Diego Costa has admitted in an interview with the Daily Mail that he will only join Atletico Madrid if he leaves Chelsea.
What’s the word?
It has been reported for some time that the controversial hitman is on his way out of the Stamford Bridge exit gates.
The Spain international played no part in the Blues’ pre-season schedule and he has not yet joined up with the squad, despite the new Premier League campaign getting underway at the weekend.
It seems to have all gone sour between Costa and manager Antonio Conte, and the striker insisted to the Daily Mail that he did receive a text message from the Italian informing him that he was no longer wanted. The club have denied this.
When discussing his future, the 28-year-old made it clear that he only wants to play for Atletico if Chelsea decide to sell.
Costa played for the Spanish club between 2010 and 2014, winning four trophies in that time, including the La Liga title.
He told the Daily Mail:
“My desire is to go to Atletico. I’ve spoken to Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia. I said, ‘If the manager doesn’t want me, I want to go to is Atletico Madrid’.
“I have rejected other offers. They want to sell me to China or other teams. The language is better for me in Spain. If I’m off, I’m going to the club I want to go to, not the club that’s paying the most.
“Diego Simeone wants me. It is very clear. I have always had a bond with him. The fans and people love me there. They respect me.”
The striker admitted that he is willing to join the club even though he will be ineligible to play until January due to Atletico’s transfer ban.
What should Chelsea do?
The Blues have not had an ideal start to their title defence, as they were stunned 3-2 by Burnley at the Bridge on Saturday.
During the game, Conte lost Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas to red cards, meaning that both will miss this weekend’s clash against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley.
Losing Costa is not ideal for Chelsea, but Alvaro Morata’s cameo appearance on Saturday was positive, even though his goal failed to spark a comeback.
If the West London club want to get back on track, then they need to rid the dressing room of any negative energy or tension.
Even though Costa is not directly involved with the squad at the moment, the unresolved issue is a dark cloud over the club, and it will not help that he has spilled to the media.
The best thing for Chelsea to do is agree a sale this month and open a new chapter.
Newcastle United will want to return to the Premier League with a bang when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to St. James’ Park this Sunday.
The Lilywhites are one of the top sides in the Premier League these days but the Magpies will fancy themselves for a decent result in front their home fans, carrying momentum into the game from last season’s promotion.
But Rafa Benitez still has some big decisions to make ahead of Sunday’s 1.30pm kickoff, especially in regards to his selection at the heart of defence.
Florian Lejeune arrived from Eibar earlier in the summer, suggesting he’s been signed to partner captain Jamaal Lascelles. But Ciaran Clark and Chancel Mbemba are decent options as well, of relatively similar ability.
So considering Newcastle’s defence will be up against one of the deadliest strikers in the Premier League in the form of Harry Kane, which two players would you pick at centre-back?
Let us know by voting below – giving each player a thumbs up or a thumbs down!
Most of the time, football clubs like to show off the players’ skills in training and post it all over social media.
On this occasion, Chelsea decided to upload a video of their manager Antonio Conte proving that he has some decent footwork.
The light-hearted video comes after a frustrating summer for the Italian, who ended up signing a new two-year contract after rumours rumbled that he was considering quitting.
The defending Premier League champions managed to bring in Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata during the transfer window.
However, they missed out on Romelu Lukaku, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley and Fernando Llorente.
The club were also heavily criticised for selling Nemanja Matic to Manchester United.
On the pitch, the Blues recovered from an opening day 3-2 defeat to Burnley by defeating Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.
Now that the players have returned from their international commitments, Chelsea are gearing up for this Saturday’s league clash against Leicester City.
The fans seemed to be in a happy mood when commenting on Conte’s video, and some even took a swipe at former manager Jose Mourinho.
As reported by The Sun, David De Gea has provided a big hint that he sees his future with Manchester United.
What’s the story?
United fans have long worried that the Spanish goalkeeper could have his head turned by a Spanish giant looking to bring him back to La Liga but it appears that they don’t have much to worry about, for now.
The Sun report that the Old Trafford favourite has recently moved into a new house, just minutes away from his previous luxury home.
The paper say that despite Real Madrid wanting him for the past two seasons, he’s moved into a place that he has an option to buy, a sign he will be sticking around Manchester United for the foreseeable future.
How important is he?
De Gea is arguably the best goalkeeper in the entire English Premier League and has at least been in that conversation for years now. Since moving to Manchester United in 2011 he’s made 275 appearances for the Old Trafford side, making countless saves and on occasion directly contributing to winning points in the English Premier League.
If Jose Mourinho is to deliver the major silverware fans crave then retaining his services is a must. They can’t be doing with upsetting things at the back just as things are beginning to click and he would be exceptionally difficult to replace.
United fans will be hoping that he remains settled in Manchester on and off the pitch.
Manchester City’s trip to Chelsea represents the headline clash in the Premier League this weekend and arguably the biggest game we’ve seen in English football so far this season – the top flight’s reigning champions taking on a side with the most convincing credentials to prise the crown from them.
At this point, however, both teams seem like largely unknown quantities. The Citizens have amassed impressive points and goals for tallies to rise to the Premier League’s summit, but Chelsea represent their most intimidating challenge this season by far. Likewise, although the Blues are amid a title defence, a summer of affluent spending has significantly altered the team we saw last season with key changes in attack, midfield and the defence.
Consequentially, Saturday’s clash will have an enticing air of unpredictability about it. But perhaps this week’s experts, David Chidgey from Chelsea FanCast and Bluemoon’s Ric Turner, can give an insight into how the 5.30pm kickoff will pan out…
The biggest selection dilemma Antonio Conte faces is at the back. Antonio Rudiger appears to have forced out Gary Cahill for the time being but with David Luiz suspended, would you bring the captain back in for such an important clash?
DC: I suspect that he might stick with Andreas Christensen to replace Luiz rather than Cahill, unless Cahill’s absence against Stoke was more down to squad rotation than relative form. Christensen has been very impressive so far this season and I am sure he would do a good job against City. One thing we’ll need is pace and skill rather than aerial ability and brute force, which would seem to favour Rudiger and Christensen. That said, Cahill is the captain and brings a wealth of experience to the table. Christensen looks more comfortable on the ball than Cahill and City’s pacey attack are likely to press Chelsea and put the back three under pressure when in possession, which again might favour the Dane. Whether its Cahill or Christensen who gets the nod, I have complete faith in Conte to make the right decision.
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Sergio Aguero’s injury comes at a terrible time for City, all-the-more unfortunately suffered during non-football related activities. Guardiola still has some fantastic attacking options to choose from, but how will Aguero’s absence affect his starting XI?
RT: Aguero’s injury, coming so soon after the news of Benjamin Mendy’s ruptured cruciate ligament, is a big blow for City. It wouldn’t surprise me if Guardiola opted to bolster his midfield by including Ilkay Gundogan, although either Raheem Sterling or Bernardo Silva could come in on the right hand side of attack in a 4-3-3 formation with Leroy Sane on the left, and Jesus through the middle.
Manchester City’s attack has been nothing short of rampant this season, so how should Chelsea approach this match? Should Conte look to hit City on the counter or would you like to see a more expansive game at home?
DC: Conte has set us up well to counter-attack this season and we have the pace to exploit it. It might help us out to sit back and soak up the pressure that will inevitably come from City and hopefully take advantage of any space that they leave as they bomb forward. I don’t see a Guardiola side playing cautiously or parking the bus so from that point of view it might be an expansive game. But Conte, as an Italian coach, is too shrewd to leave the door open at the back. Chelsea seem to have more problems breaking teams down who defend as a unit and are well organised – hopefully City’s desire to attack will give us the chance to open them up.
Benjamin Mendy and Vincent Kompany will both be out for this fixture. Will that impact City’s organisation at the back or do you think their defensive issues have been overplayed this season, considering they’ve conceded just twice in the Premier League?
RT: Both players would be in our strongest XI when fit, so it’ll be a blow not to have either available for such a tough game. Mendy’s injury is a particular problem, in that he’s our only recognised left back. I do think we’re a lot stronger defensively this season though, and Ederson plays a bit part in that. He is a huge upgrade on Claudio Bravo and seems to breed confidence into those in front of him.
What will be the deciding factor in this game?
DC: Given that City will attack and have some exceptional attacking players but are perhaps still suspect at the back, it appears that the two teams may cancel each other out. Ultimately I believe that the deciding factor will be Chelsea’s ability to defend against City and stop them from scoring. If they can do that, then we have enough players who can score a goal and we will get chances. If we are as clinical as we were against Stoke then I can see Chelsea winning, providing they can shut City out.
Chelsea are an incredibly well-balanced side that often appear almost machine-like in the way they go about their victories. But what are the Blues’ inevitable weaknesses and how can City exploit them?
RT: David Luiz’s suspension is a blow for them, and I think the Blues can be got at defensively. Conte has them well organised, but we can cause them problems if they play a back three against our front three.
And finally chaps, let’s hear your score predictions…
DC: Not an easy game to predict – if they cancel each other out it could be a surprising 0-0 draw. If Chelsea fail to contain City’s prolific attack we could get dubbed. That said, City will leave gaps and Chelsea will create chances. I’ll stick my neck out and say Chelsea to edge it 3:2 – I see goals in this match. No doubt it will be a 0-0 draw now I’ve said this.
RT: I think it will be a tight game. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw.
West Ham United drew 1-1 with Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday and for the second time in eight Premier League matches so far this season, they saw one of the players sent off in the first half to ultimately cost them the three points.
Club-record signing Marko Arnautovic also saw red in the Irons’ second fixture of the campaign against Southampton at St Mary’s in August, and despite trailing 2-0 five minutes after the Austrian was dismissed, Slaven Bilic’s men battled back to 2-2 before a last-gasp Charlie Austin penalty ensured that the hosts picked up all three points.
With Arnautovic clearly in the wrong on the south coast after elbowing Jack Stephens in the face, Bilic would have been quick to warn his players not to repeat the same mistake over the course of the rest of the season, or to give the referee the opportunity to show them a red card.
The Hammers quickly found themselves in a similar situation against the Clarets just six matches later though, but on this occastion they led through Michail Antonio’s 19th minute goal as they looked to pick up their first win of the campaign on the road.
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Just six minutes later, Andy Carroll was booked for elbowing James Tarkowski when he went to jump for the ball – even though he had his eyes clearly fixed on it – and Bilic would have been keen to get a message across to him at that point that he needed to show some composure and not do anything silly for the rest of the game.
However, just two minutes later the same thing happened again – this time with Ben Mee – and referee Stuart Attwell had little choice but to show the 28-year-old a second yellow card to leave West Ham a man short with more than an hour to play.
The visitors looked set to hold on to the victory before Chris Wood scored just Burnley’s second home Premier League goal of the season five minutes from time, and it is something that may not have happened had Carroll still be on the field considering the Clarets had barely threatened aside from a few long distance efforts against 10 men.
While the centre-forward clearly should have known better and will be regretting his actions – especially after Bilic said he was “very disappointed and angry” with him in his post-match press conference – Irons supporters shouldn’t turn against him despite his naivety.
He may have failed to get on the scoresheet so far this season, but he is still an important player to the team – when he is fit of course – and he will still have a big part to play for them across the rest of the course of the campaign considering he was such a handful in the crucial 1-0 win against Swansea City in the club’s previous home game.
In fact, Carroll’s absence through suspension against Brighton and Hove Albion at the London Stadium on Friday night gives Bilic’s men another opportunity to work out how they can play effectively with summer signing Javier Hernandez up top.
The Mexico international endured a difficult time up front on his own against Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle United earlier in the campaign, while he initially moved to a left wing position when Carroll made his comeback from injury in the first win of the season against Huddersfield Town in September.
Bilic chose to go with a more traditional 4-4-2 formation against Swansea and Burnley with the duo up top together, but their partnership never really got going against the Welsh side before Carroll was sent off after just 27 minutes against the Clarets.
While Hernandez has scored three goals – including a brace in the Southampton defeat – in eight Premier League appearances and 10 in all competitions for West Ham this season, we certainly haven’t seen the best of him yet.
However, he is undoubtedly the best and most reliable goalscorer at the club and Bilic needs to work out how the Mexican can be the main man in the team.
It is unclear whether the 29-year-old will start up front on his own against Brighton or if he will be partnered by Diafra Sakho in a 4-4-2 formation, but his teammates must quickly learn his strengths and what he wants to provide him with the service he needs to start finding the net on a regular basis – beginning on Friday night.
According to ESPN, Manchester United are keen on signing Benfica wonderkid Umaro Embalo and have been watching the player for some time.
What’s the Story?
Manchester United’s scouting network were out in full force in Lisbon earlier this week to keep tabs on 16-year-old Umaro Embalo of Benfica.
Chief scout Javier Ribalta and head of development John Murtagh watched from the stands as Manchester United’s development squad drew 2-2 with the Portuguese side.
Reports suggest they were watching one of Benfica’s most promising talents, Embalo, who has impressed in his team’s youth games this season.
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Who is Embalo?
Eligable to represent both Portugal or Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Embalo was born in 2001 and has spent his entire youth career with Benfica.
A versatile forward, Embalo is lightning quick, fleet of foot and blessed with plenty of technical skills that have excited a number of watching scouts across Europe.
A Benfica Raid?
While Embalo may have been the main focus of Manchester United’s scouting adventures in Lisbon, reports suggest that Mourinho’s side are also keeping a close eye on two other young stars emerging from Benfica.
The first is 17-year-old striker Joao Felix. The youngster has already played games for Benfica’s reserve team and is considered one of the most exciting prospects in Portugal.
The second, midfielder Joao Filipe was the key man as Benfica reached the UEFA Youth League final last season. The 18-year-old has actually spent time on trial at Carrington, Manchester United’s training ground, before.
Aware of the interest in three of their most promising young players, Benfica are looking to tie the trio down to long-term contracts.
According to reports in the Sunday Mirror on October 29, Aston Villa are one of three clubs potentially interested in signing out of favour Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick during the January transfer window.
The Sunday Mirror says that the 36-year-old could be on his way out of Old Trafford in the New Year after starting just one game for the club so far this season –against Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup – while he has been suffering from a mystery illness in recent weeks that has kept him in the sidelines.
While the report adds that he doesn’t keening on leaving yet, that situation could change if the game time doesn’t arrive in the coming weeks, with the Villans and Premier League clubs Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion keeping tabs on his situation.
The experienced midfielder may be a good addition on paper, but it might not be a smart decision to bring him to Villa Park in January.
Here are three reasons Villa should steer clear of signing Carrick…
They don’t need him
If you were looking at positions that Aston Villa potentially need to strengthen during the January transfer window, holding midfield certainly wouldn’t be the spot that would spring to mind.
Steve Bruce already has experienced players in Mile Jedinak and Glenn Whelan there, with the latter improving in recent weeks following a tough start to the campaign.
Adding Carrick into the mix would leave the aforementioned duo on the substitutes’ bench and perhaps not even in the squad, and that seems unlikely considering how important they are to the team and with Whelan only arriving during the summer.
Competition
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Even if Carrick does leave Manchester United during the January transfer window, Aston Villa would face a tough task to convince him to drop down to the Championship considering Premier League teams Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion are reportedly keen.
While Villa did manage to sign John Terry in the summer, that was more because he didn’t want to come up against Chelsea and Carrick probably doesn’t have the same affiliation with the Red Devils even though he has been with them since 2006.
Looking to the future
Considering they already have players like John Terry, Mile Jedinak, Glenn Whelan and Gabby Agbonlahor, perhaps it is time for Steve Bruce to look to the future rather than the short term when it comes to making new signings in January and beyond.
The ultimate aim for Villa is promotion to the Premier League this season, and if they were to achieve that having signed Carrick in the New Year, the midfielder would be 37 next season and increasingly unlikely to play on a regular basis.
According to the Northern Echo, Newcastle are set to make a January bid for Tom Cairney, who was reportedly a target of Rafael Benitez in the summer.
Despite the ongoing takeover saga that continues to shroud St James’s Park in uncertainty, it is thought that Benitez is keen to bring the Scotsman to the North East when the transfer window re-opens.
Cairney, who is valued at £9million by Transfermarkt is widely considered to be one of the best players in England outside of the top flight. However, the 26-year-old has failed to live up to expectations with Fulham this season and his club are languishing in 17th place in the Championship.
Despite this, it is thought that Newcastle are ready to make a new approach for Cairney as they look to solidify their squad for the second half of the Premier League campaign.
However, the Toon Army are seemingly unhappy at the reports and would prefer to see Benitez look for better attacking options instead…
Everton came from behind twice to secure a point away from home against Crystal Palace on Saturday, drawing 2-2 at Selhurst Park.
The day started horribly for the Toffees, conceding a James McArthur effort within seconds of kick-off. However, they rallied well and equalised through Leighton Baines five minutes later.
Roy Hodgson’s Eagles again found themselves ahead though thanks to a close-range strike from Wilfried Zaha. The spirit that David Unsworth has brought to Everton came to the fore again though after Oumar Niasses latched onto a Gylfi Sigurdsson pass to equalise.
It’s perhaps no surprise that the two worst defences in the top-flight contributed to an entertaining 90 minutes but for Everton, it’s a sign that they’re still struggling to separate themselves from the struggling sides at the bottom of the table.
Fans were frustrated with the performance and are starting lose patience with interim manager Unsworth, believing that the club need to make a decision on a permanent choice over the next week.