REVEALED: How Danny Drinkwater escaped disciplinary measures from Chelsea, Burnley after vicious attack by thugs at Manchester nightclub

Reports in England claim Chelsea will not discipline Danny Drinkwater amid allegations he was injured on a night out.

It was reported last week that the midfielder was ruled out for up to three weeks after picking up an injury away from the Lancashire club.

Both Chelsea and Burnley declined to disclose details of how the injury came about, and would not confirm or deny claims from sources that Drinkwater had been assaulted.

However, it has since been reported that the 29-year-old was set upon by a group of men outside a Manchester nightclub who stamped on his ankle following a row inside the venue.

According to Sportsmail, representatives from Stamford Bridge first got in touch with Drinkwater, for whom they paid £35m from Leicester City, last week and have been in regular contact with their player.

The contact is thought to have been based around a duty of care to Drinkwater, rather than of a disciplinary nature with a desire to leave that side of things to Burnley.

Drinkwater, who has had a miserable time with the west London club after being frozen out under previous manager Maurizio Sarri, was set to speak to Clarets boss Sean Dyche on Monday.

Sources have said that it is unlikely Burnley will seek an early termination of a loan deal which runs until January.

He was expected to start for their Under 23s against QPR last Monday but was forced to pull out thanks to his injury.

Chelsea warned over red-hot Wolves star as injury-hit Blues visit Molineux Stadium on Saturday

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ legend Steve Bull has warned Chelsea they will face a Mexican on a mission when they return to action on Saturday.

Red-hot Raul Jimenez has scored in each of his last four games to take his goals tally for to an impressive eight in 10 games this season.

Molineux legend Bully predicts the club-record £32million buy will smash Wolves’ all-time Premier League scoring record by Christmas as he closes in on Steven Fletcher’s 22 strikes.

Jimenez has already bagged 15 Premier goals since arriving from Benfica on loan last season and Bull believes he can take another step towards that total against Frank Lampard’s injury-hit Chelsea.

Bull, who was no slouch himself in front of goal, scoring a staggering 306 goals for the Old Gold in all competitions, said: “He’ll be excited about facing Chelsea on Saturday and keen to add to his goal tally,” said

“He’s a proper striker, an out and out goal-scorer, so I reckon he’ll get there by Christmas, definitely. He should do that with absolute ease. Easy!

“With how he’s going, we could be talking about him breaking the record in a matter of weeks!”

Callum Hudson-Odoi set to feature for Chelsea U23s against Brighton

Blues youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi has been pencilled in to play a part for Chelsea U23s in their game against Brighton on Friday as he steps up his recovery from a serious Achilles injury.

The 18-year-old has been sidelined for the past five months after suffering a ruptured Achilles while playing for Chelsea against Burnley towards the end of last season.

Initially, Hudson-Odoi was expected to be out of action until October at the earliest, such was the severity of the injury, but he surprised club staff by returning to training in August, report the Metro.

Following Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Sheffield United on August 31, Hudson-Odoi revealed that he could be back in contention for Frank Lampard‘s side after the international break.

‘Recovery has gone really well, I feel good so hopefully, I’ll be back after the international break,’ he said.

‘It was something that I was scared would take longer but recovery has gone really well and quick for myself and I’m happy everything has gone to plan.’

Hudson-Odoi has continued to step up his recovery since and could be involved for Andy Myers’ U23 team for the Brighton clash, should he be deemed fit enough to take part.

In further good news for Chelsea, it looks as though Hudson-Odoi will finally put pen to paper on a new long-term contract at Stamford Bridge after months of speculation about his future.

Arsenal hero Nwankwo Kanu slams Unai Emery over Alex Iwobi’s exit

Nwankwo Kanu has criticized Arsenal boss Unai Emery for selling Alex Iwobi to Everton.

The Super Eagles star was sold to Merseyside club on transfer Deadline Day for £28million which could rise to £34m.

The Nigerian spent 15 years at the Emirates, enjoying the early stage of his promotion to the first team under the tutelage of former Arsenal manager Arsenal Wenger

But his move to Everton has drawn the ire of club’s legend Kanu.

“Why they let him go, I don’t know,” Kanu said.

The 23-year-old scored 15 goals in 149 senior appearances for his boyhood club, including a spectacular strike in last season’s Europa League final.

Iwobi has already scored twice in his three outings for new side Everton, against both Lincoln and Wolves.

Kanu added: “He’s a boy who, in and out, is Arsenal.

“He always wanted to do his best for the club. He loves the club, but not only that he can play football.

“What he brings week in, week out, the fans need to appreciate that.

“I think he is still young and those are the type of people you want in the team, people who grew up here, who knows everything about the club and wants to die for the club.

“He was one of them, so for us to lose him and to let him go, was a shock. I couldn’t really believe we did it, but that’s football.

“It was a surprise to everybody because it happened right at the end of the window.

““If I knew earlier, I could have said to him not to go and that it was better for him to stay.

“I would have said that there was no need for him to go because at Arsenal he will still play. He’s that good and he needs to know that.

“I think Arsenal would have been the best place for him because it’s a big club and you want to play in a big club and in Europe. Those are the games you want to play.”

Chelsea loanee vows not to return to Stamford Bridge despite signing new contract, says ‘My time at Chelsea is over’

Chelsea loanee Lucas Piazon has revealed his future likely lies away from Chelsea despite having penned a contract extension at the London club just last week.

The attacking midfielder had been shipped out to Rio Ave on the same day as the renewal, in what was his seventh loan spell since originally signing for Chelsea in 2012.

Piazon’s new deal runs until the summer of 2022, a year after the player will return to his parent club from the two-season loan spell in Brazil.

Piazon had reportedly requested a permanent move away instead but the Blues had been hesitant to let the 25-year-old leave on a free transfer in the summer, report the Daily Mail.

Speaking to Portuguese newspaper A Bola, Piazon admitted his time at Chelsea was over.

He said: ‘I’m 25, I’ve been on loan several times. I’ve been at Chelsea since 2011, I’ve been on loan almost all over Europe.

‘I’m tired of playing here and there, I need a place where I can feel at home. I want to know that in July I will return to the same place, to the same house.’

The Brazilian also explained his disappointment with a lack of first-team opportunities at Stamford Bridge, despite a series of fruitful loan spells at Reading and Fulham as well as in Spain, Germany and Holland.

Piazon added: ‘I’d have a good season on loan, but I’d come back and was soon loaned again. There was no point in going out on loan, playing well, coming back, not being used and being loaned again.

‘There comes a time in your career that makes no sense anymore. By the way, I said exactly that three years ago and it didn’t go so well at Chelsea, it generated some discomfort.’

But the frustrated star, despite currently remaining the Blues’ longest-serving player without establishing himself in the first-team, doesn’t solely blame the London club for his misfortune.

‘I can’t just blame Chelsea, because I also accepted all that,’ he said.

‘But of course, there came a time when I thought that being loaned again would no longer be necessary, I had to go on with my life.’

Good news for Chelsea fans as Callum Hudson-Odoi could sign new contract this week

Reports in England claim Frank Lampard has received Callum Hudson-Odoi’s contract boost after there information that the starlet could agree new terms this week.

Frank Lampard has been desperate to tie Hudson-Odoi down to a long-term contract after the club rejected several bids from Bayern Munich in January.

The 18-year-old was said to been keen on a move to Germany, but the Blues were set on rejecting bids of any amount.

According to the Daily Express, Hudson-Odoi is now set to sign a five-year extension to his deal that runs out at the end of the season after agreeing terms.

After arriving from Derby one of Lampard’s key tasks was to convince the forward to stay for the long-term future, as he made clear in one of his first interviews.

He said: “Firstly, I’d love him to stay at Chelsea.

“He needs to be doing everything to get in that team. Is he working hard and is he developing every day in training and trying to improve?

“I don’t know him that well but I’m sure that’s the standard at Chelsea he’s going by himself.

“Every minute he gets on the pitch he needs to be doing everything he can.

“I understand Chelsea fans want to see more of him and he has to do everything he can to give himself the chance of minutes.

“I think at the end of the season he will look back and think what can I do with my career.

“It’s a mad one because a young English player at Chelsea at that age then you really want him to sign that long-term contract.”

Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Higuain, Lukaku, others (Check list of Top 20 highest earners and their income in Serie A)

There are reportsJuventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is Serie A’s runaway highest earner on €31m a season, with Matthijs de Ligt and Romelu Lukaku already second and third.

An investigation by Gazzetta dello Sport discovered Serie A was spending €1.36bn on gross salaries – the most in the League’s history.

That is chiefly down to Ronaldo’s extravagant income of almost €600,000 a week and Juve’s wage bill of €294m – more than double that of nearest challengers Inter (€139m).

Over half of the top 20 play for Juve, with De Ligt coming in second on €8m plus €4m in bonuses, just two months after his arrival from Ajax.

In third is Lukaku, whom Inter are paying €7.5m a season plus €1.5m in bonuses report Football Italia.

Further down, Kalidou Koulibaly is Napoli’s highest earner on €6m a season, as are Gianluigi Donnarumma for Milan (€6m) and Edin Dzeko for Roma (€5m + €1m).

Top 20 highest earners in Serie A

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, €31m)*
  2. Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus, €8m + €4m)
  3. Romelu Lukaku (Inter, €7.5 + €1.5m)
  4. Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus, €7.5m)
  5. Paulo Dybala (Juventus, €7.3m)
  6. Adrien Rabiot (Juventus, €7m + €2m)
  7. Aaron Ramsey (Juventus, €7m)
  8. Miralem Pjanic (Juventus, €6.5m)
  9. Douglas Costa [Juventus, €6m)
  10. Mario Mandzukic (Juventus, €6m)
  11. Sami Khedira (Juventus, €6m)
  12. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan, €6m)
  13. Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli, €6m)
  14. Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus, €5.5m)
  15. Edin Dzeko (Roma, €5m + €1m)
  16. Diego Godin (Inter, €5 + €1m)
  17. Alex Sandro (Juventus, €5m)
  18. Emre Can (Juventus, €5m)
  19. Alexis Sanchez (Inter, €5m)
  20. Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli, € 4.6m)

Tammy Abraham reveals what his mother did when he suffered vile racist abuse after missing penalty during Super Cup match against Liverpool

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has revealed his mother broke down in tears after he was the victim of vile racist abuse on social media.

The Chelsea striker missed a penalty as his side fell to a shoot-out loss to Liverpool in the Super Cup Final this summer.

After the game Abraham was sent disgusting messages on Twitter, with some calling him a “n*” and sending him photos of the Ku Klux Klan.

It led to the anti-racism organisation Kick It Out sending out a statement of support to the 21-year-old and issuing a “call to action” for Twitter to tackle the problem.

And while Tammy insisted that it “didn’t affect him as much”, he has revealed it proved too much for his mum to handle.

Speaking to The Mirror, the England striker said: “I remember speaking to my mum, she was emotional.

“She was in tears. She was just thinking ‘Why him? Why him?’ It’s obviously not nice, seeing your son getting abused.

“For me I’m always a strong character. It doesn’t affect me as much. But it could affect people who don’t have my personality.”

Chelsea, Liverpool escape massive fines, prosecution

Chelsea and Liverpool have escaped massive unlimited fines and prosecution after heeding Gambling Commision’s warning to end their partnerships with Russian online betting firm 1xBet.

The two Premier League clubs were been ordered to stop promoting the firm or face prosecution after they lost their licence allowing them to operate in the UK last month, say The Times.

Harry Kane, Willian and Virgil van Dijk have all helped plug 1xBet – with Tottenham cancelled their partnership after the Russian firm were blacklisted in the UK.

The Gambling Commission revealed they spoke with Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool, warning them to stop promoting immediately.

They were told if they fail to comply they would face unlimited fines and even 51 weeks in prison, report The Sun.

The Russian firm have been blacklisted by regulators for being used to promote betting on children’s sports, cockfighting and even a pornographic casino.

Arsene Wenger pinpoints his regret as Arsenal boss, and it revolves around Lionel Messi

Former Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger has idenfitied his inability to sign mercurial Lionel Messi for his former London club as one of his biggest regrets.

The 69-year-old still rues his failure get the deal over the line to bring the Argentine star to the Premier League.

“In life, one must live with regrets and failed pieces of business, and one of those was Messi,” Wenger told BeIN Sports.

“In 2003, we signed Cesc Fabregas and we held conversations with Lionel Messi whilst he was part of Barcelona’s youth setup and yet to emerge as a star we see today.

“This was at the time when Arsenal were a similar size to Barcelona and, as part of our transfer strategy, we wanted to recruit young talent to form a strong and youthful side.”

Times have changed however, as the former Arsenal boss pointed out: “With Messi, Piqué and Fàbregas, who were progressing well in those formative moments, we could have had a great team.

“Piqué and Fábregas came to England but Messi stayed in Spain.

“It’s true that we were interested in signing him (Messi) but even back then, he was an untouchable talent, far out of Arsenal’s reach.”

Photo Credit: Sky Sports