8.15am Chelsea news LIVE: Dean Henderson £50m transfer, Kante wants to stay, Hudson-Odoi and Tomori OUT against Villa – The Sun
CHELSEA are ready to go ahead of their big game at Aston Villa today as the Blues return to action.
And Frank Lampard is reportedly stepping up his pursuit of a replacement for Kepa by preparing a £50m bid for Sheffield United loanee Dean Henderson.
Follow all the latest transfer updates and gossip from West London below…
NO-GOLO
N'Golo Kante is happy at Chelsea and does not want to leave the club, according to ESPN.
Contrary to recent reports, they claim that Kante has not been told he will be sold and is very much keen to stay.
The 29-year-old is said to be delighted with the ambition the club have shown in signing Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech and excited about the potential of the club's academy prospects.
GOOD MORNING BLUES FANS
SunSport can exclusively reveal Chelsea and Manchester United are locked in a massive signing war for future England No 1 Dean Henderson.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s money men opened talks about a contract extension with the star shot-stopper last week.
United are desperate for Henderson to stay with their move coming BEFORE David De Gea’s gaffe at Tottenham.
However, Chelsea hope that the chance to offer Henderson game-time in the Champions League next term will swing the tug of war their way.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are gearing up for their first game since the Premier League restart when they face Aston Villa this afternoon.
Frank Lampard is looking to take advantage of earlier results to further cement Chelsea’s hold on fourth place.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Fikayo Tomori are both missing through injury, and vice-captain Jorginho is suspended.
But other than that, Lampard has a huge squad to work with and will have some big decisions to make on his starting XI.
Finally, N'Golo Kante could have signed for Middlesbrough in 2013 – had the Teesside outfit listened to the advice of one eagle-eyed fan.
Boro supporter Dennis Abbot called on the club to make a move for the Frenchman while he was on holiday in Normandy.
Abbot watched Kante play for Caen in 2013 – two years before Leicester poached him from Ligue 1 in a £5.6million deal.
And, having recognised his enormous talent, he immediately brought the midfielder to Boro's attention.
The fan labelled the Frenchman “an outstanding creative player” in a tweet sent to the Teesside club.
Abbot wrote: “Boro scouts, tell Tony Mowbray to check out Caen midfielder N'Golo Kante before Wenger gets him. Top top player.”
The club acknowledged Abbot's comment, saying it had been “passed on to scouts”.
LIKE IT OR LAMP IT
Frank Lampard admits the pressure on him to deliver has been cranked up by Chelsea’s spending spree – but says the club has no choice but to go all out to bridge the gap to Liverpool.
Lampard said: “This is Chelsea Football Club and we want to close the gap – and signing Timo and Ziyech both are nice statements.
“We do know there is a big gap going upwards, when you look at the performance of Liverpool and City in the last couple of years.
“So we need to really try to work to close that gap and we have to be ready to give the players that come in, the two players you’re talking about, some time for adaptions to the league.
“There are other areas we may want to improve on as we go along.
“They have to be players who are in the market and we feel that we can get and confident and comfortable in getting them in the right places, to fill the right holes to improve us.”
SUB COPY
The temporary five-substitute rule is set to be extended into next season.
Players will face increased risk of injury and burnout because matches will be squeezed into a compressed campaign ahead of the rescheduled European Championship.
The majority of clubs and leagues have been positive about the amendment to the regulations which also allows teams to name nine substitutes instead of the usual seven.
And Fifa and the game’s lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board, are open to the idea of prolonging the alteration in order to protect players.
EXCLUSIVE BY ALAN NIXON
Chelsea and Manchester United are locked in a massive signing war for future England No 1 Dean Henderson.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s money men opened talks about a contract extension with the star shot-stopper last week.
United are desperate for Henderson to stay with their move coming BEFORE David De Gea’s gaffe at Tottenham.
However, Chelsea hope that the chance to offer Henderson game-time in the Champions League next term will swing the tug of war their way.
QUICK FIX
Boffins reckon Chelsea have the eighth easiest games in the Premier League return.
Man Utd have the best set of games, apparently.
But it's bad news for relegation candidates Bournemouth who have the worst.
FEEL NEXT LEVEL
Mark the date in your diaries – FIFA 21 comes out on October 9.
The popular game will land on the PS4 and Xbox One before Halloween.
And it will also be coming out on both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, which launch in November.
CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE INFO ON THE NEW EDITION OF FIFA
CRASH AND WERN
Timo Werner had his hopes of a farewell RB Leipzig win dashed by a brilliant Erling Haaland brace.
The Borussia Dortmund hotshot, 19, was on target in both halves to seal a 2-0 win for his side.
Werner, who bids farewell to his current club this month, is on his way to Chelsea this summer.
This was his final home game for RB Leipzig and his current employers paid tribute to him before the game with a presentation ceremony.
BLUE'S GONNA PLAY
Chelsea are back in action against Aston Villa tomorrow.
Frank Lampard has plenty of options at his disposal.
Is this how Chelsea will line up against Villa?
NEW LOOK
Here's a useful guide for all the Premier League fans desperate to feast on glorious top-flight football.
What a line-up that is!
CHIL OUT
Rio Ferdinand has offered advice to Chelsea target and Leicester City left-back Ben Chilwell.
Ferdinand told BT Sport: ” His footwork needs to improve, his body position when going one-v-one, but his intensity and physicality running forward and his quality when he gets in the opposition half is up there with the best around at the moment.
“Listen, he's a young lad, he's got areas of his game to improve, obviously. We can't expect Ben Chilwell at his age to be the finished article.
“He's just come onto the scene in the Premier League, a couple of years playing, he's got room for improvement.
“I'm sure knowing Brendan Rodgers he will be working on these details. Young defenders mature a little later but he's a fantastic prospect.”
RON THE WAY
Cristiano Ronaldo admits his famous 'Sii' celebration was developed at the expense of Chelsea.
He said: “Well, I was in the US and we played against Chelsea and I don't know where it came from. I just scored and I went, 'sii!'
“But it was natural, to be honest.
“After that, I started doing it and I feel like the fans, when they see me they're like 'sii' and I was like, 'wow, people remember Cristiano because of the sii,' so I continued like that.”
JURGEN STROP
Jurgen Klopp bluntly responded to Timo Werner’s move to Chelsea ahead of Liverpool’s return to action, simply asking: “Why should I speak about it?”
The Reds had appeared to be leading the race to sign the RB Leipzig star this summer.
But Chelsea stole Werner, 24, away from Klopp – who had been full of praise for the striker in the run up to the deal, even video calling him.
Werner instead headed to West London in a £53million move, worth £170,000 a week – with Liverpool said to have pulled out of a move purely on financial grounds.
When asked about Werner heading to Chelsea, Klopp bluntly replied: “That’s really funny…
“We don’t speak about transfers we potentially do and now I would speak about a transfer of Chelsea.
“Funny. Why should I do that? [I have] absolutely nothing to say about it.
“Timo Werner is a really good football player and now he plays for Chelsea next season. That’s it.”
WE'LL HAV THAT
Bayer Leverkusen may have to drop their valuation of Chelsea target Kai Havertz by as much as £20million, according to reports.
If the Bundesliga side fail to reach the Champions League they will lose out on significant income next season and need to raise funds elsewhere.
That may turn Blues fans into overnight Borussia Monchengladbach supporters as Die Fohlen battle with Leverkusen for the final qualification spot.
The Telegraph detail how Havertz's £90m price tag is outside of Chelsea's own valuation of the 21-year-old.
And a failure to reach Europe's top club competition could push Bayer towards the Premier League side's £70m estimation.
ROUD'S AWAKENING
Olivier Giroud reckons the signing of Timo Werner has motivated the rest of the Chelsea forwards.
And the Frenchman is refusing to give up on his spot in the Blues team just yet.
He said: “He is going to be a very good signing and more motivation for strikers.
“We have a very competitive team, with a good alchemy between the youngsters and experienced players.
“We expect new signings because it’s been two transfer windows but I have a lot of expectation about this squad.”
DOR SHUT
Chelsea's hopes of signing Borussia Dortmund's Roman Burki have been quashed after the keeper signed a new deal.
Boss Frank Lampard is in the market for a new No1 to replace out-of-favour Kepa Arrizabalaga.
SunSport exclusively revealed how Burki was a target for the Blues as they plotted a £15million raid on the 29-year-old Switzerland international.
Chelsea were hoping for a cut-price deal for the stopper with just a year left on his deal.
But they will have to look elsewhere with Dortmund confirming that their No1 has put pen-to-paper on a two-year contract extension.
BLUEK WHO'S BACK
THE Premier League is finally back, after an unprecedented three month absence caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Clubs have been back at training for the last few weeks under strict restrictions in an attempt to get themselves match fit and ready to go again.
Football will not be the same for a while without having fans in the stadium, but I think most are excited to have an outlet of football to take their minds away from all that has been going on in the world during the last few months.
Chelsea face Aston Villa in their first game back on Sunday at 4:15pm as Frank Lampard looks to push ahead with his challenge to gain Champions League qualification.
The Blues have a pretty tough final nine matches with both Liverpool and Manchester City on the agenda.
But Lampard will once again have a fully fit squad to choose from; and even N’Golo Kante should be available for selection despite missing some of the earlier training sessions due to his fears about the virus.
NO, WE KAN'T
N'Golo Kante could have signed for Middlesbrough in 2013 – had the Teesside outfit listened to the advice of one eagle-eyed fan.
Boro supporter Dennis Abbot called on the club to make a move for the Frenchman while he was on holiday in Normandy.
Abbot watched Kante play for Caen in 2013 – two years before Leicester poached him from Ligue 1 in a £5.6million deal.
And, having recognised his enormous talent, he immediately brought the midfielder to Boro's attention.
The fan labelled the Frenchman “an outstanding creative player” in a tweet sent to the Teesside club.
Abbot wrote: “Boro scouts, tell Tony Mowbray to check out Caen midfielder N'Golo Kante before Wenger gets him. Top top player.”
The club acknowledged Abbot's comment, saying it had been “passed on to scouts”.
OUT OF THE BLUE
Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that his iconic “Sii” celebration was born against former Premier League rivals Chelsea.
The Portuguese superstar, 35, is now renowned for his trademark jump in the air and swivel move – accompanied by him shouting “Sii” – whenever he scores a goal.
Ronaldo recalled: “Well, I was in the US and we played against Chelsea and I don't know where it came from. I just scored and I went, 'sii!'
“But it was natural, to be honest.
“After that, I started doing it and I feel like the fans, when they see me they're like 'sii' and I was like, 'wow, people remember Cristiano because of the sii,' so I continued like that.”
GOOD MORNING BLUES FANS
Frank Lampard has told Chelsea’s young hopefuls to get used to scrapping for their futures after splashing the cash on Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech.
The Blues are also keen on Leicester’s Ben Chilwell while Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz remain big-money targets.
Lampard said: “I don’t feel the need to have to address every player if a player comes in who might challenge their position at a club like Chelsea, because that’s what it’s about.
“It’s been about that in its most successful years, in recent years in the Roman Abramovich era.
“I’m happy to have options and we have options in forward areas. And we must have competition for places. So I’m pleased with the idea of that.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s hopes of signing Borussia Dortmund's Roman Burki have been quashed after the keeper signed a new deal.
Lampard is in the market for a new No1 to replace out-of-favour Kepa Arrizabalaga.
SunSport exclusively revealed how Burki was a target for the Blues as they plotted a £15million raid on the 29-year-old Switzerland international.
Chelsea were hoping for a cut-price deal for the stopper with just a year left on his deal.
But they will have to look elsewhere with Dortmund confirming that their No1 has put pen-to-paper on a two-year contract extension.
Finally, Bayer Leverkusen may have to drop their valuation of Chelsea target Havertz by as much as £20m.
If the Bundesliga side fail to reach the Champions League they will lose out on significant income next season and need to raise funds elsewhere.
The Telegraph detail how Havertz's £90m price tag is outside of Chelsea's own valuation of the 21-year-old.
And a failure to reach Europe's top club competition could push Bayer towards the Premier League side's £70m estimation.
WILD THING
Chris Wilder confirmed Sheffield United are ready to take legal action if their ‘ghost goal’ costs them European football against the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal.
The Hawk-Eye cock-up against Aston Villa robbed his Blades of going fifth — a Champions League spot if Manchester City are banned.
Sports Lawyer Nick De Marco QC feels the club may have a case for compensation if they miss out.
And boss Wilder hinted they may take action ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Newcastle.
He said: “I’ve not had anything back off the board or CEO. There will obviously be a discussion above me about the situation.
“That’s only right and I think everybody would expect that.
“I suppose we will only know after our final game at Southampton.”
FREE AND EASY
Premier League clubs are in talks with BT Sport to show games for FREE to season-ticket holders for the rest of the 2019/20 campaign.
So, if you're a season-ticket holder at a club and one of their home games is on BT Sport, you could be able to watch it at no cost – even if you are not a subscriber.
A statement read: “BT Sport is working with Premier League Clubs to offer their season ticket holders free access to home Premier League matches, broadcast on BT Sport, for the remainder of the 2019/20 season.
“The BT Sport Match Pass is for eligible season ticket holders of participating clubs who do not already have BT Sport.
“We are speaking to all clubs to put in place the processes to make this happen.
“The Clubs will be communicating directly with their eligible season ticket holders.”
LEAGUE SCUPPERED
The League Cup is set to lose the top seven Premier League clubs next season as fixture congestion reaches “critical levels”.
The dates for two rounds of next term's Champions League and Europa League are likely to clash with the competition.
As reported by The Times, the League Cup faces the prospect of playing without seven of the top Premier League sides as the coronavirus crisis continues to wreak havoc on the football calendar.
The EFL is weighing up all its options and is yet to make a final decision – but it seems almost certain that the top clubs will be ruled out of the Cup in order to compete on the European stage.
GIFT OF GAB
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta's desire to revamp his defence has suffered a blow after Gabriel Magalhaes reportedly agreed to join Napoli.
Chelsea were also tipped for a move yet the French outfit have agreed a deal to sell Gabriel, according to FootMercato.
A five-year contract worth £1.8m-a-season is said to have been agreed between the player and his new club, who will pay around £20m for his services.
NO KIDDING
Frank Lampard has told Chelsea’s young hopefuls to get used to scrapping for their futures.
Lampard said: “I’ve spoken to Tammy Abraham before about the idea of competition and I don’t feel the need to have to address every player if a player comes in who might challenge their position at a club like Chelsea, because that’s what it’s about.
“It’s been about that in its most successful years, in recent years in the Roman Abramovich era.
“Tammy has had a very good season for us this season. He has to sustain and improve on that because at Chelsea we have demands.
“I’m happy to have options and we have options in forward areas. And we must have competition for places. So I’m pleased with the idea of that.”
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