Chelsea’s newboy Hakim Ziyech has revealed that Frank Lampard’s attacking style of play was a big reason why he chose to move to the club.

The Moroccan international began training with his new club last Saturday for the first time since his £33.3m move from Ajax was confirmed in February.

Ziyech attended Tuesday night’s Chelsea win over Norwich and says he has always wanted to play for a big club in England.

The former Ajax forward,in an interview with the official Chelsea website, said: “It was important for my decision. I like the style of play he is using now. The attacking play was for me a big decision to come to Chelsea.”

Ziyech came up against Chelsea twice during the season with Ajax including a 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge, a game which he scored in.

“It was a crazy game (the 4-4 draw). If you were a neutral supporter it was a fantastic game. For us it was a little bit less because we were 4-1 up, but it was a crazy game. I think the neutral fans, that is why they like football, because of moments and games like this.”

Ziyech says moving to Chelsea is a dream come true as he has always had ambitions to play in the Premier League,

The 27-year-old said he always looked up to Chelsea players John Terry, Didier Drogba and his new head coach Frank Lampard.

“When you are a young guy you always want to play for a big club, in the Premier League of course,” he added.

‘When I was young, the players that played here, it was always a big club so I am very happy and it means a lot. I was playing in the youth in Heerenveen and here was playing Drogba, Lampard, Terry, all those big names. We were always for Chelsea, and if you look at now, if you can play here it means a lot to me.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @ChelseaFC

Napoli’s negotiations for Victor Osimhen have moved a step closer after the Lille forward hired a new agent.

Football Italia had earlier reported that the hold-up had been due to Osimhen’s previous agent trying to negotiate extra bonuses for himself.

Now, Sky Sport Italia reports the Nigerian has turned to William D’Avila to oversee the completion of his transfer to Napoli.

D’Avila already has several African players on his books, including Younes Belhanda, Samuel Kalu, Emmanuel Dennis and Aston Villa winger Trezeguet.

In the meantime, Osimhen’s old representatives are ready to take him to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over what they deem to be unfair dismissal.

However, as that is a separate case, it should not cause any further delays in his proposed move to the Partenopei, worth a reported €81m.

Sadio Mane put Liverpool ahead, but Alexandre Lacazette and Reiss Nelson strikes give Arsenal a half-time lead.

Andy Robertson sticks an inviting low ball into the box, and the midfielder is on hand to poke in at the near post.

The Gunners have two individual errors from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson to thank for their goals, but they’ve been well in this one throughout.

Arsenal’s goal, once again, was of Liverpool’s making, with Alisson botching a clearance as far as Alexandre Lacazette. The

Frenchman finds Reiss Nelson in the centre, and he finishes really calmly to put the Gunners in front.

Photo Credit: premierleague.com

Borussia Dortmund have released former Chelsea forward Andre Schurrle with one more year to run.

The 29-year-old won the World Cup with Germany in 2014 but has endured mixed fortunes since.

Most recently, he managed two goals and four assists in 18 appearances for Spartak Moscow during the second half of 2019-20.

The Bundesliga club announced that a rescission had been mutually agreed.

“On reflection, it was a period with highs and lows – but also with many valuable experiences both on a sporting and, in particular, on a personal level,” he told the club’s official website.

“I would like to thank those responsible at BVB and wish the club and its special fans all the best for the future.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @ BlackYellow

Attacking midfielder Filip Djuricic has claimed Sassuolo teammate Jeremie Boga ‘is the best dribbler I have ever seen’.

The former Chelsea player arrived at Sassuolo in July 2018 and has impressed enough to attract interest from the top clubs in Italy.

This season the 23-year-old has scored 11 times in Serie A and contributed four assists in 31 League matches.

Djuricic, who came to the club from Sampdoria at the same time, has been impressed by the Ivory Coast international.

“Honestly, I don’t know any dribblers that are better than him,” Djuricic told the Corriere dello Sport as cited by Football Italai.

“I played with many people, but in beating his man, he’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

Boga gets another chance to impress against Juventus this evening, when Sassuolo host the Old Lady looking to continue on their great run of four consecutive wins in Serie A.

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has responded to reports linking his goalkeeper Jan Oblak with Chelsea for summer transfer.

Frank Lampard has obviously lost faith in current stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who has failed to impress throughout the season.

Despite being signed for a world-record sum of £72m only two years ago, Chelsea are making moves to replace him.

Several have been linked, including Burnley star Nick Pope and Andre Onana of Ajax.

But fans have been most excited by reports linking them to Atletico’s Oblak – who is commonly regarded as the best in the world.

However, Simeone cannot envisage a way his club will let the Slovakia international go.

He said: “I am not surprised that Chelsea admire Jan Oblak, he is a decisive player for us.

“But he is the captain and our participation every year in the Champions League helps us keep our best players so I hope he will continue with us.”

The 27-year-old is contracted to the Wanda Metropolitano outfit until 2023 so Atletico are under no pressure to sell.

And if Chelsea want to trigger his release clause it would set them back a staggering £103m.

Olivier Giroud has revealed that his celebration after scoring against Norwich was inspired by playing Scrabble with N’Golo Kante.

The French striker, restored to the team after being dropped for the 3-0 thrashing at Sheffield United, scored a brilliant diving header as the Blues took hold of third place once more.

After Giroud’s excellent goal – and his comical shove on Jorginho – the French striker celebrated with an imaginary notepad and pen.

Fans were unsure what the message might have meant when he did it, but thankfully the World Cup winner cleared it up after the final whistle.

When asked what any possible deeper meaning with the celebration, Giroud laughed and simply replied: “I play Scrabble with N’Golo Kante. I was aiming it at him,”

On how they played, the Frenchman said: “We definitely needed to be patient, to play our game and to move the ball quick against a team who play with a deep block. We created a lot of chances but it was important to score before half-time.

“We were very pleased with that. We should have scored more goals, we had a lot of possession, but I think the team was a bit under pressure because we needed that win.”

Ashley Cole has revealed the best approach Frank Lampard should adopt to defeat Liverpool in next week’s crunch Premier League clash, saying “Chelsea have to be ruthless and sit back, have a defensive mindset going into this game.”

The ex-Blues defender joked that he hopes Liverpool’s players “have had another night out” before the encounter between the two sides.

Frank Lampard’s side stretched ahead of top-four rivals Leicester and Manchester United with a 1-0 victory against Norwich on Tuesday night, with Olivier Giroud scoring the winner.

After an FA Cup semi-final against United on Sunday, the Blues face champions Liverpool next Wednesday, when the Reds will be presented with the Premier League trophy – and Cole hopes Jurgen Klopp’s side are not in first-gear at Anfield.

Liverpool lost 4-0 against Manchester City in their first game after being crowned champions, though there was a gap of seven days between their partying and the match at the Etihad.

The Reds will also have one week’s rest on this occasion, following their game against Arsenal on Wednesday night.

“They’re two very good sides [Liverpool and Wolves],” Cole told Sky Sports cited by Sportsmail, in reference to Chelsea’s final two opponents in the Premier League.

“You go to Anfield when they get the Premier League trophy – hopefully they’ve had another night out before the game and they’re not too worried!

“It’s tough to play at Anfield and there’s always something on it. Chelsea have to be ruthless and sit back, have a defensive mindset going into this game.”

It was not Chelsea’s best performance on Tuesday against already-relegated Norwich, but at this stage of the season, three points are all that matters.

In the race for Champions League qualification, the Blues are now third – four points ahead of both Leicester and Man Utd, who have a game in hand.

The Blues entertain Wolves at Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season next Sunday, July 26.