Welcome to our football .london CareFree Chelsea daily news round-up. Maybe not the first, we've definitely done transfer round-ups before, and European round-ups, so I guess in some ways it's not that new at all.
Anyway, we thought we would enter the world of football in a broad and roundabout manner for you and have some fun with some of the stories and captions doing the daily rounds.
Marina Granovskaia has started a dialogue about a potential move for Sevilla's Jules Kounde, Frank Lampard eyes Chelsea assets as the Blues prepare for a deadline day move for Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele.
Kounde deal back on
Chelsea could be set to return to Sevilla with a fresh bid for French defender Jules Kounde, according to reports from Diarios.
The Blues reportedly failed in their attempts to land the centre-back last summer after failing to meet his £68 million release clause, but reports coming out of Spain suggest the Stamford Bridge outfit are trying again.
It's believed Sevilla would be open to selling for around £42 million due to them needing to balance the financial books and Chelsea trying to take advantage before Newcastle swooped in for defender teammate Diego Carlos.
Marina Granovskaia walked away from the deal in the summer as Sevilla moved the goalposts, but the fee they are willing to sell for is now understood to be less than they agreed back in the summer.
It's reported that the Blues are looking to sign Kounde early ahead of the summer to beat the pack as they did with Christian Pulisic in January 2019 and Hakim Ziyech in February 2020.
Our view: With the club still uncertain if Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta will stay past the summer, I think it's a smart move to start planning for life without them. The club and player have seemed to have plenty of time to agree on deals and no progress yet.
Lampard eyes Chelsea assets
The Athletic has reported that Frank Lampard is set to eye linking back up with his former Chelsea staff with whom he worked closely at Chelsea.
Anthony Barry is one name linked to a move to Everton if Lampard gets the job with the two doing coaching badges together before he signed him from Wigan to help work on set pieces. Thomas Tuchel has praised Barry's work in recent months and put a goal all down to his fantastic work on the training ground.
The other coach he is said to be looking at is Joe Edwards, with Matt Law reporting that Chelsea won't step in the way of either leaving if they choose to move.
According to the Mirror, Everton are already lining up some big transfers to join alongside the former England midfielder, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek being linked with a deadline day switch.
Our view: It would make a lot of sense for Loftus-Cheek to go play football under a manager he knows has all the right tools to make him a clinical midfielder. He recently turned 26-years-old and consistent game time is needed. With Saul's performances getting better in recent weeks, it now feels that Loftus-Cheek is back to being fifth choice in midfield.
It would be a huge loss in terms of Barry and Edwards leaving, but I'd understand. Both coaches got the big chance with the Blues first team due to Frank Lampard, and a bond will have been made with both getting to know Lampard well over the years.
Deadline day Dembele move
According to Marca, Chelsea are considering a late move for Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele before the deadline slams shut tomorrow.
Barcelona have made it clear that they want to sell the 24-year-old before Monday’s transfer deadline as he is out of contract in the summer.
Dembele, who is currently valued at £27 million on Transfermarkt, has failed to reach an agreement over a new contract, and Barcelona have made the public aware he will be sold before the window closes.
Our view: This does feel like one that could happen with Tuchel having great success with the Frenchman in his Dortmund team before he moved to Barcelona for a big-money move. The one stumbling block might be that the club has too many attacking players in the squad. One player would surely have to leave before the window closes for this to happen.
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