🚨🔵 Chelsea agree deal to sign Pep Chavarria from Rayo Vallecano, here we go!

Deal done for Spanish left back, €19m fixed fee plus €2m add-ons. Chavarria will now fly for medical and contract signing.

Club to club signatures happening tonight.

There is always noise in the media about our big squad every summer. Don't they get tired? This has always been our model since Roman's era: a large number of loan and academy players in the squad before the start of the season. It's up to the manager to trim it down as he wishes.

But it's part of our business model. Commercial and gate fee revenues aren't good enough for us to compete with our rivals. Last summer, we raised more than £300m in sales, and it covered our incomings. This summer could be the same.

The challenge is how the manager handles it. He needs to be bold and ruthless in selecting his squad from a massive group. It's not nice to turn down players, but we have to do what we have to do to survive. Football is generally a ruthless business.

🚨🧤 Xabi Alonso on his GK's:

“I’m very happy with Rob, Mike, Teddy. Mike is a young goalkeeper. Rob has played many years in the club and the Premier League. He has experience. So to have this security in goal is important.”

(kierangill_DM) #CFC

‼️ Manchester City are exploring a move for Enzo Fernandez in light of Rodri’s expected move to Barcelona.


https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-man-city-enzo-fernandez-rodri-transfer-news-b3029261.html

~ MiguelDelaney

🗣 Xabi Alonso: "Why Chelsea? Because for me, I love football, and Chelsea is one of the greatest clubs in the world. And to have this opportunity, I'm really proud, really privileged, and really responsible for the job I'm taking. I think this is a club with such big potential."

🗣 Xabi Alonso: "We know football is so global that we can be based in in London, but we know that we feel that great support everywhere. We see blue shirts wherever we have been, and we want to pay them back and now is the perfect timing to come, and tomorrow I'm sure that we will feel this support. That is the beauty of the game."

Cole Palmer was back in full team training today… ✅

🔵 Team news
💻 How to watch
❓ Prediction

🗞️ Previewing #Chelsea's pre-season fixture against AC Milan in Indonesia:

https://roundtable.io/sports/soccer/premier-league/chelsea/match-day/chelsea-vs-ac-milan-preview-team-news-prediction-how-to-watch-pre-season-match

In Jakarta to face AC Milan. 🇮🇩💪

🚨 Chelsea STARTING XI vs AC Milan :

Sanchez
Palestra Acheampong Fofana Hato
Caicedo Lavia
Palmer Joao Pedro Neto
Welbeck

KICK OFF!!

GOALLLLL

#CFC

JP 💪

I think this is the best 45 minutes we have played this pre-season, structure and tactics-wise. Not the performance, because we are lacking sharpness and not connecting passes well enough in the pockets.

But the structure, the ideas, and the tight block are taking shape. It's now about doing things more efficiently.

🚨 GOALLL: JOAO PEDRO AGAIN!! X2.

Seriously, what would we do without him? Serious levels of carrying the past few months. #CFC

GOALLL- Caicedo!

What a performance! 👏

Palestra is one of my favourite players already, I have never seen someone who makes on ball runs as much as him, he is literally a nightmare for the opposition to try and track, he is everywhere.

You either like it or you don’t.
Football is cyclical.
Fullback/wingback movement shown by mendes / hakimi is the new meta.
FB’s that can essentially empty out the field and make a back 4 / back 3 seamlessly whilst possessing ball carrying / manipulation & interplay.
Palestra is the new face of the meta.

✅ First game using a back three
✅ 3-0 win
✅ Clean sheet

The Xabi Alonso era has begun… ✨