who can boast bigger, newer stadiums. In the meantime, Delancey’s own big plans for the Earls Court land are moving forward: a decision on planning approval for their sprawling proposed mixed-use development that would include 4,000 new homes is expected from LBHF and RBKC at the end of July. Liam Twomey What You Should Read Next Chelsea and Stamford Bridge: Should Boehly-Clearlake stick or twist? Whatever decision Chelsea make on their stadium will be expensive and difficult, but it will also define the Boehly-Clearlake ownership How close are they to securing a front-of-shirt sponsor? Chelsea are talking to up to 10 major brands and are looking at signing a long-term deal worth £60million a year. They feel in a strong position to generate such a sum for a number of reasons. It clearly helps that Chelsea are back in the Champions League and have also just won the Club World Cup. But the club believes firms will also want to be associated with the youngest team in the Premier League, a side crammed with exciting players like Cole Palmer, Estevao and Moises Caicedo. Chelsea have the potential to be one of the best sides for several seasons and being the only club without a front-of-shirt sponsor right now means they do not face competition from rival clubs. They have received bids over the past 12 months that were for much lower sums and/or for a short length of time. A conscious decision was made to wait in case their argument for a greater price improved courtesy of a return to the Champions League. That decision appears to have paid off. There is confidence a new partnership will be agreed. Simon Johnson Chelsea won the Club World Cup without a front-of-shirt sponsor (Michael Reaves/Getty Images) Can they win the Premier League next season? The question has certainly been asked outside Stamford Bridge in the immediate aftermath of the team lifting the Club World Cup. But, internally, no one is getting carried away by such talk or overexcited by their achievements over the last few months. Chelsea won the UEFA Conference League and qualified for the Champions League for the first time under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium via a fourth-place Premier League finish. The overriding message, though, is to stay humble. There is a recognition that a number of leading clubs — including defending champions Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal — are doing good business during the transfer window. The competition is only going to be stronger next term. The only expectation for next season is to qualify for the Champions League via a top four/five finish again and to go on good runs in the cup competitions they are involved in — the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Simon Johnson Will they defend their Club World Cup trophy in four years’ time? FIFA are yet to adopt a definitive position on whether winning the Club World Cup guarantees entry into the next edition of the tournament. That is not hugely surprising, given how hastily this summer’s inaugural expanded competition was arranged in the U.S.. The answer may depend on where football’s governing body looks to for precedent. World Cup winners have not been given automatic passage into the next edition of the tournament since France in 2002, but winning UEFA’s flagship Champions League grants qualification for the league phase of the following season’s competition. As things stand, there is no mechanism for Chelsea to be certain that they will be Club World Cup participants in 2029. But as FIFA demonstrated with a convenient interpretation of their entry criteria to ensure the presence of Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at this summer’s tournament, the entry rules of such a new competition are not fixed. Messi competing at this year’s tournament with Inter Miami (Alex Grimm/Getty Images) It is possible that, by 2029, the Club World Cup may feature even more clubs. It is also possible that Chelsea could render this particular conversation moot by winning the Champions League at some point in the next four years, or by qualifying on merit via another means. In any case, you can be confident that Chelsea will lobby to be included again as defending champions — they would be foolish not to. Liam Twomey

I hate the Manure cunts same for Spuds Pool cheating twats Citeh Arse Leeds Bayern Juve Barca Real Madrid the ones in bold were the original Big Six (starting with the Juve Agenelli mafia scum, and maybe you could add in Ajax, but they were already going down the shitter due to their farmer league's lack of revenue) who forced in FFP to try and maintain their dominance because of AC Milan (Berlusconi), then us (Roman), and then Citeh and PSG

Bournemouth sign Djordje Petrovic from Chelsea on five-year contract https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6488728/2025/07/16/bournemouth-djordje-petrovic-Chelsea-transfer/ Bournemouth have confirmed the signing of Djordje Petrovic from Chelsea on a five-year contract. The Athletic reported on Friday that Petrovic, 25, had been granted permission to complete his medical with Bournemouth after the two clubs agreed a £25million deal. It completes the south-coast club’s search for a No 1 goalkeeper following the departure of Kepa Arrizabalaga, who spent the 2024-25 season on loan from Chelsea. Petrovic wanted assurance as a regular starter at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea could not promise that with Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen featuring prominently during 2024-25. He was one of several out-of-favour players to return for preseason training at Cobham. “I’m really happy to be here,” Petrovic said in a club statement. “I came to Bournemouth because I want to grow and I want to play at the best level. “Together with this club, with these facilities, I think we can achieve it. I want to help the team get the results, improve every day and be a better player.” The Serbia international made 31 appearances for Strasbourg, Chelsea’s French sister club which is also owned by BlueCo, on loan last season, helping the team to a seventh-placed finish and was voted supporters’ player of the season. Petrovic made 31 appearances for Chelsea since signing for the Premier League club from MLS side New England Revolution in 2023. He was left out of Enzo Maresca’s Club World Cup squad which won the tournament after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final on June 13. He played 86 times for Serbian side FK Cukaricki before moving to New England in 2022, and earned seven caps for Serbia after making his senior international debut in 2021. Petrovic’s arrival comes a day after Mark Travers’ departure to Everton was confirmed.

Chelsea https://thedailybriefing.io/i/168476015/Chelsea Morgan Rogers to Chelsea could be a deal triggered by Aston Villa’s interest in Blues striker Nicolas Jackson. (Matt Law) Joao Felix is ready to take a pay cut to leave Chelsea as he eyes a return to his former club Benfica as a priority this summer. (Mark Brus) Newcastle are in talks over signing Chelsea defender Axel Disasi, who has an asking price of €35m. (Mark Brus)

Ethan Nwaneri has reached an agreement with Arsenal for a new long-term contract, amid interest from Chelsea.

dog help us 😿

Rodrygo release clause Arsenal have reportedly hit a snag on their interest in Real Madrid star Rodrygo. According to Cadena, Real's £78million (€90m) asking price for the versatile forward is "too high" for the Gunners. The potential signings of Chelsea's Noni Madueke and Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres are also said to have "complicated things considerably". The same source claims the Brazil international and Los Blancos are "at a standstill".

‘Brand Palmer’, Chelsea and how they can use Club World Cup to build U.S. popularity https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6494813/2025/07/16/Chelsea-cole-palmer-club-world-cup/ Cole Palmer was the face of Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign from the minute he stepped foot in the United States to the moment he got his hands on the trophy in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday night. The 23-year-old’s match-winning performance against favourites Paris Saint-Germain in the final, where he scored two goals in a 3-0 win, cemented his status as the Premier League club’s most important player, on and off the pitch. For Palmer, whose face has been plastered over billboards in New York City, the Club World Cup triumph has the potential to work wonders for his commercial appeal, especially before the international World Cup taking place in the U.S., Canada and Mexico next year. ‘Scary Good’ was the tagline to a Palmer billboard in Times Square in the build-up to Sunday’s final, and he more than lived up to that moniker. What You Should Read Next How Chelsea won the Club World Cup: Big bonuses, training-ground deals and ‘scary’ Palmer The inside story of Chelsea's unlikely triumph in New Jersey that was 329 days in the making He had already achieved crossover — largely down to his endearing personality and a goal celebration that earned him the nickname ‘Cold Palmer’ — but he has now had his breakout moment on the global stage. And with under a year to go until next summer’s World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, the England international is uniquely positioned to capitalise on his Club World Cup success and continue to grow his commercial appeal in America. “Twelve months ago, beyond the celebration, you didn’t have any sort of big, high-profile performances that would define him and make him relevant to a U.S. audience,” Misha Sher, a global sports marketing expert and executive at WPP Media, tells The Athletic. “You now have those two things.” What You Should Read Next Cole Palmer really is ‘scary good’. This was his superstar moment Yet again, Palmer delivered when it mattered most for Chelsea, scoring twice and setting up the other goal in their final thrashing of PSG Cole Palmer opened the scoring against PSG in the Club World Cup final (Alex Grimm/Getty Images) Palmer’s talent with a football, coupled with his personality, is a recipe for success when it comes to growing a following. He is adored for being his authentic self and regularly goes viral on social media for his unintentional one-liners. A clip from Sunday night, when a confused Palmer appears to say, “Wait, wait, what is he doing?”, before Chelsea captain Reece James lifts the Club World Cup trophy has been viewed millions of times. The ‘he’ Palmer was referring to is Donald Trump, the American president, who handed over the trophy and then decided to stay for the celebrations. He was not overtly trying to be funny, and yet another example of how he cuts through by simply being himself. For Sher, however, showing he can win and perform in the biggest moments is even more important than his ability to effortlessly generate engagement online. “In the past, you would say he’s got a quirky character, he’s capable of some magic, and he’s got a cool celebration,” Sher says. “All of those are nice, but they fade in comparison to defining moments that can solidify your position in the hearts and minds of fans. “He was named player of the tournament and that takes him to a completely different sphere because Americans love a breakout star. He fits the profile that an American audience loves.” For next year’s World Cup, Sher believes there will be “major interest” in Palmer from American companies as his “relevance is high” and there’s a good chance he will “get even bigger over the next 12 months”. “There are moments that can define what happens next in a player’s career,” Sher adds. “You can use the success, attention and profile as a platform to build his brand. “Rather than hoping that some of the brands will reach out to him, I would be proactively building a strategy to capitalise on this opportunity and grow Cole Palmer’s brand in the U.S. — there will be so much appetite.” Palmer with the Club World Cup and Golden Ball trophies (Hector Vivas – FIFA via Getty Images) Sher cites the importance of Palmer working with “some of the biggest media companies” in the U.S. over the next 12 months to “keep that momentum going”. Palmer has already developed several notable endorsement deals, including with Burberry, the luxury British fashion house. He is also a Nike athlete and has done promotional work for EA FC, the football video game. What You Should Read Next The cult of ‘Cold Palmer’ has reached America – can he become a global brand? Cole Palmer is one of the Premier League's biggest stars but can the 22-year-old Chelsea and England forward take his name worldwide? Adrian Wright, a director at Sporting Group International and former commercial director at English Championship club West Bromwich Albion, explains one method Palmer and his team might use to grow his platform in America. “He will have reports behind his Instagram account that would show what countries people are following him from, what’s the age demographic,” Wright explains. “An agency would identify brands linked to Palmer’s social following, take that analysis and then identify brands relevant to that demographic.” https://www.instagram.com/p/DMEApOkBKMa/ It won’t just be Palmer who may attempt to reap the benefits of a successful month in America, though. Chelsea should see this as a chance to supercharge their plans to grow in North America, a vital market for the club. The Athletic has detailed why the Premier League side are leaning heavily on their London heritage in marketing campaigns, hoping to capture a global audience, but there is nothing quite like lifting a trophy. What You Should Read Next CFC LDN: Why Chelsea are leaning on their London heritage with new branding CFC LDN has been popping up around Chelsea's ground and on social media recently - but what does it mean? “If they can’t leverage this win, then they never will,” says Wright. “If I was a commercial director there, I would be switching all of our activity to the U.S. and just making sure that everybody knew about the win and what it means for them.” The room for growth at Chelsea was evident early in the tournament. Chelsea’s group-stage match against Los Angeles FC, for example, was attended by just over 22,000 spectators at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which has a capacity of 71,000. Chelsea’s game against LAFC was sparsely attended (Kevin C Cox/Getty Images) Their last-16 win against Benfica attracted just under 26,000 fans at the Bank of America Stadium — only Fluminense’s 2-0 win against Inter had a lower turnout (20,030 at the same ground) among the knockout-stage games. Before their semi-final against Fluminense, several Chelsea players, including Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, tried to shift tickets via their Instagram profiles. It could be argued that FIFA’s dynamic ticket pricing and poor ticket sales, at least in the early games, didn’t help Chelsea — they weren’t the only side to experience low attendances — but it does suggest they are yet to crack America. New York City’s iconic Empire State Building was lit up in blue to mark the club’s win, an example of the opportunity they have to cash in on previously unexplored commercial opportunities. What You Should Read Next Tickets for Club World Cup semi-final reduced from $473 to $13 in just 72 hours It means that it could be cheaper to buy a ticket to that semi-final than buy a cheesesteak ($15) or beer ($14) inside MetLife. A YouGov survey conducted between July 10 and July 13, which gathered just over 1,000 responses from adults in America, showed Chelsea are still behind Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Liverpool for popularity and fame in the U.S. Five per cent of respondents said they had a ‘very favourable’ view of Chelsea, while 11 per cent said their view was ‘somewhat favourable’. Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona scored seven per cent on the ‘very favourable’ metric. However, the survey also highlighted how soccer in general still has plenty of room for growth in the U.S., with 62 per cent of the respondents saying they do not follow the sport and held no view on any of the clubs. During their time in America, Chelsea only held one fan engagement event, which took place in Manhattan on the eve of the final and was dubbed ‘Legends Night’. Claude Makelele, a former Chelsea midfielder, attended and took part in a Q&A session. Chelsea’s fan engagement event in New York (Carl Recine – FIFA via Getty Images) Manchester City, on the other hand, who were knocked out by Al Hilal in the last-16, held fan engagement events in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Orlando, showing there is room for improvement for Chelsea when it comes to engaging their U.S. supporter groups. What You Should Read Next How Manchester City became the most popular Premier League team in America According to NBC, City appeared in three of their top-five most-watched Premier League matches in 2023 Chelsea say there are 100 different supporter groups in the U.S., with around 25,000 members, and that they are working on launching a new and improved supporters club programme for their overseas fans. “They should use winning this trophy as a strategic platform,” Sher adds. “They can tell the story of an exciting young squad that they built that, against all odds, beat this PSG machine, and beat them convincingly. “They can take a leaf out of what PSG have done to build their brand in the U.S. and other parts of the world.” What You Should Read Next PSG’s strategic ‘Paris’ branding is a masterstroke – but do they have star power to break the U.S.? The French club has links with the NFL and Air Jordan and a store on Fifth Avenue - but experts say they have a way to go to break America Chelsea’s successful Club World Cup has earned them just over $114million (£85.2m) in participation and prize money — but there is undoubtedly plenty of commercial income still on the table, especially as they are yet to announce a front-of-shirt sponsor for the 2025-26 season. All Premier League sides talk about the importance of growing their brands in America — Palmer and Chelsea have put themselves in a position to do exactly that.

Lamine Yamal to be investigated over dwarfism row https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cn5kpd4y2yvo Spain's Ministry of Social Rights has asked the country's prosecutor's office to investigate Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal after he reportedly hired people with dwarfism to perform at his 18th birthday party. Lamine Yamal hosted a party on Sunday at a rented property in Olivella, a small town 50 kilometres north west of Barcelona, with guests including YouTubers, influencers, and several Barcelona team-mates. It is alleged Lamine Yamal hired a group of entertainers with dwarfism, something the Association of People with Achondroplasia and other Skeletal Dysplasias in Spain (ADEE) described as "unacceptable in the 21st century". When contacted by BBC Sport, the Directorate General for People with Disabilities - part of the Ministry of Social Rights, ConsumerAffairs, and 2030 Agenda - said: "ADEE has filed a legal complaint. "Therefore, this Directorate General has asked the Prosecutor's Office to investigate to determine whether the law and, therefore, the rights of people with disabilities have been violated." The ADEE said it "publicly denounces the hiring of people with dwarfism as part of the entertainment," and said it would take legal action as it "perpetuates stereotypes, fuels discrimination, and undermines the image and rights" of people with disabilities. In a statement it said: "These actions violate not only current legislation but also the fundamental ethical values of a society that seeks to be egalitarian and respectful. "The general law on the rights of persons with disabilities expressly prohibits the following practices: 'Shows or recreational activities in which people with disabilities or other circumstances are used to provoke mockery, ridicule, or derision from the public in a manner contrary to the respect due to human dignity are prohibited'." However, Spanish radio station RAC1, external broadcast an interview with someone claiming to be one of the entertainers present at the party who defended Lamine Yamal. "No-one disrespected us, we worked in peace," said the artist, who asked to remain anonymous. "I don't understand why there's so much hype. We're normal people, who do what we want, in an absolutely legal way. "We work as entertainers. Why can't we do it? Because of our physical condition? "We know what our limit is and we will never exceed it: we are not fairground monkeys." The performer said it lasted one hour, and afterwards the entertainers joined in with the party. "We dance, we distribute drinks, we do magic... there are many types of shows. Everyone had a great time." When approached for comment by BBC Sport, a Barcelona spokesperson said the club was "not in a position to comment on an act that falls strictly within the private sphere", but added their position would be reassessed once "concrete information" has been ascertained.