Chelsea have retained top spot in Ground guru's exclusive Academy Productivity Rankings.

This is the 5th edition of the table, which ranks clubs according to the number of England-qualified players they have produced.

Sebastian Nanasi (22) for Strasbourg and Sweden so far this season 🇫🇷 🇸🇪

👤 8 matches
⚽️ 5 goals
🅰️ 2 assists

He was signed for only €11m this summer 👀 💰

Another accolade for Neil Bath, Chelsea's outgoing Director of Football Development, who left club after 30+ years in July - Blues have retained top spot in the Academy Productivity Rankings.

When club gained top spot for the 1st time in 2021/22, Ged Roddy MBE, former Head of Youth at the Premier League, said: “Neil is a leader in his field and a stand-out practitioner in player development in this country.

"The environment he has created at Cobham is world-leading. That phrase might be over-used, but with Neil it is truly justified. He’s a real innovator.”

First time in years our whole squad is fit. I can’t believe it. Long may it continue please

So what happens if Reece James gets injured again after coming back?

Genuine question. Will that be the last straw for you?

Chelsea sporting director Paul Winstanley: “We’ve had 2 debuts this year. There’s 3 or 4 more players in behind who we think we can push through this year as well that we’re keen to do. The manager’s on board with that, he’s aware of the players coming through. We give them opportunities when we can to make sure they’ve got that pathway”

Interesting reading the yearly Howden report on injuries:

- Chelsea have had injuries above the league average for the last four seasons.
- They also record the highest average cost of injuries (£540,000 per injury) last season,
- But Man United and Newcastle had more injuries last season,
- And United had the highest overall cost of injuries.

A major issue to be resolved under the new medical leadership and Enzo Maresca.

Via Nizaar Kinsella

Maresca the last two weeks watching and calculating

Lawrence Stewart admits that Chelsea did not believe City would agree to sell Palmer last summer:

🗣️ “We didn’t think necessarily that we’d be able to get him here really, did we? There was a feeling that ‘no, Cole Palmer won’t be for sale’.

We’d been speaking about him throughout that window and then as it came towards the latter stage of the window, we felt like we wanted to do something else and do something around that area of the pitch.

He came up again and we all said ‘let’s go for it, let’s see what’s possible’. And then there seemed to be a little bit of feedback that there could be something there.”

Casadei goal!

VIDEO: https://t.me/+n-3D4EY1gs4zY2Rk

Reece James on IG. 👀

Charly Musonda turns 28 years-old today. That sounds crazy even just typing it out. Feels like yesterday he was coming up at Chelsea, looking set to become football’s next big name. Real ones remember. A true example of “what could’ve been” without injuries.

In 2016, he was hit with a knee injury that would change the trajectory of his career for good. He’d continue to play… Going out on multiple loans to Real Betis, Celtic & Vitesse. But the injury kept sidelining him. In 2019, he finally received surgery & was told he would never play football again.

Despite everything, he kept working. He even managed to make a return for Chelsea’s U23 side in 2021, before being released at the end of the season. Football is a crazy game. My career mode brothers will never forget. What a talent.

Via RisingBallers

Moisés Caicedo vs Uruguay:

11 duels won (most)
10 possessions won (most)
4 fouls won (most)
3 tackles won (most)
2 chances created (2nd most)

- Enzo Maresca award
- Cole Palmer 3 awards 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
- Mykhailo Mudryk goal 🇺🇦
- Christopher Nkunku goal 🇫🇷
- Nicolas Jackson goal 🇸🇳
- Marc Guiu goal 🇪🇸
- Cesare Casadei goal 🇮🇹
- Malo Gusto assist 🇫🇷
- Levi Colwill masterclass 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

International break over
Time for Liverpool 🔜