The CHELSEA Thread

[JoeNemesis]

Well all you BMs....  I found lots of threads about Chelsea, lots of threads involving Chelsea - Heck, I even found an Arsenal fan looking for the Chelsea thread so he could ignore it.  But I couldn't find A or THE Chelsea thread.  

So, on the off-chance that I am not the only Chelsea fan who is also a fan of Thailand, I'd like to propose:

The CHELSEA Thread

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by JoeNemesis

[JoeNemesis]

First, here are a few CHELSEA F.C. resources:

The Official Chelsea website

The Fifth Stand is the Official Chelsea FC mobile app., available on the Apple App Store here and Google Play here.

And one of my favorite Chelsea FC podcasts is The London is Blue podcast available on Apple Podcasts here and YouTube here and on al the other major podcast venues like Google, Spotify, Soundcloud etc.  It's run by a trio of U.S. Chelsea fans and they have great connections with the club itself as well as sports journalists like Matt Law and others who follow Chelsea. 

[JoeNemesis]

And, as the summer transfer window is about to close in the next few hours at 23:00 BST, it's great to see that Chelsea have finally confounded Brendan Rogers and landed the man he said would never leave:  Wesley Fofana.  The 21 year-old commanded a £70mm. fee plus add-ons and signed a seven-year contract, as further evidence that the Todd Boehly era will see Chelsea's players treated very differently than under the Roman Empire. 

[JoeNemesis]

We will see in the news on Sunday morning if Todd Boehly has managed to make any further last-minute signings and we know that the players who are still in his sights include:  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (in spite of the recently fractured jaw bone he suffered in a home robbery!), Wilfried Zaha, Frenkie de Jong, Christiano Ronaldo, and Josko Gvardiol, to name but a few. 

[JoeNemesis]

The EPL summer transfer window clanged shut at 23:00 BST last night and Chelsea fans will not be disappointed. Chelsea confirmed four transfer papers were lodged with the Premier League before the window closed.

[JoeNemesis]

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona on a two-year deal. Chelsea have agreed a fee worth around £12MM. for the forward with 31 yo Marcos Alonso moving to Barcelona on a free transfer, fulfilling his wish to return to Spain as his career enters its final phase.  Aubameyang arrived in London yesterday afternoon to undergo a medical and sign his contract, on a two-year deal with a further 12 months triggered by certain conditions.

The move reunites Tuchel with Aubameyang.  They spent a successful period working with each other at Borussia Dortmund.  Aubameyang played some of the best football of his career under Tuchel and the Chelsea head coach believes the former Gabon international still has so much to offer.

Aubameyang only moved to Barcelona in January on a free transfer after falling out with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta;  he was stripped of the captain's armband at the Emirates Stadium towards the end of 2021 and the Gunners eventually terminated his contract, freeing him to move to Barcelona.

On Twitter, the new Blues signing said he had "unfinished business with the Premier League".  

Let's see if that spirit turns into goals for the Blues. 

[JoeNemesis]

The Blues have completed the transfer deadline day signing of Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria on a season-long loan from Juventus, with an option to sign the Switzerland international permanently for £30MM.  He joined Juventus in January from Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach but struggled to remain fit and made just 15 first-team appearances during his eight months with Juvie.

Zakaria emerged as a Chelsea target yesterday after the Blues were unable to convince Ajax to sell Mexican international Edson Alvarez, who was keen on a Chelsea move.  But  the Dutch transfer window closed last night and Ajax couldn't fill his spot and were not prepared to approve his departure.

[JoeNemesis]

In what will be sad news for all Chelsea fans, Brighton have confirmed the permanent transfer of Billy Gilmour from Chelsea on a four year deal, ending the summer-long speculation about his future.  The talented young Chelsea academy graduate was a fan favorite but never prospered under Thomas Tuchel. The Scot has joined the south coast side for £9MM.  The 21-year-old spent last season on-loan at Norwich before returning to his parent club for the summer.  Gilmour was part of Chelsea's squad that won the Champions League in 2021 and went on to make 22 appearances for the club including standout performances against Liverpool in 2020 and Manchester City in 2021.

[JoeNemesis]

Finally!  The Blues have a new No. 9!

[JoeNemesis]

Phew!  

Harvey Vale will remain a Chelsea player.  The Cobham graduate and England Under-19 international who captained his team to victory in the European Championship for that group has committed his long term future to the Blues until 2026 by signing a new three-year deal.  But he will continue his development in the Championship with a loan to Hull City for the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign. Harvey is a left-sided attacker and made five appearances for the senior squad and won the Academy Player Of The Year. He will join fellow Chelsea graduate loanees Nathan Baxter and Xavier Simons in East Yorkshire.  Harvey will be celebrating his 19th birthday on September 11. 

[gazO]

MOT. 😄

[JoeNemesis]

Chelsea's 21 year-old Welsh centre-back, Ethan Ampadu, is heading back to Italy for a second successive season, this time joining Spezia on loan after a year spent at Venezia.  Ampadu, who has two years left on his Chelsea contract, saw consistent involvement with the Blues first-team in pre-season and remained with the group even after the season began, even making the bench in our last three games. That did raise the possibility of him staying, but it looks like we were just keeping him around as a backup in case the Wesley Fofana deal fell through.

Spezia are reportedly paying €1.5M. as a loan fee, but will not have any sort of future consideration in the deal like a buy-option.  This is Ampadu’s third consecutive season out on loan, after RB Leipzig, Sheffield Wednesday, and Venezia. He suffered relegation with each of the last two.  Hopefully his time at Spezia will be a bit more successful, and not just in terms of earning regular minutes.

[JoeNemesis]

Premier League newcomers Nottingham Forest have failed to sign Michy Batshuayi, in spite of having signed a whole squad of newcomers in this window. Despite strong links in the transfer window, the 28-year-old Chelsea striker’s move to the City ground did not materialize and, according to multiple reports, the deal is now off.  There were many conflicting reports about whether it would be a transfer or a loan, and was further complicated by Batshuayi’s contract at Chelsea expiring next summer as well — not to mention his wages.

Italian sports super-journo, Fabrizio Romano, claims the deal didn’t get done because “documents were not sent in time”.

So what’s next for Mr. B?  While the majority of transfer windows around Europe are now closed, the windows in Turkey, Greece and his native Belgium are still open.  Michy spent last season at Turkey's Besiktas, scoring 14 goals in 33 Süper Lig matches, so a return to that league certainly would be a possibility, with links to Fenerbahce also appearing recently.

[JoeNemesis]

Finally!

Kenedy (Robert Kenedy Nunes) has ended his seven-year stint with Chelsea by signing for Real Valladolid on a permanent deal.  The 26 year-old Brasilian left winger completes a permanent switch to the La Liga side and could make his debut against Girona on Friday.  Kenedy has been at Chelsea since 2015, making his debut in a Premier League match against Crystal Palace in August of that year and getting a goal and an assist on his first start, in a 4-1 Carabao Cup win over Walsall.  Kenedy also netted the Premier League’s fastest goal of the 2015/16 season, after 39 seconds of Chelsea's visit to Norwich City.  In total, Kenedy made 27 men's first-team appearances for the Blues, scoring three goals.

Chelsea are really making big moves to clear out a lot of the deadwood in the squad, and there are few players who have been kicking about for as long as Kenedy.  The winger actually came back for a brief cameo spell in January of this year, and ended up making some first team appearances, but before that had been bouncing around the world on loan for some time.

[JoeNemesis]

In Chelsea's new Number 9's own words ...

 

[JoeNemesis]

On becoming a Chelsea player, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang said:

"I’m really happy. It’s an honour to be part of this team and I can’t wait to start.  I have some unfinished business with the Premier League so it’s good to be back and really exciting."

I like the veiled threat in that.  Can't imagine he's thinking of Mikel Arteta, can you?

[JoeNemesis]

As Marcos Alonso gets his dream move back to Spain there's a great tribute to the Chelsea star on the Fifth Stand.

The Spanish star left an emotional message on his Instagram page.  Adios Marcos!

[JoeNemesis]

Todd Boehly has backed Thomas Tuchel massively in the market in this transfer window, with deals for Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Marc Cucurella completed ahead of the Premier League season, in addition to a range of young stars, including Carney Chuckwuemeka and Wesley Fofana.  Nevertheless, the final hours of the window offered more drama as players were signed, sold or loaned.

FULL LIST OF CHELSEA COMINGS AND GOINGS SUMMER 2022

Incomings

Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)

Marc Cucurella (Brighton)

Wesley Fofana (Leicester City)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona)

Denis Zakaria (Juventus - Loan)

Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire)

Cesare Casadei (Inter Milan)

Carney Chukwuemeka (Aston Villa)

Omari Hutchinson (Arsenal)

Eddie Beach (Southampton)

Zak Sturge (Brighton)

Tyler Dibling (Southampton)

Outgoings

Marcos Alonso (Barcelona)

Ross Barkley (Free agent)

Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid - Free transfer)

Andreas Christensen (Barcelona - Free transfer)

Emerson Palmieri (West Ham United)

Billy Gilmour (Brighton)

Kenedy (Real Valladolid)

Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)

Edwin Andersson (Stoke City)

Luke Badley-Morgan (Stoke City)

Thierno Ballo (Wolfsberger AC - Free transfer)

Jake Clarke-Salter (Queens Park Rangers - Free transfer)

Danny Drinkwater (Free agent)

Xavier Mbuyamba (FC Volendam)

George McEachran (Free agent)

Matt Miazga (FC Cincinnati)

Charly Musonda Jr. (Levante - Free transfer)

George Nunn (Derby County)

Josh Tobin (Free agent)

Karlo Ziger (HMK Gorica - Free transfer)

Tyler Dibling (Southampton)

Loanees

Prince Adegoke (Welling United)

Ethan Ampadu (Spezia)

Tino Anjorin (Huddersfield Town)

Tiemoue Bakayoko (AC Milan)

Nathan Baxter (Hull City)

Lucas Bergstrom (Peterborough)

Levi Colwill (Brighton)

Jamie Cumming (MK Dons)

Bryan Fiabema (Forest Green Rovers)

Joe Haigh (Derby County U21)

Callum Hudson-Odoi (Bayern Leverkusen)

Henry Lawrence (MK Dons)

Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan)

Ian Maatsen (Burnley)

Sam McClelland (Barrow)

Baba Rahman (Reading)

Malang Sarr (Monaco)

Xavier Simons (Hull City)

Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire)

Dujon Sterling (Stoke City)

Harvey Vale (Hull City)

[JoeNemesis]

The Blues come back late with goals from Chilwell and Havertz to peg the Hammers 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. The claret and blues will be gutted their late equaliser was chalked off for goalkeeper interference after a VAR intervention. Three points for Chelsea will take some pressure off Tuchel. Come on you Blues !

[JoeNemesis]

Chelsea 2-1 West Ham Premier League Highlights

If you register for free on chelseafc.com you can watch the entire match for free here.

 

[JoeNemesis]

Armando Broja, who had a great run-out with the Blues yesterday afternoon, has committed his future to Chelsea by signing a new long-term contract until 2028.

The young striker, who will turn 21 later this month, said on completion of his six-year deal: "I’m lost for words really just thinking about it. It’s the club I’ve dreamed of playing for my whole life, the club that I support and the club that I love. I’ve been here since I was a boy so it’s a surreal feeling for me and my family.

"To be able to put on the blue shirt with the first team is a dream come true. It's amazing every minute that you get to play on the pitch because this is one of the biggest clubs in the world. There’s always competition and everyone wants to play so I’m just happy that I have the opportunity to be a part of it. Hopefully I get to play a lot of matches and be a part of the team’s success."

[JoeNemesis]

A great tribute to our Club Captain, Cesar Azpilicueta:

A Decade in Blue

 

[JoeNemesis]

It's Official - Fenerbahçe have signed Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea.  The Batsman’s six-year will he? won't he? headspin has officially come to its conclusion and he is a Chelsea player no more, completing his transfer to Fenerbahçe on a 2+1 year deal.   This may not have been his first-choice outcome, with a proposed transfer to Nottingham Forest collapsing at the transfer window deadline, but Fener can offer European football (Europa League).  The 28-year-old Batsman proved his qualities in the Süper Lig with last year’s loan at Fener’s rivals Beşiktaş (14 goals in 33 games) and he should have a key role to play.  Good luck Michy!

[JoeNemesis]

Young Chelsea star Reece James is reportedly close to signing a new contract at Chelsea.  According to reports, James is on the verge of penning a fresh long-term deal at Stamford Bridge.  The report claims the 22-year-old Blues defender is in “advanced negotiations” regarding the contract extension, so it may be completely finalised within days.

[JoeNemesis]

Reece James has signed a new contract, which is five years long with the option of a further 12 months that would take it to 2028, and the 22 year-old has been rewarded with a huge pay rise.

Now all efforts will be directed to securing a big new contract for team-mate Mason Mount. .