Chelsea

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We asked for you tell us one thing that no one is talking about at Chelsea.

Here are some of your comments:

Tom: The good thing that's been slightly less discussed recently is the age of the squad. Young players take time to develop consistency and that only comes from years of playing at the highest level. Our squad will be developing into a great one in a few years.

Gary: The out-and-out wingers ploy is not working. Play James, Fofana and Colwill in a back three then get width from Gusto and Cucurella.

Carl: The amazing women's team aren't given the credit they are due.

Nicholas: Levi Colwill. He has all the ingredients to become a top defender. Obviously injuries play a part and he needs a settled partner. My issue is players aren't improving under Maresca and some are going backwards. This is very concerning.

Marty: The thing that the powers at Chelsea don't seem to be talking about is the lack of a potent striker. We create so much yet it feels like decades since we had a 4-0 or 5-0 Premier League win. We used to have them regularly in the golden days. We need Osimhen!

Bill: What about the possibility of Cole Palmer being sold?

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Premier League clubs have agreed the dates for the summer transfer window.

The window will open early, between Sunday 1 June and Tuesday 10 June, due to an exceptional registration period relating to the Fifa Club World Cup.

It will then reopen on Monday 16 June and close on Monday 1 September.

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Earlier this week, BBC Sport asked its fan writers to detail a player who really needs to step up to the plate as the season closes out. Chelsea fan Will picked Levi Colwill, stating "his form has been somewhat disappointing" despite being a regular for Enzo Maresca.

I haven't heard many Chelsea fans speaking about the 'inconsistency' of Colwill and in the games that I have watched him in, he has done fine.

But fine is not representative of having a great season.

He has played week-in week-out and that is only going to be good for him and his development when it is only his second full season at Chelsea. As a left-footed centre half, I do see him growing into that position and being around the England set-up will only help his drive to be successful.

If he can go to the World Cup in 2026 then that would be massive for him.

I can see the argument for fans wanting him to be more consistent because they can see his potential, but as a 22-year-old he is the youngest of Chelsea's back four.

Most players would also like consistency in their pairing at the back and a lot of people have enjoyed him playing alongside Wesley Foffana but Enzo Maresca tends to pick that place depending on the game rather than having a set-two.

He might not be reaching his full potential now but that will come with game time and there are some big games coming up for Chelsea. They have the chance to win a European competition as well as earning a place in the Champions League.

The more exposure Colwill has to these big games, the more he will be able to elevate his game.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford

There have been many standout free-kicks in the FA Cup over the years, so BBC Sport has wound back the years and selected a few to celebrate all over again.

And of course, two Chelsea legends feature in Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

Lampard's "absolute screamer" from 35-yards out against Tottenham on 15 April 2012 was too good not to see again, but so was Drogba's cup final strike against Portsmouth in 2010 which helped the Blues to achieve their first league and FA Cup double.

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Thursday's newspaper back pages hone in on how Manchester City and Chelsea could earn up to £97m in prize money from this year's Club World Cup.

The two sides qualified because of their recent Champions League wins and could earn the biggest prize money ever awarded in club football over a seven-game format this summer.

It comes amid ongoing talks of the gap between Championship and Premier League teams and the financial differences between many of the top-flight teams.

The expanded Club World Cup, featuring 32 clubs, will take place in the United States from 15 June to 13 July.

Chelsea have joined Real Madrid in the race to sign 19-year-old Dutch-born Spain defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth this summer.(Sport - in Spanish), external

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho, currently on loan at Chelsea, is keen to return to the Bundesliga - re-joining Borussia Dortmund is his "dream" - but Bayer Leverkusen are also interested in the 25-year-old Englishman. (Bild - in German), external

Chelsea, who have an obligation to buy Sancho from Manchester United, are considering whether to sign the England international permanently, before immediately selling him. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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The winner of the newly expanded Club World Cup will secure up to $125m (£97m) in prize money, Fifa has announced.

The overall prize pot, shared between all 32 teams based on different factors, will be $1bn, with about half that figure divided between all participating clubs and $475m awarded on a performance-related basis.

As a result, Manchester City and Chelsea - the two Premier League sides in the competition because of their recent Champions League wins - could pocket the biggest prize money ever awarded in club football over a seven-game format.

In a statement, Fifa president Gianni Infantino said: "Fifa will neither retain any funding for this tournament, as all revenues will be distributed to club football, nor will it touch Fifa's reserves, which are set aside for global football development through the 211 Fifa Member Associations."

Despite Chelsea not being in fantastic form, it could still be an exciting end to the season for Blues fans.

Enzo Maresca's side are fourth in the Premier League and have the potential of silverware still to play for with Legia Warsaw awaiting in the quarter-finals of the Conference League.

But you know your club best, so tell us what's slipping under the radar? What's the one thing - good or bad - that nobody is talking about in relation to Chelsea?

Let us know here

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After our Chelsea fan writer suggested supporters will be hoping to see more from Levi Colwill in this final part of the season, we asked for your views on the defender and if he needs to step up more.

Here are some of your comments:

Stu: Levi Colwill has disappointed this season, however, it is down to Enzo Maresca and his coaching team to develop players and we have not seen any of that with any player this season. It will not have helped that Maresca has been changing his defensive line up regularly and playing players out of position too. For me, Maresca has to take a lot of the blame but Colwill also needs to step up.

PhilC: Personally, I think he has listened to all the hype from his time at Brighton and thinks he has made it. For a central defender, he is knocked off the ball far too easily and then wants to claim a foul every time. Not convinced about his positional sense or his distribution either. I think he has the potential to become a good, even great, defender but he must keep working on his game and get back to the basics of defending.

JJ: I totally agree with the fan writer, 100%. I don't know, it just used to feel so strange seeing him play left-back or right-back.

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Chelsea captain Reece James says the club will arrive in the United States for the newly expanded Fifa Club World Cup with the intention of winning the trophy.

Previously an annual tournament contested by the top seven teams, the Club World Cup will now feature 32 teams and occur once every four years.

Chelsea have qualified by virtue of them winning the 2021 Champions League and have been drawn in a group with Flamengo, Esperance Sportive de Tunisie and Club Leon.

"Everyone at the club is excited," said James. "The best players want to play against the best. It should be an exciting tournament.

"It's great to interact with fans across the US and outside the UK. We do a little bit of it during pre-season, so it's great to be back and competing for an actual competition and trophy.

"It could be difficult because we're used to playing against teams in and around Europe. So, the style is going to be different - how they prepare, how they set up. It will be tough."

The Blues have won the Champions League, Europa League and Uefa Super Cup in the past six years and are favourites to win this season's Conference League to complete a clean sweep of every European trophy available.

"The goal for any competition is to win," James added. "We have an amazing squad, amazing team, amazing manager, and our goal is to win.

"Any trophy of this significance is a huge honour for the club and, obviously, the first time would go down in history."

Will Faulks
Fan writer

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Levi Colwill is a player Chelsea fans have been excited about for a very long time.

He shone in the academy, emerging as a perfect model of a modern centre-back: quick, elegant, comfortable on the ball, and left-footed.

His successful loans raised the excitement levels further. Even as a teenager in the Championship, he held his own physically and displayed great maturity.

Last season, he started to become a regular for Chelsea, but injuries and regular usage at left-back disrupted his progress a little. This was supposed to be his real breakout season, and under Enzo Maresca he has been consistently first choice and played every minute when available.

However, despite finally getting into the rhythm of playing every week, his form has been somewhat disappointing.

It has not helped that he has not had a regular partner at the back, and he does not have a reliable goalkeeper behind him. But even beyond those valid excuses, his performances have not reached the levels hoped for by most Chelsea fans.

All of that potential and class that scouts, coaches and supporters fell in love with is still there - it just needs to be seen more consistently.

With Wesley Fofana back and fit to play alongside him for the run-in, this is an important period.

Finish the season strongly and Colwill can continue to consider himself one of the first-team fixtures for 2025-26 and beyond. If there are more patchy performances, however, doubts about the projections of his ceiling as a world-class defender will only continue to grow.

Do you agree with Will? Do Chelsea need more from Colwill? Or is there another player who needs to step up in the closing stages of the season? Let us know here

Find more from Will Faulks at Chelsea News, external

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

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Thomas Tuchel is a huge admirer of Reece James, who was a key element of his Chelsea side that won the Champions League in 2021.

And the German confirmed this by bringing the 25-year-old defender straight into his first England squad as soon as he was confident of his return to fitness following the latest in a succession of serious hamstring injuries.

James also wasted no time in proving his quality, albeit against low-calibre opposition, with a display of physical power and quality that will stake a serious claim for England's right-back slot.

He is the identikit player and personality Tuchel wants to build his England around, with the physicality that makes him comfortable at the elite levels, but also the technical ability.

James demonstrated what he can offer with an early challenge that left a Latvian dazed then, more significantly, with the perfectly delivered free-kick that finally broke the deadlock just as England were starting to show their frustrations.

If James can stay fit, Tuchel is likely to make him a central figure in his bid to win the World Cup next year.

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Former England goalkeeper Rob Green, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live:

"I love Reece James. He's a brilliant footballer. There are question marks over both right-backs.

"Where will Walker be in a year's time? What stage in his career, what shape are we looking at going into the World Cup?

"Nobody doubts James' quality, mentality, intelligence. He's a fit guy and his body lets him down now and again.

"If you could take Walker's fitness and put it into James' body you've got someone who can be there at end of the World Cup and who can match anyone in the world."

Tuesday's back pages are emblazoned with pictures of Reece James after the Chelsea captain scored his first international goal on his first start for England since September 2022.

The 25-year-old curled a stunning first-half free-kick into the top corner to break the deadlock in Monday's 3-0 World Cup qualifier win over Latvia, and played the full 90 minutes.

"It's been a long time. I've had a frustrating two and a half years and I was so happy to get called up for my country again," James told ITV Sport.

"I saw the wall and I felt I could bend it around, and thankfully I managed to hit the back of the net."

James won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea in 2021 and says the new England boss has been direct about what he expects from his squad during the qualification process and beyond.

"His ideas are clear, his goals and his targets," he added.

"He set them out from the minute he came in, and we have one objective. It starts with this international and we have to keep on building right up to the World Cup."

Tuchel was also full of praise for James: "I know Reece and I know the quality the boy has.

"He is amazing. He has every right to be proud and happy and satisfied with his performance."

Did you know?

• James became the first player to score a direct free-kick for England at Wembley since John Barnes in April 1993.

How England's players rated

The future of Andrey Santos at Chelsea is uncertain, but the midfielder hopes to reunite with fellow Brazilian Estevao Willian - who arrives from Palmeiras in July - at Stamford Bridge after his loan spell with Strasbourg. (Evening Standard, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has said he and majority ownership group Clearlake Capital could "go different ways" if they cannot agree on plans to either develop Stamford Bridge or relocate to a new stadium.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, the US billionaire said: "We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to flesh out.

"That's where we either align or ultimately decide to go our different ways."

However, Boehly also said in the interview at the Milken Institute Global Investors' Symposium that the "status quo is just fine".

A rift between Boehly's camp and Clearlake Capital, which owns 61.5% of Chelsea, became public in September 2024.

Clearlake founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano have been claiming power which once belonged to Boehly behind the scenes.

They have increasingly guided the stadium project, with previously appointed architect Janet Marie Smith, who worked with Boehly on the Dodgers Stadium, being replaced by the firm Populous.

It is unclear exactly what part of the stadium plan could cause a divide, and Chelsea continue to explore all options under the leadership of the club's president, Jason Gannon.

There is an acceptance from all parties that any plans to build what they hope will be the best stadium in the UK is incredibly difficult. The rising costs of building a stadium, the intricacies of working in an expensive part of west London and fan pressure make this situation a uniquely difficult one.

In the Bloomberg TV interview, Boehly added: "Obviously, inside of London, it's really complex. It's not as if we're building something in the middle of a rural environment.

"We have a lot of constituencies to make sure that we care about. Certainly the Chelsea fanbase is one."

Neither Boehly nor Clearlake have yet responded to requests for a comment.

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We asked for your views on Jadon Sancho's future after it emerged Chelsea can pay a £5m fee to Manchester United to avoid making his loan move permanent in the summer.

Here are some of your comments:

Alison: We should keep him. Mykhailo Mudryk's immediate future is still unsure, Sancho's form was great when he arrived and only dropped off when the team's did. He'll come good. He's a Chelsea fan, needs an arm round his shoulder and someone to believe in him.

Colin: I would pay the £5 million and send him back. He is not very consistent and when he gets his crosses over he doesn't seem to look where his team-mates are. One good game in 10 isn't good enough.

Stuart: I appreciate paying to not sign someone sounds bizarre, but Sancho has not been good enough often enough to warrant signing permanently. Better to send him back to United rather than lumber ourselves with an inconsistent performer on a long-term contract.

John: At the moment it's hard to tell if its the players or Maresca's crushingly dull way of playing. Sancho started well but like the rest of our creative players now looks stifled into a style that doesn't suit them. Keep Sancho, sack Maresca.

Richard: Sancho has flattered to deceive. Never tries to beat his man. I think he has the ability but seems like he doesn't want to risk getting tackled. We should send him back.

Charles: Like most of the team, Sancho was excellent before Christmas, but he's faded of late. If he could get back to how he played away at Spurs and Palace he should stay.

Daniel: I love Jadon Sancho and was very excited when Chelsea brought him in but it's just not worked for him. I think for his sake he should go to Dortmund as something about that club seems to bring out his best! So yeah, pay the £5m penalty.

JJ: Buy him - he's played well in a few of the games that I've watched so no matter what the price tag is he's definitely deserved his place. He'll only improve if Maresca stays beyond this season.

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As revealed on Monday, Chelsea can reportedly opt not to turn Jadon Sancho's loan from Manchester United into a permanent deal - but it would require paying the Red Devils £5m.

It was announced at the time of signing that Sancho's season-long loan included an obligation to buy the 24-year-old for between £20-25m in the summer, but it has now emerged the Blues may not need to follow through on this if they pay a compensatory fee.

The England international has registered two goals and four assists in 23 Premier League games this season, but has no goal involvements in his past nine appearances.

So what would you do with Sancho?

Worth following through to sign him or should the club pay to avoid a permanent deal?

And if he does head back to Old Trafford, why has it not worked at Chelsea?

Let us know here