Vesper

Keep or sell? John Obi Mikel’s verdict on every player in the Chelsea squad Join the former Premier League winner and have your say on Enzo Maresca’s players, after a good season ended with silverware https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/06/04/keep-sell-john-obi-mikel-verdict-Chelsea-player-transfer/ https://archive.ph/fYSZP

https://siphillipstalkschelsea.substack.com/p/excl-Chelsea-reach-out-to-agents As you will know, The Blues are big admirers of Morgan Rogers and as reported here some weeks back now and consistently, he remains a name that the club are considering. But until now, Chelsea had not really made much of a move on this other than initial enquiries on fee. However, SPTC sources have heard that over the weekend, Chelsea have made contact with the agents of Rogers over a potential summer transfer move. Chelsea are attempting to lay down the foundations of a move, also known as getting the player buy in, before seriously looking at an approach to Aston Villa. The Villains need to sell some players this summer to comply with PSR, but it’s unknown yet if Rogers would be one of them. However, the fee we heard about initially was at least £80m if anyone wants to sign Rogers this window. The player is likely to be open to a move away from Villa this summer but it’s not believed that he actively would push for it. He has good friends at Chelsea already. And of course, there is that Manchester City/Joe Shields connection once again. Chelsea are looking for a versatile attacking midfielder to bring in this window as well as a new left winger, expected to be Jamie Gittens, and Rogers fits that bill of being able to play in a number of attacking positions and is someone that Chelsea would love to sign if they see it as doable. We’d expect this one to not be rushed though and it would be for the second transfer window this summer, if at all.

Luciano Spalletti has been sacked as Italy manager. His chapter as Italy national team head coach has come to an end.

Renato Veiga was a beast at CB after he came on and Nuno Mendes destroyed Lamal at both ends

Portugal win on pens great game

The Striker That Gave The Best Defenders NIGHTMARES

becuase he is a good player I like him, he serves a purpose that justifies not selling him IMHO plus he triggers so many here, lolol that's worth something 🤪

English wingers by valuation (I did not include Cole, but is so he is number 2, only behind Saka in terms of valuation) Bukayo Saka Phil Foden Anthony Gordon Morgan Rogers Ethan Nwaneri Jamie Gittens Marcus Rashford Noni Madueke Jarrod Bowen Mason Greenwood Harvey Barnes Jadon Sancho Jack Grealish Callum Hudson-Odoi Tyler Dibling Dwight McNeil

I still say we DO get the Maignan deal over the line in time for the CWC

fair enough in this case, but I have seen them push utter bollocks in the past and I am not the biggest Di Marzio fangirl either not saying they are near the bottom at all, but not bang on reliable either

Maignan looks much better today v Germany

I do NOT want to sell him have said this for ages

@CFCPys is a bullshit merchant

What to expect in Rachel Reeves’s spend, spend, spending review Labour is going big on infrastructure, the NHS and AI. Can the chancellor convince some voters we’re not back in austerity — and others that taxes won’t rise to pay for it? https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/labour-rachel-reeves-spending-review-uk-budgets-9tmk9xmfh As Rachel Reeves is so fond of telling her cabinet colleagues, she didn’t get into politics to talk about fiscal rules. This week she will attempt to counter claims she has become the “austerity chancellor” by announcing hundreds of billions of pounds of investment. The chancellor’s position on ruling out borrowing for day-to-day spending and not raising taxes again has fuelled speculation that she will introduce swingeing spending cuts. However, her team hopes that Wednesday’s spending review will be remembered more for the chancellor’s largesse than her Scrooge-like tendencies. Despite announcing £40 billion in tax rises — including £25 billion from employer national insurance contributions — and changing the fiscal rules to allow her to borrow to invest, Reeves has so far failed to win much political credit for unlocking an additional £300 billion for investment. On Wednesday she hopes all that will change when she explains how that money will be spent over three years. The centrepiece will be a £86 billion package for research and development to fund new drug treatments and investment in longer-lasting batteries and AI breakthroughs — up to £500 million will go directly to mayors to fund “innovation clusters” across the country. The funding, worth more than £22.5 billion a year by 2029-30, will be given to Liverpool to accelerate drug discovery, Northern Ireland to develop defence equipment and south Wales to assist with the design of cutting-edge semiconductors that power devices such as mobile phones and electric cars. Alongside this, nearly £5 million is being invested to kick-start a partnership between the high-growth regions of Manchester and Cambridge, strengthening the link between these hubs of innovation to attract more business investment. Long-planned transport and infrastructure projects, including the Sizewell C nuclear power plant and a new generation of mini-reactors, and a new railway line between Liverpool and Manchester, will also be approved to fend off Reform UK. Sir Keir Starmer and Reeves have been criticised for failing to construct a narrative about what this government is for. Since the local elections, when they lost two thirds of their council seats, they have clearly moved from insisting that they need to deal with the finances they inherited to conceding that they need to spend money to improve people’s lives. This week Reeves will set the budgets of her cabinet colleagues’ departments, which will determine what the year-old Labour government can achieve in the next four years. It will be followed in a fortnight’s time by the industrial strategy as she attempts to give Labour MPs a better economic story after last month’s humiliating U-turn over winter fuel payments for pensioners. The chancellor is said to have been heavily involved in the decision to extend free school meals to 500,000 more children whose parents are in receipt of universal credit and wants to see investment in crumbling school buildings so they are better than those in which she was taught. To that end, she is expected to fund dozens of new school buildings. Schools will receive an extra £4.5 billion a year, taking funding for each pupil in England to its highest level yet, according to The Observer. This will pay for teachers’ pay rises announced by the government last month, and an overhaul of special educational needs and disabilities provision. HM Revenue & Customs is to receive £500 million to overhaul its digital operation to allow AI to take notes and answer queries. The tech will instantly summarise calls to HM Revenue & Customs, so staff spend less time typing up notes and more time helping people. Millions of people will also be able to get instant answers about their tax affairs by consulting the “Ask HMRC” digital assistant. This is projected to save HMRC about £200 million a year in efficiency savings and productivity gains by 2028-29. As part of an effort to save costs, HMRC is also planning to send 75 per cent fewer letters by 2028-29, saving about £50 million a year. A similar approach will be taken by the NHS, as appointment reminders, invitations, health screenings and test results will be sent to people’s phones, leading to 50 million fewer letters being sent out each year and savings of £200 million. At present, according to the Treasury, HMRC handles approximately 100,000 calls each day, the DVLA processes about 45,000 letters daily and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs still manages more than 500 paper form-based services. The Foreign Office will also soon be embracing the digital age. AI will be used to assist diplomatic briefings, while there are also ambitious plans being pioneered by spy agencies to combine files with open-source data to analyse a counterpart’s vulnerabilities and interests before a negotiation. This is expected to help to reduce the number of directors in London from 50 to 30. On Thursday, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, will give a speech at Mansion House that will include more details on the spending review. This is expected to include plans to spend more than £700 million on embassy buildings, including potentially the refurbishment of the one in Beijing. Allocating billions of pounds is the easier part of the spending review for Reeves, but the squeeze on day-to-day spending is likely to dominate the headlines. Real-terms spending will grow by an average of 1.2 per cent a year over the three-year spending review period, well down on the 2.5 per cent over Labour’s first two years. Among the Whitehall departments that have already been forced to make savings is the Department for Work and Pensions, which announced £3.4 billion in welfare cuts in April. The changes, which have prompted a backlash among Labour MPs, are due to be voted on before the end of the month. However, disability claimants could be given more time to seek support as part of a series of tweaks to the proposals to soften the blow, which could be announced as soon as this week. Any changes to the two-child benefit cap are not expected until the autumn budget. The Department of Health and Social Care is expected to be the biggest winner with a boost of up to £30 billion at the expense of other public services. Since Labour came to power, the NHS has already had an additional £22.6 billion as a “down-payment” on the forthcoming ten-year plan. Significant amounts of the extra day-to-day spending cash will probably be diverted to pay awards for doctors and nurses. With the increasing costs of medicines, technology and an ageing society there may be little left to fuel the health secretary Wes Streeting’s ambitions, which are due to be announced in the ten-year plan for the NHS next month. Analysts claim that holding the Department of Health’s capital budget flat in real terms over the period may have serious consequences for the government’s new hospitals programme and existing NHS buildings. Siva Anandaciva, director at the King’s Fund health think tank, said: “Dilapidated buildings and outdated equipment lead to poorer care for patients and severely hamstring efforts to improve how productive the NHS is. “If the NHS’s access to long-term capital investment is going to be held down yet again, there simply won’t be enough money available to both replace the existing and increasingly unsafe buildings parts of the NHS use, while also building the modern community-based facilities the future health service will need if the government’s hopes to transform the health service are going to be realised.” Reeves’s decision to prioritise health, after agreeing an increase in defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, has led to a series of rows with other cabinet ministers. And despite the defence lift, pressure on the budget is likely to continue. The Nato chief, Mark Rutte, who is meeting Starmer on Monday, is said to be pushing for members of the military alliance to commit 5 per cent towards defence-related spending at a summit this month. In reality, 3 per cent is more likely. The chancellor and John Healey, the defence secretary, are said to back plans for a “defence, security and resilience bank”, modelled on institutions such as the World Bank, which could command as much as £100 billion in capital and would be funded by western governments. This weekend, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, are still holding out over funding for police and councils, and have warned Reeves during heated negotiations that cuts will put some of the government’s pledges on crime and housing at risk. A source said: “Nothing’s settled until everything is settled and we are still working final things through with No 10 and the Treasury.” Sources close to Cooper denied that she had had a “bust-up” with Reeves but admitted there had been “tough conversations”. The Treasury offered a front-loaded settlement under which there would be more money upfront but tighter budgets in the second and third years, according to a source familiar with the discussions. A senior Whitehall source blamed Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, for the last-minute negotiations with the outstanding departments. Another source added: “If you want a glimpse into the dystopian AI future, where the world is run by autocratic robots devoid of any emotion or humanity, then you need to spend five minutes in a meeting with Darren Jones.” It’s not just within the cabinet where wariness of the Treasury is growing. The public now trust Reform as much as Labour on the economy despite Starmer warning that the party’s sums don’t add up and comparing Nigel Farage to Liz Truss. According to a poll of more than 2,000 people by the think tank More in Common, voters were as likely to trust Reform as Labour on the economy (both at 22 per cent). In a head-to-head between Starmer and Farage, the public were split; 51 per cent chose the prime minister and 49 per cent chose Farage. Britons tended to think Reform posed a threat to the economy, but many thought it was worth the risk. By a margin of 46 per cent to 29 per cent, voters thought that a Reform government would pose a risk to the economy — but 40 per cent said that Reform could not be any worse than the other parties. By a large margin of 49 per cent to 15 per cent, voters supported Reform’s policies on tax and welfare. A quarter of Britons thought we were returning to austerity, and a further 27 per cent thought we never left. Only 22 per cent said that we were not returning to austerity. In slightly better news for Reeves, the perception of public services and public finances slightly improved compared with October when the government released its first budget, although views on the economy remained very negative. Satisfaction with public services rose from minus 56 to minus 37, and satisfaction with public finances rose from minus 61 to minus 49. But satisfaction with the economy remained at minus 56. Luke Tryl, the director of More in Common, said: “After a rocky first year, avoidable missteps and U-turns, it’s not an understatement to say this spending review is a make-or-break moment for the government’s relationship with the public. “The good news [for Labour] is the public have low expectations for the spending review with most assuming it won’t make Britain any better; the bad news is many people are now starting to look at Nigel Farage’s offer on the economy. “It’s striking that despite voters’ concerns about Reform’s inexperience they are now as trusted as Labour on the economy, and Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer are neck-and-neck on economic competence. “If Labour are to have a hope of arresting Reform’s momentum they will have to use next week to show that they get it, are taking real steps to improve living standards, improve public services and shielding the most vulnerable from the impact of cuts.” Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, described the spending review as a “growth test” for Whitehall. He is among a group of mayors across England advocating for the devolution of powers to local authorities to implement visitor levies on overnight stays, aiming to boost tourist infrastructure and regional growth. Andy Burnham The proposed visitor levy, similar to those in Scotland and Wales, would involve a small charge on overnight accommodations. The Liverpool city region estimates it could generate nearly £11 million annually. Burnham said: “The spending review is a growth test for Whitehall and I’m waiting and hoping it passes it. Its usual modus operandi is to trade in fudges and play the long game while keeping hold of all the cards. The problem is growth doesn’t come from that.”

agree

Chelsea approach Dortmund for Jamie Gittens transfer, seven-year contract agreed https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6077611/2025/06/07/Chelsea-transfers-jamie-gittens-dortmund/ By David Ornstein Chelsea have submitted an official proposal to sign Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund and have agreed a seven-year contract with the forward. The 20-year-old is keen on a move and only wants to join Chelsea, who hold a long-standing interest in the England Under-21 international. Dortmund view the potential sale of Gittens as key to a summer rebuild and believe the forward is not a natural fit for head coach Niko Kovac’s preferred system. Gittens, who has yet to play for England’s senior international team, believes the move will provide a platform for him to push for a place in Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Athletic reported on June 3 that Gittens and Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho were on Chelsea’s list of winger targets in the summer window. Chelsea’s move comes after the club opted against making Jadon Sancho’s 2024-25 season-long loan deal a permanent move, having scored five goals in 41 appearances during his move from Manchester United. Bayern Munich had previously expressed an interested in a summer move for Gittens, but a bid never materialised. Gittens joined Dortmund in 2020 from Manchester City’s youth system and has made 106 first-team appearances for the German club, with whom he is contracted through to 2028. 2024-25 was a breakthrough season for the England Under-21 international, who scored 12 goals for Dortmund including four in the Champions League. Predominantly a left winger, Gittens has also been deployed in an attacking midfield role. He is yet to be capped at senior level with England, with whom he won the European Championship in 2022 at under-19 level. Additional reporting by Sebastian Stafford-Bloor and Simon Johnson. (Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

GK and CBs

J David on a hat trick already Canada kicking thre shite out of Ukraine 3 nil

love it!

maybe they think it is who is coming, lolol

the £325K PW golden turd 🤮

Jorginho joins Flamengo after Arsenal exit, will play in Club World Cup https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6375412/2025/06/06/jorginho-transfer-flamengo-arsenal/ Jorginho has joined Flamengo as a free agent after leaving Arsenal. The Athletic reported on May 21 that Arsenal and Flamengo were in talks over Jorginho being able to join the Brazilian side early ahead of their participation in the Club World Cup. Jorginho’s Arsenal contract was due to end on June 30 but the tournament begins on June 14, with Flamengo’s first game three days later. FIFA set up an additional transfer window running June 1-10 to facilitate transfers and contract extensions ahead of the Club World Cup. Flamengo play Tunis of Tunisia on June 17 before facing Chelsea, Jorginho’s former club, three days later before concluding their campaign against LAFC on June 25. Jorginho’s move to Flamengo will see him play professionally in the country of his birth for the first time, though he represents Italy at international level. The 33-year-old came through at Hellas Verona before moving to Napoli in 2014. After four years there, he signed for Chelsea, where he won the Champions League and Europa League. Jorginho joined Arsenal from Chelsea for £12million ($14.8m) in January 2023 and has featured 79 times for the north London side, scoring twice. He signed a one-year contract extension last May and made 16 starts and 11 substitute appearances this season across all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s side.

TRUMP: The US could survive without almost anybody… except me. Crazier than a shithouse rat