Chelsea

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Former Chelsea captain John Terry says he agrees with new England manager Thomas Tuchel that Reece James is a defender.

James is "seen as a midfielder" by manager Enzo Maresca and played the majority of his matches at Chelsea in the middle of the pitch this season.

However, Tuchel said "I still feel he is a player for the full-back and wing-back positions" this week after naming James in his first England squad.

When asked about James' position, Terry, who was also a homegrown captain at Stamford Bridge, said: "I agree with that [Tuchel's assessment]. I see him as a defender.

"I don't like it, to be honest, people drifting in [to midfielder] I think it is more confusing.

"Midfielders are very comfortable with their back to goal. When defenders step into those roles it is probably the opposite, we are probably not as comfortable receiving the ball with our back to goal.

"A very different role and first and foremost, talking about the 2005-06 season, we conceded 15 goals and top teams are built around good foundations and I think you need that.

"To be able to do that, you need a back four or a solid back three in place."

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Terry continued to explain that James is a "world class defender" but needs to use this season to play "10 to 20 matches" and come back fully fit after pre-season to show his best form.

He also revealed, while working on a casual basis as an academy coach, that he has spoken to James about his leadership of Chelsea - as a legendary former captain of the club.

He added: "Reece leads the team different to the way I did which is fine. There is different ways to be a captain and a leader.

"I said this to him, Reece has to be 100 percent Reece James. He doesn't need to be 10 percent John Terry.

"He has to be really authentic because he is the one speaking in front of the boys as well and - if not - people will see through.

"He is doing a good job, but I think first and foremost when you are at a captain of a football club you need to be consistent in your performances and to do that you have to play week in and week out."

Terry spoke as global broadcaster DAZN launched their coverage of this summer's FIFA Club World Cup.

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

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When the news emerged last week that Chelsea had agreed a deal in principle to sign Sporting winger Geovany Quenda, eyebrows were raised.

A fee of up to £44m has now been agreed for a 17-year-old player in a position that the Blues already seem well-stocked in?

Sometimes exceptions need to be made when the talent is as promising as Quenda's.

But just who is the teenage sensation?

"He is a very creative player. He is a very young player and has a lot of potential to achieve," Portuguese football journalist and pundit Mariana Fernandes told BBC Sport.

"A right-winger with a left foot - so he has a left foot but also likes to go through opponents with his right foot, which becomes very confusing for defenders to try and stop him.

"He is really quick, really smart and, honestly, I don't know how he is still only 17-years-old because he seems always so put together and mature in the way he transforms the game."

Quenda was born in the African nation of Guinea-Bissau but moved to Portugal as a child and joined a small club on the outskirts of Lisbon. He caught the eye of Benfica scouts and spent two years in their academy before moving closer to home and joining Sporting.

In 2023 he signed his first professional contract and, while with the reserve team, caught the eye of ex-Sporting manager Ruben Amorim, who gave him his senior debut in the Portuguese Super Cup at the beginning of this campaign.

At just 17 years and 95 days, the Portugal Under-21 international became the club's youngest ever goalscorer with his strike in a 4-3 defeat to Porto.

While he was deployed on the wing to help both attack and defence under now Manchester United boss Amorim, he has moved into a more offensive role in a front three under Sporting's new head coach.

"He is a very complete player, a very put together player," Fernandes added. "He has the mentality that he always has to go back and help the team to defend. He doesn't stay up front.

"I think the right word to describe Quenda is he is a very brave player.

"He never turns his face away from the challenge, whether that is offensively in the way that he always attacks the opposition team, or whether defensively in the way he always helps his own team defend.

"His main strength is one on one challenges. He is really strong on the duels with the ball at his feet. It is very rare for a defender here in Portugal to stop Quenda in a duel or one on one challenge."

Chelsea have completed the double signing of Sporting midfielders Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo for a combined fee of around £62.4m, the Portuguese club have said.

Winger Quenda, 17, will join Chelsea for a fee of up to £44m according to an announcement on the Sporting website, external, but will remain in Lisbon until the end of the 2025-26 season.

The teenager has broken into Sporting's first team this season and made his Champions League debut in September.

Essugo, a 20-year-old defensive midfielder, will move to Stamford Bridge in the summer following a loan spell at Las Palmas. Sporting announced his transfer fee as £18.4m.

What do you think about the deals? Tell us here

Chelsea winger Noni Madueke, 23, is a summer transfer target for Serie A side AC Milan. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

The Blues could sell up to 11 players this summer - including forward Raheem Sterling and defender Ben Chilwell - to help fund a move for a new striker. (Mail+ - subscription required), external

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

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

It's international break. It's quiet. There's not much to talk about.

And yet, things are always happening at Chelsea and no doubt you will have plenty on your mind.

So we are lining up our Blues reporter Nizaar Kinsella to tackle your questions.

It could be tactics, recruitment, summer plans, loanees, boardroom or something else...

Fire them over and he will answer a selection later in the week.

Submit your questions here

Chelsea are considering paying a penalty fee to avoid a £25m obligation to buy Jadon Sancho this summer following the 24-year-old England winger's loan move from Manchester United. (the i paper - subscription required), external

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

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea have sent an email outlining their battle against ticket touts, including action against one who had "340 memberships".

The club have sent an email to assure supporters that they take touting "seriously" and to "re-emphasise the robust action we are taking every day as a club to tackle this and stop those participating in this illegal activity".

The scale of the problem has also been communicated to supporters, with one tout said to be using "340 membership accounts linked to the same ticket" for January's match against West Ham.

More than 1,000 people are said to have been stopped entering the stadium, 1,500 membership accounts cancelled and four arrests made last season, the highest of any Premier League club, according to the email.

The email, seen by BBC Sport, also explains the club have:

• "An investigative team who track ticket purchasing and membership accounts, including a team of uniformed and plain clothes staff to investigate ticket misuse, identify and apprehend touts."

• "In-person seat checks at home matches."

• "Set up a hotline where we use information to investigate potential touts."

• "Support the police in obtaining Football Banning Orders for convicted touts."

The issue of touting is also having a major impact on the increasingly tepid atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, which has been highlighted by both the previous manager Mauricio Pochettino and current boss Enzo Maresca.

A small singing section of 120 season ticket holders in the Shed End has also been trialled at the recent home game against FC Copenhagen in the Conference League.

It will be expanded to 150 season ticket holders when Legia Warsaw visit in the quarter-final next month.

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea's Omari Kellyman will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.

The 19-year-old joined from Aston Villa for £17m in the summer but has yet to feature for the first team under Enzo Maresca after suffering a serious hamstring injury in September.

Having played just twice for the under-21s at the beginning of the campaign, he returned to action for 35 minutes in their most recent match against Norwich City in Premier League 2.

However, Kellyman has since posted on his Instagram page, external that he will not being playing again this season.

"Beyond gutted to say that this season has come to an early end for me due to a reinjury of my hamstring, despite only just returning after having hamstring issues for a massive part of this season," said the midfielder.

"24-25 has been a tough season for me mentally and physically due to injury but it's important now that I take time to get this right and come out the other side stronger and better ready for what next season brings."

Image source, Getty Images

Racial abuse directed towards Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana on social media has been condemned by his club and anti-discrimination body Kick It Out, with calls for more to be done to stop it.

On Monday, the 24-year-old shared to his Instagram story screenshots of six racist messages sent to him following the Blues' 1-0 defeat by Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

"2025, stupidity and cruelty can no longer hide. It's not just football; it's not just a 'game' when some believe that their skin colour makes them superior to others," he posted on Instagram later on Monday.

"It's time for things to change, for platforms to take action, and everyone to take responsibility."

Chelsea condemned the abuse with a statement that read: "Chelsea Football Club is appalled and disgusted by the recent rise in online racial abuse towards our players.

"The abuse Wes Fofana has been subjected to following Sunday's fixture is abhorrent and will not be tolerated.

"Wes and all our players have our full support. We will work with the relevant authorities in identifying the perpetrators and take the strongest possible action."

On Tuesday, Kick It Out released a statement that said: "Players are tired and frustrated by a lack of action from social media companies, who still allow discrimination to fester.

"We stand in solidarity with Wes and all players who receive this vile abuse and echo his call for change.

"We are working with the regulator - Ofcom - to highlight this issue, and to try and make sure its new regulations help."

Will Faulks
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

The rolling chaos at Chelsea means that it is easy for lesser storylines to be buried among the big characters and big numbers that dominate the headlines about the club.

But it's worth taking a closer look at one of the mini-tragedies of this season in closer detail after a bitterly disappointing performance and result against Arsenal on Sunday.

Christopher Nkunku looks like he will leave the club this summer. He is certainly playing like someone who knows they're on the way out, and is not particularly interested in leaving a positive impression behind.

One can't even really say he had a "rise and fall". The excitement around his arrival built to a crescendo in the year before he finally debuted, but his injury in the final game of pre-season in August 2023 means that, in hindsight, his story at Chelsea was over before it ever began.

It took Nkunku most of last season to recover, and by the time he was fit it was a struggle to get into the team that Mauricio Pochettino had constructed. Cole Palmer had emerged to take the spot meant for him in the team, and established himself not just as first choice in that position, but as one of the headline stars of the whole Premier League.

A new manager in the summer gave Nkunku a fresh chance, but Enzo Maresca has been even less interested in using the Frenchman in the first team than Pochettino was. The former Leipzig man has been deployed almost exclusively to take on minnows in the Conference League, and seems to have taken that designation personally.

His recent run in the first team has only come because of a spate of injuries, and neither his input nor his output in those games have done anything to convince anyone that he should have been given more chances.

Find more from Will Faulks at Chelsea News, external

AC Milan will not look to keep 25-year-old attacker Joao Felix, who is currently on loan from Chelsea, in the summer. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian), external

Liverpool are ahead of Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham in the race to sign 24-year-old Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. (Football Insider), external

Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have all been watching River Plate's 17-year-old Argentine winger Franco Mastantuono, who has a release clause of about £35m. (Teamtalk), external

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

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says the Club World Cup is a "fantastic motivation" as his side look to win the newly-expanded competition.

The competition has been expanded to 32 teams, including 12 from Europe, and will take place across the United States between June and July.

The event has done its first round of media interviews and Maresca spoke of his "fantastic motivation" to pursue the title, adding: "That's what you need to see it as, as a source of motivation. As I've told you before, when you're at Chelsea, your goal is to win as much as you can. And when we're there, that will be one of our goals: to try to win it."

Sources close to the ownership have described how the competition is viewed seriously at Stamford Bridge, both because of the revenue it can generate, through a $1bn prize pot for all clubs, but also with an opportunity to market the club to a global audience.

Chelsea were also unable to use Cole Palmer during last summer's pre-season tour due to his involvement at the European Championships with England.

However, he is expected to be available to play at the Club World Cup.

"Cole Palmer is up there with the very best, top players who can produce something at any moment, create something out of nothing," Maresca added.

"He wasn't with me on the USA tour last summer, so it will also be a chance for him to experience the environment there and to introduce himself to [North] America."

Discussions remain ongoing with the FA to decide whether another transfer window will be implemented to allow Chelsea and Manchester City, the Club World Cup's English participants, to sign players early before the competition.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Arsenal and Chelsea.

Here are some of your comments:

Arsenal fans

Adam: Win is a win. We need to put games to bed when we have the chance but as ever we like to try and control the ball too much. But, a win is a win.

David: Disappointing in attack, passing in and around box poor, not up to usual quality. Finishing was poor and chances must be taken if we are to beat Real Madrid. Need to inject more pace when moving forward, part of the problem being lack of movement from front men. Consolation taken from another fine defensive display.

Ian: Not a classic by far, but a competent performance by Arsenal. I'll say the glaring, and now becoming very boring, obvious point that Arsenal desperately need a striker. Sorry Mr Arteta.

Chelsea fans

Nick: Our football is just so boring and has been for months, worse even than the dark days of 'Sarriball'. All I want right now is for us to play with some pace and passion. Not sure Maresca knows what those are.

Fossie: Didn't really get going until we conceded the goal, and even then, despite all the possession, there was no penetration. Some strange decisions by Maresca, with only one attacking player among the subs, plus Sanchez as our goalkeeper. It just doesn't make sense. If short of strikers, go to the youth team and give them a chance.

Andy: We could still be playing in a week's time and still not score. I have never in my 55 years as a Chelsea fan seen such an impotent attack!

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea are "on a good path" but will need to "rectify" their striker situation if they are to compete for league titles.

That is the shared view of former Premier League forwards Wayne Rooney and Troy Deeney after the Blues succumbed to a 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on Sunday.

Discussing the club's future prospects on BBC MOTD2, Rooney said: "They have signed a lot of players and it's still a really young team. There has been some good signs from Chelsea this season.

"That lack of experience as a group is probably catching up with them. I do think over the next couple of years we are going to see Chelsea elevating themselves to get them towards the top of the league.

"I do think they are on a good path."

Enzo Maresca's side have struggled with injuries over the winter period and were also without talisman Cole Palmer at the weekend, whose form and fitness has also dropped off.

"Palmer has been off it the last couple of weeks," said Deeney. "Maybe he's been carrying an injury, maybe it's been a lot of games and it is hard for a young player to keep doing it and being consistent.

"Nicolas Jackson is another big one for them, but again, over a billion pound spent so to only have one striker in the building is pretty poor. It is something they are going to have to rectify going forward.

"If you want to be challenging, you also need a proper goalkeeper and a proper centre-half and those are the three bits of the picture they need."

Watch the full discussion on BBC iPlayer

Ex-England captain Wayne Rooney feels that man-marking Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was "a job too big" for Chelsea's Reece James as the Gunners won 1-0 at Emirates Stadium.

"I felt he struggled all game," said Rooney on Match of the Day 2. "He stuck to Rice and that allowed Thomas Partey to occupy the space that James should have been in.

"It meant Chelsea players were stretched all over."

Watch MOTD2 on BBC iPlayer

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's three Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Ipswich Town 2-4 Nottingham Forest

• AFC Bournemouth 1-2 Brentford

• Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea

• Fulham 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

• Leicester City 0-3 Manchester United

Chelsea and Arsenal have moved ahead of Liverpool in the race to sign Inter Milan and France striker Marcus Thuram, 27, who is reported to have a £71m release clause. (Football Insider), external

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

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Chelsea are winless in their last seven away games in the Premier League (D2 L5) - the Blues' longest winless run on the road since October 2022-February 2023 under Graham Potter (D4 L4).

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We are in the right path. There was't a big difference between them an us in terms of creating chances. We could create something more for sure. In the end we lost from set-pieces."

On Reece James playing in midfield: "Reece is doing well, so are Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. We have Noni [Madueke], Nico [Jackson] and [Cole] Palmer out and they have scored most of our goals."

On Cole Palmer: "The feeling is that he can be back after the international break."

On whether Palmer will be absent for England duty: "For sure, because he is injured and he didn't play today."