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Metro
9 minutes ago
- Metro
Barcelona reject Chelsea swap offer for Christopher Nkunku
Barcelona rejected Chelsea's offer of a swap deal involving Christopher Nkunku, according to reports in Spain. Chelsea have been open to offers for Nkunku this summer as the French forward has struggled to secure a regular role at Chelsea since his £52 million move from RB Leipzig in 2023. The 27-year-old has attracted plenty of interest with Arsenal and Bayern Munich both making enquiries in the January transfer window, while Manchester United have also considered a move this summer after failing with a loan bid earlier this year. Chelsea have also dropped their asking price for Nkunku from £65 million to £43m. According to Mundo Deportivo, Chelsea have also used Nkunku as a makeweight in their bid to sign Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez. 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. However, Barcelona turned down the chance to sign Nkunku and opted to sign Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United instead. Fermin has also been linked with a move to United, with reports in Spain claiming that Ruben Amorim's side are ready to pay a €70m (£61m) fee. However, Fermin is intent on staying at Barcelona, while the club's head coach, Hansi Flick, does not want the 22-year-old to leave. More Trending Nkunku, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future and Enzo Maresca did not rule out the prospect of still having the 27-year-old in his squad for the start of the new Premier League season. 'If Christo is here with us, it is because we think he can help us and he can be with us even next season,' Maresca said during the Club World Cup. 'But as you said, there are many speculations, not just about Christo, about many players. 'And then if something is going to happen, I don't know because we said many times when the transfer window is open, anything can happen in terms of players that can arrive or players that can leave.' For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Manchester United handed Benjamin Sesko chance as Newcastle bid rejected MORE: Chelsea told they've loaned out star who can be 'better than Lionel Messi' MORE: Aaron Ramsdale speaks out on what made him want Newcastle move
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How Chelsea are leaving rivals dumbfounded by making their line-up the toughest to predict in football - and Jorrel Hato adds another dimension
James, Josh & Malo may sound like a London solicitors' firm but in reality, they were Chelsea 's hat-trick of options at right back last season. Who started? Who knew? Could be Reece James, possibly Josh Acheampong, maybe Malo Gusto. Manager Enzo Maresca even played a pair of centre backs in Wesley Fofana and Axel Disasi out of position on occasion, as if he delighted in gaslighting opposition analysts and those of us who file weekly predicted XIs. Until Chelsea submitted their team sheet to the Premier League 75 minutes prior to kick-off, we were all playing his guessing game, unable to say for sure who would be used and where. It was different on the other side of Maresca's defence, however. There it was a lonely story involving Marc Cucurella. The 27-year-old Spaniard was Chelsea's only natural left back, hence why he finished 2024-25 with 5,000 minutes played for club and country. That was more than any of his team-mates and he managed 2,989 of those in the league — pretty much as many as James, Acheampong and Gusto combined. Now, Cucurella has cover arriving in Jorrel Hato from Ajax after the two clubs agreed a £37million deal. Denunciations of stockpiling be damned. Sources at Chelsea say they want to provide Maresca with enough squad depth to rotate across all areas of the team. With Hato on board, that is looking like at least two players per position. Hato was identified for his potential, first and foremost. Chelsea tracked him throughout last season when Mail Sport first reported on their interest in this teenager. He is a 19-year-old Netherlands international with six caps. He was Ajax's youngest ever captain at 17 and has already made more than 100 senior appearances. He is a skilled player who can move inside and is used to playing for a team who control possession. He can play at centre back, though Chelsea primarily see him as a left back competing with Cucurella. Chelsea made 419 changes to their starting line-ups under Maresca last season — more than any other club in Europe's top leagues. Hato is set to further complicate those Monday morning briefings between analysts and managers. He may take time to adapt, but the message is: good luck predicting which players will be used by Maresca and where from now on. Cole Palmer was primarily used as a No 10 last season, but Maresca deployed him on the right wing in their Club World Cup triumph over Paris Saint-Germain last month. A Stamford Bridge insider described Maresca as a 'master of rotation', adding the 45-year-old Italian does not have a best XI, and nor does he desire one. He wants the best squad. He picks his teams based on a tactical plan, the opposition, training and playing load. When Chelsea beat Djurgardens 4-1 in their Conference League semi-final first leg, for example, they arrived back in London at 4am on the Friday morning. They then beat Liverpool 3-1 in the league on the Sunday, with Maresca making eight changes. Cucurella was one of those who survived the rotation in a needs-must situation. This summer was identified as a time to strengthen in order to compete in what is being described as a 'dual season' for the club in England and Europe. They do not simply want to have retuned to the Champions League. They want to compete. Once Hato has signed, he will join other recruits such as Liam Delap (£30m), Joao Pedro (£55m) and Jamie Gittens (£48.5m). The Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian has also arrived from Palmeiras. RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons remains a target, as does Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho. Chelsea are set to enter into a minuscule pre-season with the players due back this week to prepare for friendlies with Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan. They could yet receive offers for Nicolas Jackson, though Maresca is currently planning to have him compete with Delap as a striker — again, options — while leaning on Joao Pedro's versatility across the attack. The choices available to Maresca were already as rich as any manager's in the top flight — and even more now Hato is on the way.
Belfast Telegraph
an hour ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Instonians ace admits relief blunder didn't prove costly as crucial victory puts his side in pole for Premier League title glory
Instonians returned to the scene of their T20 triumph on Sunday and put themselves in pole position to win the 2025 Premier League title. The Shaw's Bridge side beat defending Champions Waringstown – and their opponents in Friday's Challenge Cup Final at Stormont – to leave themselves two wins away from lifting the trophy for the second time in three years.
