8pm Chelsea news LIVE: Willian to leave, Abraham rejects new deal, Kepa to Real Madrid, Bayern behind closed doors – The Sun
CHELSEA are set to play their Champions League return match with Bayern Munich behind closed doors.
And there's more contract woe with Willian and Tammy Abraham yet to commit to new deals.
Get all the latest news and gossip from Stamford Bridge here…
GREAT SCOT
Ross Barkley has praised Scottish youth international Billy Gilmour following his impressive performance against Everton.
He said: “He's a brilliant player and he’s shown that in training, from last season to now.
“He showed that fearlessness out there and you can see the quality he’s got. With more games, he’s going to improve and the quality he’s going to show will get better as well.
“The future is bright. It’s good, it keeps us on our toes. This was fantastic and we’ve got to focus on the games ahead now.
“Top four is our target and as each game comes, we take our game plan into it and try to execute it the way we need to.”
WIL POWER
Chelsea winger Willian believes the Blues should have beaten Everton 6-0 as opposed to just the four they dispatched against them.
Speaking of the win against the Toffees, he said: “It was a very good day, a good performance.
“From the beginning we started the game very well, we had control of the game, we had passion to move the ball between the lines and we created a lot of chances.
“We could have scored more, maybe 5-0 or 6-0, but I’m very happy with our performance.”
BAN BLOW
Chelsea missed out on highly-rated youngster Xavier Mbuyamba to Barcelona last summer – despite the Dutch teenager preferring a Stamford Bridge switch.
The Blues were leading the race to sign Mbuyamba, 18, from MVV Maastricht after he spent time at their Cobham training base last year.
Mbuyamba told VTBL: “At Chelsea, I started the week in under-18s and trained with under-23s at the end of the week.
“The higher the level, the better I got. I would have actually gone to Chelsea, because they were the first to come. But because of a transfer ban they could not offer a contract. Then the choice finally fell on Barcelona.
“I have a four-year contract and I like life here. Living on my own is going great. I’m going to do everything I can to succeed here.
“Of course, I don’t expect to be in the first team next year. I will be with Barcelona B and I want to have a good season there and do a lot of training with the first team.I hope to be able to join the first team within two years.”
EASY DRIESY
Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal target Dries Mertens will reportedly remain at Napoli beyond the summer.
The Belgian international is set to become a free agent in the summer, but could now extend his stay in Naples.
According to Calcio Napoli 24, the 32-year-old is set to sign a new deal.
Mertens was heavily linked with a move away from the Serie A side in January.
UH, EUR IN TROUBLE
Chelsea and Spurs have an almost-impossible task to reach Champions League quarter-finals, according to the stats.
Numbers from the Euro Club Index claim the Blues have just a ONE PER CENT chance of overturning their three-goal deficit against Bayern Munich.
Frank Lampard's men were humiliated at Stamford Bridge last month, thanks to two goals from ex-Arsenal flop Serge Gnabry and another from goal-machine Robert Lewandowski.
Meanwhile, Tottenham have just a 19 per cent probability of reaching the last-eight after losing the first-leg at home to Red Bull Leipzig.
Spurs slipped to a 1-0 defeat in North London against their German opponents.
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