Chelsea

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BBC World Service introduces you to the five bosses who will be making their managerial debuts in the Premier League this season in a special podcast on BBC Sounds.

Sportsworld’s John Bennett is joined by former Leicester City winger and BBC Radio Leicester summariser Matt Piper to discuss Chelsea's new head coach Enzo Maresca.

"The [Leicester] players all bought into it," said Piper. "They loved the manager's tactics, but I think it stifles freedom a little bit.

"I don't think you get expression on the ball from certain players as much because it's a system that relies on everyone understanding what their job is in the team and how the mechanics of it work.

"It worked super well for Leicester. They got caught out a few times because it's a system where you attack with five and you defend the transition with five but it worked really well for him last season.

"There's no doubt the system works and if he gets the Chelsea players playing to the level in the Premier League as what Leicester achieved, and they get the understanding of what he wants, I think they'll have a good season."

Listen to Introducing The Premier League’s New Managers on BBC Sounds

Brentford are holding out for at least £60m for 28-year-old striker Ivan Toney, who is being monitored by Chelsea and Manchester United. (Independent), external

Chelsea want to hand Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson a two-year extension that would commit him to the club until 2033. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Napoli and RB Leipzig are leading the race to sign 20-year-old Atletico Madrid forward Samu Omorodion, after his move to Chelsea collapsed. (Football Insider), external

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

We asked for your views on the news that Cole Palmer has agreed a new two-year contract extension at Chelsea, committing his future to Stamford Bridge through to 2033.

Here are some of your comments:

Karen: Delighted that Palmer is signed until 2033. We have let too many talented youngsters go in the past.

David: The only good thing we have done this transfer window. He brings class, calmness and accuracy. He is in a league of his own at Chelsea. Bring in Joao Felix and, with Neto, I'd forgive the club for selling Gallagher - but not for a lot of untried players.

Nivek: The first action of a positive nature we, as a club, have done for ages. Stability is what we need. The team will benefit from not looking over their shoulders all the time.

Rob: If he stays at the same level then I'd happily keep him until he retires. He's or best player. I can only assume we have added two more years to ensure more chance of selling for a fee one day, but it also means you are stuck with the player for a long time should they get a serious injury etc.

Charlie: Was there a need for a two-year extension? He was already here until 2031. Seems as if the owners are making it up as they go along, to be honest.

Geoff: Palmer is an awesome player, so well worth it. You don't want to lose a player like him - that would be devastating.

Chief Soccer Correspondent for the New York Times Rory Smith has been speaking on the latest episode of BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club about the money Chelsea are spending and the consequences it could have.

He said he believes Chelsea's "fundamentally stupid" transfer business could be "destabilising to football as a whole," and Chris Sutton spoke about how strange the club now seems.

You can listen to them both on BBC Sounds

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Cole Palmer has signed a two-year contract extension on an already seven-year deal at Chelsea until 2033.

All that is left is to announce the deal later in the week. It rewards an incredible debut season with improved terms.

Chelsea fans - how are you feeling about this news?

Let us know your thoughts, external

Will Faulks
Fan writer

Where will you finish in the league and why?

Chelsea will finish this season in much the same position as they did last season - in mid-table, pushing for Europe but never looking likely to break into the top four. It could well go in much the same pattern as their last campaign too, with a dreadful start gradually turning around as the new manager gets his ideas across.

Who is the best signing or has he not signed yet and who should it be?

Countless players have been signed and not one really looks like a huge upgrade to the regular first team. There is still no convincing top-tier goalkeeper, striker, defensive midfielder or centre-back. None of the elite experience we desperately needed has been added - in fact, yet more established players have been sold.

What do you want from your manager this season?

Keeping his job beyond Christmas would be a good start, keeping it into a second season would deserve some sort of prize. He has got a huge job on his hands, trying to implement a very specific style of play on a young and inexperienced group of players, without any credit in the bank with the fans or much belief he can do it.

Who will be the breakout star in your squad?

Romeo Lavia has had a great pre-season and could change this team's whole dynamic if he can stay fit. It is a similar story for Christopher Nkunku. We would love to see Levi Colwill play regularly and develop too - but this defence looks like it is going to struggle.

What is your one major concern?

That the new owners are tearing the heart out of the club in order to make a profit - and not even doing a very good job at that.

Will Faulks can be found at Chelsea News, external

Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott says Chelsea are "signing that many good players that they just will not get a chance" to play consistently for the Blues.

Reflecting on the revolving transfer door at Stamford Bridge, Walcott told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "I am worried Romeo Lavia will just be one of those Chelsea players that is sent out on loan and you don't hear much about."

The midfielder signed from Southampton last summer, where he played alongside Walcott, and made 30 Premier League appearances in the last campaign.

But will the arrival of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall change that?

Listen to the Monday Night Club on BBC Sounds

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea plan to recall midfielder Conor Gallagher to London later on Tuesday as a deal is worked out with Atletico Madrid.

The La Liga club need to raise funds by selling a player before completing the £34m move for the 24-year-old, who has spent much of the past week living in a hotel in Madrid.

The limits of the Spanish club's spending power are partly down to the £81.5m outlay to sign Julian Alvarez from Manchester City, which was completed on Monday.

Gallagher is believed to want the move to Atletico and has both completed a medical and signed the paperwork on a new contract.

But after striker Samu Omorodion's move going the other way collapsed, it has left Gallagher in limbo.

There are new talks for Chelsea to re-sign forward Joao Felix instead, but negotiations could take time and are fraught with uncertainty as both clubs push for a favourable price.

Felix spent six months on loan at Chelsea in 2023 and scored four goals in 20 matches during his brief spell in England.

There is also a small chance that Chelsea's talks to sign Omorodion could be revived or a major player sale to another club could help Gallagher's move to go through.

Image source, Reuters

Manchester City trio Erling Haaland, Rodri and Phil Foden are on the six-man shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Assocation Player of the Year award for 2023-24.

They helped City win a fourth successive Premier League title, with Haaland ending as the division's top scorer and Foden's contribution earning him the Football Writers' Association player of the year award in May.

Norway striker Haaland won the PFA award in 2022-23.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, Chelsea forward Cole Palmer and Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins complete the shortlist for the PFA prize, with the winner being announced on 20 August.

The nominees are:

• Phil Foden (Manchester City)

• Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

• Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)

• Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

• Rodri (Manchester City)

• Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

Napoli have made an offer worth 25m euros (£21.4m) plus 5m euros (£4.3m) in bonuses for Chelsea's Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, 31. (Gianluca di Marzio - in Italian), external

Crystal Palace are monitoring the situation of Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, 20, and will look to make an offer if the Englishman becomes available. (South London Press), external

Newcastle are set to target Chelsea's 22-year-old English winger Noni Madueke if Eddie Howe's side sell Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron, 30, to Charlotte FC. (ipaper), external

Aston Villa, Fulham and Crystal Palace are all in the race to sign Chelsea's 25-year-old English centre-back Trevoh Chalobah. (Football Insider), external

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

After a long summer break, BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club is back in action this evening.

Tune in as the panel cover all the major talking points from the summer and look ahead to Premier League football returning at the weekend.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

BBC Sport's experts have been considering which young players may become big names this season.

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BBC Sport's Nizaar Kinsella gives his verdict on Josh Acheampong:

The 18-year-old defender made his Chelsea debut last season against Tottenham and was one of just two youngsters on tour in the United States from the academy.

He is an outstanding athlete who can play centre-back or right-back.

See who else our experts picked here

Image source, Getty Images

The curtain opens on the 2024-25 Premier League season in just a matter of days, so why not take a look at how all 20 clubs performed in pre-season?

The games have been spread across the globe, from Tokyo and New York to Crawley and Preston.

See the results here

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The six-player shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award have been announced.

Chelsea's Cole Palmer, 22, is the favourite after enjoying an excellent Premier League season, scoring 22 goals and providing 11 assists.

Bukayo Saka, also 22, of Arsenal makes the list after another fine season and standout performances for England during their run to the Euro 2024 final.

Representing Manchester United on the shortlist are Kobbie Mainoo, 19, and Alejandro Garnacho, 20 - the team's FA Cup final goalscorers.

They are joined by Michael Olise, 22, who moved from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich this summer, and Brighton and Hove Albion's Joao Pedro, 22, who scored 20 goals in all competitions.

Shortlist for Men's PFA Young Player of the Year

Cole Palmer

Bukayo Saka

Kobbie Mainoo

Alejandro Garnacho

Michael Olise

Joao Pedro

The winners will be announced at the PFA Awards ceremony in Manchester on August 20.

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's pre-season friendly between Chelsea and Inter Milan.

Here are some of your comments:

Jason: While you can appreciate why the new manager wants to improve things, you cannot watch us without feeling we have not moved forward in a whole year. This policy of buying youngsters to secure a bright future is admirable but how long do we have to watch these substandard performances as we have during this whole preseason schedule?

Matthew: Good performance. That was a good showing from us. We still create multiple chances, but can’t score them. Enzo, Ugochukwu, Nkunku, Gusto, Palmer, Veiga and Marc Guiu were some of the standouts for me, but, the whole side had a good performance overall. I just hope we are ready for next Sunday. It was also good to see Neto being paraded around.

Andy: I thought we played reasonably well. Typical going a goal down but good to keep fighting and get the equaliser. Palmer looked good on his return and it would have been nice to have four or five Premier League games under our belt before facing City next week, but I would be satisfied if we can avoid defeat.

Robert: I am afraid for the forthcoming season, as we have not covered the deficiencies exploited by many teams last season. We look good on the ball and have the majority of possession but cannot convert our chances. We have just splashed out north of £50m on Neto, but do we need another winger?

Nick: A good performance against a strong Inter side, whose keeper was MOTM. Defenders didn't make any significant mistakes - though, unlike most Premier League teams, Inter didn't press them hard. Guiu made a very good impression and was unlucky not to score. Please, Chelsea, don't buy another striker - Guiu, Jackson, Nkunku and Palmer can bring us the goals.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea are dominating another transfer window.

This will be the third successive summer transfer window since the 2022 takeover by co-controlling owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly when Chelsea have outspent rivals, signed the most players and looked to offload those from the former regime.

A flurry of Friday transfer activity, including a £54m deal to sign Wolves forward Pedro Neto, means Chelsea look set to make 12 summer signings with an average age of under 21, spending £243m since 14 June and bulking up their squad to more than 50 senior players.

Some of those who have joined will go straight back out on loan and more will be sold before the 30 August transfer window deadline.

Is there a Premier League squad size limit?

Chelsea will have to submit a 25-man squad after the summer transfer window which must have a minimum of eight 'homegrown' players - those of any nationality who have spent three years at any English club academy before turning 21.

But a club can also register as many under-21 players as they like on top of that 25-man squad.

What happens next?

Chelsea had such a bloated squad of more than 40 players under Graham Potter that reports emerged of first-team squad members sitting on the floor during team meetings and changing for training in the corridor.

This summer they will do fewer transfers both in and out than last summer under Mauricio Pochettino - but it remains more than any other club in the Premier League.

At least 14 players will leave Chelsea’s group of the 56 listed.

From the outside, there will be questions about why Chelsea sign so many players and why such young ones? The club insist it does not have a minimum age or wage to acquire players and judges each deal on an individual basis.

They believe they can bridge the gap on the top four with the current squad and begin pushing for major titles in the coming seasons.

But there is also an acceptance that this transfer window will only be a success if Chelsea can balance the books further by adding to the £90m for the three players sold so far, not including the Conor Gallagher deal that is likely to be confirmed in the coming days.

Read more from Nizaar on Chelsea's transfer business here

Chelsea are discussing a deal to bring Portugal forward Joao Felix, 24, to Stamford Bridge as part of Atletico Madrid's attempts to sign England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 24. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Stuttgart are in talks to sign Armando Broja on loan from Chelsea, with the 22-year-old Albania striker open to joining the German club. (Sky Sports Germany), external

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

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport reporter at Stamford Bridge

Image source, Getty Images

Winger Pedro Neto was unveiled at half-time during Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in their final pre-season match at Stamford Bridge.

The £54.1m signing from Wolves waved to supporters at the break during the club's final pre-season match, where they looked on course to lose four of their six matches, winning just once against Mexican side Club America.

Marcus Thuram had opened the scoring with a powerful edge of the box finish in the 26th minute after latching onto Joaquin Correa's throughball.

But after a host of chances went begging, an unlikely equaliser came from midfield substitute Lesley Ugochukwu, who volleyed in a 90th minute finish after a cleared ball landed at his feet.

Inter thought they had ridden their luck and secured a clean sheet after a brilliant performance by goalkeeper Yan Sommer.

The Swiss shotstopper saved Marc Guiu's ninth-minute effort before the goal and then saved another 37th-minute volley from the 18-year-old who signed for £5m from Barcelona this summer.

Robert Sanchez also saved a Federico di Marco header just six minutes after Thuram's goal and another volley from the full-back just after half-time.

The Blues pushed for an equaliser in the second half by bringing on substitutes Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson and Renato Veiga.

Nkunku had an overhead kick saved in the 54th minute with defender Levi Colwill hitting the post minutes later with a close range shot.

A wonderful move involving Caicedo, Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk created a chance for Nkunku but he shot wide in the 64th-minute.

Palmer then missed a chance 10 minutes from time after a Raheem Sterling cutback shortly after he came on. The Serie A champions dug in defensively but were eventually broken down after Ugochuwku turned in a scrambled finish from a free-kick.

The Blues will go into their match against Premier League champions Manchester City next Sunday after a poor run of pre-season results but they will have felt they created enough to win against the Italian side with some reason to be optimistic.

Chelsea ended their pre-season campaign with a 1-1 draw against Serie A champions Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues went a goal down 25 minutes into the first half after Marcus Thuram's strike for the visitors, but substitute Lelsley Ugochukwu secured a late draw with an equaliser in the 90th minute.

What did you make of that performance, Chelsea fans?

Are Enzo Maresca's side ready for kick-off next weekend against Manchester City?

Let us know your thoughts here, external - and come back on Monday to read the submissions.