Vesper

Ethan Ampadu interview: ‘This was the best decision for me and I stick by that’ https://theathletic.com/1762202/2020/04/22/ethan-ampadu-leipzig-chelsea-lampard-wales-euro-2020/ Almost everyone who watches or meets Ethan Ampadu remarks on his poise on the pitch or his maturity off it. Sometimes both. Ampadu is the Exeter City boy who played men’s football at 15; he is the 16-year-old called up to Wales’ senior squad and the 17-year-old who made his international debut at the Stade de France. Ampadu’s Chelsea debut had come two months earlier, as a replacement for Cesc Fabregas in a Carabao Cup tie. Ampadu has always been ahead of time. But now, on lockdown in Leipzig, time has stalled. A harsh comment would be that the same word — stalled — applies to Ampadu’s career. Some will make it, because the noise around professional football can be harsh, too. Flippant judgments are common. In the case of Ethan Ampadu, they are also premature and ignore some of the facts. Ampadu is still a teenager. He was 18 when arriving on loan from Chelsea at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga last summer. He is 19 now. As the number of Premier League clubs who wanted to end his Leipzig loan in January and bring him back to England confirms, within football Ampadu is regarded as having the potential to soar through the next decade at altitude. He has balance, vision and uncommon composure; he can play in midfield as well as defence. His Wales manager Ryan Giggs has called Ampadu “a future leader.” But, put bluntly, he has not played enough these past nine months in eastern Germany. Ampadu knows it, feels it, so during a conversation from his apartment in Leipzig’s Zentrum area, when the tender question comes regarding his assessment of this loan experience overall, his reply is: “To be honest, mixed. Yeah, I’d say mixed. “There’s been a lot of frustration at times; however, I’ve learned a lot through those frustrations which will only help me later in my career. I’ve not played as many games as I’d have liked to but in the games I’ve played in, I think I’ve done reasonably well. That’ll give me confidence, but I’ve things to learn from. “If I’m honest, it’s not been as good as I hoped, not all that I wanted it to be. But I hope technically I’ve improved and, tactically, I’ve now played under another manager. So I’ve learned another style of football and how another manager thinks football should be played.” At a different point in the discussion, Ampadu says: “Of course I’d have liked to have stayed with Chelsea, but for this season it was the best decision for me and I stick by that. “I don’t regret coming out here and having these experiences.” At another point, he starts a reply, halts, tracks back, then says: “It’s quite a difficult question to answer. I need to think about that.” This is a young man talking, but a thoughtful one. Ethan is the son of Kwame Ampadu, now assisting Thierry Henry at Montreal in the MLS. Kwame began at Arsenal as a teenager and played for West Brom, Swansea and Exeter, among others, before returning to Arsenal as a coach. Kwame is unquestionably a steadying influence and a different son, a different character, might have pointed out that his season has still managed to include five crucial Euro 2020 qualifiers — Ethan qualifies for Wales via his mother Wendy Thomas — and three appearances in the Champions League. Ampadu Jnr, though, is prepared to put his foot on the ball metaphorically as well as literally. Others, however, are in a rush. Fortunately and unfortunately for Ampadu, the excitement which has accompanied him since he was a six-year-old playing under-nines football has brought with it a level of expectation. It is the same for so many promising boys. Yet one difficult season can provoke doubt. Being selected to start for Wales in midfield last October against World Cup 2018 finalists Croatia — Ampadu faced Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Ivan Perisic — should counter any. He has 13 caps already. And then, for Leipzig, there was Ampadu’s performance in the last-16 Champions League first leg at Tottenham Hotspur in February. In north London Ampadu started and finished 90 minutes in a Leipzig jersey for the first and only time this season. Spurs, admittedly, had no Harry Kane or Son Heung-min because of injuries, but Ampadu slotted into central defence in a big-occasion match like a natural. Previously, in November and December, he had started against Benfica in the group stage, then appeared as a substitute in Lyon, but by no means was Ampadu a regular in Julian Nagelsmann’s starting XI. “You always dream about playing in the Champions League and that’s what happened against Benfica,” Ampadu says. “Personally, I’d like to have played better, but then you learn from that and that’s why you go on loan. I remember at the edge of our box once I got a bit too tight to their striker and he ended up turning me and running towards goal. I made a slide tackle, but that was something to learn. “The Lyon game, that was an interesting time to come on because we were winning [2-1] and I think they needed a draw or a win. The atmosphere was, uh, very good. To play in that situation, that was good.” Benfica, Lyon and Tottenham gave Ampadu three hours of intense, high-calibre football, just as his last seven Wales caps have come in Euros qualifiers. Not many 19-year-olds see such action. But after Lyon, in Leipzig’s next eight matches, Ampadu was an unused substitute eight times. Two months passed. Then came half an hour as a substitute against Werder Bremen. Nagelsmann obviously knew Dayot Upamecano, their central defender, was suspended for the trip to Spurs four days later. Even so, as Ampadu says: “Starting at Tottenham? Yeah, that came out of the blue a little bit. “If you look back on the season, I’m not playing many Leipzig games and this was the Champions League, obviously a big moment for the club. “I’d come on against Bremen four days before and that gave me a bit more confidence. I knew Upamecano wasn’t able to play, so I had a feeling I might be asked, more to be ready than knowing I would play. “We’d trained in shape but I wasn’t 100 per cent confirmed that I’d be playing. You can get an idea from training but until the coach says, you don’t know.” In his pre-match press conference, Nagelsmann informed everyone that Ampadu would play and that a Chelsea loanee would be motivated on his return to London. “The pressure is on,” Nagelsmann said, “but what player wouldn’t like this? This is what every player dreams about and here’s your opportunity: go and take it.” Ampadu did. He says his priority on the night was “just trying to get into the game. I’d played in others where you don’t quite get the rhythm so I wanted to be mentally switched-on. I had a few early touches and that calmed me down. That stadium is unreal, fantastic. “It was my first start in a little while, obviously. I knew I had to concentrate 100 per cent, I was up against high-class players — Lucas Moura with his pace and movement, Dele Alli also. Kane and Son are a miss to any team, but they’d still class players.” After 45 minutes, Leipzig and Ampadu had established themselves in north London. “The being-in-London thing, you have to let go, because it can affect you,” he says. “At half-time the discussion was about how we could keep penetrating and also try to keep a clean sheet. Normal, generic football stuff, really. “After we scored, we got a bit deeper than we’d have liked and they pressed higher. We didn’t have as much control as in the first half but, defending-wise, I still felt pretty comfortable — as in, comfortable in my role within the team.” When the final whistle blew on a 1-0 away win, Ampadu says he “felt positive, felt I’d done well. It was tiring, the lungs and legs needed to get used to it. “I’d a few messages from Chelsea players after.” Three days on, Upamecano was back in the team away to Schalke. Ampadu was again an unused substitute. Then, in training, he tweaked his lower back. Ampadu was unavailable for the next two matches, the second of which was the 3-0 victory over Tottenham in the second leg. And then coronavirus hit and football stopped. “My back became an issue after the Schalke game,” Ampadu explains. “I’m rehabbing. I’ve had a stiff back a few times in the season, but nothing major, nothing to stop me training or anything. I’m not sure how this really started, I didn’t have a knock or contact. It was after the first leg against Tottenham. On the Sunday I pulled up in training. “If there was a game this weekend, I wouldn’t be fit, but after that, yeah, I hope, some time in May. And I’d definitely be fit for the Euros had they been happening this summer. “I’d hope to be fit enough if the season comes back. I need to be careful but, in my eyes, I hope to play.” When, if, the season does resume, Ampadu will remain in Leipzig, part of a squad third in the Bundesliga, five points behind leaders Bayern Munich with nine games remaining, and through to the Champions League quarter-finals. Are the club challengers? “We must believe so, yes, absolutely,” he says of winning the Bundesliga. “Of course, you never know, the quality we’re up against is high and we still have to chase a little bit. But I don’t see a reason why we wouldn’t believe we can win it.” And in Europe? “Are we contenders? Well, it’s a boost to your own ego and in terms of self-confidence, I think you have to feel that way, otherwise there’s no real point in being in it. You have to have that confidence. Winning against Tottenham might have raised that a little bit.” It was Timo Werner who scored the winner at Tottenham, one of 27 goals in another prolific season for a striker who turned 24 last month. “I’d heard a lot about him before I came over,” Ampadu says of Werner. “He was in the media in England because of his goals, his pace, his ruthlessness. Over here, I’ve seen that. “He scores all kinds of goals, he gets in behind, he can run at players with his pace, he’s an exciting player. “He’s a good bloke. Fairly quiet. I think that’s something here, they’re all fairly quiet, get on with things — although maybe that’s my language barrier and I’ve missed all that.” He has been taking German lessons, sometimes with former Everton striker Ademola Lookman, who is now at RB Leipzig permanently. But Ampadu is not where he wishes to be with it: “The language barrier has been difficult, but I’m here and I want to learn it. I’m definitely better at listening and understanding the basics rather than speaking it myself.” The excellent English of the average German makes assimilation easier — “I’ve been made to feel welcome, feel integrated. Leipzig’s a nice city to live in” — plus he has roomed with Lookman and another English speaker, Tyler Adams. The United States international midfielder from New York state — signed from Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls — has, Ampadu says, “become one of my closest friends. “Obviously when I first joined, his English helped us get to know each other. We’ve bounced off each other all year. He’s helped me settle in. We’ve not actually played together much because he had an injury and then I had one.” Adams is 21, Lookman 22, Upamecano 21. When Ampadu assessed his position last summer, the Leipzig age profile was relevant. “I’d other options but when I spoke to Chelsea and my family, Leipzig were an emerging team, young and with a young mentality, it seemed good. And when I got here, you do notice a youthfulness to the players, the coaching staff.” Coach Nagelsmann, of course, is only 32. He, too, arrived last summer, ahead of Ampadu. “I’d heard a lot about him before I joined; good, positive reviews. He had a high reputation and one for bringing through and developing young players. That was also a factor in coming here. “You can see it on the pitch, he’s thoughtful about his tactics, methods. It’s positive and the way the team’s played this season has shown that. “We had a conversation beforehand, his feeling about me joining the club. That helped me decide where to go. “I know every manager is keen on pressing and counter-pressing but maybe the way he puts it across comes with more intensity. It’s a different way of playing.” This current thinking time allows Ampadu to evaluate Nagelsmann’s coaching, along with broader German football and “a year in a different culture.” He has seen the Yellow Wall at Dortmund games, been impressed by the stadiums at Bayern Munich, Schalke and Union Berlin. That last stadium was Ampadu’s first taste of the Bundesliga. RB Leipzig are a controversial club in Germany, their name, ownership structure and nouveau riche wealth alienates traditional supporters. At Union Berlin, on the season’s opening day last August, home fans staged a silent anti-Red Bull protest for the first 15 minutes of the game. Then, as Ampadu says, “it was like a party — it was an experience for my first German league game.” Leipzig scored in the 16th minute and won 4-0. It was the first of five wins in six games, revealing the team as real contenders — and, for Ampadu, a tough team to break into. Ultimately, Ethan Ampadu is a Chelsea player. He has a contract at Stamford Bridge until 2023 and hopes to fulfil it. Chelsea’s expansive loan system has received criticism over the years but, for Ampadu, it is part of his education. Carlo Cudicini leads the loan-player department at the club and Ampadu says the former goalkeeper “has been my main point of reference. “He came out here early on to see how I was, which is nice to know someone’s looking out for you. In football terms, we have a discussion after every game I’ve played in. Even if I’ve played 15 or 10 minutes he’s still gone and found some clips, showed me things I can improve on or where I’ve done well. “Every Chelsea loan player gets that, I believe; the time and effort that’s put into it is very good.” Ampadu has had some contact with Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard but is realistic about that and about where he stands in the club. Asked where he would like to be this month in 2021, Ampadu says: “First I’d like to be fit and healthy, of course, and have played regularly throughout the season in a good competition; improve as a player and as a person; hopefully put myself in contention to make Wales’ Euros squad; I’d be open to another loan move if that’s what’s necessary. “My end goal is to hopefully one day be a regular at Chelsea, but for now I’ve to think about the now, and do what is needed.” It is a strange time, a time of stillness, a time of change. Ampadu will return to Chelsea a year older and definitely a year wiser. He will also look different, the dreadlocks from his youth having been shaved off shortly before Christmas by a vogue barber in London. “It was a big decision,” Ampadu says, “took me a long time, to be honest. “I did it just before Christmas, when we flew back for the winter break. HD Cutz did it. “Why?” he laughs, “I don’t actually know. Maybe it was just time for a change. Sometimes I still don’t think I’ve gotten over it. A lot of people said to me about getting it cut for a long time. “So, I thought, ‘Why not?’” Remember, he is 19.

£21.8m plus £4.4m in possible add-ons SMDH

Thomas at Arse is bad for us, he is a world class DMF who also is a great passer. His release clause is only (pre COVID only) £42m too. He is a MASSIVE upgrade on the dullard Granit Xhaka and the midget Lucas Torreira (who is overrated IMHO.).

hell yes! it is HORRID

that Arse UEFA coefficient is completely cherry-picked it's the 5 year coefficient we got fucked because of no points in 2016/17 if we had the average year then we would be 8th in the world with 104 points, 1 behind PSG who have 105 look at this seasons rankings the previous set of 5 years before the current 5 we are 4th in the world for the ten years we are 5th (AM passes us up)

‘Ready for the next step’ – Canadian star Jonathan David suits Barcelona perfectly https://www.soccity.net/la-liga/barcelona/canadian-star-david-suits-barcelona-gent/ Barcelona have often taken criticism for having a flawed transfer policy. The club has been sticking to short-term buying and it has been a case of putting on a blindfold, throwing paint at a canvas and hoping they end up with Monalisa. They have taken stick for being random and lacking a plan. But the recent links to Jonathan David show that maybe, the policy might be changing a bit for the Catalans. The Belgian league has become a rather undervalued place for poaching talents. From Sergey Milinkovic-Savic and Kalidou Koulibaly to Wilfried Ndidi, many players have silently got their first major breakthrough in Belgium. The next one could be David and there is a reason why big clubs want the striker. David has been in impressive form for his club Gent. In just 27 Jupiler League games for the club, the Canadian forward has scored 18 goals with three of them being penalties. If that isn’t enough, the 20-year-old has also racked up seven assists during this time. In total, he has contributed to as many as 25 goals. This is the highest goalscoring tally for David in a single season. Last season, he had scored only eight league goals and this season has been a massive improvement for him. David brings a high shooting accuracy to the plate. The average shooting accuracy for a striker (per Soccerment) is 34.1 percent. But that metric for David stands at an impressive 55 percent. He benefits from having 12 percent of his touches come in the opposition’s box, allowing him to play close to goal. As a result, he has a very healthy goalscoring tally while taking only 2.3 shots on target per 90 minutes (per Wyscout). He completes 1.7 dribbles per 90 minutes and does that with very good accuracy of 61 percent. What paints him as a complete striker is that he completes five recoveries per 90 minutes, with four coming in the opposition’s half. This shows that despite being a prolific goalscorer, he also possesses very good abilities on and off the ball. That is perhaps why many clubs (apart from Barca) want to sign the Brooklyn-born striker in the summer of 2020. The sort of player David is, he seems very much in the Luis Suarez mould. Like the Uruguayan, David is adept at linking up play and often taking on defenders. He is prolific at goalscoring and thrives on being as close to goal as possible. The comparison via Soccerment brings up very stark similarities. Both aren’t just very good at assisting, they are equally good at every possible aspect on the pitch. And that is what makes David such a suitable replacement for the ageing Suarez. David’s agent has made it clear that he can leave Gent soon, providing encouragement to many clubs about signing him. While he’s said that David is eyeing a Bundesliga move, his comments are certainly a sign that he might be leaving soon. He said (via BuliNews): “Jonathan is now ready for the next step. He wants to play in the Bundesliga. Realistically, Jonathan is only playing his first full season as a professional. His leaps in development are enormous.” A move for David would be a rare achievement for Barcelona. Many deals of the past- those like Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Malcom haven’t gone down well. David would be the perfect fit and a long-term deal that they need to replace Suarez in the near future.

Player Analysis: Watford and Osasuna left-back Pervis Estupinan https://www.soccity.net/la-liga/player-analysis-watford-osasuna-pervis-estupinan/ Pervis Estupinan is a player that could become a target for big clubs soon. Currently at Osasuna in La Liga, the left-back has been loaned out by Watford. Strangely, this isn’t the first time the Hornets have sent him out on a temporary deal. This is his fifth loan deal and this is perhaps, his best one so far. He had joined Watford from Ecuadorian club LDU Quito in the summer of 2016. He’s not made a single first-team appearance for them since, having spent five seasons on loan in Spain. The first two loan stints came at Granada. The one in the 2017-18 campaign came at Almeria and the next one came at Mallorca. He’s been a regular at each of the clubs- like he has been for Los Rojillos this season. In the current campaign, he has made 29 appearances in all competitions. In La Liga, he’s played all but one game. He boasts of a tally of one goal and five assists in all competitions, becoming their regular left-back. Delving further into his performances will show how good he has been. In absolute terms, he has certainly been good for a left-back. He has an XA per 90 minutes of 0.09, with his XG + XA per 90 minutes metric of 0.13 as well. That is certainly good for a left-back. Over time, he has become a complete full-back. Unlike the modern-day players in his position, his defensive abilities go hand in hand with his attacking intent. He has tackled 72 percent of dribblers– clear proof of how he isn’t the one to go past easily. As per Soccerment, Estupinan is adept at winning the ball back in the defensive third too. He’s made as many as 8.16 recoveries per 90 minutes and that is almost double the average for a full-back in the game today. The metric above is a clear indication of how he is a well-balanced full-back. He constantly runs up and down the pitch, covering a lot of ground on the left side of the pitch. And a Wyscout heatmap shows how he’s heavily involved in both halves of the pitch as well. Osasuna playing regularly in a 4-4-2 system would ideally hand Estupinan some defensive support from usual left-winger Ruben Garcia, but he’s contributed to eight goals so far. He does help out defensively and can often drop deep, but Estupinan’s defensive output in individual terms is very good indeed. In fact, he’s been one of the club’s best players in a defensive sense and in an attacking sense too. As compared to other Osasuna players, Estupinan is on another planet and hardly anyone comes close to him. It is also crucial to bear in mind that the Ecuadorian is the second-best recovery-maker in the side, only behind Sergio Herrera. It is very rare in the game today to have a left-back as the best defensive performance. The game is heading towards a stage where full-backs are intensive attacking wing-backs and enjoy the support of a defensive midfielder sitting in the centre-back areas. But Estupinan presents an unlikely case of not relying on a midfielder dropping in to help him. Osasuna playing in a 4-4-2 more often is perhaps complementary to that. But it isn’t just attacking wise that Estupinan thrives. He is adept going forward- as mentioned above and he’s also one of the best-attacking contributors at the club. Estupinan is towards the far right, thriving on his dribbling ability from the left side of the pitch. He isn’t bad in terms of creation and does second-best in that regard behind his left-side partner Ruben Garcia. It is a collection of these abilities that make Estupinan stand out in the current team. These numbers weren’t as lofty in the previous stints and even though he hasn’t been a winger in the past, he still conjures up very impressive attacking stats for a full-back. And talking of where he stands in the European circuit, he’s not doing badly in that regard either. Being a complete full-back certainly puts him high up in his age group of Under-23s full-backs in the top five European leagues. While Alphonso Davies and Youcef Atal are prolific creators who perform defensive actions in brilliant fashion too, Aaron Wan-Bissaka thrives on tackling and recoveries on the ball. Real Madrid loanee Achraf Hakimi has been used in advanced positions by Lucien Favre to maximise his attacking inputs. As for Estupinan, he’s a bit on the defensive side- slanting towards Wan-Bissaka. But his attacking input is close to Milan’s Theo Hernandez, who was the Rossoneri’s highest goalscorer at one point. Even Trent Alexander-Arnold is only just pipping Estupinan in a creative sense as it doesn’t involve crossing. But the best thing about it is that Estupinan has done so well in the graph despite not playing for a traditional big club. Atal doesn’t either, but the youngster has been linked with multiple big clubs like Barcelona and Tottenham. There is a chance he ends up there soon. There is every possibility that Estupinan does even better if he plays in a team that is better than Osasuna. He’ll get more of the ball and will have the openness to use it better. Despite having so less of it playing for a lesser Spanish team, he’s done well in the attacking regard. And it will only go up. As for Watford, they’ve uncovered another talent from South America. Richarlison was one and they sold him to Everton. In Estupinan, they have a player who’s played away from the club so many times. A season in the Premier League will only help him.

Ornstein and many others spanking a troll, lol

La Liga rising stars: Ferran Torres, Alexander Isak of Sweden, and… a Watford left-back https://theathletic.com/1731987/2020/04/13/la-liga-rising-stars-torres-isak-salisu/ The football might have stopped at the moment but the planning for the next transfer window continues. Clubs in Spain and elsewhere are looking to the future, with the more switched-on sporting directors, scouts and agents working overtime these weeks. Here are six emerging talents from around La Liga’s clubs, whose performances through the first seven months of 2019-20 ensured they are likely to feature highly in many of those conversations… Ferran Torres – Valencia & Spain Valencia winger Ferran Torres was long marked for the top at his home city club’s Paterna youth academy, well before he marked his full La Liga debut aged just 17 with a clever assist against Athletic Bilbao in January 2018. But 2019-20 has been the break-out campaign, with Torres emerging as one of Valencia’s team leaders during a rollercoaster season. Super pacy and direct, but with an eye for a pass and a liking for the big occasion, he was both eye-catching and effective as Los Che beat Barcelona and drew with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in recent months. Had Euro 2020 gone ahead this summer, he would probably have made the final 23 for Spain. Worryingly for Valencia fans, contract talks over extending the 20-year-old’s deal which ends in 2021 have been deadlocked for months now, leading suitors, including Manchester United and Juventus, to consider meeting his current €100 million release clause. Alexander Isak – Real Sociedad & Sweden A gangly but attractive centre-forward, Alexander Isak was much talked about when coming through at AIK Solna, but had seemed to lose his way when being shut out completely at Borussia Dortmund. La Real nabbing him for €6.5 million last summer now looks an absolute bargain. After taking a few months to find his feet, a poacher’s effort against Barcelona in December began a run of 12 goals in 12 games. This included a double at the Bernabeu to knock Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey, and fine goal and assist to win the Basque derby at home to Athletic Bilbao. More mobile and more of a team player than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to whom he has often been lazily compared, Isak is not short of confidence. And at still just 20, he has lots of time to improve much further. Mohammed Salisu – Real Valladolid & Ghana Accra-born centre-back Mohammed Salisu had never played a competitive 11-a-side game before Real Valladolid took him from Ghana to Castilla in 2017, or so the legend goes. The solid and composed defender is definitely a quick learner. Since making his senior debut on the opening day of the 2019-20 season, he has played in every La Liga game as part of a super-organised defence which has kept Valladolid clear of the drop zone. Salisu’s 6ft 3in and 82kg frame is fast across the ground and he is comfortable on the ball, while few defenders have the discipline to pick up just two yellow cards across two-thirds of a season. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have both registered an interest, after composed displays against both helped his team pick up unexpected points. He only turns 21 this Friday. Pau Torres – Villarreal & Spain Scoring after just 59 seconds was quite a way for Villarreal’s Pau Torres to mark his senior international debut for Spain last November. But a goal against Malta was secondary to the growing hopes that the tall and elegant centre-back could fill a problem position for La Roja for the next decade. Born in the town of Villarreal in January 1997, the left-footed Torres joined his hometown club aged just six. After spending last season gaining experience in the Segunda Division at Malaga, the 6ft 3in defender has slotted in alongside veteran Raul Albiol at Primera level this year, albeit with some tricky moments as the team’s general form has fluctuated. Villarreal moved quickly to sign him until 2024 last autumn, but that has not stopped interest from Barcelona and Arsenal in a ball-playing defender whose model growing up was his club’s long-serving and fine-passing midfielder Bruno Soriano. Oscar Rodriguez – Leganes (on loan from Real Madrid) & Spain There has not been much to smile about at Leganes this season, but the performances of 21-year-old Oscar Rodriguez have brought moments of respite. For instance, the 25-yard free kick curled into the top corner against Real Sociedad in February, with 93 mins and 54 seconds on the clock and the score at 1-1. The confident kid who came through at Real Madrid is used to the spotlight, with his first ever La Liga goal clinching victory against Barcelona at Butarque last season. Only Lionel Messi has more than his three direct free kicks scored this season across the big five European leagues. Leganes coach Javier Aguirre has been focusing on increasing the player’s workrate and adding tactical intelligence to his game, but all the elements are there for a top-class attacking midfielder. Competition for places at the Bernabeu means he will probably not go back there next season, so there could be a summer clamour for his signature, especially if Leganes are relegated. Pervis Estupinan – Osasuna (on loan from Watford) & Ecuador The splendidly named left-back Pervis Estupinan came on to many international radars when he gave Kieran Trippier a bit of a chasing at Atletico Madrid in December. The 22-year-old Ecuadorian had, however, taken quite a roundabout route to get to the Wanda Metropolitano that evening, having already played 150 senior games across six clubs — not including his current owners Watford. Athletic and technically impressive, Estupinan’s constant raids forward have befuddled many more markers than Trippier, and are a key part of Osasuna’s positive gameplan. There is end product too — curling crosses from his left foot have brought four assists, while his only goal was hit confidently with his ‘other’ right boot. Despite quickly gaining cult hero status at El Sadar, where fans cheer him as ‘Pervis Presley’, Estupinan could well be on the move again whenever the next transfer window opens.

James Horncastle’s Serie A Team of the Year https://theathletic.com/1759043/2020/04/21/horncastle-serie-a-team-of-year-immobile-ronaldo-juventus-inter-lazio-atalanta/ It’s that time of year when players and journalists alike typically start voting for the end of season awards. Here, The Athletic has picked its Serie A Team of the Year. The criteria is simple enough. No more than three players per club and if you haven’t started 10 league games, you’re not getting in. Andiamo! Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus) The Pole’s name rarely comes up in debates about the best goalkeepers in the world. Maybe his reputation as a joker makes it hard for people to take him seriously. Still, it’s odd Szczesny doesn’t receive greater recognition when you consider how much his career has kicked on since moving to Italy almost five years ago. “First I had the best goalkeeper in the world (Alisson) as my back-up. Now the best goalkeeper of all time (Gianluigi Buffon),” he laughs. In all seriousness, keeping Alisson out of the starting XI while on loan at Roma and succeeding Buffon at Juventus is, frankly, an astonishing achievement. The 30-year-old signed a new contract in February and there are no questions about his place in the team. Giorgio Chiellini’s six-month absence with a knee injury and Juventus’ transition to a completely different way of defending under new coach Maurizio Sarri mean Szczesny has been busier than usual. Fortunately he has stepped up, protecting leads and keeping Juventus in games. StatsBomb data shows the former Arsenal man leads the league in “goals saved above average”, with 0.32 per 90 minutes. All told, an average goalkeeper would have let in six more goals this season, and the stop he made from Allan in August, which started a counter-attack ending in the opening goal a 4-3 win against Napoli, set the tone for an excellent year. Davide Faraoni (Hellas Verona) This was one of the trickiest selections to make. Right-back is a bit of a problem position for Italy. Alessandro Florenzi has played there a lot in recent years without ever looking entirely comfortable and, after losing his place at Roma, didn’t have time to make an impact with Valencia following a January loan move. Antonio Candreva’s return to form in a wing-back role under Antonio Conte (with seven Serie A goal involvements at Inter this season) perhaps gives him the stronger case for inclusion. In the end, though, the decision became a toss-up between Faraoni and Napoli’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who is now starting for Italy on the right. Why settle on the Verona wing-back? Well, for a team that doesn’t score much, Faraoni’s impact (three goals and three assists) on their remarkable return to the top flight has been greater than Di Lorenzo’s on Napoli. His tandem with Darko Lazovic has been one of the strengths of Ivan Juric’s team and, according to StatsBomb, Faraoni is second among right-sided players for counter pressures in the opposition’s half. Di Lorenzo, on the other hand, has often had to play on the left because of injuries to Mario Rui and Faouzi Ghoulam, not to mention centre-back in Kalidou Koulibaly’s absence. Watching Faraoni back in the big time is nice for those who remember him coming through at Inter — where he appeared in the Champions League — at the twilight of the treble-winning era almost a decade ago. Traded to Udinese in 2012 as part of a deal involving Samir Handanovic, and then to Watford, who were down in the Championship at the time, the majority of his career has been played out in the second tiers. Keep this up, though, and he could go to the Euros. Stefan de Vrij (Inter Milan) Quiet and unassuming, it perhaps shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that De Vrij slips to the back of people’s minds when they argue over the best centre-backs in Europe. In Italy, the most talked-about Dutchman is Matthijs de Ligt, an entirely understandable state of affairs given the captain’s role he played during Ajax’s run to the Champions League semi-finals a year ago and his £74.7 million move to Juventus last summer. In Europe, Virgil van Dijk is the defender most associated with the Netherlands. Widely renowned as the world’s best, another colossal transfer fee (£75 million), and his transformative effect on Liverpool mean the name De Vrij fades into the background. It doesn’t help, perhaps, that the best-known moment of his career so far was giving away a penalty while playing for Lazio in a de-facto Champions League play-off against Inter — after the news had broken that he’d be joining them that summer. That was unfortunate, but the 28-year-old has put it behind him with assured displays at the heart of Inter’s back three. The Feyenoord academy graduate has no single stand-out attribute. Unlike Leonardo Bonucci and David Luiz, the other high-profile centre-backs Conte played through the middle at Juventus and Chelsea respectively, De Vrij doesn’t spray diagonals and turn defence into attack with a pass. He does step up and play tidily with midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, though, and his anticipation without the ball, cutting out passes to strikers, is the hallmark of an intelligent defender. Excellent in both Milan derbies, his record of two goals and three assists makes De Vrij the league’s most dangerous attacking centre-back after Atalanta’s superb Rafael Toloi. As free transfers go, Diego Godin and Nemanja Vidic did not match expectations at Inter. De Vrij, by contrast, has exceeded them and he will likely be the club’s next captain once Handanovic retires. Francesco Acerbi (Lazio) The outstanding centre-back in the best defence in the league, Acerbi’s story continues to inspire. Twice diagnosed with testicular cancer, he returned to play 149 consecutive games in Serie A and finished qualifying for the Euros as Italy’s starting centre-back beside captain Bonucci. The 32-year-old, who replaced De Vrij at Lazio, has matured — Acerbi used to turn up for training still drunk from the night before at the start of his career — and has belatedly fulfilled the potential that led Milan to sign him as Alessandro Nesta’s successor in 2012. A one-man wall in the Rome derby in January, when Acerbi also popped up for Lazio’s equaliser, he scored a long-range screamer against Torino in October which must be a candidate for his club’s goal of the season. Chiellini’s knee-surgery absence and Koulibaly’s rough year for Napoli have all led us to focus a little more on Acerbi and his key role in Lazio’s unexpected title challenge. Acerbi won the nation’s hearts last October when he decided to stay behind and get a taxi back to their hotel when the national team’s visit to a children’s hospital came to an end. “I’m not going anywhere until I’ve seen everyone,” he said. For that gesture alone, Acerbi is one of the first names on The Athletic’s team sheet. Robin Gosens (Atalanta) As with Faraoni on the other side, Gosens is a wing-back, however, it’d be criminal to overlook him on a technicality. Theo Hernandez has generated a lot of hype, and deservedly so, as AC Milan’s second-top scorer, but our left flank belongs to the less-glamorous Gosens. Perplexingly, he remains uncapped at international level, with the Netherlands hoping to persuade the dual national to choose them over Germany. The 25-year-old has scored or assisted 12 times in 22 appearances, the highest total for a defender in the league. Gosens has flourished since Leonardo Spinazzola’s 2018 departure and, with Papu Gomez and Duvan Zapata drifting across to combine with him, Atalanta possess the best left side since the peak of Ghoulam, Marek Hamsik and Lorenzo Insigne at Napoli. No wing-back in Italy is as big a threat in the air as Gosens. His late runs and well-coordinated far post finishes have allowed him to make impacts on the biggest games of the season against Juventus, Inter Milan and that historic night away to Shakhtar Donetsk, when Atalanta qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League despite having no points at the group stage’s halfway mark. Transfer interest in Gosens should be high, though prospective buyers are doubtful of Atalanta players’ ability to replicate the same high-performance levels outside of Gian Piero Gasperini’s unique system. For now, Gosens is committed— he extended his contract until 2024 in January. His ambition remains to play for Schalke, the team he supports, at some point in the future. Luis Alberto (Lazio) Napoli’s Fabian Ruiz is the Spanish player repeatedly linked with a move from Serie A to one of the giants of La Liga. How Alberto doesn’t attract the same attention remains a mystery. Capped just once by Spain, the 27-year-old is back to his best this season and deserves a share of Ciro Immobile’s goal bonuses. Almost half of his 10 assists have been for the league’s top scorer and the connection between them is one of Lazio’s principal strengths. Alberto’s scoring contribution of 0.52 per 90 minutes (14 goal plus assists in 25 appearances) is the highest among Serie A midfielders. He is the perfect playmaker for Lazio’s counter-attacking style and those defence-splitting first-time passes after a team-mate has won the ball figure in every centre-back’s nightmares. Nobody in Serie A makes more “deep progressions” (defined as passes, dribbles and carries into the final third) than Alberto, who goes down as one of the best bargains of recent years. Lazio paid just £3.5 million in 2016 to lure the Andalusian away from Liverpool (for whom he never started a Premier League game). Honourable mentions go to Juventus’ Rodrigo Bentancur and Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini, the Italian player with the best vision in the league. Sofyan Amrabat (Hellas Verona) The blossoming Mario Pasalic misses out here because we already have our full complement of Atalanta players (sorry for the spoiler). Stefano Sensi would likely have been my pick had he not missed so many games through injury at Inter. Radja Nainggolan’s renaissance with Cagliari and that November performance against Fiorentina (a goal and a hat-trick of assists) left me conflicted, too. But Amrabat has been the revelation of Serie A’s season. He could barely get off the bench at Club Brugge last season, arriving from Belgium to very little fanfare for £3.1 million. Within six months, a queue was forming to sign him. Verona had a deal with Napoli but Amrabat instead chose Fiorentina, whom he will join next season for £17.5 million. The Dutch-born Moroccan has dominated in midfield and is the face of coach Juric’s aggressive, pressing style. Excellent in transition, Amrabat drives his team forward. The 23-year-old is a decent dribbler too, making the prospect of seeing him line up with Gaetano Castrovilli next term a particularly tantalising one. Josip Ilicic (Atalanta) One of the silver-linings the current lockdown provides is the chance to re-watch Ilicic this season. You should all go and do it once you’ve finished reading this article. Until then, trust me when I say his YouTube supercut stands up to anything produced by your typical Ballon d’Or contenders. Back-heeled goals. Curlers from outside the area. Top-corner volleys on his wrong foot. Feints sending the goalkeeper and three defenders the other way. Lobbing the keeper from just inside the opposition half. Braces in back-to-back 5-0 wins against Milan and Parma. A hat-trick in a 7-0 demolition of Torino. The four he scored in Atalanta’s Champions League last-16 second leg win in Valencia. The Slovenian has been involved in more goals than any player in Serie A in 2020. More than Cristiano Ronaldo. More than Zlatan Ibrahimovic. His scoring contribution (goals and assists) is a league-high 1.15 per 90 minutes. He averages more shots and key passes (7.43 per game) than anyone else in Italy. Hand Ilicic the Player of the Year award and put him on the front cover of FIFA 2021 already. Alejandro Gomez (Atalanta) The man known as Papu brought the “Floss” dance to football and made a platinum-selling record, so when it comes to popular culture, nobody on this list comes close. Not even Ronaldo. Aside from being my favourite person and player in Serie A, the 32-year-old Argentine gets in on merit with 10 assists and a football IQ that’s off the charts. Papu can find the top corner from 25 yards, as he did against Parma, or slalom through defences and nutmeg full-backs, as he did for the goal he scored against Milan, when the former Catania playmaker let go of a shot that risked decapitating goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. What really stands out about Papu, though, is his talent for teleportation. You think he’s playing left-wing when actually he’s in the No 10 role. Make the necessary adjustments and next thing you know he’s pulling the strings from deep in midfield. Nobody knows who should pick him up and there’s true genius in his observation that the referee’s always in space, so follow him and you will be, too. Papu’s compatriots Lautaro Martinez (Inter) and Paulo Dybala (Juventus) provided fierce competition for this spot. As the face of a team that keeps punching above its weight and exciting fans in Italy and in Europe, renouncing Papu simply wasn’t an option though. He is football. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) Remember that night in November when Juventus were drawing 0-0 with Milan and Maurizio Sarri decided to take off Ronaldo 10 minutes into the second half? The 35-year-old memorably walked straight down the tunnel, and had showered, changed and left before his team-mates returned to the dressing room to celebrate a 1-0 win secured by a gorgeous goal from his replacement Dybala. That all feels like an awful long time ago now, the tension a thing of the past. No doubt he had heard people wondering whether his body was breaking down. When Ronaldo came back from the international break that immediately followed that Milan game, he did not stop scoring. Ronaldo scored in each of his next 11 league appearances, matching a record set by Gabriel Batistuta and Fabio Quagliarella. For a team with the league’s fourth-most prolific attack and one that has rarely blown opponents away, his ratio of 21 goals in 22 league games has often been the difference between Juventus drawing and edging a win. Sarri is as dependent on him as he was on Eden Hazard at Chelsea. Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has been involved in 48 per cent of Juventus’ goals this season. Although a third of his goals have been penalties and a number of others were tap-ins, his towering header away to Sampdoria and the stunning solo goal he scored in Verona served as reminders that reports of his decline following Milan were greatly exaggerated. Ciro Immobile (Lazio) No debate here. From a goals-to-games point of view, Immobile’s 27 goals in 26 league games make him the most prolific striker in Serie A since Antonio Valentin Angelillo’s 33-goal season for Inter in 1958-59. If he scores another 10 from Lazio’s remaining 12 fixtures, the Italy international will set a new single-season scoring record for the division. The six-goal cushion Immobile enjoys over Ronaldo makes him comfortably the favourite to win another Capocannoniere title. It would be the third of the 30-year-old’s career, putting him on the same total as Giuseppe Meazza, Michel Platini, Beppe Signori and Gigi Riva. Only Gunnar Nordahl, with five in the 1950s, has more. Predecessor Pippo Inzaghi says Immobile has been Serie A’s best forward for years and, although 10 of his goals have come from the spot this season, Immobile has won three of those penalties himself. Punishing teams from 12 yards is a skill, too, and in that regard, he is currently only one short of matching the record (11) Roberto Baggio established in 1998. Immobile still needs to convince wider audiences he is an elite striker after flopping at Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla. He’ll get the opportunity to set them straight at the Euros and in next season’s Champions League.

Straight Outta Cobham Why Mourinho Got The Sack: Vol 1 Host Matt Davies-Adams is joined by The Athletic's Chelsea experts; Liam Twomey, Simon Johnson & Dom Fifield, to revisit the first Jose Mourinho sacking! ... How it all unravelled for 'The Special One' at Stamford Bridge, through the prism of two notorious signings - Andriy Shevchenko and Steve Sidwell. Plus, the quartet discuss loaning out talented youngsters to varying degrees of success, the latest on player wage-cuts & which Chelsea starlet would deserve a 'Young Player of the Year' Award. https://theathletic.com/podcast/139-straight-outta-cobham/?episode=23

Why Chelsea view Tottenham as their biggest rivals https://theathletic.com/1759011/2020/04/21/spurs-chelsea-tottenham-derby-rivals/ In the end, the only surprise was that the margin wasn’t greater. The Athletic went to the polls to ask who Chelsea fans regard as their biggest rivals and the answer was emphatic: Tottenham. The north London club came top with 58.6 per cent of the vote — their nearest challengers were Arsenal with 26.7 per cent. Then came Liverpool (10.6 per cent) and finally Leeds (4.1 per cent). Limitations set by Twitter meant only four teams could be named on the ballot and as many comments below the message revealed, Manchester United would have picked up a lot of support had they been included, too. But it would have made no difference to the identity of the winner. The fact Tottenham emerged victorious wasn’t a shock. Some of those responding were mystified that the question was being asked in the first place. What isn’t so clear is why they are the undisputed No 1. Granted both sides play in the same city, but so do 10 other clubs in the top four tiers of English football. Bar League Two Leyton Orient, all of their stadiums are closer to Stamford Bridge than Tottenham’s. There is a disparity in the trophy cabinet, too. Thanks to Roman Abramovich’s arrival in 2003, Chelsea now boast a lead of 24 major trophies to 17. That includes six championships to Tottenham’s two — the last of which was claimed by them back in 1961 — as well as the bragging rights of winning the Champions League in 2012. Indeed, since lifting the FA Cup in 1991, Spurs’ silverware has come in the form of two League Cup wins (1999, 2008), the least valuable competition of the trophies categorised as “major”. And yet the animosity is as great as ever. “This is how silly it is,” Mark Worrall, author of several Chelsea books, begins to explain to The Athletic. “I took my daughter to her first game against Everton in March. The Liquidator (a tune that has been played at Stamford Bridge for over 50 years) came on and the fans sang, ‘We hate Tottenham, Chelsea!’ She turned to me and said, ‘Why are they chanting about Tottenham when we are playing Everton?’ “It’s like a conditioning thing. Anyone under 30 has no real reason to hate Spurs from a rivalry point of view. What have they done? They are the annoying kid brother that you always beat. It’s overplayed. “There is a cartoon quality to it. They are not a rival, they’re someone to laugh at. They are the gift that keep on giving. The hatred aspect is a bit bizarre because they’re rubbish. I have liked the Liverpool rivalry over the last 20 years because it’s been a two-way street.” So how did it all begin? Everyone to whom The Athletic spoke said that the first signs of real angst came in the 1960s. Having already seen academy graduate Bobby Smith win the Double with Spurs in 1961, two more prized assets, Jimmy Greaves (via AC Milan) and Terry Venables, also made the move to White Hart Lane. Greaves and Venables were part of the Tottenham side who defeated Chelsea in the 1967 FA Cup final, which was the first to be contested between two London clubs. The anger and disappointment felt by those connected to Stamford Bridge was overwhelming. What isn’t so well known is what happened at Wembley that day. Chelsea historian Rick Glanvill says: “There was a lot of violence outside the ground, pockets of people fighting. “I’m in my late 50s and the majority of people I know around my age who hate Tottenham will say it started with the 1967 FA Cup final. You have to remember Spurs had Greaves and Venables in their side. Tottenham were winning trophies regularly. It made Chelsea fans ask the question, ‘Are they a bigger catch?’ “They’d won the title in 1951 and the Double in 1961. In between that, Chelsea had won the league in 1955 but it felt like Spurs were the bigger draw, more glamorous. There were big derbies leading up to 1967, which also led to animosity. That is the seeds of it.” David Chidgey of the Chelsea FanCast adds: “Unlike now, when it is so much more of a mixed bag, if you went to school in London in the 1960s, a lot of kids supported either Chelsea or Tottenham. So if your side lost to the other at the weekend, there would be an awful lot of mocking going on and it would be something you wouldn’t forget. Those kids go on to have kids and pass those feelings on. It’s hereditary.” That is a sequence of which season-ticket holder Darren Mantle is a classic example. His grandparents and parents were all Chelsea supporters and there was one rule in his household growing up. “When my elder brother was young, he wanted Spurs to win the 1991 FA Cup final,” Mantle says. “They had players like Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker and played good football. But we were not allowed to support them, we never had a choice. We knew from an early age they were the enemy.” Similarly, on joining the club, new players have always been given a quick instruction on the one team Chelsea simply have to beat. As more and more foreigners began to arrive in the 1990s, captain Dennis Wise made sure everyone knew what the situation was and his successors have done the same. A series of bitter duels in the 1960s and early 1970s with Leeds, whom Chelsea beat in the FA Cup Final three years later, threatened to eclipse it at the time, yet Spurs always remained in the picture. When both clubs were struggling to avoid relegation in the 1974-75 season, Chelsea lost a crucial match against them late on in the season and went down. Tottenham stayed up by just a point. The spread of hooliganism in the English game took things to an even more unsavoury edge. Glanvill continues: “The old White Hart Lane was one of the last grounds where you’d get chased out down the street afterwards. People would randomly run out and punch people. “Racism entered into it. Chelsea were infiltrated by racist groups like Combat 18 in the 1980s and that became a huge strand. It threw oil on the fire. There was a lot of anti-Semitism involved. For example, in the 1980s people were singing about the Tottenham striker Steve Archibald: ‘Chim chiminey, Chim chiminey, Chim chim cher-oo, you used to be Scottish and now you’re a Jew’. I remember thinking ‘this is horrific’.” It took concerted efforts by Abramovich, who is Jewish, to make serious strides in stamping anti-Semitism out of Chelsea, through a combination of punishment and education. The battle remains ongoing. Chidgey puts forwards another valid theory for Tottenham’s lack of popularity. “Chelsea suffer from a lack of a real direct local rivalry,” he says. “We have Fulham next door, but back in the day people would go to their games one weekend and ours the next. QPR hate us to pieces, but there is no competitive rivalry there. “In contrast, Tottenham have Arsenal, Liverpool have Everton, Manchester United have Manchester City. So for Chelsea, it is a little bit fudged. The club’s fans inevitably had to look elsewhere.” Even more so during a drought of trophies between 1972-96, which also coincided with rarely challenging at the summit of England’s top division. As Glanvill says: “We weren’t involved in title races so when the fixtures came out what was the first one everyone looked for, the game to make the season? It was Tottenham.” That sentiment remained, even though winning became a habit. Chelsea went 19 years without losing a league game at White Hart Lane (1987-2006), a run which was bettered at home (1990-2018). There have been a lot of high-profile fixtures to keep the bitter relationship going. Tottenham’s last trophy — the League Cup in 2008 — came at Chelsea’s expense in the final. A month later and Chelsea suffered a costly 4-4 draw against them to lose two crucial points in a close title race with Manchester United. Of course, Chelsea have had the better of most of the exchanges: FA Cup semi-finals in 2012 and 2017, plus a League Cup final triumph in 2015 and semi-final penalty shootout victory after two legs last year. One of the most celebrated games came in Chelsea’s worst campaign under Abramovich in 2015-16. The 2-2 draw was called the “Battle of the Bridge” due to 12 players being booked (Tottenham set a Premier League record with nine) and a big altercation by the dug-out at the final whistle. Chelsea fans reacted as if their side had won a trophy, when the home side had merely come from two goals down to earn a point which ensured Leicester would beat Tottenham to the Premier League title. “In retrospect, a lot of people are embarrassed about it now,” Glanvill insists. “We had had so many bad results, it was a really weird season. A few weeks before I was at an away game and the performance was so poor, the fans were singing, ‘You better beat fucking Tottenham’. “Basically there was a feeling of what could be salvaged. It was a case of desperate minds, desperate solutions. The only way it could be worse was if Tottenham ended their winless record at Stamford Bridge and went on to win the title. But looking back, it was embarrassing to celebrate a draw at home over our rivals, who we had dominated for years.” As Chelsea have become more successful, so has their list of adversaries. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and even Barcelona have been the subject matter of some fierce contests. But when football resumes again, most Chelsea fans will already begin looking forward to the next chance they get to enjoy a win over Tottenham.

The story of Andre Onana — one of Europe’s most wanted goalkeepers https://theathletic.com/1751222/2020/04/21/andre-onana-ajax-barcelona-spurs-chelsea-psg/ Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana faces the biggest decision of his career to date over the coming months, with the 24-year-old very likely to move clubs and his options including leading lights in the Premier League and continental Europe. Lots of factors are being weighed up, with Onana and his advisors having plenty of time on their hands during the current pandemic-enforced break in football. The Cameroon international already has experience of making major career choices which turn out well, such as when he annoyed Barcelona, his first European club, by turning down a new contract to join Ajax when aged just 18. “The decision to leave Barca and go to Ajax was a big one,” Onana’s friend and former team-mate Clyde Essomba tells The Athletic. “Because if you leave Barca and it does not work out, there will be recriminations. But mentally Andre is very strong, and he knew what he wanted to do.” That strength of mind helped Onana establish himself at Ajax, playing his part in the Dutch giants’ thrilling run to last season’s Champions League semi-finals, after previously coming in useful as he worked his way to the top. Few people know Onana better than Essomba, as their paths first crossed when they were kids together at the Samuel Eto’o foundation back in their home country, where the pair were being specially prepared for moves to La Liga. “The foundation always looked for the best players throughout the country and brought them together in Douala [Cameroon’s largest city],” says Essomba, who is a couple of years older than Onana and plays in midfield for Spanish fourth-tier club Socuellamos. “Five or six from our time are now in the national team of Cameroon, including Andre. We trained every day, although studies were also very important. The focus was all on preparing us for winter and summer tournaments in Spain. And if you stood out, and a club was interested in you, then you stayed.” Onana impressed sufficiently at a summer 2010 tournament in the Canary Islands to seal a move to Barcelona aged just 14. So he left his family behind and moved to La Masia. Sergi Ucles was among his first goalkeeping coaches in Catalonia. “When he arrived we could see he had something different,” Ucles tells The Athletic. “It’s true that the lads who join Barcelona tend to be very good, but we could all see that Andre had a lot of potential. He was obviously coming from another country and a very different culture and it is normal for the adaptation to be a little bit difficult when they are very young. But he had a very strong character, which allowed him to overcome the different hurdles in his path to get where he is today.” Another Eto’o Foundation graduate at La Masia at that time was forward Alexis Meva, currently at Swiss club FC Fully. Meva tells The Athletic that African players needed to be extra-strong mentally to succeed in the competitive environment at Barcelona. “Andre is very ambitious, he believes a lot in himself,” he says. “I remember there were games when he made a mistake with his feet, but he kept calm and kept playing. He had a faith in himself that is very difficult, especially for a keeper — and a keeper of colour. At Barca it is very tough, when you come from Africa, you always have to be three or four times better than the Catalan who was there first. They will always look to those they have at home.” The biggest challenge faced by Onana and others who had come to La Masia from abroad was the punishment imposed on Barcelona by FIFA in April 2014 for breaking the rules regarding signing foreign youngsters, keeping them out of any competitive games for 18 months. That interrupted the development of many excellent prospects, although Onana “exploded” into everyone’s consciousness on his return to action. “He was practically a year and a half, until he reached his 18th birthday, without being able to play,” says Ucles. “Then came the year of his explosion with the Juvenil A team, his performances were unbelievable. During the first weeks of the season we played the ‘derbi’ against Espanyol at home. They created many chances but Andre was spectacular and made six, seven, eight saves and we won 1-0. Everybody then knew about him.” Goalkeepers at La Masia are developed with an eye to the singular demands of Barcelona’s first team, which means they must be confident with the ball at their feet, quick to sweep off their line and possess the athletic ability to deal with one-on-ones when opponents break the high defensive line. The teenage Onana could have fit a prototype for what was required, says Ucles, who worked at La Masia for 11 years and is now goalkeeper coach and goalkeeper coordinator at Guangzhou Evergrande Football School in China. “It is true that there is a certain, determined type of goalkeeper at Barcelona,” he says. “And in La Masia they work to strengthen the virtues of the youngsters which are necessary to make the first team. Andre has always stood out for his ability with both feet and that is something we worked on a lot, left and right. At the start maybe he found it more difficult to find the right passes, to see where there was [numerical] superiority on the pitch. Also he stood out a lot in one-on-one situations. He is a keeper who is very big, and manages these types of situations very well. And he is very powerful, his lower body, that spring, the physical qualities that mean he can do things others can’t.” November 2014 saw Barcelona’s Under-19 team playing away to Ajax in the UEFA Youth League and a performance from Onana which was to be hugely important for his career. “We lost 1-0, but Andre was the man of the match, gave a ‘recital’ of all aspects of the game — with his feet, showed his personality, and made his saves,” says Ucles. “The Ajax scouts were obviously at that game, and other teams around Europe opened their eyes too. ” Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Madrid were among the other clubs monitoring his situation and were aware that Onana’s contract was running out the following summer. Meanwhile, the 18-year-old was growing frustrated at not being called up for the Barcelona B team, where the competition included his cousin Fabrice Ondoa, who is just three months older and had also come through the Eto’o Foundation. There was no clear path to the first team anyway with Claudio Bravo and Marc Andre ter Stegen having both been signed the previous summer. Onana also knew that that the last goalkeeper to come through La Masia and secure a regular first team starting place was Victor Valdes, and that was more than a decade earlier. Ucles insists that Barcelona’s goalkeeping department did see Onana as a potential first team player and wanted to keep him. But Ajax managed the situation best, and in early January announced he would be joining them that summer. “We were delighted with him and the reports were all positive, for him to continue at the club,” Ucles says. “It is true that the final step to make the first team is very difficult, the demands are very high. Barca did make him an offer to extend his contract, although I was not involved in those details. Maybe Ajax were a bit quicker, a bit cleverer, and he ended up there.” Then-sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, a former goalkeeper himself, was so upset when Ajax surprised Barcelona by announcing a deal that he publicly complained about a “lack of respect”. It was eventually decided to complete the deal during the winter window for a fee of €150,000 which could rise to €500,000 if he made the Ajax first team. Onana immediately got games at a senior level with Ajax B in the Dutch second tier. When Jasper Cillessen moved the other way to Barcelona in August 2016, first-team coach Peter Bosz placed his trust in the now 20-year-old. Onana saved a penalty with the score at 0-0 against Go Ahead Eagles in just his second ever Eredivisie game. Ajax went on to win 3-0 that day, and the youngster became established as first choice as they missed out on the title by just one point to Feyenoord, conceding just 20 goals in his 32 games, before reaching the Europa League final against Manchester United. Another benefit of moving to Ajax is the guidance from former Manchester United and Holland goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, now the Amsterdam club’s chief executive. “Andre listens a lot to everyone, whether they are older or younger, as he wants to learn,” Essomba says. “He has had the good fortune to have Van der Sar with him at Ajax, a role model, someone who has won so much. He tells him what he is doing right, and corrects mistakes he is making. They are always talking.” The 2018-19 season was an outstanding one for Ajax, with coach Erik ten Hag’s team winning the title and Dutch Cup to go with an exhilarating Champions League campaign that brought victories over Real Madrid and Juventus on the way to an agonising semi-final exit against Tottenham Hotspur. “The game against Real Madrid was something else,” says Essomba of the 4-1 last-16 win in the Bernabeu. “Andre did not take part that much in the play, but he made saves in important moments. More than anything he transmitted that calm to his team-mates, even when Raphael Varane’s header hit the crossbar [at 0-0]. His philosophy is he wants to enjoy these games, doesn’t feel he has anything to lose. That confidence is his greatest strength, as well as the saves he makes.” The current season has not been so spectacular for Ajax collectively, with Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt having moved to Barcelona and Juventus respectively, and Ten Hag’s side being eliminated from a tough Champions League group including Chelsea and Valencia. Onana has continued to impress though, as a leader of the team, insists Essomba. “The game against Valencia he stood out with four spectacular saves,” he says. “And the penalty which Dani Parejo missed, he wasted time, went to talk to the referee, dried his hands, which made Parejo get more nervous. He controlled that game for his team, from the goal. He says that he must transmit that serenity to his team-mates. And he had that since he was small, this incredible calm.” Ucles agrees that the experience of 178 senior games already for Ajax, plus 15 Cameroon caps, has helped his former protege become a top senior goalkeeper. “Andre is now a pretty complete goalkeeper,” he says. “Maybe when he was younger he really wanted to show what he could do and took many risks. But playing regularly in the Ajax first team these years, he has also made a jump in quality with experience — his positioning, keeping calm, knowing how to manage different moments of the game.” In March last year, Onana extended his Ajax contract through to June 2022, but always with the understanding that it was unlikely he would see out all three further years. And there is a feeling among those who know him that, given the uncertainty over when football will return, he may have already played his last game for them. Sources have told The Athletic that Chelsea and Tottenham have both enquired about his situation, and that Paris Saint-Germain and former club Barcelona are also monitoring his situation. “For sure, Andre has shown that he is ready to play at a really big team,” says Ucles. “Ajax is a big team, of course, but maybe another step up, in another league with a bit higher level. At the moment Barcelona have the best goalkeeper they can have in Ter Stegen. He has shown that he is one of the best in the world and for sure he can cover that position for many years, hopefully. But Andre is capable of playing for the biggest teams, no doubt.” Ajax’s €35 million asking price would put Onana among the world’s top 10 most expensive goalkeepers. However that is unlikely to be a problem for an ambitious and confident character who has taken every step up in his stride so far. “Onana can play for any team in the world,” says La Masia contemporary Alexis Meva. “He is young, a modern keeper, who plays very well with his feet, and makes top saves. For me he could play for Chelsea or Barca, no problem. As the pressure does not bother him, he would fit there without any doubt.” The decision on what Onana does next will, of course, also depend on which of the clubs showing interest firm it up with an offer acceptable to him and to Ajax. But whichever side he does join will be getting a goalkeeper who knows exactly what he wants and where he is headed.

lol at 'last pick' and we were STUPID to not buy him years ago he is still only 27, but I do agree that this summer is it the bloke is close to, if not at world class, has been for ages 21 goals (10 this year so far) and 52 assists in 3 and 2/3rds years (in Europe against sides like Mbappe's Monaco, Liverpool last year, RB Leipzig, etc), plus a couple goals) and a top 10 in the world corner kick taker (superb at free kicks as well) the only LB's I rate over him atm (Jordi Alba and Alex Sandro are now too old to remotely consider buying, Alba especially, he is done asa top player, turns 32 this coming season and is a shadow of what he was 5 years back) Andrew Robertson (who is only 15 months younger than Telles, btw) then the 3 Bayern LB's David Alaba (playing at CB now, and he is soon 28, he is 6 months older than Telles) Alphonso Davies (my pick to be the best LB in the world within 2 or 3 years max) Lucas Hernández (CB is his main position at Bayern) Theo Hernández (my first choice to buy, unless Alaba comes cheap, which is highly doubtful) Ben Chilwell (£80m is insanity) José Gayà (only do to age v Telles) Alex Telles rounding out my top LB's in terms of buyable ages Ferland Mendy Robin Gosens Renan Lodi Lucas Digne Alejandro Grimaldo Sergio Reguilón Luca Pellegrini youth buy Rayan Aït Nouri (turns 19 in June)

there were a SHEDLOAD of other options besides Kepa, ALL of them far cheaper (Oblak was the only one more expensive, and he turned us down flat after we met his monstrous £92m (at the time) release clause, which is now even higher, £105m) I still think we give Kepa one more year, but I am not 100% sure on that, and we really, desperately need a better backup/competition if we keep him, like Sven Ulreich or Salvatore Sirigu or even Vicente Guaita I would perhaps even go for (if they will come) Predrag Rajkovic or Ugurcan Cakir, who have WC potential, but will want to start I assume Chilwell for £45-50m (not a pound more) I can live with, but we are foolish to not sell both Alonso and Emerson if at all possible and also buy Robin Gosens (if we do indeed foolishly miss out on Telles) as well (I doubt we do this though, I can see us rolling with Chilwell and Alonso, with alonso basically never to be sold for shit, as he is soon 30 (December this year) and will rapidly devalue, fucking Marina was a cunt to turn down £45m for him from RM in 2018) Watch James Justin quickly become better than Chilwell is, lol, if Leicester do sell Chilwell and roll with Justin. It would be just our luck.

CIES Football Observatory n°292 - 20/04/2020 Demography Player export: Brazil leads the tablIssue number 292 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks countries worldwide according to the number of their representatives having played professional football abroad during the calendar year 2019. Brazil is at the top of the table (1,600 players, of which 74.6% active in top division leagues) ahead of France (1,027, 74.0%) and Argentina (972, 75.5%). (my own add, the former Yugoslavia countries add up to 1492!) In total, 186 national associations had at least one player expatriated in the 141 leagues from 93 countries included in the sample. However, altogether, Brazil, France and Argentina provided up to almost one quarter of the total foreign workforce in global football (22.5%). Nigeria is the main African exporting nation (399 players abroad), while Japan is the principal Asian one (161). The CIES Football Observatory Atlas of Migration presents the main destinations for each origin. This exclusive tool notably reveals that Portugal is by far the main destination for Brazilians, ahead of Italy and Japan. The three main destinations for the French expatriates are England, Belgium and Luxembourg, while those of the Argentineans are Chile, Mexico and Spain. Number of expatriates, by country of origin (2019) Footballers having played abroad during the calendar year 2019. [Divisions 1]: Active in top division leagues.

Chelsea fans go nuts at Alex Telles transfer twist - and send this Leicester City message Leicester City transfer news: Fans of the Stamford Bridge side have been reacting to a twist in their chase for Alex Telles and what it might mean for a Ben Chilwell transfer https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/alex-telles-chelsea-transfer-news-4059932 Chelsea fans aren't excited about the prospect of signing Leicester City's Ben Chilwell after their chase for Porto's Alex Telles took a twist. Paris Saint-Germain are in for Brazilian Telles for around €25 million, according to reports, with the 10-goal left-back set to sign for the French champions. Telles was linked with a move to Chelsea, with the 27-year-old available for a cut-price fee with his contract up at the Estadio do Dragao next summer. But now he's set to snub Frank Lampard and sign for the Parc de Princes side, report Brazilian outlet Gauchazh, with Chilwell now a realistic target for Chelsea should they opt to sign a left-back in the summer. Chilwell wouldn't come cheap though and City 's owners would hold out for a big fee having done the same with Ryiad Mahrez and Harry Maguires' moves to Manchester City and Man United respectively. It's doubtful Chilwell would even move from the club he has grown up at as Brendan Rodgers ' side look on course to finish above Chelsea this season when it resumes from the coronavirus break. Not that Chelsea's fans want them to sign Chilwell, anyway. Here's what they've had to say on social media... "If PSG sign Alex Telles for £25m & Chelsea sign Ben Chilwell for £60m I’m actually going to cry," one said. "Chilwell 85m this summer smh," another added. While a fourth said: "Watch us end up with Chilwell." "And my club wants to sign Chilwell for a world record fee," another said. "Knowing us we’ll spend 80+ million on Chilwell," said another. "Chelsea about to get fleeced for Chilwell too," added a seventh. "It'll be such a shame if we get Chilwell," another said. "You want me to take this club seriously when we're letting Telles go for £25m," said another. "Watch us end up with Alonslow for another session or try bargaining £70m for Chilwell now," a tenth added.

“Only three” Premier League clubs can spend money this summer https://www.chelsea-news.co/2020/04/three-premier-league-clubs-can-spend-money-summer/ Only three of the 20 Premier League clubs will be able to spend money on transfer fees this summer, Sky Sports report tonight. Their source is former Liverpool and Spurs director of football Damien Comolli, whose main role nowadays is being a source for transfer rumours, it seems. He explained that this transfer window will be “very different” due to the coronavirus – you don’t have to be a director of football to know that – but he had the detail that only three clubs will actually be able to spend any money. He probably means net spend – so teams will be buying, but only as much or less than they spend. We think Chelsea are likely to be among those three clubs – they haven’t done any business for two windows, and they are independently backed by a billionaire. If anyone is going to be able to take advantage of this unique situation, it’s going to be Chelsea. snip

the pure joy of the game! it's like a little 7 year old child in a grown man's body

for once (not saying with you btw) I have to say that would be my exact order too

wow, so many players linked with us or already on the team at that link Saúl Ñíguez Mason Mount Ibrahima Konaté Ben Chilwell Maxi Gómez Jack Grealish Jordan Pickford <<< thank fuck we did not buy him, regardless of Kepa's struggles Ruben Loftus-Cheek Thomas Strakosha Kieran Tierney Sergiño Dest Lewis Cook Lewis Dunk Joachim Andersen Unai Simón Dean Henderson Nick Pope Lloyd Kelly Ezri Konsa Jayden Bogle Billy Gilmour Juan Familia-Castillo

Top GK Options (red bold are my top two) André Onana Alex Meret (doubt Napoli will sell him to us) Thomas Strakosha Predrag Rajkovic Dean Henderson (doubt Manure will sell him to us) Ugurcan Cakir drop down Sven Ulreich <<< great Caballero replacement, but not a number one Odysseas Vlachodimos Matvey Safonov Salvatore Sirigu <<< great Caballero replacement, but not a number one Martin Dubravka Mike Maignan Koen Casteels Pierluigi Gollini Aaron Ramsdale

Chelsea target £20m deal for Freiburg striker Luca Waldschmidt https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/18/chelsea-target-20-deal-freiburg-striker-luca-waldschmidt-12577040/?ITO=squid&ito=newsnow-feed Chelsea will open talks with Freiburg over a deal for their striker Luca Waldschmidt, according to reports. The 23-year-old has scored six goals in 16 appearances for the German club this season, but his campaign has been disrupted by several injuries since October. At the European Under-21 Championship last summer, Waldschmidt ended as the tournament’s top scorer with seven goals and was nicknamed ‘Il Bomber’ in reference to Germany legend Gerd Muller. Waldschmidt was subsequently given his senior debut for Germany and now has three caps for the national side.

Daniel James on there is a joke, and Grealish turns 25 in September, so it is a stretch to call him a 'young' player IMHO. I would have had Marcus Rashford (21/22 this season) and either James Maddison (22/23) or Richarlison (22, turns 23 in May) Honourable mention (no order) Tammy Reece Rodri Declan Rice Youri Tielemans Gabriel Jesus Rúben Neves Caglar Söyüncü Ismaïla Sarr Diogo Jota