Chelsea and Bournemouth are willing to pay 35m euros (£30.3m) to sign 23-year-old American midfielder Johnny Cardoso from Spanish club Real Betis. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external
'We changed tactically for the second half'published at 16:44 13 April
16:44 13 April
Image source, Getty Images
Enzo Maresca spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Chelsea's draw against Ipswich: "Today was tough. I think their first goal changed the dynamic of the game. First 20 minutes we were in control but we miss our chances. I think after that we were not good enough first half. Second half we come back in the game."
On conceding against the run of play: "It's football. Sometimes one small thing changes the dynamic of the game. We concede and we lost a bit of confidence. Second half we got back in the game.
On the second half display: "We changed something tactically. The message was quite clear in terms of starting the right way and to create chances. When you concede it's the moment to be more strong and to continue. We played with one more midfielder.
On Jadon Sancho: "Jadon is doing well. Today we started with Noni and Pedro. We decided to give him some minutes and he was good enough."
Chelsea 2-2 Ipswich - send us your thoughtspublished at 15:57 13 April
15:57 13 April
Were you at Stamford Bridge or following from elsewhere?
Sutton's predictions: Chelsea v Ipswichpublished at 11:03 13 April
11:03 13 April
Ipswich beat Chelsea at Portman Road earlier in the season so you cannot rule out them doing the double over Chelsea by winning at Stamford Bridge too.
Actually, I think you can. I'd love to back Ipswich to cheer up my daughter's teacher, Mr Fields, but I am done with predicting they will win. I am going to have to drop her off outside the school gates and let her walk in, because I can't risk going into the car park and seeing his sad face after another Tractor Boys defeat.
As we saw last week against Brentford, Chelsea are far from convincing in attack and can be flimsy defensively.
Cole Palmer is out of form too, but Chelsea should still have a host of chances here. If they take them, they will win comfortably.
Semi-automated offsides a 'step in right direction' but take 'with a pinch of salt'published at 11:07 12 April
11:07 12 April
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There are lots of different perspectives in terms of how you watch a game of football, and I think for the majority of time the people in the stadium get the best atmosphere, but the worst views of how a game has actually gone.
You don't really get the chance to see multiple replays and have discussions about things, because you just get caught up in the moment.
With the incoming semi automated offsides, they did promise it earlier in the season - but I think the caveat was they're only going to do it when it's ready.
It is a positive that they didn't do it when it wasn't ready.
One upside to to the new technology is some of the arguments disappear. Previously you could say 'but it looks like it's this to me' or 'it looks like it's that to me'. When it is presented now, there aren't many people that will then be looking at the animation, going back to the video, and then going down a proper conspiracy rabbit hole.
So, it ends more arguments, not all arguments, but more arguments.
I think people, as a consequence, will be more accepting of it.
But, I still do believe that there's things for people to understand, because it can't be used in every situation. There are certain decisions which can still be a little bit more complex, and there's certain times where human intervention will still need to be brought in.
I wouldn't say it's as clear as, say, goal line technology, but it's a step in the direction to where most people feel more comfortable accepting the outcome and the speed of it as well will be encouraged.
It's not to say that it's going to be instant. If you believe this is going to be perfect, and always extremely fast, ask yourself, why do you think that?
Unless somebody has told you that from PGMOL, then take it with a pinch of salt and you see how it goes.
I think it's something that many people have seen before so hopefully there will be fewer arguments.
But, because it's football, there'll always be something to argue about the end of the day.
'He is an Ipswich player and an enemy on Sunday'published at 15:23 11 April
15:23 11 April
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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is wary of any extra motivation Ipswich may have as the two sides face each other on Sunday.
The Tractor Boys are 12 points from safety and have won only four league games all season. Three of those came away from home, while their solitary win at Portman Road was against Chelsea in the reverse fixture.
"It will be a tough game, no doubt." Maresca said. "In this moment, any team you face is complicated. No matter if it's Southampton, Ipswich or Leicester, because they want to show themselves and finish in the right way. They don't like to lose games, so it will be tough."
Ipswich forward and leading goalscorer Liam Delap crossed paths with Maresca when the pair were at Manchester City.
"In terms of numbers, he's doing fantastic." Maresca said of the 22 year-old. "The way he plays and fights and is always 'there'. But he's an Ipswich player. He's an enemy on Sunday because we need to beat them, and then after the game I wish him all the best for the future.
"[His ability to self-create chances] is something we need to pay attention to, for sure. If you watch Ipswich, he is doing that against any team, not just against us. But in the first game, he was quite good for them. We need to deal with that, and we need to do much better compared to the first game."
Did you know?published at 12:03 11 April
12:03 11 April
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Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in four of their past five Premier League games, as many as their previous 29 beforehand.
The Blues are looking to record three successive league clean sheets for the first time since February 2023 under Graham Potter.
'You have to learn to play games against teams that sit back' - Marescapublished at 22:42 10 April
22:42 10 April
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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, speaking after the Blues' 3-0 win at Legia Warsaw: "We planned the game to try to have our best players for this game, and to give a chance to rest players and recover energy.
"It was a professional performance and a good result. We were much better in the second half, for different reasons. We need to learn to play different times of games.
"When they sit back, you have to be quicker on the ball. You have to shoot from outside the box because they are all inside the box. If you don't shoot, it's difficult. The first goal came from Reece shooting outside the box, and Ty [George] was there for the rebound.
"From television you can say lack of tempo, but it's not easy. You have to find solutions. It's a different game. You have to learn to play games against teams that sit back. For sure you can take more risks, or take more shots when you arrive at the edge."
On Tyrique George scoring his first senior goal for the club: "I am really happy for the Chelsea Academy, first of all. He is one of our boys from the Academy. I'm very happy for him.
"He was quite good first half. He took responsibility. Second half in the middle he was a bit better."
On the performance of Josh Acheampong: "The one I fell in love with tonight was Josh Acheampong.
"For me potentially he can be a fantastic player for this club and in football in general.
"Since we started, I am in love with him, but tonight he showed he can be a very good player for this club.
"A good player shows you they can play in different positions.
"He was full-back good, midfielder good, central defender good. It's not about playing in that position, or that position. If you are a good player, you can play in different positions.
"He can be good in different positions. The best thing about Josh also is he is open. He wants to learn. Full-back? Okay, no problem. What do I have to do? Perfect. Midfielder? What do I have to do? This is a player who wants to play in all positions, who wants to learn. Josh is doing that since we started."
Legia Warsaw 0-3 Chelsea: Great moment for academy product Georgepublished at 20:18 10 April
20:18 10 April
Michael Emons BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Tyrique George has played in 10 European games for Chelsea this season
It was a night 19-year-old winger Tyrique George would always remember as he grabbed his first senior Chelsea goal as the Blues looked to have continued their routine progress through Europe's third-tier competition.
Enzo Maresca's side have been tipped to win the Conference League right from the start of their campaign and they cruised to a 3-0 away win over Polish side Legia Warsaw in the first leg of their quarter-final to ensure next week's second leg should be a mere formality.
After a poor first half, Chelsea only needed four minutes of the second to open the scoring with George reacting quickest to convert the rebound after Reece James' effort had been parried.
George, who has been with the club since he was eight, was understandably delighted and Chelsea legend Joe Cole, speaking on TNT Sports, said: "What a moment for the young man. It's beautiful to see when an academy player scores their first goal."
Two goals for Noni Madueke, the second coming shortly after Christopher Nkunku had seen his penalty saved, completed the convincing 3-0 victory to take Chelsea a step closer to getting their hands on a European trophy this season.
Legia Warsaw 0-3 Chelsea - send us your thoughtspublished at 19:38 10 April
🎧 Nicolas Jackson: Chelsea's indispensable striker?published at 17:37 10 April
17:37 10 April
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Chelsea and Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson had a difficult start to life in English football but he has impressed this season and, after an injury lay-off, has recently been described in the UK media as "indispensable" to Enzo Maresca's team.
So, as he returns to full fitness just in time for the Blues' crucial run-in to the end of the campaign, World Football's John Bennett, football journalist Rahman Osman and BBC Sport's football news reporter Nizaar Kinsella discuss Jackson's journey from The Gambia to the Premier League and whether he is now - along with Cole Palmer - most crucial to Chelsea?
Plus, will he be first choice next season or will the club bring in a new number nine to replace him?
'It was something I thrived on' - Dewsbury-Hall on Legia atmospherepublished at 08:17 10 April
08:17 10 April
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Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall says he "thrived" on playing in the atmosphere created by Legia Warsaw fans on his previous visit to the stadium.
The 26-year-old is the only member of the squad to have previously experienced playing at Stadion Miejski Legii Warszawa when he visited with Leicester in the Europa League in 2021.
Supporters of the Polish club have built a reputation for creating a hostile atmosphere for visiting sides.
Despite suffering a narrow defeat with his former team at the stadium, Dewsbury-Hall is relishing being in the atmosphere again when the Blues take on Legia Warsaw in the their Conference League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
"It is definitely an atmosphere you have to experience as a player because it gives you the added little motivation. The home fans will help the home side but I feel like we can use it to help us," he said.
"It was a little bit hostile [the atmosphere], but in a good way. There were a lot of passionate Polish fans and they really support their team. I'd not experienced it before but that's the amazing thing about playing in Europe, you get to experience different atmospheres.
"It's something I'm really thankful for and it definitely helped me when I made my progression to play in the Premier League. It helped me to get used to different environments and for when the fans are being loud and getting right behind their team. It gave me a good base to kick on, and it's nice that I can come back and experience it again.
'When I played here before, it was something I thrived on - even though we lost the game [with Leicester] - and I'm looking forward to experiencing it again."