La Liga club set to sign Chelsea star

Valencia have made a move to sign Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater on a season-long loan deal, according to reports in Spain.

Diario AS cites Radio Sport Valencia as reporting that the Englishman is the latest target to emerge from the Mestalla.

Drinkwater moved to Stamford Bridge from Leicester in the summer of 2017 but has made just 23 first-team appearances before loan spells at Burnley and Aston Villa, which yielded a total of six outings combined.

To date, Los Che are yet to make any first-team signings despite a host of exits this summer.

The exits of club captain Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin to Villarreal from Los Che were confirmed last month, following the exit of star winger Ferran Torres to Manchester City and striker Rodrigo Moreno has joined Leeds.

Furthermore, Cristiano Piccini has joined Atalanta on loan, Ezequiel Garay did not have his contract renewed and the loan deals for Jaume Costa and Alessandro Florenzi both expired.

Manchester United in active discussions with Barcelona over La Liga giants’ star

There are reports that Manchester United are now in active discussions with Barcelona over Ousmane Dembele, according to reports.

Sky Sports say they have made contact and are pursuing a deal, preferably a loan move.

This follows weeks of speculation as United try to bolster their attacking options with only days left in the window.

They have also been linked with – and continue to be linked with – Jadon Sancho, Luka Jovic and Edison Cavani

Timo Werner’s first Chelsea goal: RB Leipzig troll Tottenham

Leipzig have had a bit of fun at Tottenham’s expense after their former star Timo Werner registered his first goal in English football.

After drawing blanks against Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion, the Chelsea striker has finally netted his first competitive goal for the club after his summer move from RB Leipzig.

With 19 minutes on the clock, Chelsea right-back Cesar Azpilicueta got the better of Spurs debutant Sergio Reguilon, sent over a cross for Werner and the striker unleashed a low, powerful effort beyond the reach of Hugo Lloris.

Although his Chelsea team crashed out, Werner’s goal was a reminder that he loves a strike against Spurs – as Leipzig were so keen to remind us last night.

Official: Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong joins Watford, says “best is still to come”

Watford have announced the signing of defender William Troost-Ekong from Udinese on a five-year deal.

The Nigeria international, who represented his country at the 2018 World Cup, made 66 appearances for the Serie A club in two seasons after joining them from Bursaspor in 2018.

Udinese have confirmed the centre-back’s move to the Hornets on their official website.

“Udinese Calcio announce the permanent sale of Williams Troost-Ekong to Watford FC,” the statement read.

Troost-Ekong arrives with a rich pedigree. He has played against Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar; can boast wins over Juventus and AC Milan; has 42 caps for his country; has been part of a World Cup squad in 2018; helped Nigeria to bronze at the 2016 Olympics; captained the Super Eagles and finished third in the African Cup of Nations.

“They were all amazing experiences, particularly getting a medal at the Olympics,” said Troost-Ekong.

“But I’m not there yet, the best is still to come and I want to try and win the Championship and then play in the Premier League with Watford.”

Photo Credit: Twitter/WatfordFC

Chelsea offer two Chelsea stars for Declan Rice in swap deal

Reports in England suggest that Chelsea are set to offer Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in exchange for West Ham’s Declan Rice.

The Blues have already splurged over £200million on exciting new talent this summer.

But manager Frank Lampard still wants to improve his defensive options after a leaky start to the season.

And West Ham star Rice remains a long-term preferred target, having played for Chelsea’s academy sides alongside Mason Mount.

But according to the Transfer Window Podcast, they may have found another way to tempt West Ham into selling their star asset.

They claim that out-of-favour misfits Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could be sent to the London Stadium in exchange.

Both are struggling for minutes in Lampard’s side, having fallen behind new recruits Thiago Silva and Kai Havertz.

And the duo are eager for first-team football to try and secure their spots in their national squads for next year’s Euros.

Meanwhile, The Sun report that Rudiger is reluctant to join David Moyes’ side, however, and has also been linked with Tottenham.

Loftus-Cheek, on the other hand, just wants to get game time having spent so much time on the treatment table.

Should Chelsea successfully prise Rice away from East London, Lampard could utilise him at centre-back.

Bayern Munich in hot pursuit of 19-year-old former Chelsea starlet

Reports in Germany claim that Bayern Munich are interested in signing former Chelsea starlet Tariq Lamptey .

SPORT1 reports the Champions League winners want to poach rapid right-back Lamptey from Brighton.

The Bundesliga giants’ boss Hansi Flick is said to be looking for a backup for right back for Benjamin Pavard, and Lamptey fits this profile and could prove to be decent value.

The 19-year-old has bagged three assists in three Prem games this season, including one against The Blues.

But The Seagulls are holding out for £23million for their asset but the German champs are only looking to fork out £14m.

The youngster was heavily scouted by both RB Leipzig and OGC Nice earlier in his career in Chelsea’s youth teams and was almost signed by both clubs at different times.

(Watch Video) Exact words Mourinho used that got Lampard angry leading to touchline spat during Carabao Cup tie

Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard exchanged heated words from across their respective technical areas, with the Spurs boss seemingly unhappy at Lampard’s animated behaviour during the first-half of the Carabao Cup tie between Chelsea and Tottenham.

Lampard holds a perfect record in the three games he’s managed against a Mourinho side.

The two first came up against each other in opposing dugouts when Lampard was in charge at Derby while Mourinho was at Manchester United.

The former Chelsea midfielder led the Championship side to a famous win on penalties and he also won both league games last season as Blues manager against Tottenham.

Their first encounter this season came in the Carabao Cup fourth round with Mourinho looking to pick up his first win against Lampard.

But it was Chelsea who struck first with Timo Werner grabbing the game’s first goal.

The Express report that Mourinho soon became agitated on the touchline trying to push his Tottenham side forward.

However, the Tottenham boss soon turned his attention to Lampard in the opposite dugout.

After Erik Lamela was penalised for putting a hand in Kurt Zouma’s face, Mourinho was caught exchanging words with Lampard.

The Spurs head coach was telling Lampard that he was talking too much by making chatterbox signals with both hands.

During a lengthy argument on the touchline, the Spurs manager accused Lampard of being too ‘gobby’ with his side winning, saying: “F***ing hell Frank, when you’re losing 3-0 you’re not standing up here.”

Lampard didn’t take too kindly to the gesture with the fourth official having to mediate the pair of them.

The Chelsea boss could be seen laughing off the small exchange soon after.

Photo Credit: Twitter

(Watch goal on video) Timo Werner scores fantastic goal against Tottenham

Timo Werner has handed Chelsea the lead in the Carabao Cup fourth round match against Tottenham.

The goal came in the 19th minute of the match. Cesar Azpilicueta brilliantly kept possession of the ball, crossed to find Werner at the edge of the box.

The Germany international after a first touch, smashed the ball into corner past Hugo Lloris.

Watch video:

Photo Credit: Twitter/ChelseaFC

Frank Lampard confirms Chelsea star could leave Stamford Bridge this week

Frank Lampard has confirmed Ruben Loftus-Cheek could leave Chelsea this week.

Reports in England last week indicated that eight Premier League clubs were interested in the midfielder.

The 24-year-old has not featured for Chelsea after a disappointing performance in their season opener against Brighton.

Dean Smith’s Villa side have shown a keen interest – and are also looking at Loftus-Cheek’s team-mate Ross Barkley.

But West Ham would give Loftus-Cheek an opportunity to stay in London.

The Blues boss told Football London: “I’m very open with Ruben.

“We’ve had a couple of conversations in the last week.

“He’s fit as a fiddle so he can play week in week out.

“He needs to play, he’s done a lot of work now. He would have been playing earlier if it wasn’t for lockdown and restart.

“There’s a possibility that Ruben may go out to play games because I think that would be great for him.

“We hold him in very high regard here. I certainly do and that could be a good option for him.”

Thiago Silva blasts former club PSG after joining “best team in England” Chelsea

Thiago Silva has fired a bitter parting shot at Paris Saint-Germain after joining the “best team in England” Chelsea.

And the Brazilian defender also admitted he was left “p***ed off” by the way he and fellow star Edinson Cavani were treated by the French giants.

The 36-year-old made his debut for Frank Lampard’s side against West Brom on Saturday after his contract expired at PSG.

But despite enduring a nightmare bow in the Premier League that led to him being subbed off, he still believes he has made the right choice in moving to the Blues…

Silva told France Football: “In truth, when I knew it was over with PSG, I always hoped for something big.

“At first, we were afraid that my age would count against me and directors would have negative prejudices…

“But I wanted to believe. I prayed that God would find me a project that lived up to my ambitions. He heard me because Chelsea are the best in England.”

Silva spent eight years at Parc des Princes and played for them in last month’s Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich, even know he already knew he would not be offered a new deal.

The veteran admitted: “It’s a situation that annoyed me, I really didn’t like the way it was conducted.

“Even if there was a lockdown things could have been done differently.

“I was in Brazil, in quarantine, when Leonardo called me to tell me that because of the pandemic and the difficulties… no, actually first he called me to ask if I was okay to continue for two more months to compete in a possible Final Eight. I told him yes.

“But he told me the club wouldn’t go beyond those two months, it would be two months and nothing else. It should have been done differently.”