Vesper

Gareth Southgate considering England exit after World Cup elimination Gareth Southgate considering future after England were knocked out of the World Cup by holders France on Saturday; Southgate contracted to England until conclusion of Euro 2024 https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12016/12760398/gareth-southgate-considering-england-exit-after-world-cup-elimination

Lukaku set for Chelsea return after Inter Milan loan in transfer worry Chelsea transfer news: The Blues face tough conversations with their record signing ahead of a second move. https://www.football.london/Chelsea-fc/transfer-news/romelu-lukaku-Chelsea-todd-boehly-25725100 Chelsea will have to be at their best when it comes to transfer negotiations in 2023 as a major pile of business mounts in front of the new owners. Graham Potter and his new recruitment team are ready for a continuation of the squad overhaul that started in the summer and are expected to be very active in the new year. The Blues have contract issues and squad holes to patch up first before attention turns to strengthening and moving on underperforming players. But one thing they may not have planned for was the return of Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian is currently on loan at Inter Milan but is still owned by Chelsea and has a complex situation to sort out. Having been signed last summer for a club record £97.5million he failed to live up to expectations and contributed to an ever more fractured changing room. His infamous interview all but ended his career at the club, but trying to sell on a major asset after scoring just 15 goals in all competitions isn't easy. READ MORE: Chelsea have a secret weapon in their bid to beat Liverpool and Real Madrid to Jude Bellingham Todd Boehly and Co had it slightly easier than Roman Abramovich in the sense that he was not their mistake so moving him on, even on loan, didn't look as bad on the regime, but it still taints the club. Now, with a little over six months to go on his deal in Italy, and just 249 minutes of league action played, a tough set of circumstances exist. Despite Inter Milan paying a small loan fee they have only got him for this season with new FIFA rules not allowing for multiple season deals anymore, with the law stating, "the minimum period of a Temporary Transfer shall be the period between two consecutive Transfer Windows and the period of a Temporary Transfer shall not extend beyond 30 June next after it was entered into." It means that come the end of the Serie A season Lukaku will be a Chelsea player once more. Graham Potter has never managed Lukaku, he was purchased under Tuchel and allowed to leave whilst Tuchel was in charge. He may not get the chance to have a say in Lukaku's future, especially if the player of the current squad continue to feel detached, but it raises a hurdle for Potter to get over. Due to Inter's dire financial position, re-signing Lukaku may not be the easy deal that it would seem, and due to his fitness and performances, convincing the 2020/21 champions to commit to another season on the same terms may prove challenging. Inter currently pay around 60% of his wages on top of a £5million loan fee, coming in at around £15million in total with bonuses included, according to Italian paper Tuttosport. Negotiations for a new deal will have to be fresh though, with no terms agreed for next year, even though there is a general consensus between the clubs that he will be rejoining. This all creates a large and unwanted backdrop for what already promises to be an extremely turbulent summer at Stamford Bridge.

There are only a handful of under 30yo (so no Neymar, even if he was available) players on the planet who, IMHO, at this exact moment, are actually even remotely available (so no Mbappe) and who are pretty much locks to truly systemically impact a team Jude Bellingham Josko Gvardiol Enzo Fernández then Rafael Leão Victor Osimhen Dušan Vlahović Milan Skriniar (if available) Jan Oblak then Declan Rice Nicolò Barella Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Moisés Caicedo Federico Chiesa (if fully recovered) Florian Wirtz (if fully recovered) Bernardo Silva (if available) then João Félix Frenkie de Jong (if available) Ousmane Dembélé Leroy Sané Moussa Diaby

Manchester City make over €100m offer to sign Croatia's Josko Gvardiol Chelsea and Manchester United have also made offers to sign the central defender https://www.geosuper.tv/latest/20850-manchester-city-make-over-100m-offer-to-sign-croatias-josko-gvardiol Manchester City have made a whopping €100 million plus offer to sign Croatia and RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol. Gvardiol has demonstrated his ability in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar for his nation, which attracted many elite clubs to sign him. According to Foot Mercato, Manchester City are one of Europe's three top clubs that have made their first offer to sign the 20-year-old defender. The defending champions of the Premier League have made a €100m plus bonuses deal, while arch-rivals Manchester United have tabled a €95m deal to get the signature of the centre-back. Meanwhile, a €90m offer has been offered by North London club Chelsea. The 20-year-old's best performance of the FIFA World Cup came in the quarter-final, where Croatia beat Brazil on penalties after a 1-1 draw to set up a semi-final clash with Argentina. He moved from Dinamo Zagreb to German club RB Leipzig back in 2020, and over time, he gradually improved to become one of the best central defenders in the Bundesliga. For a player so young, Gvardiol has made an impressive amount of appearances for RB Leipzig, 65 to be exact, including 10 in the Champions League.

I feel you m8 ☹️

Chelsea striker Armando Broja stretchered off in friendly against Aston Villa with suspected serious knee injury https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/Chelsea-armando-broja-stretchered-off-friendly-aston-villa-knee-injury/bltffc08861cfad5225

well, Omari is a baller

should be a pen, but no VAR

great GKing by Marcus Bettinelli

back to back braces

Casadei on

Aston Villa starting lineup (4-3-3): Olsen | Digne, Mings, Konsa, A.Young | Douglas Luiz, Kamara, McGinn (c) | Raikhy, Watkins, Bailey Substitutes from: Marschall, Zych, Feeney, Chambers, Bogarde, Augustinsson, Revan, Nakamba, K.Young, T.O’Reilly, Archer, Ings Chelsea starting lineup (4-3-3): Bettinelli | Cucurella, Chalobah, Humphreys, Brooking | Hall, Jorginho (c), Webster | Aubameyang, Broja, Hutchinson Substitutes from: Beach, Gilchrist, Casadei, Elliott, Rankine, Burstow, Mothersile

we have insanely bad luck with injuries Broja may be out for months

Aston Villa Chelsea https://www.chelseafc.com/en/match/aston-villa-vs-Chelsea-friendly-2022-12-11?tab=match-day

agreed, looks like he really did his knee

Cancelo was poor most of the WC

yes please

wow

France biggest misses due to injuries are Kante, Presnel Kimpembe, Nkunku, and arguably Pogba especially the first two they play better with Giroud than Benz IMHO

well Millwall Young Player of the Year: 2011–12 🤣