Samuel Chukwueze has officially extended his contract at Spanish club Villarreal with a €100m release clause.
The 20-year-old Nigerian is enjoying an impressive rise to prominence for the Yellow Submarine’s first-team squad after only making his debut in November last year.
The player’s former contract at the contract contained a €40m release clause which would allow bigger clubs in European football to circle for his signature.
According to Diario AS, as cited by Football Espana, the €100m release clause will be in place for the next two years before dropping to €80m in the third year, which would allow the player to move for less and reward his loyalty.
The Nigerian international is now a regular in Javi Calleja’s side having already made eight appearances in La Liga this campaign and looks set to have a bright future at the top level.
The new deal is said to be in recognition of his growth as a player and the potential he possesses.
Frank Lampard has revealed the reason he refused to rush Christian Pulisic into the first-team despite the hue and cry from pundits criticizing him for not including the winger.
Chelsea fans were left raging on social media after Lampard decided to leave out Pulisic from his starting line-up to face Ajax.
Pulisic joined his Chelsea teammates in the summer after completing his £58million move from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea in January.
The American has not been active in the club’s first team. But things began to look good for him in Chelsea’s shirt with his stunning cameo in the Blues 1-0 victory over Newcastle last weekend.
He, again, came off the bench to play a major role in Chelsea’s 1-0 win away at Ajax on Wednesday night.
The 21-year-old came on for Willian after the hour mark at the Johan Cruyff ArenA and set up Michy Batshuayi’s winner with five minutes to play.
Pulisic latched onto a pass from Mason Mount on the left flank before running at Sergino Dest, where he then performed a series of step-overs and drilled a low cross into the box.
The goal gave Chelsea an impressive win over last year’s beaten semi-finalists, with the Blues now sitting atop their group.
And after the game, Lampard was full of praise for Pulisic, while explaining why he didn’t want to rush him into the first-team, report the Daily Mirror.
“The performance tonight and his last couple of performances off the bench show something of that of course, because he’s come on and made differences,” he said.
“In terms of handling him, I basically tried to shut my ears to too much of the outside talk.
“With a big player, there’s a lot said and if you listen to it all the time, you can wonder what you’re doing.
“I understood the quality of Christian. I understood his young age. He’s just turned 21 recently and it’s a big move for him.
“And I have other options for him in those areas. Let’s give him full credit.
“He wants to know what I want for him, what the PL is like, what his new team-mates are like, that’s not always going to be an easy road.
“I’ve just stayed calm with it, I see the big picture with him.
“I want him to be successful at this club because he’s a good lad, he wants to do very well, that’s very clear.
“Acting like he’s acting, training like he’s trained the last two or three weeks, playing like he’s played the last two or three weeks obviously makes me very, very happy.”
Joe Cole has pinpointed the transformation Chelsea have witnessed since Frank Lampard took over in the summer, saying that the new Blues manager has been far more flexible than former boss Maurizio Sarri.
Lampard replaced Sarri in the summer, with the Italian spending just one season in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Sarri led Chelsea to a top-four finish in the Premier League and the Europa League trophy but he was often criticised for not changing his style of play during his time at the club.
But Cole says that is one thing Lampard has done during his short time in charge so far.
“The key thing there is the flexibility,” Cole said on BT Sport.
“Too much under the Sarri era it was so monotonous and so robotic.
“Frank’s changed the system two or three times here, he’s played Mount in two or three positions, because these lads are well-schooled in that way of playing.
“So as they’ve come into the team, it’s just been smooth.
“I think continuing with that level of flexibility, who they’re playing against, can they adjust, and I think these boys, the education they’re getting, is fantastic and they’re winning on the job.”
Chelsea are currently fourth in the Premier League table following Saturday’s 1-0 home with over Newcastle United.
And, on Wednesday the London club defeated last season’s UEFA Champions League semi-finalists Ajax 1-0 at Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.
Elseid Hysaj’s agent has claimed that Chelsea made an offer for the Napoli right-back last year.
Speaking to Tutto Napoli, Mario Giuffredi said: “It’s in the interest of everyone that the player moves in January as his contract expires and Napoli, who a year ago refused €50m (£43m) from Chelsea, would risk losing him for nothing.”
Before adding: “In the summer, he could have gone to Chelsea. Sarri would have liked him.
“He has a €50m clause, maybe Napoli would have even accepted €40-€45m.
“The negotiation has never taken off because De Laurentiis, to free Sarri, has imposed a clause that forbids Chelsea to take other players apart from Jorginho.”
Fikayo Tomori@fikayotomori_
What a win!! Great team spirit to get an important win tonight! Safe trip home for the fans who were different class tonight💙. #CFC
Jody Morris@morriskid
Wallop!!! 💪🏼💙
Mateo Kovačić@Mateo_Kova23
Flying back home with three points💙 #jobwelldone
@ChelseaFC
kepa Arrizabalaga@kepa_46
Yes, we did it!! Great game and three important points.
@chelseafc @ChampionsLeague
César Azpilicueta@CesarAzpi
Amazing work from the whole team💪🏻
Not a bad result to celebrate my 350th appearance for
@chelseafc 😅Love your support💙
