Vesper

bullshit

81 year old Chelsea fan in Arizona, USA finds out we are signing Jhon Duran for our CF

Dortmund can go fuck off offering £21m for Maatsen

I call bullshit on that tweet's claim

hope his GF doesnt break up with him or he will get the 'black girlfriend leaves you' curse like Mount caught, lol gay or straight, dont trifle with us black girls!

wish I had a rum punch and some dolphin cutters from Oistins Fish Fry ☺️

Chelsea have withdrawn their offer for Sesko as Arsenal are no longer interested.

no

Tosin Adarabioyo completes move to Chelsea on free transfer https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5534940/2024/06/07/tosin-adarabioyo-Chelsea/ Chelsea have completed the signing of Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer. Fulham confirmed the 26-year-old’s departure from Craven Cottage on Wednesday morning. Tosin completed his medical with Chelsea earlier this week, and the defender has signed a four-year deal with the west London club. He said: “Chelsea is a huge club and this is a full-circle moment for me. I was born three miles away from Stamford Bridge and made my professional debut there. “I’m very excited and looking forward to helping push the club in the direction we want to go.” Co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart added: “We are delighted to bring Tosin to Chelsea. Throughout his career, he has showcased his maturity and defensive qualities and has gained a wealth of experience in the Premier League in recent seasons. “He is ready to make the step up to Chelsea and work alongside the talented players in our squad. We look forward to Tosin joining up with us for pre-season.” GO DEEPER Enzo Maresca: Diet Pep or too risky? A Chelsea supporter seeks answers from a Leicester fan He joins after a gap in Chelsea’s squad opened up following the departure of Thiago Silva, who left at the end of the 2023-24 season to join Fluminense. The Athletic reported on June 1 that Chelsea were in advanced talks with Tosin over a move to Stamford Bridge. Newcastle had been tracking the defender long term and were hopeful of securing a deal for him this summer. The club had submitted an offer for Tosin and were optimistic about convincing him to join, having previously discussed signing him when Fulham were in the Championship. In April, it was confirmed that Tosin would leave Fulham when his contract expired at the end of the season. The centre-back turned down offers to renew his terms with Marco Silva’s side, having also rejected a new contract during the 2022-23 campaign. Tosin was the subject of two bids from Monaco last summer and attracted interest from West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. The move sees the Manchester City academy product link up with new Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca. Tosin made eight first-team appearances for City before transferring to Fulham in a deal initially worth £1.5million, rising to £2m with add-ons and included a 20 per cent sell-on clause. He played 132 games for Fulham, helping the team re-establish themselves in the Premier League after their relegation in 2021.

Why Michael Olise is a target for Chelsea, Man Utd and Newcastle https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5545560/2024/06/07/michael-olise-crystal-palace-transfer-target/ Michael Olise is gifted with game-changing qualities that would benefit any top club. The Crystal Palace winger, 22, has growing interest from clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United after a fine end to the season under Oliver Glasner. The France Under-21 international has a release clause in his contract and a growing list of admirers after scoring 10 goals as well as providing six assists last season. As reported in The Athletic’s Monday’s Transfer DealSheet, Olise will only move if he is certain it is right for him. It was his performance in the 4-0 victory over Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United last month that cemented Olise’s reputation as one of the most exciting talents in the Premier League. He scored twice and was a threat that United could not contain throughout. The difference to when he has been in Palace’s team has been stark. A hamstring injury restricted him to 19 appearances in 2023-24 but Palace’s win percentage leapt from 26 per cent to 42 when he was in the team. Olise’s attacking output and ability to break down defences is why he is on the radar of some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League. His nine non-penalty goals came from an expected-goals (xG) figure of only 4.7 and his six assists followed his Premier League record for Palace of 11 in 2022-23. His numbers match or even surpass wide players who played significantly more games. Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon played 35 times and had 21 goal involvements from 57 chances created — enough to get him into the England reckoning for Euro 2024. His statistics easily surpass Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling, who both had lower outputs in 2023-24. This kind of productivity from the right wing, where many clubs struggle, makes Olise a key target. Teams who are looking to diversify their scoring opportunities across the front line see value in him. Olise is left-footed but plays mainly on the right, an area where Manchester United and Newcastle United have been lacking this season. For Newcastle, Miguel Almiron works hard but lacks the creativity and ambition required, rarely attempting crosses or through balls and providing only three assists across the last two seasons. Olise’s rate of 5.86 take-ons per 90 minutes in 2023-24 was not dissimilar to Alejandro Garnacho’s 4.56, but the Argentine prefers to operate on the left. United began last season with Antony as their first-choice right-winger but his 2023-24 total of one goal and one assist in 29 Premier League appearances explains why United are looking for alternatives. Off the field — as shown in numerous in-house interviews at Palace and after matches with broadcasters — Olise appears reserved. But on the pitch, he transforms into a different persona: he is confident, creative and able to make things happen. In particular, it is the weight of his crosses that has stood out. This chart shows Olise’s significant role in Crystal Palace’s attacking sequences. His collaboration with Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta has been productive and would appeal to his suitors with the likes of Nicolas Jackson at Chelsea and Rasmus Hojlund at Manchester United often starved of service. Or if Newcastle were to make their move — fitting into a frontline with Gordon and Alexander Isak would be a daunting prospect for opposition defenders. His ability to integrate and contribute to existing attacking dynamics would also be beneficial for these clubs. Under Patrick Vieira, Roy Hodgson and now Glasner, Olise has been free to roam centrally. He averages 3.53 final-third ball carries per 90, which is in the top three per cent of Premier League players. He often finds space within small areas and is particularly adept at using defenders as screens to bend shots on goal — as Cole Palmer has done to great effect in his first season at Stamford Bridge. Olise thrives with the support of an overlapping full-back. This season, Nathaniel Clyne and Daniel Munoz, who made such an impact at Palace having signed from Genk in January, filled that role. Their movement creates space for Olise’s one-v-one situations and crosses. Chelsea and Newcastle United have suitable full-backs for this approach, including Malo Gusto, Reece James, and Tino Livramento. Although Manchester United’s full-backs aren’t a perfect fit, Diogo Dalot can make underlapping runs. All would work well with Olise’s ability to pass centrally. Olise is in France’s preliminary Olympics squad, a fitting stage for him to show the world just what he can do. But the big question is: will any of his suitors have convinced him to change clubs by then?

What Chelsea’s new man Tosin Adarabioyo learned at Manchester City and Fulham https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5542126/2024/06/07/tosin-adarabioyo-Chelsea-manchester-city-fulham-transfer/ Tosin Adarabioyo was not short of suitors this summer. When it became clear that he would not renew his contract with Fulham, interest emerged across Europe. For a time, Newcastle United appeared to be in pole position. They held a long-standing interest in Tosin, dating back to Fulham’s Championship-winning campaign in 2021-22. He was seen as an excellent homegrown option, with Eddie Howe eager to reinforce his back line. They made an offer and talks progressed well. According to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity like all of those consulted for this piece to protect relationships, he appreciated the project. Manchester United are understood to have also made a late offer to the player’s camp but Tosin’s mind was already made up on joining another west London club — the defender joined Fulham’s rivals Chelsea on Friday. It took some time for Chelsea to get their man. The club registered their interest early but there was not a great deal of confidence anything would come of it at first. As they were distracted looking for a new head coach following Mauricio Pochettino’s departure after the end of the season, the deal was regarded as ‘dead’ within the club. That was still the case at the beginning of last week. However, their pessimism was misplaced. Throughout the final year of his Fulham contract, Tosin, 26, had kept his options open and, in the end, it was Chelsea’s offer that would prove persuasive. They offered Tosin European football and the chance to remain in London, where he has spent the past four years with Fulham. Negotiations stepped up once Enzo Maresca, the former assistant of Pep Guardiola and a former under-23 coach at Manchester City, was chosen as Pochettino’s replacement. While it took another week for the appointment to be officially announced, it gave Chelsea a stronger pitch. The new coach at Chelsea added to an appealing picture for the former City academy graduate Tosin. He and Maresca crossed paths only briefly at City; Maresca was appointed as the elite development squad coach in August 2020, just as Tosin was preparing to leave the club in October. Joe Shields, who worked with Tosin at City’s academy in his younger years, was another City link. Tosin’s on-ball credentials made him a perfect fit. Maresca, who was consulted about the signing, wants to build out from the back and that style relies on defenders who are comfortable in possession. For Tosin, the move is aimed at helping him step back up the ladder, four years after he left Manchester City. It is, according to those with knowledge of the negotiations, felt to be the right time for him to return to a top club. He has never shied away from his ambitions to play at the highest level. “My target is not just to get into the Premier League, it is be playing at the highest level, competing for trophies, playing Champions League football,” he told The Athletic in 2021. Tosin’s move to Fulham in October 2020 was designed to get his progress back on track. It ended an 18-year association with City, which began as a five-year-old after watching an older age-group tournament at Whalley Range High School. “Tosin turned up and was looking through the fence one day, watching it and asked: ‘Can I play?’,” Terry John, who first signed Tosin for City and worked with him in his early years, told The Athletic in 2020. “So we got him involved and that’s how it started.” Tosin’s self-belief helped navigate the youth levels at City. He has two older brothers, Gbolahan (six years senior) and Fisayo (three years senior), and he regularly held his own against them. “He was playing football with my mates who were even older than me, where he didn’t have a chance of touching the ball,” said Gbolahan in 2020. “But he got used to the challenge.” He was tall and played in higher age groups. At 14, he was 6ft 1in (185cm) and featured for City’s under-18s. At 16, he stepped into first-team training, where he would play in 11-v-11 sessions against Carlos Tevez and Vincent Kompany. “It was just another game for me,” Tosin told The Athletic. “I was trying my hardest to impress Roberto Mancini.” That drive would be needed to break into the first team, as City went on to spend half a billion pounds on defenders since his first training session with the seniors. He made his debut, ironically, at Stamford Bridge, in February 2016 at the age of 18. After making three appearances for the club in the 2016-17 season, including two in the Champions League, he signed a contract extension, but opportunities were limited. He would make four more appearances in 12 months then went on loan, first to West Bromwich Albion, then to Blackburn Rovers under Tony Mowbray. There, his focus was working on the defensive aspects of his game. “The reason we brought him in was because of his attributes. He’s 6ft 5in, he’s very, very quick, his distribution is as good as any centre-back in the division,” Mowbray told The Athletic in 2020. “All we had to do was work throughout the year trying to make him realise the defensive side was the most important side of his game. “He grew into heading the ball out the box and dealing with the first ball down the middle, the essential side of being a defender, as opposed to the aesthetic side.” GO DEEPER Tosin - Fulham's bargain buy who has 'grown into his body and the Premier League' City would discuss with Mowbray and Blackburn about moving his feet and adjusting his position and body shape quickly, and his determination to learn quickly led Mowbray to believe he would become a Premier League footballer. “I had a conversation with him at the end of the season, and he enjoyed those aspects that we tried to put into him,” he said. “He had to be a defender first and not just aesthetically great with the ball, passing through lines.” Tosin performed strongly and had hoped for a recall in January 2020 as City suffered an injury crisis in central defence, with Fernandinho filling in after Aymeric Laporte suffered a knee injury. But that did not come to pass, a decision that made it clear to Tosin that it was time to leave City. He turned down a new contract that month, and later joined Fulham on deadline day in October 2020, for £1.5million, rising to £2m with add-ons. That would prove to be exceptional value for Fulham, making 132 appearances. In his first season under Scott Parker, the club were relegated but Tosin was a standout performer. Under Marco Silva, he was integral to the team’s success. “The way he can defend the box, but also on the ball, he is a special player, the way I want to play, the way he can build (from the back),” Silva said last year. Silva likes his central defenders to begin the team’s attacking build-up and Tosin’s ability to drive forward from defence and play a line-breaking pass made him important. This was particularly noteworthy during Fulham’s Championship-winning season, where they adopted a City-style approach. The data covering the past two seasons also reflects this. We can visualise Tosin’s numbers using a Smarterscout pizza chart, which uses advanced analytics to break down elements of a footballer’s game in different performance, skill and style metrics, and weights those values against their positional peers. In the 2022-23 season, Tosin ranked strongly for progressive passes (the green spike below). And in 2023-24, his carry and dribble volume (another green spike below) took precedence, a likely consequence of how Fulham’s build-up play adjusted following the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic. While his on-ball qualities were part of his football schooling, his defensive qualities have improved. His height allowed him to compete effectively in both boxes, especially from set pieces. That is reflected by his aerial win percentage of 67.1. That aerial ability appealed greatly to Chelsea, according to club sources. The squad does not have many players who can provide a big presence in the penalty area. It is one of the reasons former head coach Pochettino regularly selected Levi Colwill at left-back even though he is renowned as one of England’s best young centre-backs. Tosin’s familiarity with a high defensive line — from his time at City and more recently under Silva — also appealed. Tosin’s final campaign at Fulham began with a groin injury that required surgery but he reached some of his best performance levels during their upturn in form over the winter. His loss will be felt on the field, even if supporters will not take kindly to him joining their local rivals. He formed an excellent partnership with Tim Ream at Fulham and then Calvin Bassey, Ream’s long-term replacement. Tosin’s departure was forecast. Talks broke down last summer after he rejected a new deal and, amid interest from West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, he was subject to two bids from Monaco, worth in the region of €7m (£5.9m; $7.6m) plus add-ons and then €10million. These were turned down, as Fulham could not find a replacement. Silva wanted to retain him and as he hit form, the club rekindled negotiations during the season, but he turned down their new proposal and informed the club he would not be renewing in April. Sources with knowledge of the negotiations say his exit was not to do with wanting a better offer, but the sense that now was the time to take that next step at a bigger club. Tosin has shown throughout his career that he is not afraid to back himself and wants to compete at the highest level. On the international stage, he represented England from under-16s to under-19s and is eligible for Nigeria, but has said he is focusing on club football. Tosin will become the oldest player to join Chelsea for two years, when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, then 33, arrived from Barcelona. Since the 2023 January transfer window, they have signed players aged 25 and under. Tosin turns 27 in September. With Thiago Silva departing, there will be scope to make an impression as Chelsea try to build on last season’s strong finish and embark on a new era under Maresca. GO DEEPER Why Tosin Adarabioyo joined Fulham from Man City

thanks m8 👋

Chelsea-bound sensation Kendry Paez: ‘The bigger the challenge, the better he gets’ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5508944/2024/06/07/kendry-paez-ecuador-Chelsea-copa-america/ When you manage Independiente del Valle, you grow pretty accustomed to displays of youthful verve. The club’s academy, nestled among the rolling hills on the outskirts of Quito, is not just the best in Ecuador. It is the envy of the entirety of South America, a player development Mecca that has filled Independiente’s coffers and breathed fresh life into the Ecuador national team. Keeping an eye out for the next big thing is just part of the job description. Martin Anselmi knew the score. As Independiente’s assistant coach in 2019 and 2020, he had witnessed the emergence of Moises Caicedo and Piero Hincapie, two of the standout graduates of what the club calls its High Performance Centre. When he returned to the manage the first team in May 2022, he expected a whole new generation of teenagers to be knocking at the door. Still, he wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready for Kendry Paez. A couple of months into the job, Anselmi sat down to watch Independiente’s under-18s. They were playing their first game in the Copa Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World Cup), a tournament the club organises every year. It was a decent match, shaded by the hosts, but it would not have stuck in the memory were it not for one second-half substitution. The board went up. On came Paez, a tricksy little attacking midfielder. Anselmi had heard whispers about him but had never seen him in action. Paez was 15, three years younger than most of the other players on the pitch, but you would never have known it from his swagger. “The very first time he got the ball, he flicked the ball over the heads of two players and played a 40-metre pass to the opposite wing,” recalls Anselmi. “I was stunned.” It was the start of a fruitful relationship. Quite a funny one, too: after the tournament ended — Paez scored twice in the final as Independiente beat Atletico Nacional of Colombia — the teenager became a full-time nuisance to Anselmi, constantly accosting him at the training ground and asking when he was going to be called up to the first team. Sometimes, when Anselmi passed him in the corridor, Paez would simply point his index finger upwards, indicating that it was time for a promotion. Over time, he grew even more confident. “I’ll be your No 10,” he would tell Anselmi, to howls of amusement from anyone within earshot. “And captain.” Arrogant? Certainly. Deluded? The evidence would suggest not. Less than two years after first catching Anselmi’s eye, Paez is Independiente’s star player. He is a regular in the Ecuador team, a national idol in the making, and will be one of the main attractions at this summer’s Copa America. He has already agreed to join Chelsea — where he will be reunited with Caicedo — after he turns 18. That’s not until next May. Goodness knows what he and his fast-forward button have planned between now and then. The hope — for him and for anyone who likes their football sprinkled with impish magic — is that he can maintain the upward trajectory. There are a few small red lights on the dashboard, questions about whether Paez is ready for the level of fame and scrutiny that are coming his way; what is not up for debate is the magnitude of his talent. “Technically superlative,” Anselmi calls him, and that is no outlier view. He is a sensation in his homeland, a schoolboy superstar. The only people who don’t expect Paez to become the best footballer Ecuador has ever produced are those who are convinced that he already is. “He’s on another level,” former Ecuador striker Carlos Tenorio said last year. “These players are not born every day.” Those who know Paez well are similarly enthused. “Without doubt, Kendry has something special,” says Carlos Cajas, one of his former youth coaches. Cristian Pellerano, the former Independiente captain and one-time mentor to the youngster, is even more emphatic. “Kendry,” says Pellerano, “can achieve whatever he wants to achieve in football.” Paez grew up in Isla Trinitaria, one of the poorer neighbourhoods of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second largest city. Money was always tight: Paez often went to school hungry and was always aware that his parents were up against it. Football provided a welcome distraction — and not just to young Kendry. His dad, Ray, played, as did his uncles. But it was his mother, Jessica, who was his first inspiration. “I used to watch her play in my neighbourhood,” Paez told ESPN last year. “It was amazing to see how good she was. My parents were both spectacular players. I was also given the gift.” Aged five, Paez started training at a local soccer school. Later, he was briefly on the books at top-division club Emelec and turned out for an amateur team in Guayaquil called Hooligans FC. At 10, Paez joined the academy at Patria, one of Ecuador’s most historic teams. There, his wiry frame and wand of a left foot reminded his team-mates of someone. “Di Maria,” they called Paez, after Argentina winger Angel. The nickname stuck, following him to Independiente del Valle when he moved there two years later. It was not a straightforward transition. Paez had already been scouted by LDU Quito, who believed they had reached an agreement with the player’s parents and agent. “On the first Monday of the season, he was supposed to come and train with us,” recalls Cajas, who worked at LDU at the time. “But when the day came, he didn’t show up.” Instead, Paez had gone to Independiente’s training complex. The man behind the coup was Luis Roggiero, the club’s former sporting director, who had also been on Paez’s tail for some time. “Our scout told us that he had found a player with a special talent, but that the club would have to make a significant effort financially to be able to sign him,” Roggiero tells The Athletic. “It was going to cost much more than the club was used to paying for a 12-year-old kid. So we had to make sure that he did indeed have all the potential that our scout had detected.” Roggiero spoke with Roberto Olabe, a renowned Spanish coach who was acting as a consultant for Independiente. The club has a long-standing collaboration agreement with the Aspire Academy in Qatar; Olabe, who is now sporting director at Real Sociedad, helped to shape the youth methodology across the network. “I asked Roberto to evaluate Kendry,” recalls Roggiero. “He came back to me a few days later and said that the kid was very, very good. He said that Kendry saw things two passes before anyone else did, and also had the ability to execute on his ideas. His message was simple: we just had to get him.” With Olabe’s seal of approval, Roggiero went to the club’s board, who found enough money to get the deal done. There was, from the get-go, a buzz about Paez. Roberto Arroyo, the club’s current sporting director, was youth coordinator at the time and remembers the excitement he felt watching Paez’s first training session. “His control of the ball was excellent,” Arroyo tells The Athletic. “He had good vision. He could beat his man. We see hundreds of players every year but you do notice when a kid is different to the rest.” Nor was it just a question of technique. In the months that followed, it was Paez’s intelligence on the pitch that really came to the fore. He was a central playmaker at heart, but looked just as comfortable in central midfield or even on the wing. Wherever he played, he seemed to have an innate feel for the evolving rhythms of a match. “We really like players who understand football,” Arroyo says. “When a kid can read the game better than the others, you only have to work on the details. There was always this consensus about Kendry. We all agreed that he had a future at the club.” Paez had been at Independiente for a couple of years when he crossed paths with an old acquaintance. Cajas, the youth coach who had previously tried to sign him for LDU, had switched clubs himself. As fate would have it, he was Paez’s new manager. And, at the outset at least, he wasn’t bowled over by what he saw. “My first impression was that Kendry had talent and potential but wasn’t yet able to develop it,” Cajas tells The Athletic. “My initial perception, which was confirmed when I began to work with him on a day-to-day basis, was that he didn’t have the right attitude. He saw himself as a very talented kid, and he did stand out on a technical level, but he didn’t have a good approach to training.” Cajas got on Paez’s case. He told him he had to train with the same commitment he showed in matches. He urged him to contain his frustration with his team-mates when they made mistakes. He also told him to tidy his room. “We ended up having a real emotional connection,” says Cajas. “After we talked about his messiness, he was always the one with the cleanest room. He was willing to learn. He just needed a little bit of order and discipline.” The same was true on the pitch. Paez would switch off out of possession. Even when he gave the ball away, he rarely chased back or sought to make amends. “He would just stand there, waiting for his team-mates to win it back and return it to him,” laughs Cajas. “That was something we worked on a lot.” This was at under-16 level. Paez, in fairness, was still only 14, and while Cajas was keen to fine-tune certain parts of his game, he was also in awe of him. Paez played as the right-sided central midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation but his exuberance transcended tactics. With the ball at his feet, he was a free-wheeling force of nature. “Kendry had many strengths — ball control, first touch, vision — but what stood out to me was just how much joy he played with,” says Cajas. “It was beyond systems, beyond positioning. It was all a game to him. It was play.” Case in point: Paez loved to pick the ball up on the right side and set off on mazy, diagonal dribbles, twisting defenders inside and out en route to the penalty box. “Often he would beat two, three, even four players before shooting or setting up a team-mate,” Cajas recalls. “It was his trademark run and he used to do it constantly. I even gave it a name: La Magnifica.” After the Copa Mitad del Mundo, Independiente travelled to Salzburg, Austria, to take part in in another international youth tournament: the Next Generation Trophy, an under-16 competition put on by Red Bull. There, they beat RB Leipzig, New York Red Bulls and Inter Milan, and while they lost in the final to Yeelen Olympique of Mali, Paez headed home with a trophy for player of the tournament. His displays put a number of top European clubs on alert; Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund were among those sniffing around in the latter stages of 2022. They also changed the dynamic at Independiente, convincing many fans that Paez needed to be bumped up to the first team at the earliest opportunity. Anselmi heeded those calls at the start of 2023, including the 15-year-old in his squad for pre-season. “We were not certain that he was ready to compete in the first division,” admits Anselmi. “It was a case of taking care of him, progressing little by little, so he could adjust to the rhythm of senior football.” Paez had a brief run-out in a friendly against Guayaquil City but his first real chance came in Independiente’s first league game of the season, against Mushuc Runa. Starting as the left-sided attacking midfielder in Anselmi’s 3-4-2-1 system, Paez capped a sparky display with his first senior goal, coolly lobbying the goalkeeper from an acute angle with his weaker foot. It was no flash in the pan, either. Two games later, he started against Barcelona, the biggest team in Ecuador. “We decided to see what he was made of,” says Anselmi. “And he was one of the best players on the pitch. Immediately after his first pre-season, he was a fixture in the team.” Cristian Pellerano, Independiente’s captain at that time, remembers the impact Paez made on him. “My first impression was of a player whose individual technique was very, very advanced,” Pellerano tells The Athletic. “He controlled the ball in this natural way, however it came to him. It wasn’t normal. “That first goal, for example: it would have been a tough chance for any other player, but he resolved it with ease. Those little details in his game made me think that he was going to be a transcendent player.” Within a few weeks, pretty much everyone in Ecuador shared that opinion. Paez shone at the South American Under-17 Championship (two goals and six assists as Ecuador finished second to Brazil) and then at the Under-20 World Cup (one goal and three assists in four games). At which point we have to dust off the accelerator pedal: Paez was called up to the senior Ecuador squad and agreed to sign for Chelsea on the same day in June, made his international debut in September and became the youngest scorer in South American World Cup qualifying history the following month, aged 16 and 161 days. “There was no challenge he did not overcome in that year,” says Anselmi. “That’s not normal for a kid of his age. The bigger the challenge, the better he got.” By the end of 2023, the rave reviews were coming in thick and fast. “He has everything it takes to be better than Lionel Messi,” purred Tenorio, the former Ecuador forward. “He’s a superstar,” said Andres Chicaiza, who faced Paez during his time at LDU. “We have to enjoy him because a kid like that only comes along once every 50 years.” Anselmi, who now manages Cruz Azul in Mexico, is no less enthusiastic. “He always surprised me with his technique and his fluency,” he says. “He knows how to find space, knows where he can hurt the opposition. “But for me, his biggest asset is his personality. He’s kind of cheeky, irresponsible in a good way.” Paez’s agent, Manuel Sierra, probably did not realise quite how prophetic his words would come to seem. “It’s very difficult at 16,” Sierra told Spanish newspaper AS in January. “Imagine everything that’s coming his way, all the temptations and requests.” The temptations part was pretty neatly covered in late March, when photos showing Paez on a night out in New York circulated online. It emerged that the midfielder — 16 at the time, remember — had gone to a club with Ecuador team-mates on the eve of their friendly against Italy. Some of the players, including Paez, were also pictured in a strip club. The Ecuadorian federation issued a statement in which they described the events as “contrary to the values and principles that we defend and promote,” and, although Paez’s more experienced colleagues copped the bulk of the criticism in the local press, the photos did ring a few alarm bells. Was Ecuador’s boy wonder allowing himself to be led astray? At the very least, it is clear that Paez is no wallflower. He has, thus far, leaned into his new-found fame rather than away from it. “His personality always attracts attention,” says Jonathan Loachamin, who covers Independiente for local radio station Radio Super K. “He is boisterous and likes to be at the centre of the madness.” There is nothing inherently wrong with that, of course, but some fear it may ultimately cost him. “I would love him to be a global star, but I think it’s possible that he doesn’t reach that level,” says Cajas. “That’s partly down to the idiosyncrasies of Ecuadorian football. Certain habits and lifestyles are prevalent among footballers in our country. The background, the entourages… football gives players riches that would be unimaginable in their previous lives. “At Independiente, Kendry is working inside a structure that is very well developed and organised. But it still cannot match the standards expected of players at the top European clubs, in terms of behaviour and engagement. “He needs someone to help him make the right decisions, and mental support so he is able to stay on track through everything he is experiencing. He needs to do a lot of extra work — in training, on his life habits, on the intangible things.” It can, of course, be easy to forget that we are talking about a child here. A dose of empathy is required. “It’s not as simple as saying that the boy is immature,” says Arroyo, Independiente’s sporting director. “He is already a public figure, especially in our country. We might have to nudge him sometimes, tell him why he shouldn’t do certain things. But you have to consider his age.” The tricky thing for Paez is that he’s still a year away from really finding out how far he can go. He can only move to Chelsea after he turns 18 next May. In the interim, he will just have to focus on… well, what, exactly? Already, the Ecuadorian ecosystem looks too small for him. KFC are among Independiente’s shirt sponsors; Paez is such an outsized presence in the public consciousness that those initials might as well stand for Kendry Football Club. This summer’s Copa America is a welcome challenge. Not only have Ecuador never won the tournament; they haven’t reached the semi-finals since 1993. After a favourable draw — La Tri are in a group with Mexico, Venezuela and Jamaica — Paez and the rest of a promising new generation stand a decent chance of updating that record in the USA. Thereafter, the priority will be winning his first trophy with Independiente — and preparing himself for the Premier League. “That’s his most important objective, arriving at Chelsea in good shape,” says Arroyo. “If he doesn’t arrive at his best, he’ll just be another squad player, and that’s not what anyone wants.” Anselmi reiterates that view. “There is a long road ahead but he has to start getting ready for Europe already,” he says. “Before moving, you have to be prepared — physically, intellectually, financially, in terms of the language.” Paez has been taking English lessons for some time. He has a nutritionist and does private work with a video analyst. He still attends school classes three days a week at Independiente’s training centre. “I don’t think I’m a big deal,” he told ESPN last year. “I’m always humble. I have things to work on. I know the time is going to pass quickly.” That interview, admittedly, was given last June. Paez might have expected the milestones to have arrived a little more gradually thereafter, to be spaced out over two years, say. Instead, they all rushed to the front of the timetable. It is to Paez’s credit that he has managed to clamber over them all so nimbly. What happens next is contingent on his maintaining that momentum — no easy task given that he must already have ticked off half of the items on his footballing bucket list. “He has been burning through stages but he must be wary of becoming complacent,” says Anselmi. “That is always dangerous. I’m not talking about the level of the Ecuadorian league. I’m talking about human motivation, what drives us. If, at 17 years old, you’re already a starter for your club team, you already play for your national team, you’re already a star… how do you find the next challenge?” Part of the responsibility falls on Independiente, but a lot of the motivation will have to come from within. Paez must know that he could easily coast through the next year without the dial on the hype machine lowering much; the question is whether that he allows that knowledge to trip him up. “It’s going to turn on his desire, his intensity, his way of approaching the challenge,” says Pellerano. “It’s going to depend purely and exclusively on him. “He has what it takes to be a big star. I hope that he can make the leap.”

Does Enzo Maresca meet Chelsea’s seven criteria for their ideal manager? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5539605/2024/06/06/enzo-maresca-chelseas-seven-criteria/ When Chelsea assessed their preferred options to replace Mauricio Pochettino, they had seven criteria to measure each candidate. Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca emerged as the favourite because Chelsea believed he matched all of them, despite the Italian having just one full season in the top job. “Enzo has proven himself to be an excellent coach capable of delivering impressive results with an exciting and identifiable style,” said Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, in a statement to announce the appointment. “Enzo has deeply impressed us in our discussions leading up to his appointment. His ambitions and work ethic align with those of the club. We thoroughly look forward to working with him.” To consider how Chelsea studied their new manager, The Athletic looks at each principle in relation to Maresca’s Championship-winning campaign at Leicester last season. 1. Playing style and philosophy Just as Leicester did 12 months ago, Chelsea wanted a young, up-and-coming coach who could bring a clear identity. Maresca certainly does that. He has a possession-based style of play, comparable to Pep Guardiola’s approach at Manchester City where the mantra was they move the ball to move the opposition. It was a style that stood out in the Championship — and Maresca is devoted to it. The goalkeeper needs to be capable with the ball at his feet as he will combine with the central defenders and a deep midfielder to play as an extra outfield player. Out of possession, Maresca’s formation is a 4-3-3 turned 4-4-2 when pressing. In possession, one of the defenders will move into midfield to play as a second holding midfielder, while two No 8s will push high into the inside channels as the two wingers, who are integral to his attacking philosophy, will go very wide as the attack becomes a front five. GO DEEPER Maresca, Chelsea and his love of chess: 'The board can be divided like a football pitch' He was often accused of having no backup plan if Plan A wasn’t working, but he does make subtle changes, such as moving the inside full-back into a forward pocket to make a front six, with one of the No 8s moving into a No 10 position behind the lone striker. He doesn’t play with two strikers and has vowed never to do so. 2. Having the aim to control games, with defensive stability His whole approach is about control, and the ethos is that to control the game they must control possession. To control possession, the back three and two holding midfielders form an insurance policy of a back five if the attack breaks down. Leicester therefore attack with five and defend with five. Last season, he would often say that for his side to be effective, the rear five have to play well — everything starts with them. They have to be brave in possession as they look to break either a high press or a deep block by making the opposition move to create pockets of space for the forward five. It may be a slow process at times but when they do find the pockets of space and play forward through the lines, the attack will quickly accelerate. The defender who takes up the central position when they move to the back three — at Leicester, it was Jannik Vestergaard — is vital to the process as he will dictate the tempo and direction of the play, while the two alongside him need to have pace. Last season, Leicester pushed so high up the field that they often left 50 metres or more behind them that they had to defend when facing a counter-attack. GO DEEPER How and why Chelsea hired Enzo Maresca - and the seven things they were looking for 3. A brand of football that suits the squad already in place and their future plans to recruit The Chelsea decision-makers will feel the players Maresca inherits will be able to adapt to his style of play, because Maresca is deeply committed to it. The manager will identify where the team need to recruit, as he did at Leicester when he insisted they bring in a ball-playing goalkeeper in Mads Hermansen. Maresca said the Danish keeper’s signing was the most important for his plan. GO DEEPER Mads Hermansen interview: 'It's special to follow in Kasper Schmeichel's footsteps' Equally so will be a deep-lying playmaker. And in Harry Winks, Leicester had the best in the Championship. Right-back Ricardo Pereira was adaptable to play in different ways too. Maresca will already have assessed who will play those roles at Chelsea, whether it will be Reece James playing inside like Trent Alexander-Arnold, or Marc Cucurella, Malang Sarr or Levi Colwill playing the left-back-cum-third-centre-back role. What will be interesting is which players he adapts to other roles, such as left-back Ben Chilwell. Could he play in a different way? He might have to, as Maresca doesn’t play with conventional full-backs. 4. Desire to embrace supporters and build a connection with them Maresca was particularly keen on getting Leicester supporters on board with his ideas early on. Initially, he tried to do so through the local media, explaining in press conferences how he wanted his team to play and the roles of each individual. He read everything written about his side and sometimes would express his frustration if journalists didn’t grasp his concept. Sometimes he could be sensitive to questions that seemed to query his approach, but he then began to see them as an opportunity to get his point across to the supporters. In December last year, he became the first manager in many years to host a question and answer session for supporters at King Power Stadium and, along with his close friend and journalist Guillem Balague, he spoke about his philosophy at another fan event later in the season. Maresca also explained his tactics in detail in a video for The Coaches’ Voice but can be sensitive to criticism and even threatened to quit in January after a home win over Swansea City as some fans expressed frustration at his side patiently attempting to break down a deep-block defence. 5. Strong data on keeping players fit and available Maresca is huge on data and almost forensic in his analysis of pretty much everything, including the physical demands on his players. One of his first acts at Chelsea was to request deep data dives on all his new players, which also meant the development squad. Under Brendan Rodgers, Leicester suffered some horrendous injuries to important players. Changes were made in the medical department and Leicester’s sports science department were thorough, but the injuries didn’t ease up until last season when Maresca arrived. GO DEEPER Maresca: 'It was time to rebuild Leicester and restore reminders of Ranieri's success' The lower number of injury absentees may be due to the differing approaches of the two coaches. While Rodgers’s style, both in training and on match days, was very intense and required a lot of athleticism, Maresca’s possession-based approach meant Leicester played in a more measured way and tried to control the tempo of games. His training sessions were more tactical and less physically demanding on his players too. 6. A record of improving players and getting them to fulfil potential levels In terms of a long record, Maresca’s fledgling managerial career means there isn’t a lot of history to draw upon. But in his role as under-21 manager at Manchester City — where Cole Palmer developed under his coaching — and one season at Leicester, there is evidence that players have developed and improved under Maresca. While they were at Championship level, there were a few notable players who blossomed under Maresca. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had his best season as a professional and was named player of the season, while young players Kasey McAteer, Abdul Fatawu and Wanya Marcal stepped up a level. It wasn’t just the young players, either. Vestergaard went from not even being allowed to train with the squad under Rodgers to being the integral defender. Pereira played in multiple positions including the inside full-back role. Even Jamie Vardy changed his game to be the central striker who linked play. Significantly, Maresca turned Wilfred Ndidi from a destructive defensive midfielder to an attacking No 8 who frequently broke into the box. The key to Maresca’s man-management is demonstrating to players that he has faith in them. When striker Patson Daka started to struggle for form and confidence in the second half of the season after a scoring run earlier in the campaign, Maresca said the best way to help players in that situation was to keep picking them. He did so for several weeks, but eventually made a change to protect Daka from further scrutiny. 7. Being willing to work within the structure built at the club Maresca is single-minded in his approach but understands that the team on the pitch needs to be supported by the team off it and be provided with the right environment to work in. But that doesn’t mean he is a yes man. He worked with Leicester’s director of football Jon Rudkin. They weren’t the best of friends, but they didn’t need to be. When Rudkin informed Maresca of the club’s PSR issues, Maresca expressed his disappointment and frustration. But at the end of the season, that issue was resolved after another planning meeting; it wasn’t a factor in his decision to leave. However, if Maresca feels there is too much interference from above, he won’t be afraid to say what he thinks. He may be a young coach with just one year’s experience but he is confident in his ability and is no shrinking violet. Chelsea wanted a hungry, young and determined coach devoted to his philosophy, and they now have one. But Stewart and Winstanley, you have been warned. GO DEEPER Enzo Maresca: Growing up with De Zerbi, playing like Gazza and why he's 'worth' the risk

If Pep leaves next summer, I predict Håland does as well.

Why are Chelsea so open to selling Conor Gallagher? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5542698/2024/06/05/Chelsea-gallagher-villa-tottenham/ The transfer window is reopening in a matter of days, which can only mean one thing: Conor Gallagher’s future at Chelsea is once again a hot topic. Earlier this week, The Athletic reported that Aston Villa have opened preliminary talks with Chelsea and Gallagher’s representatives over a possible summer move, with their manager Unai Emery a huge admirer of the 24-year-old and keen to bolster his midfield options ahead of a Champions League campaign in 2024-25. It may come as a surprise that Chelsea are open to selling the Cobham academy graduate, who frequently captained Mauricio Pochettino’s team on the pitch last season and led the entire first-team squad in minutes played across all competitions. But this is a complex situation with several factors at play and a number of outcomes are still possible. Here is a dive into some of the most important questions surrounding Gallagher’s future. Why are Chelsea open to selling Gallagher? There are two elements to this: Gallagher the player and Gallagher the asset. One just had the best season of his career at Chelsea, entrenching himself in the affections of their match-going supporters, and consolidating his place in the England squad. The other now has 12 months left to run on his contract and a growing list of suitors across the Premier League. One of the reasons why Gallagher’s deal has run down to this point is that, for much of the past two years, Chelsea’s sporting leadership and ownership have not been convinced that he should be integral to their long-term midfield plans. It is why they were prepared to accept a £45million ($57.5m) offer from Everton in January last year and why West Ham and Tottenham were emboldened to express serious interest the following summer. It is also why Chelsea have spent north of £300million on midfielders in the past 18 months, headlined by the nine-figure transfer fees paid for Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. Gallagher did everything he could to challenge that thinking with an excellent 2023-24 season, improving significantly in many areas of his game. But if Chelsea do not believe that progress merits a new contract on significantly improved terms, this summer is their last realistic opportunity to secure real value in a sale. That value would need to be in excess of £50million for a Chelsea starter and current England international who only turned 24 in February and still appears to be improving. Do they need to sell Gallagher, or other home-grown players, to comply with financial rules? Chelsea officials insist they expect the club to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) for 2023-24 without making further player sales before the accounting deadline of June 30, though there is considerable scepticism among many football finance analysts outside Stamford Bridge as to how they can hope to achieve that. A controversial £76.5million deal to sell the two hotels outside the stadium to another subsidiary company of Chelsea’s ownership group was decisive in the club squeezing under the £105m allowable loss limit for PSR in 2022-23. That transaction is still awaiting sign-off from the Premier League but does underline that Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly are prepared to get creative to ensure future PSR compliance. Chelsea’s qualification for next season’s Conference League also means they are once again subject to UEFA’s club licensing and financial sustainability regulations (FSR), which only allow losses up to €80million (£68.5m; $86m) for the 2024-25 monitoring period. There is at least no such pressure to sell players by June 30 on this front, since UEFA count from January 1 to December 31 instead. Whatever the true extent of the PSR and FSR pressures, Chelsea know selling players — and particularly cashing in on academy graduates, who count as pure profit on the books — is the only realistic route to creating the wiggle room needed for more significant recruitment this summer. It does not necessarily need to be Gallagher who leaves. Chelsea are already guaranteed £28million through the sale of Lewis Hall to Newcastle after his season on loan there, while the proceeds of Mason Mount’s £55m transfer to Manchester United last summer will go on this year’s accounts. They also banked between £11m and £14m from add-ons in clauses of loan and transfer deals last season. GO DEEPER Chelsea's Armando Broja: 'Euro 2024 is an opportunity to show the world what I can achieve' They could generate £35million by selling Ian Maatsen, while Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah could raise more than £50m combined. While not a Cobham graduate, Omari Hutchinson could also command a sizeable fee after a highly successful loan spell helping Ipswich Town win Premier League promotion. How does all of this affect Gallagher’s thinking about his future? Gallagher is in an extremely strong position. His stock has never been higher and he can expect a large pay rise in his next contract, whether that’s at Chelsea or elsewhere. He is a well-documented Chelsea fan and his preference remains what it has always been: to pursue a long and successful career with his boyhood club. He has not agitated to leave at any point and cannot be sold against his wishes. One of the few things he can’t control is whether he is offered a new deal that reflects his own sense of value to the team and to the club. GO DEEPER Enzo Maresca's backroom staff: The six moving with him from Leicester to Chelsea But if Villa or another interested club present an offer that satisfies Chelsea, Gallagher will have a real decision to make. Will he play as often, or as well, for incoming head coach Enzo Maresca as he did last season for Pochettino in what is likely to be a different tactical system? There is no guarantee next season will be as individually rewarding as 2023-24 proved to be. Within that context, going into the final year of his current deal at Stamford Bridge would be a big risk for Gallagher to take — and he would do so with no assurance that a new contract offer from Chelsea would be forthcoming before he hits free agency in the summer of 2025. As with any player, ultimately he needs to do what he feels is best for his career. Transfer speculation also presents an unwelcome distraction as Gallagher seeks to fully focus on helping England at Euro 2024, which kicks off next Friday, though he has so far done an admirable job of not allowing uncertainty over his future to affect his performances in a Chelsea shirt. Would Chelsea consider selling him to Tottenham? For much of the Roman Abramovich era, it seemed inconceivable that any high-profile player could move between Chelsea and fellow Londoners Tottenham, in either direction. The mutual rivalry and animosity went well beyond the fans in the stands, reaching all the way into the boardrooms of both clubs. Clearlake and Boehly are far more business-minded. Spurs held serious talks with Chelsea about signing Gallagher last summer, but an unbridgeable gap in their respective valuations meant things went no further. It is likely that any offer meeting the asking price will be considered on its merits, rather than rejected out of hand due to the identity of the bidders. The more intriguing variable is how Gallagher would view the possibility of joining Tottenham. Many of his fellow Chelsea supporters will be hoping he is not put in that position. Is a new contract at Chelsea still a possibility? Absolutely. This is not a Mount situation, where bitterness and acrimony took hold on all sides and a parting began to feel inevitable months before it finally happened. Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley have maintained a dialogue with Gallagher’s representatives throughout the past 18 months and there is no sense of bad blood. His unerring professionalism is greatly appreciated and he is a popular figure around the Cobham training ground as well as at Stamford Bridge. If he is sold this summer, it will not be cheaply, and if offers do not materialise at the level Chelsea would like, it would not be a shock if talks over a new contract began to gather pace. As has become the norm for Gallagher since the start of 2023, nothing about his future is set in stone. GO DEEPER Why Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, Newcastle and more want Benjamin Sesko

I hope he stays at St Pauli!!!!!!! by far my favourite German side

I agree

If PSG have half a brain (questionable) they would take that €300m (£256m) or so they saved with Mbappe (they do not have to pay the massive loyalty payment plus his huge salary) and buy Osimhen and Leão (Leão now has a crazy £148m release clause but AC Milan will take 5 payments over 5 years and I wager they would come down a bit as no other huge club will drop or can drop that type of money) or swap out Leão for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia or swap out Lautaro Martínez for Osimhen the only other top 35 valued players who are actually available that PSG doesnt already have are Wirtz Musiala Bruno Guimarães Julián Álvarez (perhaps available)

After watching a lot of clips of Omari, I am convinced he can play and do well on the LEFT wing as well plus at AMF where he assisted from the left side or scored a goal with his right foot

£70-75m or fuck off and I really do not want to sell him but £70-75m is a lot £50m? fuck off he is a vital player and his stats back that up his all-round stats are off the charts when taken as a holistic package