Premier League

Busy Chelsea Confirm Third Deal, Eye Gittens & Maignan

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Mamadou Sarr from RC Strasbourg. The defender agreed to join the club in January and moves from the BlueCo-owned Ligue 1 outfit.

Sarr has agreed an eight-year contract and will not turn 20 until late August. The French youth international joins Liam Delap and Dario Essugo as the third deal of the summer for Chelsea with more expected to follow.

With under two days until the mini summer transfer window closes, Chelsea are also looking to complete deals for Jamie Gittens and Mike Maignan. If the club act quickly, both players could feature at the Club World Cup later this month.

Negotiations with Borussia Dortmund and Milan continue this week in a bid to bolster Enzo Maresca’s squad ahead of travelling out to America. Sarr is now set to be part of the expanded group which can have a role in USA.

He played 29 times for Strasbourg last season under Liam Rosenior. The Alsace-based side enjoyed a great season, finishing seventh and eventually securing a Conference League spot.

Things could have been even better for Sarr, Strasbourg, Rosenior, and BlueCo, but they lost the last two matches to drop out of the Champions League places. Sarr had been a mainstay at the heart of defence (which was often a back three), and started 27 out of 34 league games.

Chelsea star has three games to change Enzo Maresca transfer plans as £85m decision set to be made.

Chelsea moved to put a deal in place with their sister club for Sarr over the winter. He is thought to have cost around £14million having moved from Lyon in August 2024.

Sarr is a product of the Lyon academy after leaving Lens as a junior in 2018. He has played for France at Under-17 through to Under-20 level.

Much like with Sarr, Chelsea had already completed the formalities for Essugo’s transfer long before an announcement came last week. He joins from Sporting CP (via a loan at Las Palmas last season) for £18.5million. Essugo is expected to be part of Maresca’s senior team.

Sarr, on the other hand, could yet depart on loan in 2025/26. Chelsea are exploring their options at the back with Marc Guehi and Jorrel Hato among the players they are interested in.

It is unlikely that another defender arrives before the Club World Cup but all parties are working to secure Gittens and Maignan by that stage. Chelsea are also keen on Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike but his £84.5million price tag is continuing to be a stumbling block.

Chelsea can name up to 50 players in a provisional Club World Cup squad. That is then reduced to a maximum of 35 for the group stage. More players can be added ahead of the knockout stage to accommodate for newly completed registrations after the transfer window opens again on June 16.

Football.london

Premier League

Chelsea Player Asks To Leave After Fantastic Season

This feels like a never-ending season. Just a couple of weeks back, Chelsea secured a spot in the Champions League by winning away at Nottingham Forest and then won the UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis. Now, preparations are underway with the Club World Cup around the corner and Liam Delap has already been signed, while moves for Mike Maignan and Jamie Gittens failed.

Quite a few surprising names were left out of Chelsea’s Club World Cup squad. One that caused controversy was Djordje Petrovic, who is coming off an stellar campaign away on loan at Strasbourg.

Even last summer, a lot of Chelsea fans believed that Petrovic was the best goalkeeper that the club had. Those feelings have only been strengthened with his Player of the Season-winning campaign with Strasbourg.

But as reported by The Telegraph, it was Petrovic who asked to be omitted from the Chelsea squad to focus on a move. He wants to be a guaranteed starter, something that the Blues cannot offer. Should the Serbian goalie fail to secure a permanent move away that meets his demand, will rejoin the squad for pre-season training.

Chelsea player asks to leave after fantastic season
Unfortunately, despite his great performance on loan at Strasbourg, it does not look like Enzo Maresca views Petrovic as a starter. In that situation, an exit might be the best path forward for the Serbian.

At 25 years of age, he needs to be starting games on a regular basis. He might not get that chance at Chelsea, even though they don’t have a settled number one.

One has to wonder why Chelsea did not try to sign Caoimhin Kelleher this summer, who ended up at Bournemouth for a £12.5 million initial fee. He is a Premier League-proven goalkeeper and would have been a great addition to the Blues. But it looks like the club are more concerned about finding the next gem rather than signing ones readily available.

Theprideoflondon.com

Premier League

Gvardiol Named 2024/25 Etihad Player Of The Season

Josko Gvardiol has won your vote to be crowned the Etihad Player of the Season for 2024/25.

The Croatian beat both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland to win the award in just his second season at the Club.

Thousands of City fans had their say, but it was Gvardiol who collected almost half of the votes in the final shortlist after progressing through to the last three.

The 23-year-old played 53 games across all competitions this season – more than anyone else in Pep Guardiola’s squad.

Splitting his duties across left-back and centre-back, Gvardiol has been vital to City ever since arriving at the Club in the summer of 2023.

He found the net five times in the Premier League, including a stunning right-footed curler at Wolves that was named our Nissan Goal of the Month for October.

There was also a goal in the successful FA Cup semi-final meeting with Nottingham Forest to further his credentials as one of the most prolific defenders in world football.

Towards the end of the term, Gvardiol struck up an excellent partnership with Ruben Dias at the heart of the defence as we pushed towards our third-placed Premier League finish and subsequent Champions League qualification.

It is the first time he has won the Etihad Player of the Season vote, following in the footsteps of Phil Foden and Erling Haaland in the last two campaigns.

Kevin De Bruyne has previously dominated the award, winning it four times and equalling the Club record with former defender Richard Dunne.

Now, Gvardiol and the entire City squad are preparing to head to the USA for this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.

Everyone at Manchester City would like to congratulate Josko on this award!

Enter the competition below for your chance to win a shirt signed by Gvardiol himself!

Mancity.com

Premier League

Liverpool To Sign Wirtz For British Record Fee

Liverpool FC have agreed a British record transfer fee for German midfielder Florian Wirtz, with the starlet expected to join from Bayer Leverkusen in the coming days.

The German will join Liverpool for a Premier League record fee of €150m (£126m) after agreeing personal terms with the Premier League Champions weeks ago.

He will link up with former teammate Jeremie Frimpong, who also signed for the Reds just last week in a £30m swoop.

The 22-year-old is perhaps the best young forward available – an asset for Liverpool as the club gears up for the possibility of life without talisman Mohamed Salah in 2027.

Wirtz is considered one of the best attacking midfielders in world football after starring in Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title win in 2023-24, before scoring 16 goals and assisting 15 more in their most recent campaign.

The deal taking Wirtz to Liverpool is set to beat the current British record, currently held by Moises Caicedo’s £115m move to Chelsea. Liverpool have plenty of cash in the kitty after their title win, combined with very limited spending in the past three windows – only Federico Chiesa (£12m) and Giorgi Mamardashvili (£30m) joined the club since January 2024, with the latter yet to feature after spending last season on loan at Valencia. This allows Liverpool to push aggressively in the market this window.

Wirtz is reportedly on his way to Merseyside to complete his medical before an official announcement next week.

FC Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City were all interested in Wirtz but he expressed his preference to play for Liverpool – a refreshing contrast to Scouse fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold running down his contract to sign for Madrid.

What’s next for the Premier League champions? With a deal for Bournemouth’s Hungarian left back Milos Kerkez on the verge of completion, the Reds also hope to bolster both attacking and defensive depth ahead of the new season – though will likely have to offload players to free up any more funds.

Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez is already halfway out the door, with the 25-year-old’s inconsistency in front of goal pushing Arne Slot to find a solution elsewhere. Also linked with an exit are Colombian winger Luis Diaz and Portuguese striker Diogo Jota, who could be sold for a combined €130m according to latest reports.

FC Barcelona are keen admirers of Diaz in particular, with reports suggesting they would be willing to cough up almost €80m for his services.

Despite winning the title by a considerable margin, Liverpool look set for a new-look squad to enter the new season. Headlined by statement signing Florian Wirtz, expectations are high.

Insideworldfootball.com