Vesper

most diverse (non elite teams) FA Cup quaterfinals field post WWII

https://www.vipleague.pm/fa-cup/fulham-vs-crystal-palace-1-live-streaming https://www.vipleague.pm/fa-cup/fulham-vs-crystal-palace-2-live-streaming https://www.vipleague.pm/fa-cup/fulham-vs-crystal-palace-3-live-streaming https://redditsoccerstreams.org/event/fulham-crystal-palace/1509527 https://soccer-100.com/event/eng-fa/c-palace-vs-fulham-live-soccer-stats/733958

Andrey Santos looked great again as did most of Strasbourg (after a poor first half where Lyon dominated play, they flipped the switch on in the 2nd half) they tore apart Lyon for the most part (was 4 1 until a 96th minute pen) extended highlights https://hoofoo42r.videohatkora.com/embed/09MW36butjfS3

cheesy easy in water lolol

17-year-old winger is currently training with Chelsea ahead of future Strasbourg move https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/transfer-news/17-year-old-winger-is-currently-training-with-Chelsea-ahead-of-future-strasbourg-move/ Chelsea currently have a youngster training with them even though he’s due to sign for Strasbourg in 2026. Chelsea and Strasbourg both fall under the BlueCo ownership, so activity between the two sister clubs isn’t uncommon. In the current 2024/25 season, Chelsea loanees Andrey Santos and Djordje Petrovic are both enjoying incredible campaigns in the French Ligue 1 with Strasbourg. Santos has been earmarked for Chelsea’s squad going into next season because of his impressive midfield displays. As for goalkeeper Petrovic, he’s enjoying a really strong campaign in net in France. However, Jody Morris doubts Petrovic will make it at Chelsea. Yaya Dieme training with Chelsea ahead of Strasbourg move in 2026 According to The Daily Mail, Chelsea have teenage winger Yaya Dieme training with them at Cobham right now. Apparently, the 17-year-old prospect hails from the Diambars football academy set up by Patrick Vieira in 2003. The report says that Dieme is expected to sign for Strasbourg, moving to France in January 2026. In the meantime, the exciting youngster is currently training in England with sister club Chelsea. Back in 2023, Dieme was part of the Senegal side that won the Under-17 African Cup of Nations. Journalist Fabrizio Romano reported back in January that Strasbourg agreed the Dieme transfer with a potential future view to joining Chelsea further down the line. However, the forward doesn’t turn 18 until October, so his deal is on standby until next January. Strasbourg becoming a great alternative for Chelsea players As Strasbourg hunt down European qualification this year, it’s becoming a more attractive home for Chelsea loanees to go and develop. Position Club Matches played Points 1st Paris Saint-Germain 26 68 2nd Marseille 26 49 3rd Monaco 26 47 4th Nice 26 47 5th Lyon 26 45 6th Lille 26 44 7th Strasbourg 26 43 Current Ligue 1 standings in the 2024/25 season Chelsea fans predict big things for Santos because of his outstanding performances at Strasbourg, scoring nine goals in 26 appearances across all competitions this term. From a Chelsea perspective, they may have a perfect process to help build themselves future stars. While Dieme is expected to join Strasbourg next year, perhaps he’s someone that Blues supporters should keep an eye out on.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham set for 13-day transfer headstart as Premier League confirm rule change https://www.londonworld.com/sport/football/arsenal/arsenal-Chelsea-tottenham-premier-league-transfer-headstart-5054733 The Premier League has altered the summer transfer window to help clubs taking part in the FIFA Club World Cup. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Premier League rivals will all be able to get a head start on transfer dealings this summer with the Premier League giving the green light to an earlier A Premier League statement on Thursday read: “Premier League clubs have today agreed the dates for the Summer 2025 Transfer Window.opening of the window. The Premier League transfer window ran from June 14 to August 30 last summer. The period when top flight clubs can complete deals will now take place over two separate periods this summer due to the FIFA Club World Cup. That change has been made to benefit Chelsea and Manchester City ahead of the tournament but will also see the opportunity to complete signings as early as June 1 extended to all Premier League clubs. When does the summer transfer window open for Premier League clubs? The summer transfer window for Premier League clubs will now be open in two separate periods. The first is between Sunday, June 1 and Tuesday, June 10. The second is between Monday, June 16 and Monday, September 1. “The window will open early, between Sunday 1 June and Tuesday 10 June, due to an exceptional registration period relating to the FIFA Club World Cup. It will then reopen on Monday 16 June and close on Monday 1 September.” The first fixtures of the Premier League season will kick off on the weekend of August 16. That means that the window will remain open and allow clubs to complete business during the early rounds of top flight fixtures, as was the case this season. How the Club World Cup has changed the transfer window The transfer window has changed this summer in order to allow Premier League clubs taking part in the FIFA Club World Cup to sign players ahead of the competition. The tournament takes place between June 14 and July 13 in the United States. The FIFA Council had already approved the interim window in October. A FIFA statement explained: "The objective is to encourage clubs and players whose contracts are expiring to find an appropriate solution to facilitate the players' participation." In the interests of fairness, the governing body has since extended the early transfer window period to be applicable for all Premier League clubs and not simply those involved in the Club World Cup. Which Premier League clubs are involved in the Club World Cup? Chelsea and Manchester City are the only two Premier League clubs competing at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States this summer. Places in the tournament are decided by European teams’ performance in the Champions League over the past four seasons.Chelsea won the Champions League in 2021 and Manchester City lifted the trophy in 2023, which has helped them qualify for the Club World Cup. Real Madrid, who won the Champions League in 2024 and 2022, have also qualified. The rest of the nine places available for European teams were given out through a Uefa ranking system. Only two clubs from any one nation are permitted to enter into the Club World Cup, which is why teams including Liverpool and Arsenal were not considered with Chelsea and Manchester City already ushered in. The FIFA Club World Cup groups are as below: Group A: Palmeiras, FC Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami Group B: Paris St-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle Sounders Group 😄 Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica Group 😧 Flamengo, Esperance Sportive de Tunisie, Chelsea, Club Leon Group E: River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey, Inter Milan Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg In other news, Arsenal have been handed an Alexander Isak transfer opportunity amid Newcastle United contract claim.

speaking of Real Madrid and frees (if this is true) Liverpool Exclusive: ‘Trent Alexander-Arnold has already signed pre-contract’ https://www.footballinsider247.com/liverpool-exclusive-trent-alexander-arnold-has-already-signed-pre-contract/ Trent Alexander-Arnold has already signed a pre-contract agreement to leave Liverpool and join Real Madrid when his contract expires this summer. Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who remains well-connected within the game, explained sources in Madrid are “100 per cent” convinced the deal has been agreed. The 26-year-old has been available for talks over a pre-contract agreement since January, and Madrid appear to have swooped quickly to agree terms behind the scenes. Trent Alexander-Arnold set to join Real Madrid after pre-contract agreement Former Man United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider in November that Liverpool were already aware of Alexander-Arnold’s decision. Now, Robinson has claimed that an agreement was reached during the January window but kept under wraps, and the deal for Alexander-Arnold to join Real Madrid is done. “The information I have is: Trent Alexander-Arnold is going to Madrid,” he told Football Insider. “I spent time in Madrid when we covered the Real Madrid v Man City game, and speaking to sources, they’re convinced Trent signed a pre-contract in January. “It hasn’t been made public knowledge yet, but the word in Madrid is they are 100 per cent sure that he has signed a deal. “Out of the three of them [Salah, Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnodl], that one looks like it’s a done deal. “I don’t think how Liverpool perform between now and the end of the season will have any baring on the decisions the players make.“ Speculation over the future of Alexander-Arnold has persisted throughout the season, alongside Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk as all three remain out of contract. Football Insider first revealed on 1 November that Madrid were making advances towards Alexander-Arnold ahead of the January window with a pre-contract deal in mind. Now, Robinson has explained that Alexander-Arnold is the one out of the three star players edging towards an exit that is already a “done deal”.

Liverpool bombshell: ‘Virgil van Dijk to Real Madrid is a dead certainty’ https://www.footballinsider247.com/liverpool-bombshell-virgil-van-dijk-to-real-madrid-is-a-dead-certainty/ Dean Huijsen will develop into a world-class player over time at Real Madrid if they win the race to sign the Bournemouth centre-back – but Virgil van DIjk could beat him to the Spanish capital. That’s according to former Manchester United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who remains well-connected in the game, and exclusively told Football Insider that Madrid are well in the hunt to sign Huijsen. Huijsen’s form for Andoni Iraola’s resurgent Bournemouth side this season has attracted attention from a number of European clubs, with the recent Spain debutant adapting seamlessly to the Premier League. But it is the prospect of Van Dijk following Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real that will fill Liverpool fans with dread. It has emerged that the right-back is on the verge of signing for the Spanish giants and his superstar teammate could follow. Meanwhile, the Cherries currently sit 10th in the table albeit with just a four-point gap to the Champions League places, and Huijsen is just one of several Bournemouth players touted with a move this coming summer. Real Madrid weighing up Dean Huijsen with Van Dijk a ‘dead certainty’ It’s no secret that Los Blancos are on the hunt for central defenders this summer, and Madrid see Huijsen – whose Bournemouth contract includes a £50million release clause – as a player within their reach. However, with experienced centre-backs at even more of a premium, Carlo Ancelotti’s side could raid the Premier League champions-in-waiting, Liverpool, to sign their captain Virgil van Dijk on a free transfer. Brown, who has a wealth of experience in top-level player recruitment after over a decade at Man United during their most successful period, believes Madrid could prioritise Van Dijk’s signing over Huijsen’s. “I like him, I think he can become a top-class player”, Brown told Football Insider. “He covers the ground like a gazelle, he’s light on his feet. He’s resilient, he can use the ball well – I think he’s got all the ingredients of being a top-class player. “Where do [Real Madrid] go and replenish their centre-half positions? One dead certainty is Virgil van Dijk as I’ve said many times. I never see it mentioned, but I would be surprised if that hasn’t happened.” “[Huijsen] is a young centre-half they could take, and make into the type of player they want, but they’re going to need a centre-half at the start of next season. “Van Dijk is a ready-made choice, if that was their choice. This lad [Huijsen] is one of those that you’d take, and you’d say; ‘I’m backing him to move up the ladder’.” Dean Huijsen deal too good to turn down for Real Madrid Though the signings of Van Dijk and Huijsen would serve two different purposes at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid may be confident that they can potentially get deals for both over the line. Huijsen’s relatively low release clause will undoubtedly attract almost every side in Europe capable of paying a £50m fee, while Van Dijk’s contract heading for expiry could soon make him a free agent. With Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba both now 32 and Madrid having struggled at centre-back for some time, Huijsen and Van Dijk could form the keystone of a new-look defence for the coming season.

That is only £66.6m that means we would take a £40.2m loss on him (we paid £106.8m) Adjusted for the pound sterling's inflation since January 2023 until now, it would be closing in on a £47-48m loss, and if the sale happens 4 or 5 months from now, with the pound further losing value, we could be talking close to a 50m quid loss.

Enzo Fernández has reportedly rejected Atlético Madrid. Several players tried to convince him to join the club during this break, but he is determined to stay at Chelsea. He likes London, yes, but all options are open. For now, Atleti isn't one of them.

SO many (even Romano now, ffs) are now pushing (many make the source hard to find) Fichajes bullshit rumour mongering. I am finding those shitbags at the core of 2/3rds to 3/4ers or so of the Chelsea 'transfer' stories. Caveat emptor!

Boehly on Chelsea FC Ownership Struggles, Possible Cricket Venture

Todd Boehly now says he could sell Chelsea for a profit amid twist in £2.5bn Clearlake takeover row https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/todd-boehly-now-says-he-could-sell-Chelsea-for-a-profit-amid-twist-in-2-5bn-clearlake-takeover-row/ Ask anyone in sports business about Chelsea’ Todd Boehly and they’ll tell you he is a visionary who can see around corners and is a hawk when it comes to smart investments. It’s a characterisation that is oceans apart from how the private equity titan is portrayed in the British press, where he is seen as the bumbling, bombastic American bulldog with more money than sense. The truth is somewhere between the two extremes. Todd Boehly’s record at Chelsea has been far from flattering but you don’t get where he has without a potent mix of ruthlessness, genius and humility. Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images As far as billionaires go, Boehly is pretty self-made. He is from a relatively affluent background, yes, but now presides over a highly diversified empire of sports, insurance and tech assets worth £6.5bn. That includes his 13 per cent stake in Chelsea, who he bought in a consortium with Clearlake Capital in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth – the headlines said – £4.25bn. In reality, the transaction with Roman Abramovich – or the representatives handling the sale after his assets were frozen by the UK government – was worth far less than that. Chelsea ownership diagram Credit: Adam Williams/GRV Media/The Chelsea Chronicle Incidentally, the proceeds from that sale, which were earmarked for humanitarian causes, are still frozen in a UK escrow account to this day. At £4.25bn, the takeover would have been the most expensive in sports history at the time, but the value quoted in the press was a fugazi. £1.75bn of that figure was ringfenced for investment in the Blues and did not change hands in the deal, which saw Boehly’s fellow private equity titans Behdad Eghbali and Mark Walter buy into the club too. How Chelsea’s owners rank among football’s richest Club owner Rank in top 500 richest people Net worth Club(s) Bernard Arnault 4 $189B Paris FC Mark Mateschitz 80 $23.4B Red Bull clubs Stan Kroenke 85 $22.8B Arsenal, Colorado Rapids Philip Anschutz 86 $22.8B Los Angeles Galaxy David Tepper 87 $22.4B Charlotte FC Francois Pinault 90 $22.1B Stade Rennais Dietmar Hopp 112 $18.4B 1899 Hoffenheim Jim Ratcliffe 200 $12.4B Man United, Nice, Lausanne Hansjoerg Wyss 218 $11.9B Chelsea, Strasbourg Josh Harris 224 $11.7B Crystal Palace Simon Reuben 227 $11.5B Newcastle United David Reuben 228 $11.5B Newcastle United Dmitry Rybolovlev 246 $11.1B AS Monaco Mark Walter 252 $10.9B Chelsea, Strasbourg Dan Friedkin 253 $10.9B AS Roma, AS Cannes, Everton Shahid Khan 307 $9.33B Fulham Nassef Sawiris 324 $8.95B Aston Villa, Vitoria Daniel Kretinsky 402 $7.69B West Ham, Sparta Prague Joe Lewis 405 $7.66B Tottenham Todd Boehly 426 $7.28B Chelsea FC, Strasbourg Richest private owners in football, Sourced from Bloomberg Billionaires Index A fair whack of that cash has been injected into Chelsea via equity to cover operating expense and the gargantuan, £1bn recruitment drive that the new owners have sanctioned over the last three years. Chelsea have also taken out £500m worth of debt with Ares, one of the world’s biggest investment firms who, by extension, effectively have a place in the club’s corporate structure despite owning no shares. The club also has almost £500m worth of transfer debt and – in the story of the week – will at some point need possible three or four times that to build a new stadium or expand Stamford Bridge. Chelsea matchday income and planned stadium capacity infographic Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images In short, Chelsea have spent heavily and have more or less committed to spending even more heavily in the future, with all of the anxiety in terms of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) that entails. Granted, Enzo Maresca, Laurence Steward and Paul Winstanley have droves of young talent tied down to long-term deals, locking in their value. If latest signing Geovany Quenda comes good, for example, the Blues have protected themselves with the 17-year-old’s seven-year deal and can finesse their player trading model on that basis. But this model – lobbied for by Boehly in his role as chairman – places a huge amount of faith in a recruitment strategy which, to date, has had very mixed results. The above is a roundabout way of saying that Chelsea are probably in a worse place since the takeover, though Boehly’s latest comments suggests he believes different. READ MORE: Chelsea youngster ranked as second best teenager in world football, only Lamine Yamal is better Todd Boehly says Chelsea now worth more than before Clearlake takeover Since May 2022, Boehly’s public appearances as the face of Chelsea have become more and more frequent, despite some reports suggesting he is essentially a lame duck as chairman. In his latest outing, Boehly spoke to Bloomberg about the rift between his ownership faction and Clearlake, which he says is exaggerated, as well as the future of Stamford Bridge. The main headline, of course, centred on the future direction of the ownership. “The status quo” is a fine place to be, he said, but also suggested that the stadium plans could see Clearlake and he go their separate ways in time. Interestingly on that topic, Boehly believes, if he was to sell his stake to Eghbali or anyone else tomorrow, he could actually get a markup on the £2.5bn deal the consortium completed three years ago. “I think the trend is our friend in this industry,” the 51-year-old, whose club has lost almost £400m since the takeover, told Bloomberg. Rank Club Value 1-yr change Owners 17 Manchester United $6.2B +4% Glazer family 18 Real Madrid $6.06B +16% Club members 35 FC Barcelona $5.28B +7% Club members 40 Liverpool $5.11B +8% Fenway Sports Group 46 Bayern Munich $4.8B +8% Club members 51 Manchester City $4.75B +7% Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan 61 Paris Saint-Germain $4.05B +19% Qatar Sports Investment 65 Arsenal $3.91B +9% Stan Kroenke 74 Tottenham Hotspur $3.49B +9% Joe Lewis family trust, Daniel Levy 75 Chelsea $3.47B ±0% Todd Boehley, Clearlake Capital Source: Sportico top 100 most valuable clubs “The opportunity to try and grow the fanbase around the world is big. Unlike American sports, we have the ability to grow internationally and grow our own revenue base on top of that. “So I think the opportunity is enormous. The Premier League is sitting in a great place. One of the great things – and one of the frustrating things – is that the Premier League is becoming so competitive. The depth in the quality of the teams are unlike any other league in the world. It [value] is not derivative of whether or not they won last year. This is a club that just celebrated its 120th anniversary. “I would say, yes [it’s more valuable than we paid for it].” READ MORE: Chelsea now want to sign two Real Madrid stars for £105m, Todd Boehly pulled out of a deal for one them in the past Chelsea in mix for £130m Club World Cup prize, John Terry hails ‘mega’ finance opportunity To justify a valuation of £2.5bn and well beyond, there will need to be some pretty fundamental changes both at Chelsea and the wider football ecosystem. The arms race that has taken place in the transfer ecosystem and retention and market means costs have spiralled much faster than revenues have risen – and more so at Chelsea than most. One new revenue source that can help offset this and bolster the Blues’ PSR situation is the new-fangled Club World Cup, which Maresca will take his side to in the United States in the summer. Chelsea’s Club World Cup draw Group Team 1 Team 2 Team 2 Team 4 Group A Palmeiras FC Porto Al-Ahly Inter Miami Group B Paris Saint-Germain Atlético Madrid Botafogo Seattle Sounders Group C Bayern Munich Auckland City Boca Juniors Benfica Group D Flamengo Espérance Sportive de Tunisie Chelsea Club León Group E River Plate Urawa Red Diamonds Monterrey Inter Milan Group F Fluminense Borussia Dortmund Ulsan Mamelodi Sundowns Group G Manchester City Wydad Al-Ain Juventus Group H Real Madrid Al-Hilal Pachuca RB Salzburg Club World Cup group stage draw This week, FIFA have confirmed that a staggering £780m will be shared among the 32 participants in prize money, with that pot weighted towards European clubs like Chelsea. If Chelsea go all the way in the knockout tournament, they will take home the lion’s share of £130m. It’s a monumental prize fund which, fundamentally, has essentially been artificially created by Saudi Arabia. Former Chelsea captain John Terry has been on the ambassadorial circuit for FIFA recently and, echoing the sentiments of Didier Drogba a few months ago, has talked up the financial opportunity for clubs. “This is an opportunity that financially is mega for every club involved, let alone if you go on and win it,” Terry told talkSPORT last week. “To participate, it’s big financials. “I think we have to be careful in terms of player welfare and stuff like that because being ex-players, we have to support that. “Can there be a break mid-season? I think there should be. You played two, three games a week around the Christmas period and it’s really busy. “Then in February, March, April, you play Saturday, Saturday, Saturday. You could easily just throw a couple of games in there as well. “But I think in terms of players, like for me, six years retired, I’d love to still be playing. I’d love to go back and say, ‘I wish I had 60, 65 games a season.'”

Chelsea fans call for Premier League to take action over Boehly’s connection to ticket resale site https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6232453/2025/03/26/Chelsea-fans-boehly-vivid-seats/ The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST) has written to Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, regarding Todd Boehly’s involvement with Vivid Seats. Boehly, a minority shareholder and chairman at Chelsea, is a director at Vivid Seats, a website that allows the resale of Premier League match tickets — including to Chelsea games — for thousands of pounds above face value. The American ticketing company is listed on the Premier League’s website as an “unauthorised ticket website”, with the league urging fans to “exercise extreme caution” when using it and other ticket exchange companies. In the open letter sent to Masters, the CST penned that “Mr Boehly’s connection with Vivid Seats is totally inappropriate and significantly undermines the efforts of Chelsea FC, The Premier League, and The Metropolitan Police to combat ticket touting”. A CST spokesperson described Boehly’s connection to Vivid Seats as a “breach of trust” and a “clear conflict of interest”. “Vivid Seats continues to list Premier League tickets for above face value at significantly inflated rates,” a CST spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. “Not only does this undermine the efforts of Chelsea FC, The Premier League, and The Metropolitan Police to combat ticket touting, but Vivid Seats contravenes the Chelsea FC ticketing policy, and is explicitly named by the Premier League as a known unauthorised ticket website. “We believe that now is the time for the Premier League to act swiftly and ensure that a major shareowner of a Premier League club ceases facilitating the sale of tickets for significantly above face value.” (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Tickets advertised on Vivid Seats for Chelsea’s upcoming game against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on April 3 range from £144 to over £2,000, while tickets for the match at home to Liverpool on May 2 are priced between £442 and over £3,200. UK-based supporters are unable to use Vivid Seats or other ticket exchange sites similar to it to buy tickets to top-flight games due it being against British law to resell tickets in this manner. The CST’s letter to Masters was supported by the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), who said, “It is clear the Premier League needs to take action.” “Clubs, supporters’ groups, the police and the Premier League itself has worked hard in recent years to combat ticket touting – there is no excuse for a club owner to be involved in such activity,” a spokesperson for the FSA said. What You Should Read Next Premier League fans are revolting – but for very different reasons Tensions that have simmered for months are threatening to boil over as the season reaches its climax Boehly has co-owned Chelsea with Clearlake Capital since May 2022, and his Eldridge Industries private investment firm invested in Vivid Seats in 2021. The American billionaire has been a director at Vivid Seats since the investment, meaning he passed the Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test with them knowing about his involvement. In February 2024, Chelsea posted on its official website that they are “committed to tackling ticket touting”. “We identify individuals who fraudulently harvest tickets/memberships to sell at vastly inflated prices, investigate both online and offline illegal ticket sales, and use a range of tactics and enforcement measures that help to combat ticket touting,” the statement read. “Supporters found to be selling their ticket for more than face value will be subject to a club investigation and sanctions.”

Chelsea risk falling inexorably behind while the future of Stamford Bridge remains unresolved https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6229780/2025/03/26/Chelsea-stamford-bridge-boehly-clearlake-eghbali/ “We have to think long-term about what we’re trying to accomplish. We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to flesh out. I think that’s going to be where we’re either aligned or we ultimately decide to go different ways.” With one enigmatic sentence in an interview with Bloomberg this week, Todd Boehly brought the minds of many Chelsea supporters back to the ownership friction with majority shareholders Clearlake Capital that had gone quiet since spilling out publicly last September. Yet it was actually the unresolved stadium issue, referenced before the talk of parting ways, that has an even more substantial bearing on the club’s future. June will mark the third anniversary of Clearlake and Boehly’s £2.3billion ($2.98bn) takeover of Chelsea, and there is a distinct possibility that it will come and go without any public communication of a stadium plan. Only one option has been definitively discounted, according to senior club sources who spoke anonymously to The Athletic: there will be no stand-by-stand renovation of Stamford Bridge. In terms of the costs involved, the disruption and the limited ability to improve matchday experience or capacity, such a revamp is not regarded as feasible. That leaves only a complete demolition and redevelopment of Chelsea’s home of 120 years or a move to the other end of Brompton Cemetery, and the vast site which formerly housed the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The unique challenges involved in the former would likely make it one of the most complicated stadium construction projects undertaken by a football club, while the costs involved in purchasing the Earls Court site from property developer Delancey and then building a modern stadium on it would be formidably expensive. There is a widespread belief that Boehly is set on moving to Earls Court, while Clearlake has not ruled out staying at Stamford Bridge as it continues to evaluate both stadium options. The reality is that neither party has declared their position, and Chelsea are trying to maintain a delicate balance between thorough due diligence and a sense of urgency that recognises how far the club has already fallen behind many Premier League rivals in this regard. Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s home since 1905 (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Roman Abramovich knew Chelsea needed a new stadium to match their new status 15 years ago. This is a problem that Clearlake and Boehly inherited, and one of the conditions of their takeover was a firm commitment to build a stadium befitting of a club in Europe’s elite. The initial suggestions that a stadium plan would be communicated by the end of the 2022 seemed optimistic, even at the time. That self-imposed deadline was pushed back to the summer of 2023, then to sometime in 2024. Shareholders queued out the door to get a seat in the Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge for the annual general meeting of Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) — the fan group which owns the freehold of the stadium and the name Chelsea FC — in January. News that club president and chief operating officer Jason Gannon would be in attendance had some hopeful of finally hearing a firm announcement of a stadium plan. Instead they heard a reprise of a familiar message: nothing is decided, but when we have news we will share it. Gannon’s presence was still well received and he has made a positive impression in proactive dialogue with Chelsea fan groups, particularly in contrast to previous chief executive Chris Jurasek. Formerly the managing director of SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Gannon has extensive relevant expertise and has been very active since his appointment in October 2023 in exploring the feasibility of the Stamford Bridge and Earls Court options. He also, crucially, has the full backing of Clearlake and Boehly to lead the project. But none of this changes the fact that Chelsea are caught between two dauntingly unenviable options: one which presents huge feasibility challenges (redeveloping Stamford Bridge) and another which requires land they do not own (moving to Earls Court). Publicly tipping their hat towards either before they have a proposal that is fleshed out and fully costed might put the entire endeavour in jeopardy, given the need to ensure a multitude of stakeholders are on board. There is a natural contrast here with Manchester United, who earlier this month announced grand plans to build a shiny new 100,000-seat stadium on the site of Old Trafford that were heavy on artist drawings and light on detail or clarity of funding. But moving too slowly runs the risk of Chelsea’s already limited options dwindling further. Delancey, via the Earls Court Development Company, submitted a hybrid planning application to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) in July 2024 for a sprawling mixed use development on the Earls Court site. This would include the construction of 4,000 new homes, extensive retail and office space, three large cultural and performance venues, and an urban park. 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 That proposal was formally validated in September 2024 and public consultation concluded in November 2024. Even accounting for the scale, scope and complexity of the project and the need to satisfy two different London councils, there is a distinct possibility that planning permission could be granted before the end of 2025. Chelsea know all too well from Abramovich’s aborted “cathedral of football” stadium project that planning approval alone is no guarantee that a project will happen, but it is a significant milestone. Chelsea’s previous application to LBHF to redevelop Stamford Bridge was submitted in November 2015 and finally gained planning approval 15 months later. That plan initially involved leaving at the end of the 2017-18 season to play elsewhere for three years and return to a new home for the start of the 2021-22 campaign. Delays and spiralling costs, however, repeatedly pushed back that timeframe until Abramovich indefinitely paused the project in May 2018. To clarify, that was six years from submitting a planning application to hopefully inaugurating a redeveloped Stamford Bridge — and even that quickly proved too ambitious. It should be no surprise that many Chelsea season-ticket holders, who have an older average age than their peers at any other club in the Premier League, sincerely wonder if they will live to see their team play in a new stadium. In the meantime, other Premier League clubs continue to pursue their own stadium projects. Everton will bump Stamford Bridge down from ninth to 10th in the ranking of the division’s largest stadiums when they move into their new 52,888-capacity arena in the Bramley-Moore Dock area of Liverpool next season. Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock (Carl Recine/Getty Images) Clearlake and Boehly both know that a new Chelsea stadium is a must within the next 10 years. The only option they cannot countenance is doing nothing, since it would condemn the club to permanently operating at a significant matchday revenue deficit relative to many of their domestic rivals. The ripple effects of that would be felt almost everywhere at the club, from ticket pricing to the players they could afford to sign and keep. To get it done they are also keenly aware they will need to work with CPO, the unique organisation created by former chairman Ken Bates and his lawyer Mark Taylor in 1992 to act as a democratic safeguard against anyone who might try to take Chelsea away from Stamford Bridge against the club’s best interests. Abramovich failed in the only previous attempt to gain the required 76 per cent CPO support to move Chelsea to another stadium site in 2011, but he was looking for blanket approval to leave Stamford Bridge rather than presenting a specific stadium plan. Clearlake and Boehly could secure a very different outcome if they made a detailed, compelling case for their own proposal. But ultimately CPO shareholders cannot provide any answer until they are asked a question. Could the journey to that point include a change in the current ownership structure at Stamford Bridge? It cannot be ruled out, though Clearlake and Boehly both remain adamant that they are going nowhere. Nor will Chelsea if the club’s long-standing stadium problem remains unsolved.

I am not 100 per cent sold on him yet but after the ones I listed he would probably be up there with the rest would probably take him over Gittens

streets ahead of all the others on the list world class

Huijsen and Murillo (and sell the deadweight) and I am happy.

only winger tagets I want to hear about Vinicius Junior Florian Wirtz Jamal Musiala Rodrygo Bradley Barcola Kenan Yildiz

good

Special moment for Olivier Giroud and his family as he is honoured as the top goalscorer in history for the French Sr men's team.

Whether Chelsea could actually afford to launch £200m bid to sign Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior this summer https://tbrfootball.com/whether-Chelsea-could-actually-afford-to-launch-200m-bid-to-sign-real-madrids-vinicius-junior-this-summer/ Brazilian superstar Vinicius Junior is in talks with Real Madrid over a new contract, but he does have interest from elsewhere, TBR Football understands. The 24-year-old is now widely recognised as one of the best footballers on the planet and narrowly missed out on last season’s Ballon d’Or. His current deal, that he signed in 2023, runs out in just over two-years and as such Real have instigated contract talks. During that time Vinicius has seen Kylian Mbappe arrive on the club’s largest contract, understood to be worth around £500,000-a-week. The Brazilian is a little way off Mbappe in terms of his current wages and is believed to be seeking near parity with his French colleague and TBR Football understands that is forming part of the current talks. Both parties are confident that a deal is close, but whilst a deal is not signed – links continue to emerge with possible moves away. The Saudi Pro League are long-term admirers of Vinicius and we are told would pay ‘whatever is required’ to land him and sources in Spain suggest that £200million would be the level that Real would consider business. Saudi Pro League could compete with Chelsea for Brazilian superstar Aside from the Pro League, TBR Football can confirm that Chelsea are huge admirers of Vinicius and would also be very interested in landing him, if the opportunity arose. Part of Chelsea’s interest is based on the fact that a move to London is believed to appeal to Vinicius if, and when, he does move on from Madrid. Whilst in theory Chelsea and Vinicius could be open to one day linking up – could it actually happen? No doubt Chelsea could afford any deal, but would the Premier League’s rather restrictive PSR rules prevent any sort of deal from happening? Not necessarily. Could PSR stop Vinicius Junior from moving to the Premier League? We spoke to our Head of Football Finance and Governance Adam Williams to get the lowdown on whether a deal would be possible. “The mantra of Chelsea’s owners seems to be ‘move fast break things’. They have only complied with Premier League PSR because of intra-company property sales, like the Stamford Bridge hotel sale that generated £76.5m for the profit and loss account,” Williams explained. “UEFA’s rules, which the Premier League has rejected the chance to mirror pending the outcome of Manchester City’s challenge to the APT system, are tighter. “However, the punishments are much less sever. UEFA are handing out relatively tiny fines – that’s why the likes of Aston Villa and Chelsea, are, I think, comfortable with breaching their rules. “UEFA’s system is acting more like a competitive balance tax at the moment, like the set of rules in Major League Baseball, which Boehly and Mark Walter are familiar with through their ownership of the Dodgers. “So if they were interested in a deal for Vinicius Junior, it’s the domestic rules they would have to worry about, not the European ones. “I think if there is a realistic chance of a deal of transfer of this magnitude and they really wanted to make it happen, they could probably make it work. “That would be through a combination of player sales and, potentially, more financial sleights of hands from the accounting department. “We haven’t seen their accounts for 2023-24 yet, but the estimates are that they will post a small profit thanks to the intra-company player sales. “In 2024-25, their massive operating losses and the – apparent – lack of intra-company sales mean that they will be well in the red again, although for PSR purposes it will be a more modest loss than previous seasons. “Although he wouldn’t really fit their usual recruitment profile, the commercial value of a player like Vinicius Junior might tempt them to test the limits of PSR once again. “That said, they obviously wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near what the Saudis are said to be offering him.”

Mike Penders will join Chelsea in the summer – is he ready for the Premier League? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6215603/2025/03/20/mike-penders-Chelsea-analysis/ In mid-February, we invited requests from our subscribers for articles you might like to read on The Athletic as part of our latest Inspired By You series. Nemanja M. asked for a piece on Mike Penders, his potential, and whether he could be a generational talent. Liam Twomey took a look… Chelsea’s weekly goalkeeper psychodrama took another twist before Sunday’s 1-0 defeat against Arsenal, with head coach Enzo Maresca’s effective admission that Robert Sanchez has been restored as his No 1 after being given time out of the team to “rest his head”. Sanchez went on to deliver his familiar mixed bag of erratic distribution and impressive saves at the Emirates Stadium. There still appears to be no realistic prospect of the Spaniard winning the trust of Chelsea’s match-going supporters anytime soon. Filip Jorgensen clearly did not do enough in his Premier League audition to convince Maresca of his superiority to Sanchez. The wait for the truly elite goalkeeper Stamford Bridge has craved since Thibaut Courtois pushed his way to Real Madrid in the summer of 2018 will stretch at least until the end of this season. But could the answer be close at hand and could it be another giant Belgian from Genk who carries a squinting resemblance to Courtois? Mike Penders — only 19 years old but standing almost 6ft 7in (200cm) with a formidable wingspan — will join Chelsea this summer. His arrival comes almost 12 months after a deal was agreed to bring him to London under the noses of several other major European clubs. Chelsea’s goalkeepers have struggled this season (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images) The imminent arrivals of exciting attackers Estevao and Kendry Paez have garnered more headlines, but given the lack of clarity at the base of Maresca’s team and the scarcity of world-class goalkeepers, Penders has the potential to make even more of an impact. In the short term, Chelsea and Maresca must assess his level of readiness at the end of his first professional season. To date, Penders has made only 11 appearances in the Belgian Pro League, having been promoted to Genk’s first-choice goalkeeper in January. That is a perilously small sample size from which to make definitive judgements. Penders’ outings for Genk are, however, substantial enough for a goalkeeping specialist to get a clear sense of his style as well as his strengths and weaknesses at this early stage. With that in mind, The Athletic enlisted the expertise of Matt Pyzdrowski, a retired professional goalkeeper who works as head academy goalkeeping coach for Swedish champions Malmo. Here is a breakdown of several key aspects of Penders’ game. Distribution Pyzdrowski’s overriding impression of Penders is a startling one. “I’ll start with his style of play and the two goalkeepers I’m going to name will get people excited, but at the same time, I also want to pump the brakes,” he says. “The two goalkeepers he reminds me of are Courtois and Ederson. He’s kind of a mix of the two.” Ederson shines through more in Penders’ distribution — in particular, his ability to find team-mates higher up the pitch with impressively accurate longer passes. “He’s not as composed with the ball at his feet as Ederson yet, but what I really like about Penders is his ability to go long,” Pyzdrowski adds. “He’s able to stretch the field just like Ederson and start counter-attacks from nothing, which is a huge asset. The way he hits the ball is fast, direct, but also very accurate.” On the surface, this particular quality seems a little redundant under Maresca, who has pledged to substitute Sanchez and Jorgensen this season if they kick long. But there is an important distinction to make between a goalkeeper kicking long and passing long; Maresca’s primary issue is with the former and his desire to avoid simply gifting possession back to the opposition. Penders’ ability to identify and hit a longer pass over or through an opposition press could be an asset to any high-possession team. His technique is also polished over shorter distances. But when it comes to baiting the opposition press as Maresca frequently wants his goalkeeper to do, Penders is more of a work in progress. “One area where he’ll need to develop is playing under pressure,” Pyzdrowski admits. “Genk love to build up from the back, but often he has time on the ball. Even if a press comes, it isn’t really a high press. “He’s never been punished for a poor pass (by conceding a goal), but he gets stressed when the opposition really press. That’s not unique to him among goalkeepers — Ederson is an outlier. “Penders will need to develop that when he takes the next step (to Chelsea) because teams will notice that and press him high.” When not being harried, Penders’ relatively high comfort level on the ball — even well outside his penalty area — seems well suited to Maresca’s system. “He’s very comfortable playing high off his line with his feet in the build-up,” Pyzdrowski says. “That’s the way Genk play and Chelsea like that as well. And with his ability to go long, if he’s standing 30 yards from goal with the ball at his feet, that means a ball into the opponent’s box is on and he can very easily start an attack.” Chelsea goalkeepers need to be comfortable with the ball at their feet (Johan Eyckens/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images) Shot-stopping Even in an era when elite clubs and their coaches increasingly want 11 skilled outfielders in possession, keeping the ball out of the net remains the fundamental differentiator of a great goalkeeper. Pyzdrowski sees rich promise in Penders’ shot-stopping ability, but also plenty of room for physical and technical improvement. “One area he needs to improve is his ability to traverse his goalmouth,” he says. “He can be a bit slow in some of his actions and footwork. That’s not crazy because he is only 19, but when you watch clips of him, it’s not often that he traverses his whole goalmouth and makes an extension save. “You could say that’s because he has really good positioning but when he’s out of position, he doesn’t necessarily get over in time. When he doesn’t need to take a lot of steps he’s very, very good. When the ball is more towards the side of the goal, low or high, he needs to get a bit more explosive in those situations. “Part of it is work in the gym with a good strength and conditioning coach — focusing on explosive plyometric exercises, jumping up and down and from side to side. “Controlling your feet underneath you is hard for a lot of taller goalkeepers and that’s part of what made Courtois and (Petr) Cech so great. They were very tall but also very quick traversing their goalmouth to make the big saves their teams needed them to make.” This also applies to shots Penders tries to save above his head. “When fans see him play, he will probably remind them of Courtois,” Pyzdrowski adds. “Even though he’s really tall, he bends down quite low and holds his hands low at his sides as well. That’s something Courtois has done for a long time, a staple of his technique. “The thing that makes Courtois so great is that he can go from that low position and move his hands up very quickly to get balls above his head. That’s an area Penders will have to improve. That comes back to the explosion and agility, for him to dig his feet into the ground and use his trailing leg to set and push off towards the ball. “In a lot of the goals he concedes, he doesn’t do it and just falls to the ground rather than using his legs to get himself to the ball.” Command of the penalty area It might not come as a huge surprise that, given his size, Penders is already very adept at claiming high balls into his penalty area. “Commanding his area is what he’s best at,” Pyzdrowski says of Penders. “He’s really, really excellent at taking an aggressive position and very comfortable coming and taking high balls into his penalty area, even right up to the edge of the box. His timing is very good and he loves to catch the ball rather than punch. “That’s why I call him a mix between Ederson and Courtois, because Ederson has that aggressiveness commanding his box but Courtois has the hands to catch and hold the ball.” Penders’ preference for catching the ball could be a refreshing break from the growing Premier League trend of goalkeepers punching away in-swinging corner kicks. It could also potentially provide more reassurance to a Chelsea defence that can still appear uncertain when defending set pieces. His penalty area presence for Genk is not only felt when facing high balls. “On his line and with balls around his area, he’s really good,” Pyzdrowski adds. “He’s a big guy but he’s very quick to pounce when there’s a free ball in and around his box. He uses his body and has really good timing in those situations.” Penders has good command of his penalty area (Virginie Lefour/Belga/AFP via Getty Images) Sweeper-keeping The ability to defend far from goal has become an important skill for modern goalkeepers and a vital one in teams, such as Chelsea, who seek to defend with a high line for long stretches of games. “He’s very fast off his line — almost too fast because he’s very uncontrolled in those situations,” Pyzdrowski says of Penders. “A lot of the time he rushes out recklessly and you end up giving away fouls and penalties. Other times he’s rushed out and opened up an angle to concede a goal, so his decision-making in those situations will have to get better. “In that way, he also reminds me of Ederson, who has been better in recent years but had some ugly moments (early on at Manchester City) with his timing in one-versus-one situations.” Ederson’s example suggests that this particular flaw in Penders’ game is eminently fixable. “This is not strange because he’s so young and he doesn’t have a tonne of game time at the top,” Pyzdrowski adds. “As a goalkeeper coach, I would much rather have a goalkeeper who’s too aggressive than too passive. You can always rein in a goalkeeper who is too aggressive, but it’s very hard to get a passive goalkeeper to play more aggressively because they’re so rooted to their line.” Readiness for Chelsea? By the time Courtois finally made his competitive Chelsea debut in August 2014, he was 22, with four full seasons as a No 1 goalkeeper behind him — three of which were spent on loan at Atletico Madrid, where he won the Europa League, Copa del Rey and La Liga — and reached a Champions League final. He already had a case for being the best goalkeeper in the world. Penders, clearly, is at a far earlier point in his development. “He’s a project,” Pyzdrowski says. “If there are Chelsea fans out there hoping he arrives in the summer and competes for the No 1 spot, it’s too early. “It would also be a risk to throw him into that situation. That’s not to say a 19-year-old can’t handle it, there are examples, but other goalkeepers have got a chance too early and faded because it crushes their spirit and beats them down. “If Chelsea really believe in him, they’ll be smart and maybe go through pre-season or half a season with him before loaning him out again to continue to get first-team football and develop.” The key difference is that with Courtois, Chelsea had the rare luxury of being patient because of the enduring greatness of Cech. None of the current goalkeepers on the club’s books are anywhere near as accomplished, making the question of how Penders’ development is handled much more fraught. But there is no doubt or debate about his potential upside. “When you have someone two metres tall and as quick and agile as he is, it’s a huge advantage for him and something that gets noticed because it’s not normal,” Pyzdrowski says of Penders. “If he gets game time and works on his deficiencies, it’s not hard to see him being one of the best goalkeepers in the world in a few years.”