Vesper

and Palmeiras will be missing their captain (and best CB) Gustavo Gomez plus their great LB Joaquin Piquerez due to too many yellows

https://scoutedftbl.com/scouted-2025-u19-euro-best-players/ This was a difficult Team of the Tournament to compile. The mentalness of some matches made it difficult to judge certain players, and the eight-team format means there is a relatively limited pool of players to pick from. Nevertheless, we were unanimous in our decisions. Is that a good or bad thing? Who cares. You'll get a detailed explanation as to why we picked who under every pick. 🇳🇱 GK: Joeri Heerkens (2006, Sparta Praha) This tournament wasn’t a great one for goalkeepers. Tommy Setford and Konstantin Heide had a howler-off in the mental game between England and Germany that ended 5-5. That was a precursor for the insane semi-final between Spain and Germany, which ended 6-5, and featured a You’ve Been Framed mishap from Raúl Jiménez. With that in mind, Joeri Heerkens was probably the best goalkeeper in the tournament. He’s built like a proper ‘keeper - tall, long and solid - and he was generally a reassuring presence between the sticks for the Dutch, particularly in comparison to his counterparts. He was by no means unflappable - there were instances where he was pressured into sketchy moments on the ball, particularly in the final - but he more than held his own in the basic aspects of goalkeeping. His next move could well be Prague to Amsterdam, swapping Sparta for Ajax. Llew Davies 🇳🇱 RB: Givairo Reed (2006, Feyenoord) Givairo Read may have missed the first match through suspension, but he needed very little time to make a name for himself in this tournament and stamp his mark on a triumphant Netherlands side. ‘Electric’ is one of the words we used to describe his skillset. He’s like a mix of Jeremie Frimpong and Jurriën Timber: he moves similarly to the former but is built more like the latter. While his electricity was sapped by a non-stop schedule in warm and humid conditions, he was still a constant threat for the Dutch in his penetrating movements and give-and-goes while holding his own in defensive duels. It was fitting that Read, who turned down a call-up to the U-21s to captain this team, created the title-clinching goal in the final with one of his many underlapping runs. After a breakthrough 2024/25 season, playing regularly in the Eredivisie and making his Champions League at the San Siro, expect to hear a lot more about the Feyenoord full-back over the next year - and beyond. Llew Davies 🇷🇴 CB: Emanuel Marincau (2006, Mainz 05) In just Romania’s third appearance at this tournament, the hosts made it past the Group Stage for the first time. Mainz 05 centre-back Emanuel Marincău scored the equaliser in their opener against Montenegro and set the tone with purposeful carries forward throughout. He was also Romania’s primary distributor and showed a willingness to use both feet to stroke the ball forward or keep tighter possession. Despite his height, Marincău looked more competent at ground defending, if not a little new-born-giraffe-like at times. He was not a liability in the air, but the long legs he used to stride up the pitch proved to be a valuable asset when jabbing into tackles or extending out for blocks and interceptions. Upon noticing this more prominently on the rewatches, I checked the Sofascore stat tables and discovered that of the 47 players to win at least 10 Ground Duels at the tournament, Marincău had the highest win percentage: a staggering 83.3%. Jake Entwistle 🇪🇸 CB: Jon Martín (2006, Real Sociedad) To the surprise of absolutely no one, Air Jon Martín finished the tournament with more Aerial Duels won than any other player. But not just by one or two, as he did for clearances. The montaña from Real Sociedad won 25 Aerial Duels, at least 14 more than any other player and more than the next two players combined. And he maintained a 75.9% win rate. Why is he so dominant? The below screenshot is a good place to start. Jon Martín cleans house. Every aerial challenge is approached with force and he adopts a front-footed, win-first approach. He does not take any prisoners and if he does mistime a tackle or miscalculate a leap, the opponent is often left on the floor and unable to capitalise from his rare error. At 1.85m, Martín is not a super tall centre-back, but holds himself as if he is the largest player on the pitch. I cannot stress enough how ferociously he challenges for the ball, on land and in the skies. This makes him a menace in the opposition penalty area, too. He scored just once but finished the tournament with nine shots - only two Spain players attempted more. Have a peak at his tournament heat map; Air Jon lights up both boxes. Of course, there is room to improve. You should not rely on Jon Martín to stride out of defence and eat progressive yards. But you don’t have to. Andrés Cuenca, his centre-back partner, was more than comfortable at driving up the pitch. As Llew noted, he does have a big diagonal switch in his lock and can hold his own on the ball. But his strength is the brutal no-nonsense defending. With the likes of Pau Cubarsí and Dean Huijsen as future centre-back partners as senior international level, that is exactly what he needs to be. Jake Entwistle 🇳🇱 CB: Dies Janse (2006, AFC Ajax) Cast your eye on Dies Janse and you’ll immediately think Sven Botman. Central defenders, extremely tall, left-footed - the similarities are obvious, and that’s before you realise that both are graduates of the AFC Ajax academy. Unsurprisingly, Janse actually plays quite a bit like Botman. His size is a defining feature of his skillset: it enables him to dominate in duels, overwhelming attackers by lurching over and stretching around them, even man-handling them at times. You may think the 19-year-old would be a sitting duck in a high line situations or in one-v-ones against sharper attackers, but he’s deceptively agile for his extraordinary height and is quite quick once he gets his stride going. His ability on the ball is typical of an Ajax (and Dutch) defender too, able to recycle possession quickly and securely as well as progress it with some punchy line-breakers and big switches. After a solid year with Jong Ajax in the Eerste Divisie and a couple of Eredivisie starts last season, the 2025/26 campaign should be one in which Janse steps up to become a regular first-team starter - and he may need a Botman-esque loan to make it happen. Llew Davies 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 CM: Kiano Dyer (2006, Chelsea) This was a difficult spot to fill. Some may question the inclusion of a player whose team shipped 11 goals in three games - a mental statistic - and duly crashed out at the group stage, but very little of that was the fault of Kiano Dyer. If anything, the 18-year-old is one of the few Englishmen that can return from this tournament with his chin up. He consistently tried to make things happen in a team that generally lacked structure and direction. We’ve branded Dyer a Spanish-spec midfielder before and that unique skillset was on show in Romania: his technical talent is second to none and his profile is a rare commodity in the English system. He lacks physicality but makes up for it with a zippiness that manifests in his press-evading dribbles and platforming passing. He always wants to get on the ball and is very comfortable having it at his feet, moving around to find and create angles to move it on. He's different for England, and he's good. Llew Davies 🇳🇱 CM: Tygo Land (2006, PSV Eindhoven) Sticking with the contemporary comparisons, Tygo Land is basically Frenkie de Jong. Genuinely, the similarities are uncanny. The aesthetics are practically the same as are the style and skillset. Like Frenkie, Land is a central midfielder who excels at progressing the ball; and like Frenkie, Land does it as a smooth carrier and talented line-breaking passer. He has the innate ability to open with his touches, drop a shoulder and slide past a defender, taking players out of the game and rolling into space. He can slip passes into attackers between lines and spread play around with an accurate and expansive range. The 19-year-old wasn’t at his best at this tournament, but he played his part in giving the Netherlands progression and penetration through central areas. Like Janse, this tournament should be the kickstarter for Land’s senior career. Teased with opportunities at PSV Eindhoven, he needs to start playing regularly first-team minutes somewhere next season. Llew Davies 🇳🇱 AM: Kees Smit (2006, AZ Alkmaar) We predicted Kees Smit would be a cut above at this tournament, and he definitely was. He started every single game and played at a relentless intensity for all 413 minutes that he was on the pitch. Operating as the number ten, the 19-year-old was the fulcrum of a Dutch side that were well-drilled on both sides of the ball. He never stopped running: he developed situations with sharp off-ball runs, he moved the ball with incisive passes to facilitate attacks, he scored four goals and showcased excellent ball-striking off both feet in the process, and he set the standard in terms of work rate and leaving everything out on the pitch. Whatever he did, he did it at 100 percent. When everyone else was fading, dropping in the debilitating heat and humidity, Smit was still going at full pelt. He was non-stop action, non-stop excellence. Smit is the winner of the SCOUTED Golden Ball for this tournament, surprise, surprise. Our mind was basically made up after the group stage, and his performances in the semi-final and final only validated that early call. This was as clean cut a breakout tournament performance as they come. When Smit is playing at the highest levels of the game in years to come, probably at one of Europe's best teams and with the senior Dutch side, we’ll always hark back to this three-week stint where he drove the Netherlands to the title in Romania. This is just the beginning of a big future. Llew Davies 🇪🇸 RW: Pablo García (2006, Real Betis) You would have to be brave to not include a guy that scored directly from a corner in your Team of the Tournament. You would have to be even brave to not include a guy that scored four goals in a semi-final. But beyond his highlight-reel feats, Pablo García is worthy of his inclusion. The pot-shotting started immediately with four efforts from outside the box in the opening game against Denmark. In the second match against Romania, he shuttled up and down and side to side across the entire pitch so much that I struggled to define his role. But he definitely caught your eye. Every action was punctuated with the fiery and feisty energy that characterised his tournament even if there were fewer glimpses of his technical quality. In the third Group Stage game, García was deployed as the centre-forward and given complete license to roam. This is where he belongs. Then came the record-breaking 6-5 win against Germany. In that match alone, Pablo G. attempted 15 shots; only three players across the entire tournament attempted more. He finished the tournament with 26 shots attempted and an additional eight shot assists. The Real Betis academy graduate is absolutely relentless in all aspects: generating shots, making runs, tracking those of the opposition. And he is comfortable across the entire width of the pitch, consistently finding himself in dangerous pockets. That’s not by luck. He would thrive in a fluid system - as one of Luis Enrique’s rotating PSG forwards, for example. Such is his self-belief, I reckon he’d say he could play for them right now if you asked him. A quintessential maverick. Jake Entwistle 🇩🇪 ST: Max Moerstedt (2006, TSG Hoffenheim) Max Moerstedt prompted the realisation Germany are spawning a horde of 1.9m strikers. But each one is different. Billed at 1.94m, Moerstedt is slim and long-limbed, which he puts to good use. The TSG Hoffenheim centre-forward has an uncanny knack for unorthodox finishes. He also has the ability to turn any loose ball into a dangerous situation by throwing his legs around bodies to divert crosses goalbound or poking a toe through a gap to tee-up onrushing teammates. Somehow, he sucks the ball into his orbit when it enters the box - there is a mention of an ‘outstretched leg’ or ‘limbs’ in every match report from this tournament. Moerstedt is a super-consistent box presence and is very economical and effective with his touches. A true Goal Hanger that camps and comes alive inside the six-yard box. Jake Entwistle 🇩🇪 LW: Said El Mala (2006, 1. FC Köln) Said El Mala was the outstanding winger at this tournament. He ended it with four goals, a couple of assists, and a handful of eye-catching performances. It was impossible to miss him powering down the left wing, carrying the ball, running at defenders and threatening the goal. He was direct: the 18-year-old needed no invitation to drive forward and get at his man. He destroyed England’s right-hand side in that mental five-all draw by doing exactly that: getting the ball in big spaces, driving over long distances, then turning defenders inside out. Caleb Kporha was his first victim, then Zach Abbott was twisted into a big knot not longer later. He tried similar against Norway - attempting 20 dribbles in total, completing 8 of them - and was a menace against Spain in another mental semi-final. His power and directness was devastating at times at this level. El Mala makes the move to 1. FC Köln this summer having broken into senior football at cross-city club Viktoria Köln. Having already racked up an impressive record in the third division, it will be interesting to see how quickly he breaks into the Bundesliga. Llew Davies Honourable mentions? Honourable mentions! There's a lot of Dutch in the Team of the Tournament, but there could've been more. One that came very close to making the cut was Elijah Dijkstra: a two-sided full-back, it was hard to discern which foot was his favourite at times and he supplemented that with a smooth mobility and handy full-backy stuff in general. Don-Angelo Konadu led their line pretty well, while the Mahrez-like Ayoub Oufkir and direct Aymen Sliti had their moments off the wings. Moving onto Spain, both of us liked the playmaking of Antonio Cordero and Point Forwarding of Omar Janneh. You could chuck Izan Merino into the mix for his neat and tidy passing from the base of midfield. Jan Virgili and Quim Junyent were unfortunate not to play more often for Spain given the impact they had when on the pitch. Andrés Cuenca was Andrés Cuenca. Germany's Almugera Kabar was under consideration for the left-back spot in our team, too; he absolutely has to be playing regular senior football somewhere next season. Winners Osawe had good and not so good moments as the ground-eating destroyer in their midfield. Denmark deserve a shout as well. They were dumped out at the group stage by hosts Romania, but they have an interesting group of prospects coming through. Three of the best at this tournament belong to FC Nordsjælland: Justin Janssen, Villum Berthelsen and Markus Walker. Look out for them next season.

Hear me out: Noni Madueke is about to explode A goalscoring boom is on the horizon for England's divisive winger, even if everyone's quite sniffy about him https://scoutedftbl.com/noni-madueke-is-about-to-explode/ With injuries and his team-mates’ quality often relegating him to the bench, Noni Madueke didn’t play a whole lot during his developmental years at PSV. By the time Chelsea picked him up in January 2023, he’d played just 2,187 minutes of senior league football. Still, it was unsurprising to see him land in the Premier League so early, given the hype he’d generated in his limited Eredivisie appearances. Two full seasons into his Chelsea career, the general discourse is decidedly less optimistic on Madueke. Earlier this month, The Guardian reported Chelsea were “open to offers” for the winger, apparently due to concerns over his development ‘stalling’. Similarly, last week, Matt Law reported that Madueke hasn’t been put up for sale but is “not considered to be untouchable”, prompting interest from a variety of clubs, including Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Tottenham. Arsenal are supposedly in pole position - a quick Twitter search will tell you their fans are not overly thrilled. This popular perception is, I’d argue, misguided. Not only is Madueke and his role in propelling Chelsea’s attack currently underrated, he is primed to make a huge leap in his goalscoring. When that explosion happens, people will ask who saw it coming. You will, after we go on our deep dive together. Let me explain. Chelsea’s (suboptimal) attack and its reliance on Madueke After a free-scoring, direct attacking approach in Enzo Maresca’s early days, Chelsea turned into a different kind of team as the season progressed. As Jon Mackenzie described, in the second half of the season, Chelsea’s attack slowed down in more ways than one. To help shore up their transition defence, Maresca reduced the pace of his attack, and shifted towards using intricate build-up play more often to get to the final third. Of course, as Chelsea discovered, the way you get to the final third influences what you can generate from the final third. Attacking an unsettled defence swiftly yields very different outcomes compared to facing a settled, compact low block. As Jon illustrated, in the second half of the season Chelsea started to spend much more of their time with the ball, attempting to break down settled defences. The upshot of this was that their attacking production fell sharply; they created 17% less xG in the second half of the season. From The Athletic FC’s video from last month. ‘Creation’ refers to turning attacking third possession into chances. Creating space against a settled defence is never easy, but it’s worth exploring how Chelsea attempt to pry open a low block. The first and most important principle of their final-third attacking is width. Maresca places five players across the full breadth of the pitch in an attempt to stretch the defence; the wingers, usually Pedro Neto and Madueke, stay close to the touchline, while left-back Marc Cucurella joins the frontline by either overlapping or underlapping. Meanwhile, Nicolas Jackson floats in and around central areas, while Cole Palmer drifts around the right half-space, between the centre and the flanks. There’s another attacker on the other flank, I promise. The second key principle is overloading one side to isolate a player on the other flank. Chelsea tend to attack down the right, moving the ball from the centre when progressing to create a numerical advantage on that side. From this point, they ideally target runs from the left, whether by a late arrival from Cucurella or a forward like Pedro Neto or Jackson attacking the channels. However, ineffectual movement has meant they isolate on the left much less than they overload on the right. Chelsea take 20% of their shots from the right side, the highest proportion in the league. The third principle is using dribbling from wide areas for ball progression, unsettling defences, and creating shots. Instead of circulating the ball around the low block a lot, the ball reaches Chelsea’s wingers close to the touchline and they’re tasked with moving it into the box, often attracting defenders and creating space elsewhere, after which they attempt to lay it off to a team-mate or cut inside and shoot. Last season, Chelsea created the 3rd-most shots from take-ons (1.53 per game). But a major issue with this approach is that creating shots and entries into space out of thin air is a difficult task for most wingers. Being reliant on pushing the ball out wide and letting the wingers ‘cook’ leads to a system that places too large a burden on wingers, and often leads to unsatisfactory shots due to the difficulty of generating them from crowded wide areas. An indicator of the latter in the data is that Chelsea have only the 7th-highest xG per shot in the league (0.11) and take shots from the 9th-highest distance away from the goal on average (16.7 yards). This is far from ideal for an elite side, and doesn’t represent a consistent, dependable way to break down settled low blocks. Do the math: what does it mean for Chelsea’s first-choice right-winger when their side attacks with width, runs attacks through the right flank, and uses dribbling from wingers to attack settled defences? You guessed it: Chelsea end up being highly reliant on Madueke to run their attack. After Chelsea move the ball into the opposition third, the ball reaches Madueke’s feet close to the touchline. Due to Chelsea’s right-back – whether that’s Reece James or Malo Gusto – inverting into midfield or underlapping in the channels rather than making overlapping runs out wide, Madueke starts from positions especially far away from goalscoring areas. Via StatsPerform/The Analyst Even so, he carries the ball into dangerous areas at an outstanding rate. Among Premier League forwards, Madueke’s in the 95th percentile for progressive carries (6.82 p90) and is in the 98th percentile for carries into the box (4.12 p90). In short, almost no one in the Premier League penetrates enemy territory through dribbling like Madueke, and as a result, Chelsea are heavily dependent on him to move the ball into dangerous areas. His dribbling offers Chelsea more than just penetration. As Kees van Hemmen wrote for SCOUTED in 2023, Madueke’s standout skill is his ability to break down low blocks, helping “break open a stale match on the dribble”. Madueke’s dribbling threat pulls in opponents to defend him, creating space for his team-mates and speeding up Chelsea’s attacks. As a result, his dribbling gravity is crucial to Chelsea’s attack. And when defenders consciously choose not to double-team Madueke, as poor Cameron Burgess desperately tried to warn Leif Davis, this happens. Madueke tends to be a high-risk, high-reward dribbler, aggressively attacking space behind congestion. This yields a tremendous upside, but also means he loses the ball fairly often; he completes only 44% of his dribbles (in the 57th percentile). Nevertheless, Madueke’s dribbling oils the gears of a Chelsea attack in need of repair in ways conventional scoring stats don’t quite measure. That being said, his progress last season indicates his conventional scoring stats are going to change significantly very, very soon. The impending explosion As we discussed earlier, creating shots from wide positions off the dribble is difficult, and often leads to mediocre shooting opportunities from wide, deep positions. For most of Madueke’s career, this was accentuated by bad shooting habits. When he received the ball out wide, he passed up longer dribbles and passes to cut inside and take speculative shots, much to the frustration of his team-mates. In the 2023-24 season, he took 2.65 shots p90 with an xG/shot of just 0.02, the combined-lowest ratio among Premier League forwards that season. Take a look at all his shots from the wide-right area of the box. Now, for comparison, take a look at his shot map from last season. The shots from the wide areas of the box are all still there, but they’re accompanied by many more attempts from the central areas of the box (or what Paul Riley calls the ‘danger zone’), as well as a general explosion in shot volume. Compared to his 2.65 shots p90 in 23-24, Madueke took 3.54 p90 in 2024-25, with his xG/shot reaching a much healthier 0.12. His plain xG figures truly illustrate his shooting improvement. From a paltry non-penalty xG (NPxG) figure of 0.15 p90 in 2023-24 – in the 19th percentile for Premier League wingers and attacking midfielders – his NPxG p90 number has shot up to 0.43 last season, in the 94th percentile for Premier League forwards. In layperson terms, Madueke’s gone from being a player who rarely gets into scoring positions to a player who generates good shots more than most wingers. This jump is unparalleled in recent history. One previously similar case was Vinicius Junior rising from 0.3 NPxG90 (and 3 goals) in 2020-21 to 0.41 NPxG90 (and 17 goals) in 2021-22, but even there the jump in xG is lower. Yes, to acknowledge the elephant in the room, Madueke only scored seven goals in 2024-25. One easy explanation is he simply didn’t play enough, due to a hamstring injury in the second half of the season, and rotation. He scored 0.31 non-penalty goals p90, which landed him in the 77th percentile and is already higher than much-coveted players like Florian Wirtz, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Rafa Leão. Madueke played just 59% of Chelsea’s total minutes with only five appearances from the bench, which might otherwise skew his per 90 figures. An increase in playing time will inevitably bring more goals. Also, Madueke has been on the wrong end of shooting variance. He underperformed his xG by 27% in 2024-25, scoring seven goals from 9.6 xG. Intuitively, this may seem like a result of bad finishing, considering xG models are based on ‘average’ conversion rates from different circumstances. However, overperforming and underperforming xG rates over long periods is a very, very rare phenomenon, with most players reverting to ‘mean’ conversion rates. Moreover, Madueke’s shooting variance has swung back and forth over the years, with his career goalscoring and xG numbers being near-identical - the flaw in his scoring bag evidently isn’t his finishing. So, what’s behind Madueke’s improvement in chance-getting this season? One: he carves out entries into dangerous areas at an even higher rate through his dribbling. Few players get as many of their touches close to goal as a result of their dribbling into advanced territory. Plus, as per The Analyst, Madueke takes the most shot-ending carries in the league with 1.62 p90. All this could make him a self-reliant goalscorer with more time on the pitch. His off-ball movement has also improved. Whether it’s in tight areas or with space ahead, Madueke offers constant motion, and with his pace and ability to modulate speed and direction, he’s a consistent target for passes in behind. Young wingers who can create shots for themselves out of nothing, single-handedly help a team penetrate enemy territory, and constantly make incisive runs without the ball, don’t grow on trees. Madueke’s residual flaws All that being said, Madueke’s game still possesses a few shortcomings. One that sticks out in footage is his unsatisfactory body coordination and balance. A lanky winger standing at 6’1”, it often looks like Madueke’s legs won’t listen to his body, resulting in wasted opportunities and making turnovers from potential goals. Another is his passing in the final third. While Madueke uses his movement and dribbling to get into the box and put in threatening cutbacks (as you can see in his chance creation map)… Via StatsPerform/The Analyst …he doesn’t always see the best passing option in a number of situations, whether it’s an opportunity to directly create a shot or a simple pass to an underlapping midfielder or full-back. His tendency to do everything himself, to continue his dribble or shoot over making short passes, carries an opportunity cost. Nonetheless, all this yields him progression and creation numbers slightly above average. He played 1.55 passes into the box p90 (63rd percentile) and assisted 0.19 xG (51st percentile) last season - numbers an elite side could live with, considering his dribbling and scoring skill, and how his decision-making is likely to improve with experience. What’s more concerning is his proclivity for hot and cold streaks. While his expected goal contribution doesn’t vary too much in the larger scale of things, with a coefficient of variation of 65%, his output is dependent on his form. After a subpar start to the season, he consistently put Chelsea in positions to score towards the middle of it, before cooling down again in his final starts. To reach the stratosphere, Madueke still needs to find consistency. But right now, as Liam Twomey remarked in The Athletic FC’s aforementioned video, Madueke offers consistent ‘aggression’ in constantly dribbling his way into dangerous areas and taking shots, even if his output can vary across the season. For sides who struggle with low blocks like Chelsea, this is fundamentally valuable. Conclusion Noni Madueke is a high-volume player. He dribbles a lot, shoots a lot, and carries many of Chelsea’s attacks, which lead to both eye-catching success and anticlimactic failures. When Madueke’s finishing luck has gone against him, the failures stand out, with his poor co-ordination accentuating the optics. But his value in progressing the ball and creating space are less easy to spot, both to fans and in conventional stats. None of this makes for great PR. But a deeper look brings Madueke’s current production as well as his sky-high potential to light. Similar to our discussion of Nico Williams from a couple of weeks ago, Madueke raises Chelsea’s floor by frequently creating something out of nothing against low blocks, and their ceiling by being an option for players like Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez to find with a pass. The fact so much of his value comes from his independent dribbling means his skillset is portable and scalable across team quality levels and playing styles. Consequently, he’s a player Chelsea should continue to rely on - or another Champions League-level side should sign for a price much lower than his ability and potential deserve. Next season, with enough minutes, Madueke is likely to score 10-15 goals. People will wonder where the sudden explosion came from, and we’ll know it’s been in the works for a long time.

Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign so far: What has worked… and what hasn’t https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6450186/2025/06/25/Chelsea-club-world-cup-group-stage-analysis/ Chelsea are into the round of 16 at the Club World Cup, with a tricky but feasible path to the semi-finals now ahead of them. Convincing wins over Los Angeles FC of MLS and Esperance Sportive de Tunis (ES Tunis for short) from Tunisia ensured that Enzo Maresca’s team advanced from Group D, despite a disastrous performance in a 3-1 defeat against Brazil’s Flamengo in their second match of the three. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s surprise failure to top Group C means its winners, Benfica, will be Chelsea’s opponents in the round of 16 in Charlotte on Saturday, with a quarter-final against Brazilian sides Palmeiras or Botafogo as the prize. That is a very good outcome from a mixed bag of a group stage for Chelsea. Maresca has had some notable successes, but he also has problems to solve and some mistakes he should avoid repeating if this Club World Cup campaign is going to continue well into July. Let us take a look at what worked and what didn’t in those opening three matches… Has worked: Maresca’s Plan A Two of Chelsea’s three matches in Group D would not have looked out of place in their ultimately triumphant UEFA Conference League campaign earlier this season (in terms of difficulty, rather than geography). Both games were won with Maresca’s standard tactical system: a 4-2-3-1 that becomes a 3-box-3 in possession, with one full-back inverting into midfield and wingers pushing high and wide. Maresca even picked a Conference League-like starting XI for Tuesday’s finale against ES Tunis. It does not tend to matter against this level of opposition; Chelsea’s defined structure and choreographed possession tend to ensure a base level of consistency and control against inferior opponents, who are often pinned back and pulled around until they make mistakes. (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images) Both goals against LAFC on matchday one were created by the nominal No 9 receiving the ball and locating the smart runs of team-mates. The breakthrough last night was achieved in a different way, but the three goals, from Tosin Adarabioyo, Liam Delap and Tyrique George, were all scored in stoppage time of one half or the other after wearing down the Tunisians with long spells of possession. Chelsea looked vulnerable on the counter-attack and when hit with more direct passes in that game against LAFC, but after some shaky early moments, they almost totally stifled ES Tunis’ attempts to exploit transition situations. Maresca’s midfield dominated the ball and his attack, while rarely thrilling and less than overwhelming, created enough to win. Didn’t work: The Flamengo experiment We may never know exactly why Maresca chose Chelsea’s hardest group game as the one to experiment with a significantly tweaked tactical approach, but the results against Flamengo were grim. It was not a complete departure; Maresca still arrived at his 3-box-3 in possession, just with Malo Gusto overlapping on the right to allow Cole Palmer, nominally the right-winger, to move inside, while Reece James, picked to play in midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, dropped back into the defensive line to try to aid Chelsea’s passing build-up. But the execution was clunky, the balance was off, and the Brazilians capitalised. From the early minutes, Flamengo successfully targeted the space behind the advanced Gusto and pressed James into some wayward passes, putting Chelsea on the back foot and controlling possession for long spells. Palmer found it difficult to impact the game from the right flank, and despite taking a first-half lead, Chelsea’s attacking play was sporadic. That left them vulnerable to being punished for sloppy defending against high balls delivered into their penalty area, two of which were converted before Nicolas Jackson’s red card made it 11 against 10 for the final 20+ minutes. (David Ramos/Getty Images) Has worked: Liam Delap Chelsea’s big pre-Club World Cup signing has not performed like a player feeling his way in new surroundings. Delap has looked confident at the point of Maresca’s attack from the moment he replaced Jackson as a second-half substitute against LAFC, laying on one goal with a pinpoint cross for Enzo Fernandez and almost making another happen from a long Robert Sanchez goal kick, just with his disruptive hustle. Even against Flamengo, he was one of Chelsea’s better performers, racing through to bring one early save out of Agustin Rossi from a Fernandez pass and making his presence felt in a feisty, physical game — even if it did spill over with a shoulder charge on centre-back Leo Pereira shortly before half-time, which earned him a yellow card. (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images) It was no surprise to see Delap open his Chelsea account last night, though the manner in which he took his goal was particularly encouraging: controlling and advancing the ball in one motion with a deft touch from his thigh, chopping away from a defender and coolly side-footing into the net. “We expected the process to be quick with Liam,” Maresca said of Delap, who had played under him in Manchester City’s academy system before a move to Ipswich Town last summer. “The reason why is because we know him and he knows us, with the way we play.” Delap also kept his aggression in check against the north Africans, avoiding the booking that would have suspended him for the round of 16 meeting with Benfica — a scenario that did not bear thinking about for Maresca with Jackson already banned. As things are, Chelsea will go into the knockout phase with a striker who is up to speed and well in form. Hasn’t worked: Cole Palmer Three matches into this Club World Cup campaign, that thrilling second half of the UEFA Conference League final victory against Real Betis remains arguably the only glimpse Chelsea supporters have had of peak Palmer in what’s been a difficult 2025 for the 23-year-old England international. He was heavily involved in Chelsea’s attacking moves against LAFC without being decisive in the final third, instead mostly helping to progress and dictate the play from deeper positions. That said, he did have six shot attempts in that game, which is six more than he managed four days later against Flamengo, before being an unused substitute last night. Maresca’s gambit of starting Palmer on the right and using the overlapping Gusto to move him infield simply did not work. Too often, it meant Chelsea struggled to get the ball to their best player; having touched the ball 71 times against LAFC, he managed just 32 against Flamengo, in almost exactly equivalent minutes on the pitch (84 vs LAFC, 82 vs Flamengo). (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images) Ultimately, the most effective thing Maresca has done to revive Palmer might prove to be resting him entirely for the final group match. He played more than 3,000 minutes in the 2024-25 Premier League (the equivalent of more than 35 whole matches), and has looked jaded in mind as well as body in recent months. Even those few days of being kept in reserve could help Palmer find the inspiration and the energy to lift Chelsea when it matters most, against Benfica and beyond. Has worked: Maresca’s squad rotation Maresca made it clear from the outset that he would need to make use of his large squad when navigating the Club World Cup group stage, and he has delivered on his vow. Over the three matches, 20 Chelsea players started (nobody has started all three) and 25 of the 28-strong squad made it onto the pitch, with Maresca making four changes to his starting XI from LAFC to Flamengo and eight more on Tuesday. “We have played every three days and with these conditions (the extreme heat in Philadelphia), we wanted to give time for rest and recovery,” he explained before that final game. “The ones that are out are also very tired.” It was reasonable to question the selection approach between the first two matches — would Chelsea have faded so badly against Flamengo had Maresca not picked such a strong starting XI against LAFC, for example? — but the Italian correctly deduced the strength of team that would be needed to dominate and beat ES Tunis and so qualify from Group D. (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images) Maresca’s rotating principle was to rely largely on last season’s core rather than this summer’s new additions (with the notable exception of Delap). That has been a source of great frustration among those who want to get a closer look at Andrey Santos at this tournament, though the Brazilian did get his first taste of action with 20-odd minutes from the bench on Tuesday. In another world, Maresca’s rotation might have condemned Chelsea to facing Bayern in the round of 16, but circumstances outside their control have aligned more favourably than that. They are into the knockout rounds and have made it there without placing an onerous workload on any of their most important players. Hasn’t worked: The left wing Chelsea continue to be in something of a holding pattern on the left flank until a new winger — likely to be Jamie Gittens of Borussia Dortmund — arrives to fill the spot vacated by the suspended Mykhailo Mudryk and, more recently, departed Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho. Noni Madueke has been the sticking-plaster most regularly applied to that position and his aggression with the ball does at least ensure that opponents must always account for him. But being on that side limits his ability to drive infield and shoot, while the quality of his crossing has been inconsistent. Pedro Neto has been Chelsea’s most impressive winger so far in the United States, scoring against LAFC and Flamengo. His best work at the tournament has been split between the flanks, but over a broader sample, it has become clear to everyone at the club that he is more effective operating from the right. George is a more natural fit than Madueke or Neto on the left, but Maresca’s trust does not appear to extend to the 19-year-old starting big games quite yet, despite him coming off the bench to score a late third against ES Tunis with the aid of some awful goalkeeping. Tyrique George has had game time at the Club World Cup, but does Maresca trust him? (Alex Grimm/Getty Images) Chelsea are going to sign a left-winger at some point this summer, but until that happens, Maresca will continue to pick between sub-optimal options for the balance of his team during the Club World Cup.

Chelsea, Angel Di Maria and the dangers of facing Benfica’s right flank at the Club World Cup https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6450174/2025/06/25/benfica-right-side-Chelsea-challenge-club-world-cup/ After Chelsea lost against Flamengo last week in the second of their three group games at the Club World Cup, head coach Enzo Maresca would have likely accepted a runners-up finish in Group D and started his preparation early to face the winners of Group C in the first knockout round. Before Tuesday’s four games across those two pools, the team most likely to top Group C were Bayern Munich after back-to-back wins going into their match against Benfica. Instead, Bruno Lage’s men provided a resolute defensive performance in their 1-0 victory over the Germans to set up a last-16 clash with Chelsea on Saturday. Benfica managed just 28 per cent possession against Bayern, but their right-sided efforts with and without the ball were a notable theme throughout the game, with the trio of Angel Di Maria, Fredrik Aursnes and Gianluca Prestianni operating excellently together. As Maresca turns his attention to the Portuguese side, their right flank might be worth paying attention to. In truth, the goal against Bayern yesterday was painfully simple. An overload on the wing, and the ball crossed in for a box-crashing team-mate to finish. Yet it was the relationships between Benfica’s players that were notable. The ever-versatile Aursnes — who typically operates as a midfielder — has performed excellently from right-back in the past two games, regularly overlapping and underlapping Di Maria, the 37-year-old former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain right-winger. That was the key to unlock Bayern’s defence, with a simple run on the outside seeing Aursnes target the penalty spot with his cross, for Andreas Schjelderup to arrive and finish first-time. Bayern could hardly have been surprised, given that a near-identical move was on show in Benfica’s previous game, against Auckland City. Here, after Prestianni’s simple lay-off to Di Maria, the 19-year-old darts into the half-space while Aursnes overlaps towards the byline. Aursnes’ delivery is exactly the same — pulling a ball back to the penalty spot; it is then retrieved by Nicolas Otamendi, who lays it off for Renato Sanches to finish from outside the box. When he wasn’t overlapping yesterday, Aursnes used the few opportunities Benfica had to break forward to underlap Di Maria as the former Argentina international received the ball, dragging Bayern players with him and leaving his team-mate in a one-v-one situation. It is a pattern that head coach Lage is keen to implement regularly. According to SkillCorner data, only five teams across Europe’s top seven leagues made more underlapping runs than Benfica’s 1.1 per 30 minutes in possession during the 2024-25 season. So take note, Maresca, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella — Benfica like to combine down their right channel. With 43 per cent of their attacking touches coming along that vertical third of the pitch (fourth-highest share among all teams in the Club World Cup), you cannot say we didn’t warn you. What You Should Read Next Inside the Benfica talent factory: ‘We want our kids to win a Ballon d’Or’ From pitchside psychologists to dance sessions, we go behind the scenes at Portugal's most productive academy to see how superstars are made Di Maria, Aursnes and Prestianni were also in sync out of possession against Bayern — particularly in the first half, which saw Vincent Kompany’s side fail to put a shot on target in the sweltering Charlotte, North Carolina, heat. Benfica’s compact, low defensive block frustrated the German champions, with Aursnes providing an aggressive defensive display by stepping forward from right-back to snuff out attacks. What was notable was how coherently his team-mates covered him when those jumps were made. Here, Aursnes tracks Serge Gnabry as the latter drifts towards the touchline, creating a gap in Benfica’s defensive line. However, the Norway international is pointing to team-mate Prestianni to cover him and follow the run made between them by Bayern’s Raphael Guerreiro. As the ball is circulated, it is Prestianni filling in at right-back as Aursnes shuffles back to his position. Only seconds later, a similar sequence occurs. This time, it is Di Maria who dovetails with Aursnes’ jump forward onto Guerreiro, dropping in to track Gnabry’s run and similarly play temporarily at right-back. The synchronicity between Benfica’s right-sided trio was impressive, although Bayern’s first-half performance meant much of the game was in front of the men from Lisbon. If Chelsea are looking for clues on how they can expose that channel there in Charlotte at the weekend, off-ball runs from out to in might be their best bet. Bayern switched things in the second half, with Leroy Sane moving to the left flank. His off-ball movement posed a greater threat to Aursnes, as he often stayed on the blind side and made diagonal runs in-behind. Barely five minutes after the interval, Sane nearly got on the end of a through ball behind Aursnes, who was left flat-footed by his darting pace. Had the pass been weighted slightly better, this would be a clear opportunity on goal. It was a clear tactic from Bayern in the second half, with Sane hugging the touchline and stretching Benfica’s back line whenever the ball was on the opposite side — again, out of the eyeline of Aursnes. In truth, a lot of Bayern’s attacks came down their own right side in that second half, with Aursnes increasingly forced to track runners and deal with back-post crosses as Benfica retreated ever deeper as the match entered its closing stages. But not before Sane had one final penetrating run from out-to-in, with a chance that he should have scored from. With Aursnes’ aggressive positioning when Benfica were pushing higher, Bayern’s incisive passing saw Harry Kane receive the ball in the centre circle with runners ahead of him. Aursnes’ slide was not enough to stop the pass onto Sane’s stronger left foot as he ran in behind for a one-on-one with Anatoliy Trubin, who saved excellently. With the game in front of them, Benfica’s coordinated defensive work was hugely impressive, their players fighting for each other and plugging gaps with metronomic timing. However, Maresca will be encouraged to see that those wide areas are not impenetrable, if only his players stretch the pitch with purposeful running. With the pace, directness, and natural left-foot provided by Noni Madueke on the left of Chelsea’s attack, the 23-year-old England forward could use Sane’s second-half performance as a blueprint as he tries to unlock Lage’s defence. “We know that they are a top club with a top manager and top players, and it is going to be tough,” Maresca said after beating ES Tunis 3-0 in their final Group D match to secure second place behind Flamengo. “But, like I said, we started in the first 32 teams and now we are trying to be in the final eight.” With Saturday’s tie promising to be an interesting tactical contest, keep an eye out for the battle in wide areas — it could prove crucial.

Why FIFA Had To CHEAT The Ballon D'Or So Ribery Wouldn't Win It

When The Manager's "Fat & Untalented" Son Almost Won The Ballon D'Or Frank Lampard - When The Nepobaby Is Actually Insanely Talented

fair points

fair enough on the labelling and I also want to make sure that all understand I said starting to become he is not there yet IMHO, butwhat I have seen lately from him is improvement he looked a monster in the Juve game, for instance

How to lose fans and alienate supporters What are they doing? https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/how-to-lose-fans-and-alienate-supporters I wrote yesterday that I don’t have a lot of confidence in Chelsea’s decision makers and sporting directors to do what is needed this summer in what is a pivotal moment under this ownership. And then just a few hours after that, Matt Law sends the Chelsea fan base into a full on meltdown that sees the majority of them absolutely fuming. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen such a collective angry reaction about anything in the last three years under the new ownership, and believe me, there’s been a lot of angry reactions to stupid things they’ve done. It’s important to mention, because I do always encourage balance, that at the moment, all the reports are saying that Chelsea are just considering a move to sign Alejandro Garnacho still and no negotiations are taking place yet. However, it fits in with what our sources heard and what we reported through a couple of articles last week, that the Garnacho noise was increasing and things were happening there. And then look at that, things do seem to be happening there. Maybe Chelsea are just putting it out to see how bad the reaction would be before they make the move? Well, playing on the title of a 2008 film featuring one of my favourite actors, Simon Pegg, Chelsea are full on playing out ‘how to lose friends and alienate people’ right now with this clear Garnacho interest. I think most fans aren’t even looking at the player on the pitch, I don’t even think that debate is coming into at this point. He’s a decent winger but is inconsistent and young still (literally I write that about every single target we go for these days). But the fans are more raging about this due to his attitude and his character, which we can all clearly see is a problem. We don’t even need to mention the drama that his brother would bring either. Fans are so annoyed with this link because the club have seemingly spent three years moving on players who had been causing issues within the camp, players with big egos, and we have consistently been told that character and attitude is one of the biggest traits that we are looking at when targeting new players now. Is it? Is it REALLLLLLLY!!?? Because if it is, you might want to do some further checks on this target. Speak to any Manchester United fan, anyone involved at the club, and they will all tell you the same - that at the very least, Garnacho’s attitude and character is questionable. None of us personally know Garnacho, granted. So no, we can’t tell you what his character is like. So speak to those who can. Do some homework. At the very least, it doesn’t look good at all, does it? Garnacho might be a decent player, and I actually don’t think he gets enough credit on that front. But just look at the reaction from Chelsea fans and the footballing world and it paints your picture for you here. Fans might not always know best, but when it is 95% of them all saying the same thing and reacting in the same way, it says a lot. Some hopium if anyone wants it because I do also like balance? Maybe his attitude isn’t as bad as everyone says, maybe we just get him on a loan deal like we did with Jadon Sancho if we give them a fair deal on Christopher Nkunku, and maybe we sign two new left wingers IF Noni Madueke is sold so Garnacho wont be a guaranteed starter anyway. Maybe… If all of that happened then I don’t think it would be the end of the world. However, this isn’t balance from me at this point, this is straw clutching!! Anyway, Chelsea haven’t signed him yet or even entered talks to, so maybe it just all quietly goes away…. Although I’m afraid that all this noise I’ve been hearing in the last 7 days on Garnacho does not bode well. Simon Phillips

no most were against buying him

What’s going on with Rodrygo at Real Madrid? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6445808/2025/06/24/rodrygo-real-madrid-transfer-future/ Rodrygo’s name has rarely been out of the headlines in recent weeks. When the 24-year-old Brazilian started Real Madrid’s Club World Cup opener against Al Hilal on Wednesday — and assisted Madrid’s only goal in that 1-1 draw — it was his first appearance since being replaced at half-time of the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona on April 26. In those 53 days, speculation about Rodrygo’s situation and future escalated. There were doubts over the reasons for his absence along with rumours about a potential move to the Premier League, with Arsenal one of the clubs closely monitoring him. New coach Xabi Alonso seemed to bring some clarity last week — but then Rodrygo played no role in Madrid’s 3-1 win against Pachuca on Sunday. With his future up in the air, The Athletic explains what we are hearing about Rodrygo. After the Copa del Rey final, which Madrid lost 3-2 to Barca after extra time, a report in Spanish newspaper Marca suggested that Rodrygo had told Carlo Ancelotti’s coaching staff he “did not feel strong or in the mood to play” before that game. Multiple sources close to the club — who, like all those cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships — told The Athletic last season that Rodrygo sometimes lacks for motivation in training. The player’s entourage have always denied this. But it was those concerns which led to Ancelotti and Rodrygo agreeing that the winger would not be called up to the Italian’s first Brazil squad for World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay this month. Rodrygo and Ancelotti after the Intercontinental Cup final in December (Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images) After the Clasico cup final, Rodrygo was absent for the next game, against Celta Vigo in La Liga. Both the club and the player’s camp said this was due to a fever. A week later, Madrid visited Barca in their last attempt to keep Spain’s title race alive. Rodrygo travelled to the Catalan capital but did not play. Instead, the club’s reserve team winger Victor Munoz was given his senior debut in the 88th minute — which was particularly noteworthy given Ancelotti was not known for giving academy players many chances during his time at Madrid. Asked how Rodrygo was doing and how the situation was seen within the dressing room, one player told The Athletic, “I don’t know, he’s such a quiet player for his things.” After Madrid lost that Liga Clasico 4-3, Rodrygo started training with the group the day before their midweek game against Real Mallorca. But he then left for the dressing room during the 15 minutes of training open to the media, officially due to a physical problem. Top LALIGA Stories Real Madrid's £50m defender Dean Huijsen: The car crash, cultures and country that made him Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal and the faction of friends at Barcelona How Atletico missed out on a €40m opportunity with early Club World Cup exit “Rodrygo has a fever that has not allowed him to perform at his best,” Ancelotti said at that day’s news conference. “Today, during training, he had discomfort in his leg. I don’t know which leg. He was not feeling well and did not recover well from the fever.” On social media, meanwhile, Rodrygo responded with a message that read: “Thank you for the messages and concerns. I will be back soon. Stop creating things.” Rodrygo missed that game and the final two matches of La Liga, but Madrid did not issue a medical report — as they tend to do for players and which they did in October and November for two injuries suffered by the Brazilian. Rodrygo took advantage of the end of the league season to recover physically and mentally, travelling to Brazil to spend time with those close to him in Santos, the city whose club he was formed at. This is where his father and agent Eric Goes comes into the picture. In recent months, Eric has complained about his son’s situation to the club, which has not gone down well at various levels at Madrid. Alonso said his Madrid side would ‘need’ Rodrygo when speaking at his unveiling (Pedro Castillo/Real Madrid via Getty Images) Rodrygo’s father received and rejected approaches from a number of Premier League clubs through intermediaries. Teams were interested to know about Rodrygo’s situation and Arsenal were convinced they could offer him a sporting project where he could be at ease, playing on the left-hand side of attack but with the freedom to move around. He has regularly played on the right wing for Madrid, which is not his favoured position. Arsenal are prepared to wait to determine whether Rodrygo is definitely open to leaving or not — and whether Madrid are willing to sell. But the Premier League club are mindful they cannot afford to wait indefinitely. Rodrygo is one of several wide forwards who have been under discussion at Arsenal this summer, also including the likes of Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon and Nico Williams of Bilbao’s Athletic Club — who The Athletic reported last week has agreed personal terms with Barcelona. Rodrygo wanted to talk to Alonso and the club before making any decision. On the day of the former Bayer Leverkusen coach’s presentation, he was asked if he had already spoken to the player. “No,” Alonso replied. “I’m going to have a conversation with all the players because they deserve it and we need it because we have to get to know each other. That he is a spectacular player is not for me to discover. We will need him.” When Rodrygo returned to training, sources at Madrid’s Valdebebas complex said his attitude had changed for the better. They added that Alonso was being highly attentive to him, showing respect to the player while demanding a lot from him. Those sources said that did not provide any guarantees that Rodrygo would stay this summer. On June 10, after Madrid’s first session with Alonso in charge, Rodrygo posted a message on social media which simply read, “HAPPY” in Spanish. https://www.instagram.com/rodrygogoes/ With Madrid having travelled to the United States, Alonso was asked in his press conference before the 1-1 draw with Al Hilal whether he had spoken to Rodrygo and knew what had recently happened with him. “I can tell you to a point,” he said. “I know what happened, that the end of the season was not easy for him. He took some time that was good for him, to reset his head. We talked from day one and I see him looking forward to enjoying himself with his quality.” The next day, and with Kylian Mbappe out of the squad due to a fever, Rodrygo started in attack alongside Vinicius Junior and academy striker Gonzalo Garcia. He took his opportunity, assisting Gonzalo in an otherwise disappointing draw. It was a quietly encouraging start for Rodrygo under Alonso, even if his right-hand partnership with new signing Trent Alexander-Arnold did create problems for Madrid in defence. And his absence against Pachuca only fuelled greater speculation over his future — Gonzalo, Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz and youngster Munoz were all given minutes ahead of him. Alonso was not asked about Rodrygo in his post-match news conference. It all means that Rodrygo’s future remains as unclear as ever. What is certain is that his situation is worth monitoring this summer. (Top photo: Rodrygo during the match against Al Hilal; Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

Chelsea make further checks on Portuguese international defender Tomás Araújo Chelsea want an out and out centre back https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/sources-Chelsea-make-further-checks Chelsea are certainly not getting things done in the summer transfer market so far, but the plans continue. One of those plans is a new out and out centre back, and after missing out on signing Dean Huijsen, and Everton slapping a price tag that is still currently too high for Chelsea to pay to sign Jarrad Branthwaite, the club are looking into other options on the shortlist as well. Branthwaite is still a target, and we’re also still told not to rule out Marc Guehi yet even though he is now being courted by Liverpool as well. But per our SPTC sources, Chelsea have been making further checks on centre backs on their shortlist this week, and one of those names is Portuguese international Tomás Araújo of Benfica, although the 23-year-old only has 1 senior cap to his name so far. Araújo has been on Chelsea’s radar for some time now and the club have been scouting him this season. They’ve been drawing up those reports and making some more checks on the defender ahead of a potential move this summer. However, the conclusion reached was that Chelsea do not like the fact that Araújo has been playing a lot as a right back or a right wing-back - Chelsea want a pure centre back and have some concerns as to whether he fits that profile. In the season just gone, Araújo has played as a centre back 21 times, as a right back 20 times, and as a right wing-back 3 times. Chelsea do really like the player though, but we’d be surprised if they moved on him at this point due to this although he does remain an option. We’ve also heard about Murillo from Nottingham Forest coming back on our radar with The Blues making checks on his availability this summer. He’s been a long-term target on our centre back shortlist as well. Piero Hincapié of Leverkusen and Jorrel Hato of Ajax are also still on Chelsea’s shortlist, but we are not sure at the moment if any of those are being considered for a centre back role or more for the Marc Cucurella competition role - the latter is more likely.

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2 5

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