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💙
Chelsea earned their reward for a fine away performance, beating Ajax 1-0 through substitute Batshuayi’s close-range strike from a chance created by Pulišić, who emanated menace after coming on at Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam
The London club by this victory have drawn level with Ajax at the top of Group H.
The hosts, who suffer their first UEFA Champions League group stage defeat in ten matches and their first loss in any competition since May, will consider themselves unlucky, reflecting on Álvarez’s header that hit the post after half-time.
Chelsea scout Piet de Visser has urged the club to re-sign Nathan Ake from Bournemouth.
Netherlands international Ake switched from Stamford Bridge to the South Coast for £20m in 2017, having struggled to break from the academy into the Blues first team.
But now that the West London club have backed their youth stars to play under Frank Lampard, De Visser believes Ake should also be there alongside them.
Ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Ajax in the Champions League, he told Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant: “Ake should have played for Chelsea by now. He’s so good.
“How often does he not score with his head? He has timing and insight. I hope they buy him back. That boy is perfect for them and he has played with Lampard.”
Ake was a star of the same Chelsea youth side as Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek that won the U21 development league in 2014, report Sky Sports.
Now a fully-fledged Netherlands international, he joined Chelsea as a 16-year-old from Feyenoord having been considered one of his country’s brightest prospects.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has reportedly resisted an opportunity to sell the club and insists the club is not for sale.
A mega-rich Middle East consortium proposed a potential takeover offer but it was shrugged off by the Russian, according to the Telegraph.
There have been rumours that the billionaire businessman was looking to sell since the UK tightened its regulations on visas for wealthy foreign nationals.
He has since barely been seen at Chelsea matches, sparking speculation that he is losing his interest in the club he purchased in 2003.
Abramovich also put plans to develop Stamford Bridge on hold amid spiralling costs of £1billion, but it appears he has no plans to leave his 16-year project any time soon.
It is claimed that Abramovich has been approached by a number of potential buyers including Sir Jim Ratcliffe – once Britain’s richest man.
Ratcliffe already owns Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport but sources close to Abramovich insist it is “not for sale.”
But the report also claims that the Russian would consider entertaining offers if he receives a bid in the region of £3bn.
Reports Germany claim Jose Mourinho is ‘in talks with Borussia Dortmund as former Manchester United boss starts learning German’ in anticipation of a move to the Westfalenstadion.
He previously admitted that a job in the Bundesliga is not out the question.
He told la Gazzetta dello Sport in the summer: “Right now, I’m studying German. I am studying German because I miss this language. I speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian…
“Of course, I do not exclude anything, not even Germany.”
Mourinho has been out of the dugout since December last year when he was axed by Manchester United after overseeing a dismal start to the campaign at Old Trafford.
The former Chelsea boss is currently working as a pundit with Sky Sports but is keen to return to management and Dortmund are on his radar, according to German outlet Bild.
Current Dortmund boss Lucian Favre is not understood to be in any immediate jeopardy – but the German giants have made an inconsistent start to the campaign and chiefs are looking at the long-term picture, report the Daily Mirror.
The chance to challenge Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga dominance is something which could appeal to Mourinho, but he would be forced to take a significant drop in wages from the £24million-a-year he pocketed at United.
Dortmund currently sit top of their Champions League group, which contains both Barcelona and Inter Milan, ahead of their trip to the San Siro this evening.
They are fourth in the Bundesliga after eight games having won half of those and drawn a further three, suffering a solitary defeat.
Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori is eager to repay the faith shown to him by the Blues boss Frank Lampard when they face Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old defender spent last season under Lampard on loan at Derby and will make his third Champions League appearance on only his ninth senior start for Chelsea, having been called up by England for the first time earlier this month.
“Coming into the season, I just wanted to stamp my place in the team and the manager gave me an opportunity,” said Tomori.
“He’s carried on giving me opportunities. Even if I make mistakes or I’m not quite in the right position, he helps me out and he’s developed me a lot. He talks to me in training, so do the other players, and that helps me.
“This season has been good for me so far. It’s gone better than I probably expected it would go but I’m working hard day in, day out, trying to improve and help the team as much as I can.
“Getting the senior international call-up last month was great and now I just want to keep on going.”
Lampard’s side have won their last five matches in all competitions, including a 2-1 win away to Lille at the start of the month.
But they face a side who, barring a couple of high-profile summer departures, swept into the Champions League semi-finals last season and began this year’s campaign with back-to-back 3-0 victories, report SkySports.
“It will be a very tight one,” added Tomori. “Both teams are in good form and it’s a big game in the group.
“Ajax is a great club with big history, a great stadium, so we’re expecting a tough game.
“Games like these are where we can learn a lot but every game as a team we’re learning and every game throws up different challenges.
“So far, we’ve handled them well so hopefully we can do the same.”
Bournemouth star Lewis Cook has expressed his desire to remain at Dean Court despite reported transfer interest from Liverpool and Chelsea.
Liverpool and Chelsea are both reportedly keen to sign the centre midfielder.
Cook was on standby for Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad in Russia
The Daily Express report that the 22-year-old has just broken into the first team again after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture last December.
And he has impressed during his time in the first-team, so much so that he has apparently caught the eye of some of the league’s top clubs.
Last week, it was reported by the Daily Mail that Liverpool and Chelsea were considering a move for the midfielder.
But despite the interest from teams above Bournemouth in the league, Cook insists he is solely focused on the Cherries.
“I have just started playing football here,” he told the Bournemouth Echo.
“I had been out for a long time, so I am just focusing on Bournemouth at the moment.
“I am loving being back and playing football.
“I just forget about it (the speculation) really.
“You’ve just got to focus on your football here and keep enjoying it. I am obviously enjoying playing football again – that’s all I am focusing on right now.
“Yeah, definitely. [fully committed to Bournemouth] I am enjoying my football here, it’s a great place to be and play great football.”
Since returning from his injury, Cook has started two games and come off the bench twice.
The midfielder was a key part of Eddie Howe’s team last season before suffering the cruciate ligament injury.
Three Chelsea fans are facing lifetime bans for racially abusing a fellow supporter – with the club apologising for not acting sooner.
Jerome Bailey, 20, was sickeningly abused by fellow Blues supporters during a clash with Slavia Prague in April.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Bailey revealed: “It’s the result I wanted all along but it’s unfortunate and disappointing that it’s taken so long to get to this point.
“Maybe Chelsea need to look at how efficient their procedures are in this area.
“It’s good that zero tolerance is not an empty promise in this case. I just wanted to know that the team I follow cared a little.
“I didn’t feel like I should have been the one to approach the club – they should have been telling me what was happening.
“Chelsea had everything at their disposal [for the investigation]. It should have been simple to approach these guys and then move forward. I just wanted to get some closure and now it feels like I have.”
Paulo Dybala scored twice in two minutes to rescue a victory for Juventus, who had been trailing to injury-hit Lokomotiv Moscow at home.
CR7 was hoping to set a new record, as he had scored against 33 different Champions League clubs, on a par with Raul, but was yet to find the net with Loko.
These sides had met in the 1993 UEFA Cup Final, when remarkably their coach was also Yuri Semin, now 72 years of age.
Vedran Corluka risked an own goal in the opening minutes, deflecting Dybala’s strike on to the side-netting, while Ronaldo’s blushes were spared by the offside flag when he ballooned over from Juan Cuadrado’s cross.
However, Juve were made to pay for a sluggish tempo and poor defending, as Lokomotiv took a shock lead. Alan Miranchuk shrugged off a timid Leonardo Bonucci challenge, spread the play for Joao Mario and was then on the end of the rebound after Wojciech Szczesny’s parry.
Dybala had the ball in the net, but only after Cristiano Ronaldo had acrobatically clattered into goalkeeper Guilherme, so play had been stopped.
After the restart, Dybala volleyed over from close range on a Miralem Pjanic assist, but moments later Higuain replaced Khedira for a 4-3-3 formation.
Cuadrado flashed another dangerous ball across the face of goal, but again nobody was ready to make the most of it. Higuain turned Benedikt Howedes well, only to fire just wide of the post, then a looping header also skimmed the upright.
It was Dybala who got the equaliser with a moment of magic, curling a remote-controlled left-foot strike from the edge of the box into the far top corner with Guilherme helpless.
Less than two minutes later, La Joya had turned the game around completely for Juve to lead 2-1. Alex Sandro’s scorcher from distance forced a one-handed save and Dybala was ready to tap in.
Juventus: Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Alex Sandro; Khedira (Higuain 48), Pjanic, Matuidi (Rabiot 65); Bentancur; Dybala (Bernardeschi 82), Cristiano Ronaldo
