Chelsea fans went wild as legend John Terry hailed Kurt Zouma’s ‘perfect’ last-ditch tackle in Crystal Palace win

The French centre-back raced across the pitch to make a goal-saving slide challenge on Christian Benteke during the Blues’ 3-2 win at Selhurst Park last night.

Olivier Giroud, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham scored for the West Londoners as they eked past their London rivals for who Benteke and Wilfried Zaha bagged a goal each.

But some fan focus after the match was on Terry’s Instagram actions, The Sun report.

The Blues posted an action shot of Zouma’s tackle on their official Instagram account alongside a caption that read: “Absolute perfection! @KurtZouma #CRYCHE #CFC #Chelsea.”

And Terry replied: “What a tackle @KurtZouma.”

The reply received more than 10,000 likes as Blues fans eagerly showed their appreciation for the comment from the Aston Villa assistant manager.

One replied: “Reminiscing your Chelsea days Mr Legend.”

Another wrote: “Learnt from the legend himself.”

Before one fan said: “He did what JT would do.”

Zouma recently made headlines after it emerged Frank Lampard may dump the Frenchman if he brings in West Ham star Declan Rice to play at centre-back.

And Jose Mourinho also reportedly asked the Tottenham board to open talks with Chelsea over a transfer for the ex-Everton man.

Latest reports indicate that Chelsea want to fast-track their move for Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz because of a number of reasons.

The Germany international himself is, according to BILD, keen to leave the Bundesliga club this summer, especially with Leverkusen’s inability to compete in the Champions League next season.

Leverkusen only finished fifth in the Bundesliga this season, and thus will miss out on Champions League football next term unless they win the Europa League next month.

RMC Sport report that Chelsea’s dream of a Havertz-Werner duo underlines their desperation to act quickly to associate Havertz with Werner. The club want him this summer whilst rivals such as Madrid want to wait a year.

Bayern Munich were in the running to sign the youngster along with other clubs. Real Madrid were interested but never made a formal offer.

However, both would prefer to wait until 2021 to finalise a deal, with Madrid needing to raise funds amid the redevelopment of the Bernabeu and Bayern having spent big on Leroy Sane.

Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last week ruled his club out of contention for Havertz, saying the youngster will have to wait if he wants to join the Bundesliga champions.

His words: “Let’s make it clear: the move for Havertz won’t be possible for us this year for economic reasons.

“The whole of European football and Bayern are currently facing big economic challenges that will last while it’s not possible to play in front of fans.”

With the big clubs out of the running it makes the job of signing him that much easier for the Blues.

And, if the London club fail to sign Havertz this summer, they may not be able to compete for the player when the big European clubs recover from the all-pervading economic crisis,

There are reports that Jorginho has informed Chelsea that he is unhappy at the club, with Maurizio Sarri reportedly still ‘keen’ to bring the midfielder to Juventus despite the acquisition of Arthur Melo from Barcelona.

Jorginho was a virtual ever-present for Chelsea before the coronavirus lockdown, but since the season restarted he has played just 10 minutes of the Blues’ five games.

Now, Goal.com claims the 29-year-old is ‘unhappy’ with his current situation at Chelsea, given teenager Billy Gilmour has seen more game time than him.

According to Gary Neville, in his role as pundit for Sky Sports, the Italy international is being ‘managed out’ of the club as reported by Football Italia.

“You have to think that he [Jorginho] is being managed out of Stamford Bridge,” said the ex-Manchester United defender.

“I think it’s been clear from the moment Frank Lampard came in that he wants to build a young and hungry squad.

“Jorginho has barely featured for Chelsea since the season resumed. Look at the way David Luiz was let go.

“With the way Jorginho has been dealt with, it’s quite clear where Lampard wants to take the team.

“When you think of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp over the last few years, they don’t veer away from the plan for any player.

“Frank Lampard has got a clear plan.”

That was countered by Lampard after Chelsea’s 3-2 win at Crystal Palace last night, calling Jorginho ‘invaluable’ to his side.

“I thought Jorginho when he came on was quality. We needed his experience and his ball retention. He made a lot of passes and calmed us down.

“I think Billy did okay as well but I don’t think it was our midfield’s best performance today. That’s not just Billy, I think generally we can do better than that.

“The players know that but it’s part of their experience because they’re pretty young in there.

“Without a doubt Jorginho it’s not a case of being number one. Players like Jorginho are invaluable.

“He’s played a lot of games for me this season and he’ll continue to be important for us.”

Despite that, Goal.com states Lampard and his coaching staff believes he ‘offers little’ to the team in an attacking sense, his penalty-taking aside.

As for where he could go next, the website maintains Juve boss Sarri is still holding out for a reunion with his protégé, even after signing Arthur Melo from Barcelona.

However, it is warned the Londoners will not part with him for much less than the €60m (£57m) they paid Napoli in the summer of 2018.

There are reports in England that Kai Havertz has been offered a five-year contract by Chelsea worth £7.2million a year.

The German, 21, has his agent in talks with the West London club, following Timo Werner’s agreed transfer.

And, according to The Sun, Marina Granovskaia is offering a deal worth £140,000 per week.

Havertz played in the German Cup final on Saturday and scored a last-second penalty, but Leverkusen were made to pay for missing some crucial chances.

Journalist Nicolo Schira tweeted: “chelsea want Kai havertz and are in talks with his agent.

“Blues are ready to offer 5-year contract (€8M/year) and in the next few days will open talks with bayerleverkusen.”

Danny Drinkwater has hit back at a Leicester City fan over comparisons with Ben Chilwell.

The midfielder moved from Leicester City to Chelsea in 2017, one year after the Foxes won the Premier League title.

Yet he failed to find success at Stamford Bridge and has managed just 12 league appearances in the three years since his £35m move.

The 30-year-old has also had unsuccessful spells on loan at Burnley and Aston Villa this season, having managed just six appearances over the course of the whole campaign.

That has no put Chelsea off targeting more Leicester players, though, with full-back Ben Chilwell high on their shopping list this summer.

Yet a Leicester fan’s comparison between Chilwell and Drinkwater prompted the midfielder to hit back on Instagram, report football.london.

The spat took place on Chilwell’s Instagram page, with Foxes fan @lulu_Kev tagging Drinkwater in a comment.

He said: “Chelsea? Shop window, not playing the best at the minute, where has loyalty gone in football?

“Top five club already, could be a flop like @DannyDrinkwater!

“Players who think they are better than the club.”

Drinkwater replied to the comment succinctly.

The Manchester United youth product said: “That last line is a very silly opinion!”

Yet the fan doubled down on his argument, claiming he wanted to prevent Chilwell from suffering a similar fate to Chilwell.

He said: “You were a massive part of our team, likewise Chilwell but you thought Leicester wasn’t fashionable enough for you.

“Don’t want him to end up on the bench like you did.

“LCFC, we are a big club.”