Chelsea FC News

New ?Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has said that he’s very happy with the squad under his command at the moment.

The Italian, who replaced compatriot Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge this summer, will oversee his first Premier League match as Blues manager in an away fixture against Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon and claimed he has a ‘complete’ squad at his disposal.

Sarri had plenty to touch on, with two new signings having come in this week. The Blues completed deals for Kepa Arrizabalaga and Mateo Kovacic on Friday, the latter on a season-long loan deal. Thibaut Courtois has also officially joined Real Madrid, before even meeting with the club’s new boss.

“The Courtois situation was clear. He wanted to go to Madrid. We lost maybe one of the best goalkeepers in the world now, but we bought a young goalkeeper, one of the best young goalkeepers in Europe, so I am really happy,” he told reporters, via chelseafc.com.

“Kepa is very young, he is 23. I hope he can improve very fast.

“I am very happy to get Kovacic. He has the characteristics for us. He is a very technical player. He is able to play between the lines of the opponent. For us that could be very important.

Now I think the squad is complete.”

“I don’t know,” he replied after being asked if Kepa will make his debut this weekend. “He is in the players’ list for tomorrow, but I have to decide.”

The manager was also quizzed over the situation with Eden Hazard, who has been heavily linked with a move to Real as well. 

“Hazard is with us, definitely. It’s not a problem. I have spoken with him three or four times about everything, and he has never said anything about the market, so I think he is very happy to stay here,” he declared.

“I don’t want to discuss contracts. It’s not my job. My job is on the pitch, my job is to improve the players, my job is to try to win matches, and not sign new contracts, but I have seen a player very happy to stay here, so it will be no problem, the new contract.”

As for who his captain will be for the season, Sarri said he still does not know. But Cesar Azpilicueta will be wearing the armband against Huddersfield on Saturday.

“Tomorrow I think Cesar Azpilicueta, but it’s not the final decision,” Sarri explained. “I want to know well the players, I want to know well the man, and then when my idea will be clear, I will make a final decision.”

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??Everton’s hectic deadline day continues as the club have reached a deal to sign ?Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma on loan for the 2018/19 season.

The 23-year-old becomes Marco Silva’s fourth acquisition of the transfer deadline period (technically…), following deals for Shakhtar Donetsk’s Bernard as well as Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes from ?Barcelona.

Everton submitted a deal sheet to the Football Association in order to secure extra time to finalise all the details of the move, and Zouma will now be preparing himself to join up with his new teammates.

The Frenchman spent the last season on loan with ?Stoke City, making 37 appearances in all competitions. He was a key player for Stoke, but was unable to prevent the club from suffering relegation to the ?Championship.

Zouma has long been regarded as one of the most promising defenders in the world, and was in the midst of a breakout season with Chelsea during the 2015/16 season when he unfortunately suffered a horrific knee injury which sidelined him for almost an entire year.

The loan to Stoke City was seen as the perfect move to allow him to regain his match fitness, but it appears as though Zouma is still not in Chelsea’s immediate plans. The London club currently have Andreas Christensen, David Luiz and Gary Cahill as their senior centre backs, whilst young Ethan Ampadu had a very impressive pre-season in that position.

Everton needed to bring in more central defenders following the departures of Ashley Williams and Ramiro Funes Mori, and they have acted to bring in two incredibly promising young defenders in Zouma and Mina.

Zouma has made over 100 appearances in English football and Everton will be hoping that he will be able to help rejuvenate their defence for the upcoming season.

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1. GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga

2. RB: Cesar Azpilicueta

3. CB: Antonio Rudiger

4. CB: David Luiz

5. LB: Marcos Alonso

6. CM: Jorginho

7. CM: Cesc Fabregas

8. CM: Ross Barkley

9. RW: Willian

10. ST: Alvaro Morata

11. LW: Pedro

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?The Premier League will inform ?Everton on Friday morning whether a loan move for ?Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma can proceed, after Marco Silva’s side made a late play for the former Saint-Etienne man.

The Toffees were extremely active on deadline day and addressed their centre back issues by signing Barcelona’s Yerry Mina but are still keen to add depth to their squad in the form of Zouma.

?The Mirror believe Everton submitted a deal sheet that could go allow them to sign the France international, despite the deal going beyond the 5pm deadline for Premier League clubs.

Everton secured deals for Mina and attacking midfielders Andre Gomes and Bernard on the final day of the Premier League transfer window as they look to improve upon their finish of eighth last season.

Zouma spent last year on loan at Stoke, who were relegated after finishing 19th, but his path to the first team at Chelsea looks difficult due to the presence of Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Andreas Christensen and Gary Cahill.

The 23-year-old would likely have a better chance of playing at Everton, who currently have central defenders Mina, Phil Jagielka, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate on their books.

The window has been highly successful for Everton, who also brought in winger Richarlison, left back Lucas Digne and young goalkeeper Joao Virginia in the weeks prior to Thursday’s deadline.

Toffees icon Wayne Rooney departed the club for Major League Soccer outfit DC United after just one season back at Goodison Park, while Davy Klaassen left for Werder Bremen after a highly unsuccessful stay on Merseyside.

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?The summer’s worst kept secret is finally out. ?Chelsea have authorised star Thibaut Courtois’ move to ?Real Madrid and signed Athletic Bilbao’s Kepa Arrizabalaga as his alternative. Yet, most Chelsea fans are happy to see the back of the Belgian. 

Earlier this summer, fans were eager for Courtois to stay. After all, he is a fantastic goalkeeper and there are not too many obvious replacements. 

However, with the news that Courtois refused to return to training and instead tried to force his move to Madrid, fans appeared to give up trying to accept the Belgian at the club.

Eden Hazard has been talking to other players to get them to move to Chelsea

Courtois has gone AWOL and hasn’t even had the stomach to say he wants to leave to Sarri’s face

Difference between a club legend and a rat..

— . (@OfficialCheIs) August 8, 2018

He faced an uphill battle to win over Chelsea fans as soon as he arrived at the club. Whilst on loan at Atletico Madrid, he played a role in eliminating Chelsea from the Champions League. He then returned to the club and forced the Blues to choose between him and legendary shot stopper Petr Cech. 

Cech was certainly past his best, but had earned the undying respect from the club, so much so that he was even permitted to join their cross-town rivals at Arsenal. That was certainly hard to take.

The club showed their loyalty to Courtois by installing him into the first team at Cech’s expense. The next challenging step was Courtois admitting he did not want to work with goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon. Lollichon was the man who developed Cech into the phenomenon that he was, and had been Chelsea’s coach for nine years.

Chelsea showed their loyalty once again to the Belgian by removing Lollichon from his position. Two devoted servants to Chelsea had now been released to accommodate Courtois. 

There is no denying that Courtois is a fantastic goalkeeper. However, he is constantly at risk of a basic mistake. Whether he is not fast enough to get down and save a low shot, or quick enough to run off his line to prevent an opportunity, it seems as though this could happen to Courtois at any given moment.

These mistakes cost Chelsea three consecutive Champions League knockout ties. In 2015 against PSG, he left his line at a corner, only to be caught out of position by a looping header from Thiago Silva.

Fast-forward to the PSG clash of 2016, and Courtois was too slow to leave his line and eventually saw the ball slotted between his legs by Edinson Cavani. The same mistakes cost Chelsea during their next involvement in the tournament in 2018, as Lionel Messi managed to strike the ball straight through Courtois on two separate occasions.

He was frequently disappointing on the pitch, and the same can be said for his antics away from the pitch. Courtois has constantly flirted with the city of Madrid, whether it be Real or Atletico. Despite this, fans were still determined to love Courtois.

The club and the fans remained committed to Courtois. He was paid a huge wage, but constantly underwhelmed and suggested he wanted to leave. 

However, he refused to return to Chelsea and admit to new manager Maurizio Sarri that he wanted to leave. He pulled the same stunt during his time in Belgium, refusing to return to Genk as he forced the club to allow him to move to Chelsea. 

He cites “personal reasons” for wanting to return to Madrid, and fans can accept that. Wanting to be closer to your children is hardly a shocking desire.

However, what fans cannot accept is his blatant disregard for the club who remained permanently committed to the faltering giant, when the feeling hardly ever seemed mutual. This is amplified as Eden Hazard, who seemed keen on making the same move as Courtois, has handled himself with complete class and dignity.

No player is bigger than their club. Goodbye Thibaut Courtois, you will not be missed.

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