
Sheridan questions 'excitement' around Hearts deal
Cillian Sheridan has questioned the "excitement" around Tony Bloom's £9.86m investment in Hearts and the Brighton owner's intent to challenge for honours.Bloom, whose Jamestown Analytics already had an ongoing relationship with Hearts, hopes the Tynecastle club can "disrupt the pattern of domination which has been in place for far too long" after completing a deal to buy a 29% stake."Celtic and Rangers will be doing something similar themselves," former Celtic, Kilmarnock and Dundee forward Sheridan told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound."I think there's maybe too much excitement about how much of a difference it's going to make."
No team outside Celtic or Rangers has won the Scottish top flight in 40 years, with Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen champions in 1984-85.And Sheridan added: "£9m or £10m. I don't think that's going to challenge Celtic or Rangers. Celtic could go and buy, and I would imagine they probably will, one player in a transfer in the region of that."It might elevate Hearts above the rest of the pack but I don't think it's enough to challenge the [top] two, really."Last season, Brighton finished eighth in the Premier League, just missing out on Europe. Hearts were seventh in the Scottish Premiership."Brighton's model was, probably similar to Brentford's, getting players at bargain prices," said ex-Republic of Ireland international Sheridan, who is now with Brechin City."They get players who are unheard of. At what stage in the pecking order do Hearts come into it?"Do Hearts get the players that Brighton don't want? Which ones are Hearts getting?"
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Telegraph
39 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Chelsea to sign Joao Pedro for £50m – and he can play on Friday
Joao Pedro has chosen Chelsea over Newcastle United and will sign for the club for around £50 million in time to play in the Club World Cup quarter-finals this week. An agreement between Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion has been struck for the 23-year-old, who will fly from Brazil to Florida in time for a medical on Tuesday and will be available for Friday's match against Palmeiras in Philadelphia. He is expected to sign a seven-year deal at the club and will soon be joined by the English winger Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund. The signing will be a blow for Eddie Howe, who had identified Pedro as one of three key signings this summer, as Telegraph Sport revealed, along with Anthony Elanga and goalkeeper James Trafford. Pedro's choice was to go to Chelsea, whose interest was reported first by Telegraph Sport in May, and it means that the club continue with their policy of signing young players on long-term contracts this summer. Liam Delap, 20, also picked Chelsea ahead of others. The signings show the power of Premier League clubs relative to those South American representatives in the Club World Cup – that the former are able to bring new players into the competition as it progresses. Pedro is from the province of Sao Paulo originally, but his first steps in professional football were at Fluminense from Rio de Janeiro. From there he went to Watford in 2020 and then to Brighton. Chelsea have signed more players, managers, coaches and recruitment executives from Brighton than any other club since the takeover by the Behdad Eghbali-Todd Boehly consortium in 2022. The club are expected to concentrate on player sales once they have completed the signings of Pedro and Gittens. Those who were loaned out last season and a selection of others are likely to leave with Enzo Maresca keen to operate with a small first team squad of 23 players. Axel Disasi who was on loan at Aston Villa, will be available to leave as will Renato Veiga, most recently on loan at Juventus. Armando Broja and Ben Chilwell, both of whom were on loan last season will also leave. So, too, goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic. Noni Madueke has also attracted interest, including from Arsenal – and potentially Newcastle United. There is competition on the right wing with Pedro Neto having established himself as first choice. The teenager Estevao Willian will also join next season – although first the Brazilian will face his new club on Friday in what could be his last game for Palmeiras.


Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Chelsea agree Joao Pedro transfer and use FIFA rule to land Club World Cup boost
Brighton have agreed a fee worth £55m plus £5m in add-ons and have granted Joao Pedro permission to fly from Brazil to the United States to complete the move to Chelsea Chelsea are set to complete a £60m deal for Joao Pedro - and get him signed in time to play in the Club World Cup. Brighton have agreed a fee worth £55m plus £5m in add-ons and have granted Pedro permission to fly from Brazil to the United States to complete the move. That would allow Pedro to be registered by FIFA's special Club World Cup transfer deadline on July 3 to allow him to play in the quarter-final against Palmeiras in Philadelphia on Friday. Brazil star Pedro, 23, is set to sign a seven-year contract after Chelsea beat off competition from Newcastle who had a £50m-plus offer turned down. It is a major coup for Chelsea but will immediately raise question marks over Nicolas Jackson's future while Christopher Nkunku will be allowed to leave with Manchester United interested. Brighton signed Pedro from Watford in a deal worth around £30m in the summer of 2023 and are set to make another big profit as their clever dealings in the transfer market pay off again. Pedro, who has scored 30 goals in 70 Albion appearances, was banished from Fabian Hurzeler's squad for the final two Premier League matches of the season following an alleged training ground spat with Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke. Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca labelled the decision to suspend Chelsea's Club World Cup last-16 tie with Benfica for two hours 'a joke' even as his side eventually ran out 4-1 winners. The tie took almost five hours to complete after the teams were forced inside, with the Blues 1-0 up with four minutes remaining thanks to Reece James ' free-kick, due to 'the risk of lightning in the vicinity of Bank of America Stadium'. On the resumption, Angel Di Maria equalised with a controversial stoppage-time penalty to take the game to extra time, only for Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to seal Chelsea's win. Maresca, in his press conference, said of the long delay: 'I think it's a joke, to be honest. It's not football, it's completely something new, I struggle to understand. 'I can understand if it's security reasons but if you suspend seven or eight games then it's probably not the right place to do the competition. It's not normal to suspend the game. In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Zero probably. In Europe how many games get suspended? Zero. 'We've been here two weeks and they've already suspended six or seven games, there is some problems for me personally. 'I'm talking as a manager because when you're two hours inside and you have to try to keep them (the players) in the game, they're speaking to their families outside for safety reasons, they're eating, they're playing, they're laughing, how can you keep them inside focused for two hours? It's a joke.' Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Chelsea on verge of signing Brighton star Joao Pedro in time for Club World Cup run-in
Chelsea are on the verge of signing Brighton forward Joao Pedro for a fee in excess of £50m and could have his services available for next week's crucial Club World Cup quarter-final. It's been reported by various reputable sources in English media that Pedro, 23, is set to sign a seven-year contract with the club after agreeing personal terms. Pedro is said to be flying from Brazil to conduct a medical in the United States, with the hope he can make his debut in Friday's last-eight tie against Brazilian side Palmeiras in Philadelphia. The forward was made available for sale by the Seagulls after he was banished from the first-team squad at the end of last season due to a reported training ground altercation with teammate Jan Paul van Hecke. Newcastle were also believed to be interested but did not match Brighton's asking price, with the club rejecting two bids from the Magpies before agreeing terms with Chelsea. It's claimed that once Pedro was made aware of Chelsea's interest, he only wanted to join the Blues. The move comes after Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens for a fee of £55m, with a medical expected in the coming days. Gittens will not be able to feature in the Club World Cup due to his involvement with the German giants, who remain in contention and face Monterrey in the round of 16 on Wednesday. Pedro, meanwhile, will be available to Enzo Maresca should he join in time, joining Liam Delap in a new-look attack for the Blues. The Brazilian notched 30 goals and 10 assists in 70 matches over a two-year spell at Brighton, having broken the club's transfer record to move from Watford for £30m in 2023.