CHELSEA are on the hunt for summer transfers to strengthen Thomas Tuchel's squad following Frank Lampard's controversial exit.
And Antonio Rudiger – out of favour under the former boss – has strongly denied having anything to do with Lampard's sacking.
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- Jack Figg
GOOD MORNING CHELSEA FANS
Matteo Kovacic has discussed the differences between Thomas Tuchel and previous boss Frank Lampard.
He told the club’s website: “I think we’ve improved a lot in the last three games, we’ve got seven points. But we need to go game by game and try to be as up as possible and I think we can do it.
“I think we have little problems – we didn’t score against Burnley as well. In the last 15 minutes we were 1-0 up and it could be even more.
“This is a thing we need to improve, to finish games. I think this is one thing we will work a lot on.
“He [Tuchel] explained to us what he wants. It’s exactly that – to play fast forward, to create chances, to be in the opposition’s half.
“I think we’ve improved a lot in the last three games but I think we can be even better & be even more confident.
“In the games coming, we will be even better and we need to even better because we can do it.”
Meanwhile, on the transfer front, Chelsea manager Tuchel has reportedly rewritten the club’s plans for the summer transfer window.
The Blues had been linked with West Ham’s Declan Rice and Brighton’s Ben White under Frank Lampard, but now they have been disregarded as Tuchel focuses instead on the two central defenders.
According to Goal, they are RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano and Bayern Munich’s Niklas Sule.
Upamecano, 22, has made a name for himself as one of the hottest prospects in Europe with his performances in the Bundesliga and Champions League.
And finally, Tuchel is reportedly ready to make a counter-offer to hijack Real Madrid’s bid for David Alaba.
Bayern Munich are set to wave goodbye to the long-serving Austrian defender when his contract expires in the summer.
Chelsea are one of several teams said to be interested in the 28-year-old, along with Madrid, Liverpool, and Manchester United.
According to The Guardian, the Blues want to make a last-ditch attempt to gazump the LaLiga giants.
- Joe Brophy
SILVA LINING
Thiago Silva has reassured fans over his injury, but is likely to miss Sunday's trip to Sheffield United.
The Brazilian has started all three of Thomas Tuchel's games in charge, but limped out of Thursday's dominant 1-0 win over Tottenham in the 36th minute with an apparent hamstring injury.
Silva, 36, then took to Instagram today to give fans a further update.
He posted a picture of his heavily-strapped leg.
And he wrote: "Injuries are part of our profession, now treating and returning stronger!"
undefined - Joe Brophy
FER REAL
Rio Ferdinand revealed he was ‘very surprised’ to see Thomas Tuchel drop Reece James and play Callum Hudson-Odoi at right wing-back in his first two games in charge of Chelsea.
Before the 1-0 win over Spurs last night, BT Sport pundit Ferdinand spoke about James: “He’s a top player and I’ll be honest, I was very surprised he didn’t start as soon as Tuchel came in.
“If he’s watching the videos, this kid is up there with the best right-backs in the league.
“He’s a young kid got great attitude and his delivery of the ball is phenomenal and as an all-round package as a right-back he’s got a lot.”
- Joe Brophy
BREAK APART
Premier League clubs don't have to let their Portuguese or South American stars represent their national teams in March.
Clubs are usually forced by FIFA regulations to release players for international duty.
However, an exemption until the end of April was added in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
UK rules mean anyone returning from a 'red list' country – which includes Portugal, all of South America and parts of Africa – will need to quarantine for 10 days.
- Joe Brophy
KNOCKOUT BLOW
Premier League clubs were embroiled in a furious row over proposed changes to the Champions League, REPORTS MARTIN LIPTON.
The latest meeting of the 20 ‘shareholder’ clubs was dominated by a terse and tense debate over the plans, explained for the first time by League chief executive Richard Masters.
At the height of the bust-up, which saw a scheduled two-hour virtual meeting lasting more than three hours, one club chief even threatened to SUE Uefa.
Masters outlined the latest proposals, which have emerged after a series of meetings between Uefa bigwigs and representatives of a small number of members of the European Club Association, including Manchester United.
Uefa, seeking to ward off the genuine threat of a breakaway European Super League, is proposing extending its blue riband competition to 36 clubs, four more than the current 32.
- Joe Brophy
FEELING BLUE
Chelsea ace Reece James has followed in Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount's footsteps by earning a future stars card on FIFA.
- Joe Brophy
GOLDEN TUCH
Thomas Tuchel is reportedly ready to make a counter-offer to hijack Real Madrid's bid for David Alaba.
Bayern Munich are set to wave goodbye to the long-serving Austrian defender when his contract expires in the summer.
Chelsea are one of several teams said to be interested in the 28-year-old, along with Madrid, Liverpool, and Manchester United.
According to The Guardian, the Blues want to make a last-ditch attempt to gazump the LaLiga giants.
undefined - Joe Brophy
GREAT SCOT
Chelsea star Billy Gilmour names Manchester United ace Scott McTominay as the toughest opponent he's faced.
Speaking on Chelsea’s official Youtube channel, he said: “It was against Manchester United, actually. It was Scott McTominay.
“I know he’s fellow Scottish and all that but he was so good, quick, strong and technically good. So, I think it was tough playing against him.
“He played really good, He was stopping everything in midfield and controlling the game.”
- Joe Brophy
TUCH N GO
Matteo Kovacic has discussed the differences between Thomas Tuchel and previous boss Frank Lampard.
He told the club's website: “I think we’ve improved a lot in the last three games, we’ve got seven points. But we need to go game by game and try to be as up as possible and I think we can do it.
“I think we have little problems – we didn’t score against Burnley as well. In the last 15 minutes we were 1-0 up and it could be even more.
“This is a thing we need to improve, to finish games. I think this is one thing we will work a lot on.
“He [Tuchel] explained to us what he wants. It’s exactly that – to play fast forward, to create chances, to be in the opposition’s half.
“I think we’ve improved a lot in the last three games but I think we can be even better & be even more confident.
“In the games coming, we will be even better and we need to even better because we can do it.”
- Joe Brophy
THOMAS THE TINK ENGINE
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has reportedly rewritten the club’s plans for the summer transfer window.
The Blues had been linked with West Ham’s Declan Rice and Brighton’s Ben White under Frank Lampard, but now they have been disregarded as Tuchel focuses instead on the two central defenders.
According to Goal, they are RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano and Bayern Munich’s Niklas Sule.
Upamecano, 22, has made a name for himself as one of the hottest prospects in Europe with his performances in the Bundesliga and Champions League.
- Joe Brophy
BLADES OF GLORY
Another way Tuchel could send out his troops at Bramall Lane…
undefined - Joe Brophy
KANT WAIT
N'Golo Kante looks set to start his first game since January 3 for Sunday's clash with Sheffield United – but Thiago Silva is unlikely to feature.
undefined - Joe Brophy
HAZARD WARNING
Dimitar Berbatov has urged Real Madrid to consider selling Chelsea hero Eden Hazard as he is ‘yet to prove anything’.
During an interview with BetFair, he said: “Real Madrid should consider selling Hazard.
“He has had a lot of injuries since he arrived in Spain, and that has prevented him from showing the brilliant football that he played at Chelsea.
“If it was something occasional then it would be a different matter, but the fact is that the player is injured again and again and again, that is a sign that there is another problem that is affecting him.”
- Josh Graham
MAN MOUNT-AIN
Mason Mount bagged the man of the match gong for Chelsea's 1-0 win over Spurs last night, and you can see why.
- Josh Graham
FER REAL?
Rio Ferdinand revealed he was 'very surprised' to see Thomas Tuchel drop Reece James and play Callum Hudson-Odoi at right wing-back in his first two games in charge of Chelsea.
Before the 1-0 win over Spurs last night, BT Sport pundit Ferdinand spoke about James: "He’s a top player and I’ll be honest, I was very surprised he didn’t start as soon as Tuchel came in.
“If he’s watching the videos, this kid is up there with the best right-backs in the league.
"He’s a young kid got great attitude and his delivery of the ball is phenomenal and as an all-round package as a right-back he’s got a lot.”
- Josh Graham
SPURRED ON
Hear Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic's thoughts after the Blues beat Spurs 1-0 last night.
- Josh Graham
BLUE WARNING
Thomas Tuchel pledged his heart to Mason Mount – but not a first-team place.
The new Chelsea boss is the latest coach to be won over by the England star’s personality and performances despite benching him in his first game in charge.
Thomas Tuchel and Mason Mount share a hug after beating SpursCredit: PA:Press Association But despite the hug they shared after the 1-0 win at Tottenham last night, Tuchel insisted Mount is still not a guaranteed starter.
The German said: "There is no doubting he is a team player and the potential he has. We didn’t choose him for the first game because we opted for a slightly different profile on the two No10 positions.
“But when he came in he showed what a big influence he can have also from the bench, and from here there are no guarantees for anybody. Not even for Mason right now.
“It’s easy with him because he leaves his heart on the pitch but everybody else does the same thing. It’s a team effort and Mason is the first to agree with this and this is what we need.
"Is there room to improve? Yes. Is there a lot of room to improve? Yes also and there are no gifts. He has to earn his place at every training session and in every match.
“He is a super-nice guy and it’s totally clear. He knows this, he is a competitor and it’s why we will keep pushing him like we do the others.”
- Josh Graham
INTER HIM
Inter Milan could reportedly let FIVE players leave in the summer including Chelsea and Arsenal target Achraf Hakimi.
Manchester City have also keeping a close eye on the 22-year-old full-back this season.
Inter Milan desperately need to raise £146million to ensure they can compete next season.
Transfer fees combined with the coronavirus pandemic have plunged the club into financial crisis.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter Milan could get rid of five players in the summer.
Hakimi has been named alongside Aleksandar Kolarov, Ashley Young, Danilo D’Ambrosio and Matteo Darmian.
Premier League target Hakimi joined Inter from Real Madrid for £36.3m in the summer of 2020.
- Josh Graham
BEWARE OF THE DROG
Didier Drogba once wanted to ‘kill’ old Chelsea team-mate Tal Ben Haim after a tackle in training – and Jose Mourinho loved it.
The Special One is now in charge of Tottenham and suffered a 1-0 defeat to his former club in the Premier League last night.
Didier Drogba wanted to 'kill' team-mate Tal Ben Haim at ChelseaCredit: Getty Images – Getty Steve Sidwell spent the 2007/08 campaign working under the Portuguese boss at Chelsea and watched yesterday’s action as part of the BT Sport panel.
And he recalled: "There were leaders. Terry, Lampard, Essien, Drogba, Ballack – there were leaders in there.
“In training, people were smashing the hell out of each other.
"Tal Ben Haim going through Drogba, Drogba getting up saying, ‘I want to kill him’. Mourinho saying, ‘I need him on Saturday, you can kill him next week’.”
- Josh Graham
TUCH THE MICK
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel revealed exactly what he told fellow German Timo Werner during the 1-0 win over Spurs last night.
Tuchel pulled the former RB Leipzig man aside for some animated instructions just before Jorginho stroked home a first-half penalty.
And the former PSG boss told Astro SuperSport: "To score the second one and he didn’t listen! [laughs]
"No, no, we had some tactical advice regarding his position. He was even moving too much, we wanted him to stay a little bit longer on his position.
"Then we could find him in a more open position in the last line.
"That was just a quick tactical chat to give him some instructions."
- Josh Graham
DERBY DELIGHT
Check out highlights of Chelsea's 1-0 win away at Tottenham last night.
- Josh Graham
THE CARING ONE
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has revealed the mixed messages he gave referee Andre Marriner after his side's defeat to Chelsea.
Spurs suffered their third Premier League defeat in a row on Thursday evening as a first half penalty gave Thomas Tuchel's side a deserved 1-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And while there did not appear to be any contentious decisions during the 90 minutes, Mourinho still went over to talk to Marriner at the end of the game and was happy to divulge what he told him.
He said: "I told him something that he knows already which is that I consider him one of the best referees in the Premier League and I care for him.
"He’s a referee that I have a big admiration [for] and that gives me probably a good position to tell him that I didn’t like his performance so it was basically like that.
"I have a very good relationship with Andre so that gives me a good position to tell him that I didn’t like the performance."
- Josh Graham
PAT ON THE BACK
Alexandre Pato has asked for a huge house with a private pool and family protection to join Iraq club Al Diwaniya, reports say.
The Brazilian is currently a free agent having left Sao Paulo in July 2020.
Alexandre Pato played twice for Chelsea on loan in 2016Credit: Getty Images – Getty Al Diwaniya president Hussein Al-Ankoshei confirmed the club are in talks with Pato.
But according to Rudaw TV channel, the 31-year-old has tabled lofty demands while negotiating a contract.
They say Chelsea flop Pato wants an expensive salary, a big house with a pool equipped and guaranteed safety for himself and wife Rebeca, a TV host.
Al-Ankoshei eluded to the striker's demands while confirming talks with the player.
He said: "Negotiations are ongoing, the conditions he has set are difficult to meet and there is still no final agreement, it is not easy."
- Josh Graham
DIM VIEW
Dimitar Berbatov has urged Real Madrid to consider selling Chelsea hero Eden Hazard as he is ‘yet to prove anything’.
The injury-prone star, 30, has played just 35 games for the Spanish side since he joined from the Blues in 2019.
Dimitar Berbatov said Real Madrid should sell ex-Chelsea star Eden Hazard Hazard now faces another four to six weeks on the sidelines as he has suffered another muscle injury.
His latest setback is the TENTH separate problem he has picked up since he arrived at the Bernabeu.
During an interview with BetFair, Berbatov said: “Real Madrid should consider selling Hazard.
“He has had a lot of injuries since he arrived in Spain, and that has prevented him from showing the brilliant football that he played at Chelsea.
“If it was something occasional then it would be a different matter, but the fact is that the player is injured again and again and again, that is a sign that there is another problem that is affecting him.”
- Josh Graham
GOING HAAL IN
Chelsea target Erling Haaland could join Manchester City instead with Pep Guardiola's side ready to launch a £100million bid this summer before his release clause kicks in.
The 20-year-old Borussia Dortmund star is the most sought-after striker in Europe following his explosion onto the scene over the past two years.
However, the Norwegian will be available for just £68m in June 2022 due to a clause in his contract with the German giants.
Premier League rivals Manchester United are also keen on Haaland who is the son of former City player Alf-Inge Haaland.
But the Daily Mirror claims City are ‘prepared to blow his suitors out of the water’ with a £100m bid at the end of this season.
And they are ready to offer the youngster a whopping £400,000-a-week to come to the Etihad.
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