New arrival picked as potential 'player of the tournament' for Chelsea
The London is Blue podcast are in Atalanta right now getting ready to watch Chelsea kick off at the Club World Cup, and they picked out two new players they're really excited to see in Blue in the coming weeks.
Santos (and Essugo) picked as ones to watch by podcast fans
Presenter Nick Verlaney had one player on his mind above all others:
Advertisement
'Andrey Santos. He is going to do really well… I just look at him, he's coming off this great season,' Verlaney said.
'I think he's going to be our player of the tournament, I think he's really going to step up. And he's going to need to, right. With the balance of resting your players, you're not going to be able to get away with playing Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, obviously Romeo Lavia hasn't shown himself fit enough to take over one of their spots alone.
'Watching the midfield in this tournament is going to be fascinating, I'm super excited to see what Andrey Santos does and what Dario Essugo does.'
You can see their thoughts in the clip embedded here:
Chelsea's 2 new boys will be thrown right into the mix
We totally agree, and we agree with their logic too. Caicedo and Fernandez were among the most used players last season, AND they've just been playing international games. The management team will be looking to play them as little as possible, especially in the group stages, and that means the likes of Santos and Essugo stepping up right from the jump.
Advertisement
Starting against LAFC is a nice introduction, Flamengo should be a little tougher, but then Tunis to close out the group is another soft one.
Ideally we can make it to the knockout stage with a minimum of minutes played for our first choice central midfielders.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Football transfer rumours: Liverpool move for Guéhi? Rashford to Newcastle?
Marcus Rashford's future is very much in the 'up in the air' category. The chances of him ever playing for Manchester United look slim-to-none as he will not be given a boarding pass for the club's US tour, while a dream move to Barcelona is going up in smoke. A few Serie A clubs have had a sniff but his wages might be a stumbling block. What he really needs is a Champions League club with plenty of cash. Step in … Newcastle. The Magpies are back in the bigger time next season, will be eager to make a statement signing or two, and Rashford fits the bill. Liam Delap chose Chelsea over Newcastle and Eddie Howe likes to have the best English talent at his disposal, so Rashford would be an ideal candidate as an extra attacking option. It takes a brave man to move from Liverpool to Everton (and vice versa). Nick Barmby, Abel Xavier and Gary Ablett did the Merseyside double in their time and the next potential candidate is Ben Doak. The Scottish teenager impressed on loan in the Championship last season at Middlesbrough and is ready to step up to the Premier League but there is no obvious role he can play under Arne Slot. It means Doak might need to find an alternative and at least this one means he will not have to move house. Advertisement Related: Men's transfer window summer 2025: all deals from Europe's top five leagues Another potential Liverpool exitee is Jarell Quansah. He is currently playing for England at the European Under-21 Championships but that is not stopping talking going on in the background with Bayer Leverkusen over a summer move. The Germans are not short of cash having sold Jeremie Frimpong and – imminently – Florian Wirtz to Anfield. Said cash splashing is not coming to an end for Slot, who also wants Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guéhi to bolster his centre-back options. A year ago the defender was subject to bids from Newcastle but £65m was deemed insufficient and the Eagles are unlikely to have dropped their price. Burnley are seeking some extra quality now they are back in the promised land. One potential incoming is the Lazio winger Loum Tchaouna who could head from Rome to Turf Moor in a deal worth in the vicinity of £12m. Advertisement Igor Thiago has endured a difficult time at Brentford through a mixture of injury and the form of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. Despite the fact at least one those forwards will depart this summer, the Brazilian could also be allowed to leave with Besiktas contemplating a move for the former Club Brugge man. Speaking of those who could swap London for Istanbul, José Mourinho is eager to bring Thomas Partey to Fenerbahce for absolutely nothing. The midfielder's contract is days away from expiring and the club and player have failed to agree a new one, leaving him free to leave. Napoli are eager to add to Kevin De Bruyne in midfield and are targeting Brighton's Matt O'Riley. The Danish international has been the subject of a £26m bid from the Italian champions.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Manchester City have been busy this summer, but still aren't favoured for any trophies next season
The 2024/25 campaign offered a rare sight from Pep Guardiola — a sign that his teams are not bulletproof. Not in the slightest. After winning four Premier League titles on the trot, City went from looking immortal to looking like imposters as they went through a turbulent period of 11 games without a win and plummeted down the table. Advertisement They did manage to recover mid-way through the campaign and added signings like Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez as they rallied to secure a third-placed finish — despite fears they could miss out on Champions League football altogether. It was only the second trophyless season of Guardiola's managerial career and now it's up to the Spaniard to build up City's fear factor again, starting with the Club World Cup. The Sky Blues are currently 5/1 with Betfair to win the tournament. City can lay down a real marker in the United States by showing the rest of the world they mean business — and they're already on the way to doing just that with a comfortable 2-0 win over Wydad. The game saw Phil Foden impress with a goal and assist after having a difficult last campaign. Two of their new signings started the game — midfielders Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders. Cherki scored 12 and assisted 20 times for Lyon last season and is seen as the long-term successor to the outgoing Kevin De Bruyne. He could be the difference for City this season. With Cherki pulling the strings and providing for forwards like Erling Haaland, Marmoush and Savinho, City have a great chance of toppling champions Liverpool this time around. Meanwhile, Reijnders joined for £43million from AC Milan and Guardiola admitted he was happy with how both players looked on the pitch after the game — but it was the return of Ballon d'Or winner Rodri that really boosted them. 'Of course, Rodri will be important,' the coach said after the game. 'We have to adjust to many things, but step by step.' Rodri managed to play half an hour and suddenly a huge hole from last season has been filled. With his presence in midfield alongside the likes of Reijnders, Gonzalez and Mateo Kovacic, City can really dominate games again and play the way the manager wants them to. Another problem that has been solved is at left-back. Guardiola started last season without many recognised options in the position and was forced to play youngster Nico O'Reilly there at times. Now they have Wolves star Rayan Ait-Nouri to call upon, providing more solidity at the back — though he did not feature against Wydad. Advertisement So all of a sudden, you start to think City could become a global force again. They've got a superb midfield — with Rodri at the heart of it — and an attacking frontline that any team in world football would love to have. Perhaps only more defensive reinforcements are necessary. With no recognisable right-back present and Kyle Walker on his way out, a new man in that role would complete the set. Of course, going toe-to-toe with Liverpool will be a challenge, given that Arne Slot's side are set to sign Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz — who is rated as one of the best players in the game right now — for an English record fee of £116.5m. The Reds have also added Jeremie Frimpong and fellow full-back Milos Kerkez is about to join from Bournemouth. With Chelsea still looking like a work in progress under Enzo Maresca and Arsenal lacking the star forward they need to challenge for the title, you can't look beyond Liverpool and City as the favourites for the Premier League title. Betfair have Liverpool as 15/8 favourites to retain their crown, but City's position as the nearest challengers is reflected with odds of 9/4, making them second favourites ahead of Arsenal (5/2). As for the Champions League, City look like outsiders to become champions again, with odds of 8/1. Liverpool are the favourites to become champions of Europe for the first time since 2019 at 11/2, with Real Madrid (13/2) and Arsenal (7/1) the next best-backed teams. Reigning champions PSG are also at 7/1, with City the fifth-favourites. Betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Tijjani Reijnders: David Ramos / Getty Images)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Star-studded WR Chess repeat World Blitz title amid controversy in London
WR Chess, the star-studded world top 10 team, retained their World Team Blitz crown in London last week, but only after an almighty scare and with significant help from the appeals committee. WR had already been beaten for the World Rapid title by MGD1, a Pune-based group led by India's Arjun Erigaisi. WR lost 2-4 to Germany in their Blitz quarter-final, but got the match annulled on the grounds that they had been advised of the wrong start time so had arrived two minutes late for a three-minute game. All the other teams arrived on time. Advertisement WR stands for Wadim Rosenstein, a tech billionaire who plays on the amateur board of his team and who persuaded Fide to launch this new competition two years ago. His squad even included Magnus Carlsen until the No 1 fell out with Fide. WR Chess defeated Kazakhstan in the gold medal blitz match, with Hexamind third. Earlier, Erigaisi's MGD1 won Rapid gold, with Levon Aronian's Hexamind taking silver and Vishy Anand's Freedom winning bronze. Leading English teams disappointed, although all gained valuable experience against top opposition. The national squad, named Malcolm's Mates after England's international director, Malcolm Pein, suffered on the top boards in the Rapid as Luke McShane scored 2/9 and Gawain Jones 3/8, and never looked like matching their seeding of third. The Blitz went better, but in the last 16 Malcolm's Mates were paired against the WR Chess heavyweights and were overwhelmed 9.5-2.5. WR Chess had an epic group match against the all-junor Turkish Airlines squad, who rose to the occasion with an impressive performance. Advertisement Argentina's 11-year-old prodigy Faustino Oro drew easily with Russia's No 1, Ian Nepomniachtchi, then forecast himself to become world champion in 2032. The English teenagers Sohum Lohia and Indy Southcott-Moyers fought well against the world stars Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, China's Lu Miaoyi drew with the all-time No 2 woman, Hou Yifan, and, most remarkable of all, a little-known 13-year-old from Azerbaijan, Khagan Ahmad, beat the US world No 2 and popular streamer, Hikaru Nakamura, in a marathon 112-move queen ending. All six games of this match are here. Unknowns of all ages very occasionally catch top stars out, but it normally occurs due to a sudden tactic that the great one overlooks, not after a prolonged marathon with the loser fighting tooth and nail. For a historic comparison to Ahmad v Nakamura, whose final stages were filmed here, I think of David Bronstein Hugh Alexander, Hastings 1953-54. Several of the best-known world talents made significant advances in London. Besides Oro, the Turkish pair of Ediz Gurel and Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus both totalled 8.5/12 in Rapid, while Russia's 10-year-old youngest ever IM, Roman Shogdzhiev, who Carlsen recently named, along with Erdogmus, as a potential world champion of the future, achieved a 2500 rating performance in Rapid. Many England juniors gained experience in the World Rapid and Blitz, but few could boast successes on the score table. The dedicated squads from Chess Trust Accelerators and the UK Chess Challenge could not match their more experienced opponents. Advertisement There was one exception, though. Bodhana Sivanandan, England's youngest ever Olympiad player, had her best result for many months. The 10-year-old, competing for her sponsor GM Ali Mortazavi's firm e-therapeutics, unleashed a blitz sequence that included the best individual score for her team, an unbeaten 10-game run and five wins in a row, plus a 2307 rating performance. 3977: It's mate on six by 1…g4+! 2 hxg4 (if 2 Kxh5 Qxh3 mate) Qh1+ 3 Kg5 f6+ 4 Kg6 Qe4+ 5 Kxh5 Qh7+ 6 Qh6 Qxh6 mate.
