Former Chelsea defence strongman Frank Leboeuf has urged Frank Lampard to bring in a “big guy” at the back.
The French ex-pro believes the Blues need their own “leader” like Liverpool’s talismanic Virgil Van Dijk.
He told ESPN FC about the challenges faced by Lampard: “[He needs to improve] all of them. That’s the problem.
“The goalkeeper is a big issue, but you have to go to the main [issue]. If you’re looking at the main issue, it’s the central defenders.
“Zouma is doing great, but I’m not confident about [Antonio] Rudiger, I’m not confident about [Andreas] Christensen. I don’t know what will happen with [Fikayo] Tomori, but I think they need a big guy.
“You saw what happened with Liverpool when they got Van Dijk, he changed everything. Even Lovren and Gomez looked better alongside him.
“You need a big guy to make sure he’ll lead the defence. Look at Ramos. [Raphael] Varane is a fantastic player, but is he still the fantastic player when he plays for France as when he plays for Madrid with Sergio Ramos? He’s better with Real Madrid.”
Reports in England claim Arsenal are planning offload up to nine first team stars this summer, one of which is Alexandre Lacazette, as Mikel Arteta looks to raise funds.
The north London club won the FA Cup by beating city rivals in the final at Wembley on Saturday after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice.
The Gabon international future at the club is uncertain despite Arteta’s hope that the red-hot striker will commit his future to the Gunners.
According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are ready to cash in on several stars to raise funds for Arteta’s rebuild.
Hector Bellerin could be sold if a sizeable offer is made for the player. Others are Sokratis, Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Sead Kolasinac — as well as Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding, who have played key roles for Arteta in recent weeks — are also in the shop window.
Arteta wants Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey, and the club have a long-term interest in Chelsea forward Willian, whose contract is set to expire.
Arsenal are interested in Barcelona forward Philippe Coutinho but financing a deal for the former Liverpool star could prove difficult. They also want a central defender and to extend midfielder Dani Ceballos’s loan from Real Madrid.
The club want to sell Mesut Ozil, but their hopes of offloading the former Germany playmaker — and his £350,000-a-week salary — appear slim after his agent insisted Ozil would see out the final season of his contract.
Multiple reports in Italy claim that Antonio Conte’s furious outburst has created an irreparable split at Inter, with Max Allegri or Mauricio Pochettino the alternative options.
Conte should’ve been celebrating the 2-0 victory away to Atalanta on Saturday evening, which secured second place on 82 points, equalling the 2009-10 tally under Jose Mourinho.
Instead, he used his post-match interviews to rail against the club hierarchy, claiming they gave him and the team “zero protection” from media attacks and would not be put in that position again.
There was, according to Football Italia, silence from the Nerazzurri and a summit is expected between Conte and director Beppe Marotta on today.
Reports are growing rapidly on Sky Sport Italia, Sport Mediaset, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport and Corriere dello Sport that the damage is irreparable.
Although a dismissal is unlikely, especially with his €12m per season salary, it is entirely plausible that Inter and Conte will agree to terminate the contract by mutual consent after just one season.
As for the alternatives, Plan B is widely believed to be Allegri, who after all was brought in by Marotta at Juventus when Conte suddenly quit two days into pre-season training in 2014.
Allegri is now a free agent, as the contract he had with Juventus has expired, even though he was sacked a year ago.
There is another intriguing option mentioned by FCInterNews and Tuttosport, specifically ex-Tottenham Hotspur manager Pochettino.
The Argentine is also a free agent and gave an interview with El Pais at the weekend confessing he was open to jobs in England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France.
This would certainly be a boost for Christian Eriksen, who played 255 games under Pochettino at Spurs, contributing 58 goals and 75 assists.
Eriksen’s arrival in January is one of the reasons behind Conte’s irritation with the Inter directors, bringing in a player for over €20m who did not fit his tactical set-up.
Chelsea are ramping up their quest to nab Nick Pope from Burnley ahead of Frank Lampard’s second season in charge of the club.
But the Blues target isn’t likely to be cheap with Clarets boss Sean Dyche reportedly slapping a £50million tag on his prized asset.
Pope, who made 38 Premier League appearances for the Clarets this season, is the Blues number one target according to the Daily Star.
And the Burnley stopper, who was rumoured to be a transfer target for Tottenham last year, is reportedly keen on a move to one of the giants in England’s top football division.
The 28-year-old, who kept 15 cleans in the league this term, was narrowly beaten by Manchester City goalie Ederson to this season’s Golden Glove prize.
It’s believed a move to one of the Premier League’s top sides could help the Clarets star rival Jordan Pickford as first choice for Gareth Southgate.
Chelsea have been handed massive transfer boost in their pursuit of youngster Mo Sankoh, who is reportedly set to leave Stoke City.
Accordung to Stoke-on-Trent Live report, the 16-year-old striker has been offered a new long-term deal in Staffordshire but he is set to move elsewhere.
The Netherlands youth international has not agreed a contract anywhere else but has been linked with Chelsea and other Champions League clubs.
Sankoh was in prolific form for the under 18s last season, scoring 11 goals in 12 appearances before lockdown struck.
He was a matchwinner in February with two goals to topple Chelsea at Clayton Wood as Stoke’s under-18s won a hard-fought Premier League Cup semi-final 2-1.
He joined Stoke at under-15 level from Sparta Rotterdam in 2018 but his performances since then have attracted attention.
Juventus, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Spurs, Everton and Celtic have also been linked with the player.
Because Sankoh is under-24 Stoke will be entitled to compensation, but are likely to receive more if he moves to another English club.
Any fee could be based on future first-team appearances and achievements at his new club.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has admitted that the ball is in Willian’s court in regards to his future at the club.
The Blues have offered a new two-year deal to the Brazilian, whose deal expires at the end of the season, but Lampard does not know whether Willian will sign it.
“I know the situation from the club’s end,” Lampard said. “But it is his decision and I have not got that answer so I actually do not know what that decision is.
“It is his choice and I respect his choice. He has been a great servant for Chelsea if he decides to move on.
“And if he does decide to move on then Chelsea moves on as well and we have to look forward ourselves.”
The winger has been heavily linked with Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal, Barcelona and Inter Miami.
Willian has made 329 appearances for Chelsea since joining in 2013
Christian Pulisic has given an update on his hamstring injury during the FA Cup final which his club lost to Arsenal, assuring Chelsea fans to be “back in no time”.
The 21-year-old gave Chelsea the lead with a deft finish in the opening five minutes of the game.
But the American’s former Borussia Dortmund team-mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang settled proceedings with his brace.
A penalty followed by a fantastic chip from the Gabon international was enough to down Chelsea, who had Mateo Kovacic controversially sent off late on.
The USA international lasted until the opening stages of Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal as he had to be helped off the pitch and back to the Blues’ dressing room with a suspected hamstring problem.
Replays showed Pulisic grimacing in pain whilst in full stride, with his last kick of the game proving to be a shot that curled just wide of the far post.
I absolutely love this from Christian Pulisic. His hamstring goes as he's driving towards the goal, you can see the agony in his face, yet he keeps going and tries his best to get a shot off before collapsing to the ground in pain.
Manager Frank Lampard said after the game that both Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta, who also went off with a hamstring injury, would miss Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich next week.
Pulisic hopes to be fit for the start of the new season in September.
The forward is in positive spirits despite the setback and took to social media on Sunday afternoon to reflect on events at Wembley and to deliver an injury update.
And he’s boosted fans’ hopes by revealing that he thinks he’ll be back in no time.
“Gave it everything we had. Wasn’t our day,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you guys for your support I’ll be back in no time @chelseafc.”
Lampard said he believes the recent run of games Chelsea have had contributed to Pulisic and Azpilicueta’s muscle injuries.
He explained: “We didn’t have the luck with the injuries, and things all came together for us today in a way we wouldn’t want.
“Two hamstring injuries for Azpi and Pulisic, a dislocated shoulder for Pedro and Willian getting injured yesterday before the game.
“[N’Golo] Kante wasn’t really fit for this game, it was only a maybe if we needed him depending on how the game was going and having to make the subs when I did, made it very difficult to risk him.
“Ruben Loftus-Cheek was out too, as we get to the end of a very long season.
“I’m not making excuses, because we didn’t perform well enough, but it felt like that was a tipping point with everything coming together at the same time.”
