Vesper

Joao Felix admits Champions League will sway Chelsea future decision as new players risk pay hit Plus, Graham Potter says his squad is prepared for penalties if they fight back against Borussia Dortmund https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/03/06/joao-felix-admits-champions-league-will-sway-Chelsea-future/ https://archive.is/piX5v By Matt Law, FOOTBALL NEWS CORRESPONDENT Joao Felix has suggested that Chelsea’s Champions League destiny will impact a decision on his future, while a number of the club’s players face the threat of taking a significant financial hit if they fail to qualify for next season’s tournament. Despite returning to winning ways in the Premier League by beating Leeds United, Chelsea’s most realistic chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League is by winning the competition this year. Chelsea must overturn a 1-0 deficit against Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night to progress past the last-16. With Graham Potter’s team still in 10th place in the league table, 11 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea will most likely miss out on qualifying for the Champions League if they cannot beat Dortmund. Felix is on loan from Atletico Madrid until the end of the season and has impressed at Chelsea, scoring one goal and hitting the bar twice in six appearances. Asked if joining Chelsea permanently would be dependent on the club playing in the Champions League, Felix said: “Yeah, playing in the Champions League is always different. It’s a competition that everyone wants to play. “But now I’m focused on this Champions League, on the game. We have a lot of games yet to try to reach the Champions League in the league. It’s not over. But, yeah, playing in the Champions League is an important decision, but the future no one knows, so let’s see what happens and then we’ll see.” Felix did offer Chelsea some hope by adding: “Chelsea is a team who likes to attack, who likes to have the ball, who likes to dominate the game, so that’s the game I like to play. I feel very free to play here, to play as I like. I’m loving it. When I left Atletico, I thought it was good for me and for them. So I think it was the perfect deal. So I think it’s important for me, this loan, and I’m very happy to play here." While Felix is on loan at Chelsea, Telegraph Sport understands that most of the players signed permanently by the club in the past two transfer windows agreed to a variation in their contracts, thought to be worth over 25 per cent in some cases, based on playing in the Champions League. The move was designed to help protect Chelsea from some of the financial implications of missing out on the Champions League, either now or in the future, by the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital owners. It represents a huge shift from the Roman Abramovich era, when players were guaranteed their full salaries, whether or not Chelsea finished in the top four. Whereas Boehly and Clearlake have tried to incentivise player contracts with variations and bonuses, Abramovich’s policy was to pay far bigger guaranteed salaries but only reward his squad with bonuses for winning trophies. That means the Chelsea players who signed their contracts before the change of ownership will not be hit in the pocket by a failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Despite spending over £600million in the last two transfer windows, Boehly and his co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali have started the process of slashing the club’s wage bill. New players have signed heavily incentivised contracts and those who have extended their old deals have also agreed to Chelsea’s new bonus scheme without as many guarantees. The wage bill will be cut further in the summer, with Chelsea planning a clear-out to bring the size of the club’s squad down. Potter: We are prepared for penalties Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was demoted from Potter’s Champions League squad, will almost certainly leave, while there are doubts over the long-term futures of Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz, Edouard Mendy, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and on-loan Denis Zakaria. Chelsea are not yet sure whether Inter Milan will agree to take Romelu Lukaku on loan for a second season. Chelsea may need penalties to qualify past Dortmund for the quarter-finals, should the aggregate score be tied after extra-time, and Potter revealed his squad have prepared for such a scenario. Potter said: “The boys are always practising penalties and we’ve of course prepared for that eventuality because it’s a possibility. We want to get it done before that, but if not then ok, then we have to go through in that way.” With Jorginho joining London rivals Arsenal in January, Potter also confirmed that Havertz is now Chelsea’s designated penalty taker. Havertz has only scored one goal in his last 12 appearances but received the backing of Felix, who said: “He’s an amazing player. Everyone knows what he has done for the club. Sometimes you are on a streak of scoring in every game. Every time you don’t, you just have to keep working. He is always searching for ways to be better and to score. Tomorrow he will score.” Chelsea hope Reece James will be fit to start against Dortmund, but will make a late check on him after the right-back trained on Monday, while Potter confirmed Pulisic will be in his squad. But N’Golo Kante is not yet ready to be on the substitutes’ bench, despite returning to training, while Benoit Badiashile was not included in the club’s Champions League squad.

I think (as I have said all along) that Real are going to go for both Mbappe and Håland by 2025 the only true fly in the ointment is that both Vini Jr and Mbappe both only want to play at LW Mbappe could play CF (he doesn't prefer that though) which solves the Vini Jr problem, but that blocks Håland (and Osimhen if that is who they go for instead of Håland) maybe they think they can ram in Vini Jr at RW (or even Mbappe, who is more ambipedal than Vini) if Citeh get smashed for the cheating, then maybe they also go for Foden, as he is a natural left footed RWer (but can play anywhere, even in MF) the boldest move would be to sell Vini for £125m plus to anyone other than Barca (only after they grab Mbappe probably) to help fund bringing in that monster trio

how many LW'ers are we going to have????? Stamford Bridge doesn't have a wormhole where players can just pop up on the other side of the pitch instantly

2022-23 English Premier League Brentford Fulham https://www.topsporter.net/sports/2023/premier-league-brentford-vs-fulham-s1/ https://www.vipleague.st/brentford-vs-fulham-1-live-streaming

Chelsea agree deal to hire Man City talent spotter Stewart Thompson https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-Chelsea-agree-deal-to-hire-man-city-talent-spotter-stewart-thompson/ Chelsea have agreed a deal to hire Man City talent spotter Stewart Thompson, sources have told Football Insider. City’s head of UK academy scouting is heading to the London giants as they continue the huge overhaul of their entire transfer set-up. Thompson, 58, has agreed terms with Chelsea and will complete a period of gardening leave before joining them. It is believed that Chelsea’s co-director of recruitment and talent Joe Shields has recommended the move for Thompson, having previously worked with him at City. Chelsea’s Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital owners have been working hard to build a new recruitment team since their takeover last year. Christopher Vivell joined in December as the club’s new technical director with recent recruitment hires Paul Winstanley, Kyle Macaulay and Shields, as well as various scouts, feeding into him. The capture of Thompson is the latest planned appointment by Boehly and Clearlake as they look to build the strongest possible recruitment team, rather than hiring one or two individuals to take on the bulk of the responsibilities. City’s national youth scout manager is heading to the north-east giants to be head of UK scouting at Under-13-18 age groups and he will be working under head of youth recruitment Paul Midgley.

7 nil omg

lol 6 nil

5 nil Manure look worse than us

Potter OUT

of course, he is shit look at how much better Brighton are without him

Fuck off Potter

2022-23 English Premier League Liverpool Manchester United https://www.topsporter.net/sports/2023/premier-league-liverpool-vs-manchester-united-s1/

meanwhile, Brighton, Potter's old team is on fire, playing glorious football at times they destroyed West Ham 4 nil yesterday Rice was shit, the 2 man MF of Caicedo and Pascal Groß (yes, Pascal Groß, lol) crushed the Hammers in MF BHA's entire starting XI is valued at around £165m, lol, including an 18yo CF worth £880K , and a 32yo backup keeper worth £530K and Joël Veltman replaced Tariq Lamptey in the 16th minute because of an injury. highlights: https://sbbrisk.com/gaqngz5nfewj.html it is shameful how poor we are offensively compared to them

Fabrizio Romano's Daily Briefing 🚨 the Daily Briefing - Caicedo contract won't change summer transfer situation, Arsenal interested in Dortmund star, truth behind Firmino exit decision and more https://caughtoffside.substack.com/p/the-daily-briefing-caicedo-contract Good morning guys! Welcome to my latest Daily Briefing, hope you enjoy today’s updates 🙂 Today’s top stories: Updates on Arsenal targets Caicedo and Brandt Why Firmino decided to leave Liverpool Plus stories on Chelsea, Man Utd and more Arsenal Julian Brandt has always been tracked by Arsenal. I’m not aware of fresh contacts at this stage, nothing new; also because Borussia Dortmund have still not decided on Brandt’s future. New attacking signings will depend on many factors, nothing is decided on summer plan yet. Arsenal offered Moises Caicedo a huge salary in January, which is why Brighton have given him a new contract with a pay rise, but it won’t stop top clubs being there for the midfielder in the summer. Mikel Arteta: “Saliba had instant impact. First two training sessions, we looked at him and thought: there’s huge potential here. He came in and said: I’m going to prove that I’m very good, I deserve to be here. He took out every question mark that we could have with him.” Bayern Munich Joao Cancelo was left on the bench for 90 minutes last night after playing just 12’ last game vs Union. Julian Nagelsmann: “Joao’s handling the situation well. I don't have impression that he’s breaking off. Stanisic is a bit more defensive, that’s the reason.” Borussia Dortmund Marco Reus on his contract expiring in June: “Of course I can’t imagine myself not playing for Borussia Dortmund, in this stadium… I hope not.” Contract talks are ongoing in order to make internal decision soon. Julian Brandt has always been tracked by Arsenal. I’m not aware of fresh contacts at this stage, nothing new; also because Borussia Dortmund have still not decided on Brandt’s future. Brighton I’ve been asked a few times about Moises Caicedo surprisingly signing a new contract with Brighton, but it’s not about being persuaded; Caicedo deserved a pay rise after £70m turned down by Brighton and a huge salary from Arsenal, so it was absolutely normal to accept. I think top clubs will try again to sign him in the summer, contract extension helps Brighton for sure but there’s no release clause in the deal and it doesn't change the situation for the summer: top clubs will be there. 💬 Where will Moises Caicedo be playing next season? Give me YOUR predictions in the comments! Bristol City I can’t mention the clubs at this stage but I can confirm there is interest from Premier League clubs in Alex Scott. Bristol City won’t negotiate for less than £20-25m. Chelsea Graham Potter: “If results aren't good enough… then you know your job is in danger. That's our [coaches] life. I just have to do my best, try to improve the situation until there’s a point where we’re not able to go forward — that has not been the case, we keep fighting.” Potter: “The players fought for the win and it allows us to keep moving forward. Players with me? It needs to manifest itself in wins. Talk is cheap. The results haven't been good enough and that is my responsibility. We have to try to improve and win.” 📰 AC Milan are interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who could cost around €25m (Calciomercato) Inter Milan Hakan Calhanoglu’s new deal with Inter will be valid until June 2027 and it’s almost done, just waiting to get it signed in the next weeks. Inter are also in talks with Alessandro Bastoni in order to prepare new contract proposal soon. Liverpool There were talks between Roberto Firmino and Liverpool over a one or two year deal but then he decided together with his family that he wanted to try a new challenge, new experience, and probably a new country. For sure clubs are monitoring him but there is nothing advanced yet. Liverpool’s priority for the summer will be new midfielders and then a centre-back. Signing a striker will depend on the opportunities. Roberto Firmino’s agent Roger Wittmann: “He told us: I don’t want to talk to any other club, he wants to give his best for Liverpool until the end. This was the first time in my life he’s a free agent player and he said there was no need to talk to others!” Not just Roberto Firmino. There are currently no talks between Liverpool and Naby Keita over new contract and he could be next one to leave on a free, together with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Arthur Melo is also expected to leave at the end of his loan. Liverpool are not planning to trigger the buy option. 💬 How much will Liverpool miss Roberto Firmino? And would you want him at YOUR club? Lyon Houssem Aouar has many proposals and possibilities for the summer. Eintracht Frankfurt want him but Aouar has not decided yet, he wants to take his time. I think he’s a very good player, and looks a good opportunity on a free. Manchester United Despite strong claims about Manchester United edging closer to signing Jeremie Frimpong, I’m told there’s nothing concrete on this one. Manchester United are following Frimpong, their scouts have been monitoring him since October as stated many times... but nothing else. No direct talks with agents or Bayer Leverkusen at this stage. The priority is to extend Diogo Dalot’s contract, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka has also improved a lot and ended up staying in January. 📰 Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is still a target for Manchester United ahead of this summer (Guardian) PSG Kylian Mbappe becomes PSG’s all time leading goalscorer with 201 goals, surpassing Edinson Cavani. Mbappe - still only 24 years old making history as a Paris Saint-Germain player. Mbappe: “It’s a privilege to play for Paris Saint-Germain. It’s special to be PSG player as this is my city. I’m here to write history — in France, in the capital, in my country, in my city. It’s beautiful — but I want also collective achievements. Ballon d’Or? For sure it’s a mission for me to win the Ballon d’Or one day.” Real Madrid Carlo Ancelotti on Luka Modric almost being out of contract: “Modric will do what he thinks he should do, he's talking to the club. It’s not a problem for me or for Luka. He will make the most appropriate decision. It’s not a problem.” Wolfsburg Dutch centre back Micky Van de Ven has now signed a new long-term deal with Wolfsburg valid until June 2027. It’s been confirmed by his agency team and a club statement.

Fabrizio Romano's Daily Briefing 🚨 Christian Falk's Fact Files Chelsea https://caughtoffside.substack.com/i/106192385/Chelsea Manu Koné is a player every league has an eye on (his contract is still until 2025). Everybody knows there that there is a big chance for other clubs to get him, so that’s why they’ve come up with this price-tag. £26.6m sounds like a crazy amount in England with the pound valuation and in Germany you say it’s €30m, which sounds normal for such a player. PSG also has an eye on him. We’ve asked him about his future and he told us that it would be interesting to play with Kylian Mbappé (but they can always play together in the national team). He’s been always dreaming of two clubs: one is Real Madrid and the other is Chelsea! Kone brought up Chelsea because he was a big fan of Didier Drogba, which explains his fascination with the London-based club. There’s nothing concrete at the moment but you see that he’s potentially going to leave in the summer. He’s already talking openly about new clubs and you see he’s interested in England, and there are many clubs that would be on the table. With Chelsea, he’s put another one himself in.

last kick of the game winner, jammy cunts

We are horrific atm. Potter HAS to go NOW

ff ANOTHER crossbar hit we are bloody cursed

fuck off Havertz

the two I posted both work

2022-23 English Premier League Chelsea Leeds United https://www.topsporter.net/sports/2023/premier-league-Chelsea-vs-leeds-united-s2/ https://www.vipleague.st/Chelsea-vs-leeds-united-1-live-streaming

he blew the World Club championship we are still the only UEFA side to lose since the first 3

2022-23 English Premier League Manchester City Newcastle United https://www.topsporter.net/sports/2023/premier-league-manchester-city-vs-newcastle-united-s1/# https://www.vipleague.st/manchester-city-vs-newcastle-united-1-live-streaming

he may well end up in slowball Serie A