Davide Zappacosta is scheduled to undergo Genoa medical on Friday in order to complete his move to the Serie A club.
According to Sky Sport Italia and Sportitalia, the deal is done and will be a dry loan – that is, a loan without an option to buy at the end of the season.
These are the same terms that saw him join Roma last summer, making only nine competitive appearances for the club.
Linked with Atalanta and Fiorentina, Zappacosta has seemingly now agreed a move to Genoa instead.
The 28-year-old right-back is expected in Liguria for his medical tomorrow.
The Italy international was sold to Chelsea from Torino for €25m in 2017, then loaned to Roma for the 2019-20 campaign.
He had been linked with moves to Atalanta or Fiorentina.
As his contract with Chelsea only runs to June 2022, it is likely to include an option to buy.
Quique Setien has confirmed he will be taking legal action against Barcelona after only being legally informed about his sacking on Wednesday.
The Catalan club, according to Football Espana, only formalised the exit of Setien this week, over a month after he was relieved of his first-team coaching duties with reports claiming that his lawyers will demand €4m from the club in compensation.
Setien writes that the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu never informed him about the terms of his sacking, with no settlement mentioned.
Setien’s statement confirmed that he was only informed by the club of his contractually update on Wednesday, while his coaching staff – who added their names to the official letter – were told they would be “relocated” in the club.
It was revealed late in August that the Blaugrana had still not sacked Setien through official channels and he had even sent them a burofax – a document with legal standing – to prompt the official paperwork, and it is now set to be decided in a courtroom.
The Blaugrana confirmed Setien’s sacking earlier this month following Barcelona’s 8-2 Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich, which proved to be his final game in charge.
However, it has now emerged that Barcelona have only relieved him of his duties of coaching the team rather than sacking him from the club, meaning that his contract had been ongoing into this week.
Chelsea new boy Kai Havert has revealed his favorite position, stating that he is happy to play anywhere as long as he is selected by Frank Lampard.
The Germany international’s versatility represented one of the key reasons Lampard wanted to recruit the former Bayer Leverkusen star who represents the headline purchase of a big-spending transfer window for last season’s beaten FA Cup finalists.
Havertz was immediately thrust into the starting line-up for Monday’s season opener at Brighton and although Chelsea began with an ultimately convincing 3-1 victory, the 21-year-old gave a subdued performance and admitted afterwards he was left exhausted following his firs taste of Premier League action.
Lampard deployed Havertz on the right flank against the Seagulls with Mason Mount occupying a more central role and Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timo Werner stationed in more advanced position.
Speaking about his preferred role, Havertz said: “I played I think every offensive position at Leverkusen. I played as a right winger, as a No.10, as a No.6, No.8 and sometimes as a striker as well.
“But for more it’s very important to have that flexibility on the pitch and to be creative, that’s something I like. I think I can play many positions.
“Of course, for me my best position is as a No.10, but of course I can play on the right side or as a striker as well. To be honest I’m happy to stay on the pitch. I think I’m flexible.”
Havertz earned a reputation during his Leverkusen career as a goalscoring midfielder, timing his runs into the box perfectly in a manner not dissimilar to his new manager and Chelsea’s all-time record goalscorer.
“I watched many games of him as a kid and I loved him as a player,” Havertz added as cited by the Metro.
“He was one of the biggest players in England of his time.
“He likes the way I play as a midfielder, to go into the box trying to score goals and make assists. It helps a lot to have a manager who played for such a long time in the Premier League and in the national team.
“He can give me tips and I think he will help me a lot to become a better football player so I’m very excited that he’s my manager now.”
Reports in Spain claim Lionel Messi has put pressure on Luis Surez to return to Barcelona as the club’s boss Ronald Koeman has opened the door to striker to stay at the club beyond the current transfer window.
The two South American stars have struck up a fearsome attacking combination over the years as part of an attacking trident, firstly with Brazilian star Neymar and more recently with Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.
Now Messi, who is close friends with Suarez outside of first-team affairs, according to Diario AS, via Football Espana, is attempting to persuade the Uruguayan to stay at the Camp Nou beyond this transfer window.
It follows a report from Catalan radio on Tuesday that Suarez’s proposed move to Juventus had collapsed over his citizenship issue in Italy and Lionel Messi is reportedly persuading the striker to stay at the Camp Nou.
“I was talking to Luis this morning,” Koeman told reporters on Wednesday, as per Marca.
“We are waiting to see if there is a way out or not. We respect the contracts and from day one we have said that if he stays in the squad he will be one more.”
Despite hitting 21 goals in an injury-hit season, Suarez’s physical levels have dropped in recent seasons since his prime and his future has come under increasing scrutiny in recent times, and he is not thought to be in the plans of new boss Ronald Koeman.
Thiago Siva joined up with his Chelsea teamates for the first time at least to be in contention to make the matchday squad for Chelsea vs Liverpool at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
The 35-year-old Brazilian defender has signed a one-year deal at Stamford Bridge after calling time on his time at Paris Saint-Germain.
Silva made 315 appearances for the French champions over an eight-year stay in the capital.
He appeared in training with his new colleagues, taking part in small-sided matches and other drills.
Alongside him was Ben Chilwell, who has missed the start of Chelsea’s season with injury.
The full back joined from Leicester City in the summer in a £50million deal but has struggled with a heel injury he picked up towards the back-end of last season.
He is now back in training, and could be in line for his debut in the coming weeks.
Chelsea began their season with a 3-1 victory over Brighton on Monday evening.
Brighton managed to impress their boss Graham Potter with a ‘spirited performance’ despite losing to Chelsea on Monday night.
The Seagulls opened-up their Premier League campaign with defeat to Frank Lampard’s side at the Amex, with Jorginho, Reece James and Kurt Zouma cancelling out Leonardo Trossard’s 54th minute long-ranger.
Potter’s men avoided relegation by seven points last season and spells where Brighton took control against the big-spending west Londoners will give Potter hope of finishing even further from the drop in 2020-21.
One of the biggest positives of Brighton’s game was 19-year-old full-back Tariq Lamptey, who secured a permanent move from Monday’s opponents in January.
The right-wing-back rose to the challenge of facing his old club, assisting Trossard’s strike and looking ready to lock down his spot in only the eighth Premier League start of his career.
“Lamptey was fun to watch,” Potter added.
“Such energy, such personality and enthusiasm for the game. He’s still got lots to learn but his approach to football is refreshing.”
Tariq Lamptey is the perfect example of a young professional with ambition. 👶
Leaves #Chelsea where he spent 11 years in the hope of getting more game time.
Thiago Alcantara would reportedly want to become one of Liverpool’s highest earners if he was to join the Premier League champions this summer.
Bayern Munich star Thiago has been heavily linked with a transfer to Anfield as Jurgen Klopp looks to strengthen his options.
Manchester United are also believed to be keen on the former Barcelona star though Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has signed Donny van de Beek in the same position.
Financial issues may be a problem though with some clubs struggling amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Athletic claim Thiago, who turns 30 this season, would command wages of around £200,000 per week, making him one of the highest earners at Anfield.
Latest reports indicate that Declan Rice’s desire to move to Chelsea this summer may have hit a brickwall as the Blues board are not on the same page with Frank Lampard over the youngster switch to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have already had a very active summer, signing the likes of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell, while they are also close to sealing a deal for Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
However, Lampard still wants to bring in one last player before the transfer window shuts and has identified Rice as the final piece of his puzzle.
The Chelsea boss believes Rice can be reverted back into a centre-back and marshal a Blues back-line that conceded 54 times last season – as many as 15th placed Brighton.
However, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, via the Metro, not everyone shares Lampard’s view and there are significant reservations over the deal from a number of people in Chelsea’s hierarchy.
The biggest issue is the price West Ham will demand, which will be in excess of £70million – a fee the Blues are unlikely to be able to match without including players in a swap.
There is also a reluctance to spend so much money on a player who was on Chelsea’s books until the age of 14, when he was released from the academy and joined West Ham for nothing.
Interestingly, some at the club are not convinced he has actually addressed the ‘technical deficiencies’ that prompted that decision to let him go and are not in favour of the signing as a result.
While Chelsea may be split over whether Rice is the solution to their defensive woes, Lampard is in no doubt over his quality and believes he can become a world-class centre-back as well as offering cover in the defensive midfielder role.
Having spent so little this summer, though, and enraging even their own players with the sale of Grady Diangana, West Ham’s board are extremely unlikely to sanction the sale of the club’s best player, who was named Hammer of the Year last season.
There are reports that Bayer Leverkusen are poised to splash the cash to received from selling Kai Havertz to Chelsea by bringing Arsenal left-back Sead Kolasinac back to Germany.
The 27-year-old has lost his place in the starting XI under Mikel Arteta with Kieran Tierney and Ainsley Maitland-Niles preferred instead.
West Ham have been linked with a move for the ex-Schalke defender, but Leverkusen are said to be leading the race to secure his services.
According to Sport Bild via Sport Witness, the German outfit are ‘seriously’ thinking about signing the Bosnia international.
They claim that the club are looking to spend the cash they received from selling Kai Havertz to Chelsea, and want to bring in a top defender.
The Bundesliga club have announced the signing of Czech Republic international Patrik Schick from AS Roma to replace Havertz.
It has been claimed that Leverkusen will step up their pursuit of Kolasinac this week.
And the report adds that Arsenal would be willing to part ways with the player should they receive a bid in the region of £9.1million.
Lionel Messi scored twice on his return to action as Barcelona ran out 3-1 victors over Segunda side Girona in a pre-season friendly.
Philippe Coutinho also netted for Ronald Koeman’s side, who deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation with Antoine Griezmann and new signing Francisco Trincao also featuring in a new-look attack.
Coutinho opened the scoring for the Blaugrana in the 21st minute before Messi scored either side of the break, while Samu Saiz netted for Girona.
Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets were in a midfield two with goalkeeper Neto selected in place of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, with Ronald Araujo partnering Gerard Pique in the heart of defence.
It was the team’s second pre-season friendly ahead of their 2020/21 campaign getting underway, following the weekend win over Gimnastic – another side from Catalonia.
Barcelona will conclude their pre-season with this weekend’s clash against Elche in the Joan Gamper trophy before getting their La Liga campaign underway against Villarreal the following week.
