Chelsea in the Club World Cup - send us your thoughts
With Chelsea's squad for the Club World Cup now confirmed, and their campaign kicking off on Monday against Leon, we want your views.The Blues will also face Flamengo and ES Tunis in the group stage of the tournament in the United States.So, how excited are you about the competition and how confident are you Chelsea can go far? And are you happy with the state of Enzo Maresca's squad going into the tournament after the mini-transfer window?Get in touch with your thoughts hereREAD MORE: Which European teams are in the Club World Cup
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BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
New signing Essugo ready to play Caicedo's understudy
Chelsea's new midfielder Dario Essugo knows what is in store for him at Stamford Bridge. The 20-year-old signed for £18.5million from Sporting in March but was officially unveiled as a Blues player last week. In discussion with the club's media channels, he highlighted how he is a similar style of "aggressive" defensive midfield player to Moises Caicedo and also picked the reigning winner of both of Chelsea's player of the season awards, as the person is he most looking forward to playing he also recognise that he will mostly be lining up with the Ecaudorian in training rather than in matches and will operate as his understudy. Essugo, a Portugal Under-21s international, could not be more similar to Caicedo in terms of style, operating as a mobile and powerful ball-winning option in midfield. After all, Chelsea ran the risk of breaking Caicedo last season when he started all 38 Premier League matches. He also started six further cup matches, although that was helped by Chelsea's heavy rotation in most Conference League games, and early exits from both domestic cups. Caicedo was also only substituted in four league matches. No-one played more minutes than the 3,815 played by Caicedo at Chelsea last season and, with Champions League qualification secured for next season, he needs a reliable deputy. Who is Essugo? In the midfielder's own words, he is also a "chill" character away from the pitch. He grew up in the Odivelas suburb of Lisbon, was a multi-sport athlete in his youth but took to football in the school playground. He first suffered a rejection from his mother's handball club at CAC da Pontinha Club but soon impressed UD Santa Maria Club, before ultimately ending up in Sporting's academy. Essugo achieved his goal of emulating his idol William Carvalho, now at Betis, by lining up for Sporting in midfield, aged just 16 and six days old. After becoming the youngest player to play for Sporting, he became the youngest Portuguese player to play in the Champions League, playing in a competition that other idols, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, N'Golo Kante and Toni Kroos, all excelled in. Those idols showed Essugo looked towards La Liga and, after a loan spell at Portuguese second division Chaves, he played in Spain's top flight last season with Las relegated, Essugo played well enough to attract Chelsea and said of the spell at the island nation on his Instagram account: "It's been a season of personal growth, with highs and lows, but at all times I tried to leave it all on the field."But his post when leaving Sporting was more emotional, despite only making 25 appearances in the first team, he wrote: "I believe I left something worth keeping - a piece of my childhood, my youth, my soul."Essugo targets "playing as much as he can" despite being Caicedo's understudy in a competitive midfield space, featuring Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Lavia, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - and returning loanee Andrey said: "I want to win as much as possible, as many titles as possible. Obviously, I want to win the Champions League, but also the Premier League because it's very difficult. I want to win titles, play as much as possible at Chelsea and be part of the club's history."The first time we will see Essugo is at the Club World Cup and he could make his debut for Chelsea against LAFC on Monday evening. Longer term, he will relieve the pressure on Caciedo as Chelsea embark of their return to the demanding Champions League after three seasons away.
Metro
43 minutes ago
- Metro
Andy Robertson makes decision on leaving Liverpool for Atletico Madrid
Andy Robertson's stance on leaving Anfield has been revealed with Atletico Madrid determined to sign the Liverpool legend. An ever-present for the Reds since signing from Hull City in 2017 for just £8.5million, Robertson is considered one of the Premier League's greatest defenders. The left-back's trophy cabinet includes two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Club World Cup. After blossoming under Jurgen Klopp, the Scotland captain continued to perform well under Arne Slot last season, though his offensive influence dropped significantly, recording no goals and just two assists in 45 appearances. Liverpool have been looking at long-term replacements for the 31-year-old and appear to have found their man, with Milos Kerkex expected to join from AFC Bournemouth. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. As a result, Robertson's future at Anfield is up in the air, especially as he's entered the final year of his contract. It has now been reported by various outlets that Atletico have made Robertson a top target, with Diego Simeone needing a new left-back. Reinildo and Cesar Azpilicueta are both out of contract this summer and the Madrid club recently dropped their interest in AC Milan's Theo Hernandez. More Trending And, according to Fabrizio Romano, Robertson is indeed keen on joining the La Liga giants who are currently in the USA for the revamped Club World Cup, and talks over a transfer have already begun. Simeone has targeted several notable Premier League stars over the past few years, signing Azpilicueta and Conor Gallagher from Chelsea and Julian Alvarez from Manchester City Should he make the move, the Scot will directly come up against his former Reds teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold who has just completed his transfer to Real Madrid. Earlier this week, Robertson said there had been positive talks with Liverpool over his future, but he is still unclear what is ahead for him. 'We've had good discussions, me and the club, but what the future holds, I'm not sure,' he told Sky Sports. 'All I know is I fly off on holiday and it's well needed. I need a rest after a long season, and then I look forward to pre-season. That's all my focus is. 'I know the position I'm in, I know I've only got a year left. A lot's getting spoken about it, a lot's getting said, but my pure focus is focussing on being a dad for the next couple of weeks and enjoying that time with the kids.' Read the full quotes here. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Tottenham reach Mathys Tel agreement for lower than £45m clause MORE: Andre Onana not convinced he'll still be a Man Utd player next season MORE: Why Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd are not playing in the Club World Cup
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
Reading 'want to give back to the fans'
Reading chief executive Joe Jacobson has said that he and others at the club want to "give back to the fans" and "bring them good news" regarding new contracts and signings. After Rob Couhig's takeover was completed, former Wycombe player Jacobson was announced as CEO, forming part of a fresh ownership group at the Royals. The 38-year-old has been brought in with the first task of convincing a number of first-team players to sign new deals to stay at the club. In May, Reading offered new deals to 11 players and so far just one - goalkeeper Joel Pereria - has agreed to re-sign. Since Couhig's arrival, only Pereria and midfielder Lewis Wing have signed new deals."We're competing with other teams that want our players," Jacobson told BBC Radio Berkshire. "We're working hard behind the scenes. There will be some new faces in as well. "We're hoping that some of the players will see Joel and Lewis signing and think that they want to be a part of that."If we can add to this and sign some good players on top as we build the squad, then hopefully we can be successful."At the final game of last season, despite there being disappointment at missing out on the League One play-offs, fans turned up in numbers and celebrated news of a new owner and new chapter at the club. Jacobson had been rumoured to be coming in ever since Couhig's ambitions of taking over were first despite having only recently being appointed, he said that he was well aware of the efforts supporters had made to bring attention to their ownership situation across the past few years. "The fans have been incredible so far," Jacobson said."It feels like they have someone to get behind in Rob. We want to give these fans as much good news as they can get."They almost saved this club themselves last season, not just financially but being in the public eye and demonstrating. It has been amazing and we now want to give back to them."We were here for the final game of the season when there was a near-full stadium. We want that every week and it is now up to us to put a squad together that can make the experience of coming to Reading special and making them want to keep coming back." 'Free transfer and loans' this summer For the first time in a long time this summer, Reading will be able to operate in the transfer market and bring in players without the restrictions they faced under former owner Dai Yongge. As well as tying down those whose contracts are soon set to expire, if Reading want to better last season and make a big push for promotion, then emphasis will be on adding to their transfer window reopens on Monday after being open for a brief period last week. "Right now where we are looking at is mainly free transfers and loans," Jacobson said."It's slow at the moment everywhere. It feels like everyone is after the same small group of players and just before pre-season it speeds up a bit."We have our targets and we have spoken to some that we want. There is some that we have offered contracts out to that we're speaking to daily, people we really want that would be exciting for the football club."Hopefully we can have some more exciting news quite soon."
