Chelsea will reportedly bank a cool £4million if forgotten man Armando Broja does NOT start for Fulham this weekend.
The misfit striker was shipped out by the Blues to their west London rivals on loan in January.
Chelsea had initially looked to sell Broja for a staggering £50million, despite him scoring just once in the league this season.
But after suitors including Wolves failed to come up with an adequate offer, Broja was packed off to Fulham on deadline day.
According to The Sun, Chelsea struck a bizarre agreement with their neighbours, allowing Fulham to take the 22-year-old for free — provided he started 60 per cent of their matches.
The idea was for Broja to gain valuable match experience while showcasing his talents, giving Chelsea a greater chance to demand top dollar this summer.
But things have not gone according to plan for the Albania international.
He has failed to start a single match since arriving at Craven Cottage.
Instead, Rodrigo Muniz has entered a hot streak of form, scoring five goals in the six games Broja has been available for.
There are now just 10 matches remaining for Fulham, starting with a trip to Tottenham on Saturday.
And should Broja fail to start, it would make it seven games on the bench with just nine remaining.
That would finally shatter Chelsea’s 60 per cent deal, meaning Fulham must cough up £4m.
David Raya was the hero as Arsenal reached the last eight of the Champions League via a penalty shootout.
In a nervy game in north London, in which the Gunners trailed 1-0 after the first leg, Leandro Trossard’s superbly worked goal brought them back on level terms.
Arsenal dominated possession and chances during the 90 minutes and thought they had done enough to earn a victory but Martin Odegaard’s goal was controversially ruled out for a foul by Kai Havertz in the build up.
The game went into extra-time but neither side seemed willing to commit men forward – before the game headed to a shootout.
David Raya, the villain in the first leg, was the hero as he made two brilliant save down to his left – to deny Wendell and Galeno – with all the Arsenal takers hit the target to progress into the last eight.
The Gunners are now into the Champions League draw later this week.
Barcelona are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in a game that will be, once again, remembered for the performances of their young stars, with Napoli crashing out with regrets, as they wasted a golden opportunity to equalise and had penalty appeals rejected in the 3-1 defeat to the Catalans.
The home fans welcomed the side to the ground with a sensational show of support and noise, and the players repaid them from minute one.
Xavi’s side pressed high and scored two quick-fire goals from Fermín and Cancelo to send the crowd into delirium and the club into the driving seat.
The first leg ended 1-1 on coach Francesco Calzona’s debut and he was unbeaten since then, earning two wins and three draws, but coming off Friday’s disappointing 1-1 result with Torino. Piotr Zielinski was cup-tied, with Amir Rrahmani returning from injury, but the Blaugrana missed Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Ferran Torres, Marcos Alonso, Gavi and Alejandro Balde.
As Camp Nou is undergoing renovations, this game was played at the Estadi Olimpico Lluis Companys, or the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic.
Pau Cubarsi floated a ball over the top for Fermin Lopez to spring the offside trap, but the midfielder could not keep his lob down.
It was only a warning, as Fermin Lopez was able to sweep in with the inside of the right boot undisturbed from 12 yards after Robert Lewandowski’s dummy let the Raphinha pull-back through from the by-line.
Napoli tried to react with Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, but were caught on the counter-attack sparked by Lamine Yamal, as first Raphina cut inside Giovanni Di Lorenzo for a curler thumping the far post, then Joao Cancelo turned in the rebound for 2-0.
Napoli got themselves back into it with a very similar goal to the Blaugrana’s first, as Matteo Politano pulled back from the right by-line beyond Victor Osimhen for Amir Rrahmani to side-foot home from 12 yards.
It was very nearly 2-2 just five minutes later, as Marc-Andre ter Stegen flew to fingertip the Di Lorenzo looping header out from under the bar on a Mario Rui cross.
Straight after the restart, Kvaratskhelia turned and curled just wide from outside the D, while Politano had a shot charged down by Cubarsi in the box. Osimhen had strong penalty appeals rejected when Cubarsi seemed to tread on the Napoli striker’s foot.
Alex Meret parried a Raphina effort from 12 yards and Ter Stegen had to be alert on a deflected Politano assist before Osimhen could pounce, while a crucial header prevented the Politano cross finding the Nigerian.
Barcelona had the ball in the net after a corner when Meret got behind the Lewandowski header, but Lamine Yamal was in an offside position as he bundled the rebound over the line.
Meret got down to push a ferocious Ilkay Gundogan strike out of the near bottom corner, while Lamine Yamal bent a finish just wide of the far post.
Napoli really should’ve equalised at the 80th minute when a cross from the left found Jesper Lindstrom unmarked, but incredibly the free header went wide of the far stick.
It proved incredibly costly, because Barcelona scored moments later. Sergi Roberto completed a smart give and go with Gundogan to burst into the box and rolled it across for Lewandowski to poke home from six yards.
The Partenopei were unlucky too, as in the final minute Mathias Olivera’s cross-shot thumped the crossbar, then Kvaratskhelia drilled inches wide.
Mauricio Pochettino has told his Chelsea side that they must build on their win over Newcastle or face further struggles – and warned Mykhaylo Mudryk he still needs to raise his level despite scoring a fine goal against the Magpies.
Speaking after his team’s 3-2 victory at Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea manager praised the contributions of substitute Mudryk, who secured the win with a goal in the 76th minute.
The Ukrainian made a great impression coming off the bench to essentially seal the game for Chelsea. He raced to claim the ball before skillfully evading Fabian Schar and Martin Dubravka to score, making it 3-1.
“It was a very good goal and that is what we expect from a player from the bench – impact,” Pochettino stated. “Then it is about competing with different players in his position. Then he will deserve to (start).”
This crucial goal came at a key moment in the game, putting Chelsea back in control – something the Blues have struggled with recently.
They were leading 1-0 before, after a series of errors, Malo Gusto was caught out while attempting to juggle the ball in midfield, and then Trevoh Chalobah rushed up to help, leaving a significant gap at the back.
Alexander Isak took advantage to level the score for the visitors. Nicolas Jackson had earlier given his team an early sixth-minute lead with a clever flick from Cole Palmer’s shot, directing it out of Martin Dubravka’s reach and into the bottom corner of the goal.
Cole Palmer notched his 13th goal of the season for Chelsea in the second half. After receiving a pass from Enzo Fernandez, Palmer spun around and with a powerful strike found the back of the net, giving his side a 2-1 advantage.
Mudryk then conjured up some magic for the crucial moment of the match but Chelsea still had a late worry when Jacob Murphy fired a stunner into the top corner. But the hosts managed to hang on for victory.
Pochettino said after: “We need to understand that we are Chelsea. We are in a project that is completely different (to the past). Some people might be confused. When people don’t want to listen, it’s difficult.
“But we are trying to explain we are a different Chelsea, we are building something different. It’s going to be tough.”
Encouraging his squad, he reminded them: “We need to keep believing, even when it’s tough circumstances. We played (the Carabao Cup) final, 120 minutes, then after three days we play the FA Cup and we play Brentford. In six days we played three very tough games, nearly with the same team.
“It was really tough. If that means we are a disaster, OK. The most important thing is it’s not affecting the team. They know what they need to do and we keep believing.”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang remains on target to break Didier Drogba’s record at Marseille after extending his remarkable goalscoring form at the Lique 1 club.
Auba demonstrated the sharpness and poaching instinct that have set him apart among the finest African goalscorers of his generation, scoring twice for OM against Nantes at Stade Velodrome; the brace took his tally for the season to 22 goals across Ligue 1 and continental competition.
Eight of those goals have come in Jean Louis Gasset’s five matches since taking the reins in Provence after his dismissal from AFCON hosts Ivory Coast during the course of the Nations Cup.
It’s an astonishing turnaround for the head coach, who has now overseen Aubameyang’s best goalscoring run since Sept. 2019.
“He’s the goalscorer, he is the player in the team,” Gasset said on Amazon Prime after the match. “In every team, there’s a player who makes the difference, in any team in the world.
“We need to protect him, and get him in the best place so that he can keep his energy in order to make the difference later.”
Aubameyang became the top scorer in UEFA Europa League history when he was on target against Villarreal earlier in the week — taking his tally to 33 goals in the competition, surpassing Radamel Falcao — and he can now realistically target Didier Drogba’s Marseille record of 32 goals in a single league season.
“I knew about him,” Gasset said. “I spoke to friends who had coached him, and I knew where he loved to play, where he likes to start from, and I took it from there.
Mauricio Pochettino has hit out at Chelsea supporters for chanting the name of old manager Jose Mourinho during a tricky run of form for the Blues.
Last weekend’s draw against Brentford was the 16th time from 26 games in the Premier League this season that Chelsea have dropped points. A remarkable record, not least because of the results and subsequent success supporters of the west London outfit have become used to in recent years.
Of course, one of their most impactful managers during the modern era was Mourinho himself, with the Portuguese manager guiding Chelsea to eight major honours across two separate spells as boss. He is a much-loved figure at the capital club and one supporters have been recently yearning for with reminiscent chants.
“I respect Jose, he is my friend. He was amazing for this club, his medals here are amazing,” Pochettino said when asked about the Mourinho chants.
“We need to be pushing and believe in us and accept the things that come from the fans. If the players believe that with another coach they can do better… maybe they can talk with the owner or sporting director.”
He added: “You need to ask the players. You can ask. Do you see me worried about this? No. Is it a problem of attitude? No. It is a problem? No. You can see in the way that they behave that they are behind us. Of course there is no doubt.”
It comes at a crucial point in Pochettino’s Chelsea career, with rumours about his future continuing to spread. There has been talk that if Chelsea fail to qualify for Europe next season, be that in the Champions League or any of the Europa competitions, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur boss could be sacked less than one season into the job.
Despite this, Pochettino has doubled down on his suitability for the role, suggesting the Chelsea he’s currently in charge of is much different to the one Mourinho managed: “It is a different project, today is a different Chelsea. My mistake is to accept to come here if you say to me (it is not). Because if you are going to judge us compared to the past of Chelsea, no one is going to win. People need to understand.
“It is completely unfair to compare different periods of the club. The circumstances are different today than in the past. I came here because I knew it was going to be tough but always knew we would need time and belief. The project is about young players and a new team, to build a new team, always you need time.”
Chelsea CEO Chris Jursaek reportedly left staff members shocked by admitting he is not a football fan and he views the sport as a ‘product’.
Blues supporters have vented their anger at owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital in recent weeks as they stagger to the end of a disappointing second season.
The owners’ predecessor, Roman Abramovich, oversaw a hugely successful period at Stamford Bridge comprising multiple Champions League and Premier League triumphs. Boehly’s arrival came with unprecedented investment in the playing squad.
But a collection of the world’s finest young stars have so far found it difficult to gel on the pitch, and Chelsea are on course for a second consecutive bottom-half Premier League finish.
American businessman Jurasek was brought on board to become Chelsea’s CEO after Boehly and Clearlake’s £4.25billion acquisition, and according to The Daily Mail, he surprised members of staff during a meeting with new starters.
When asked whether he is a Chelsea fan, Jurasek reportedly claimed that he is ‘not really a football fan’ at all, adding that he views the sport as a ‘product and our fans as customers – which people get mad at’.
The news of Jurasek’s striking claims sparked a passionate response on social media, with @willreyner writing on X: “Good lord, every piece of news makes me feel more and more depressed and disconnected.”
Meanwhile, @PopSarah added: “Unacceptable! I wish Roman had sold Chelsea to Jim Ratcliffe even though he came in late to the bidding process. [Behdad] Eghbali is the real problem, much more than Boehly. He is the one hiring these ridiculous corporate types who have no place in a football club of any level.”
Nathan Ake, at left-back, under pressure and he underhits the pass back to keeper Ederson, Nunez pounces on it, reaches it first and is clearly brought down by the Brazilian.
Ederson picked up a knock in the process of conceding the spot-kick and he was booked as well.
A big delay between the foul and the penalty actually being taken as Ederson needed some treatment. Alexis Mac Allister wasn’t fazed by any of that, a nicely-struck penalty which beats the keeper’s dive.
Anfield erupts and we have parity. Ake looks sheepish after that poor pass back to Ederson caused all the issues.
