Latest news with #Chukwuemeka
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Dortmund's stance on loanee Chukwuemeka revealed
Loanee Carney Chukwuemeka missed Dortmund's 2-1 win over Monterrey on Tuesday night through illness but has Chelsea's permission to extend his loan until the end of the Club World Cup. The Blues will allow the midfielder to remain with the German giants, who next face Real Madrid in New Jersey's MetLife Stadium on Saturday. However, Chukwuemeka, who moved for £20m from Aston Villa in 2022, remains surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea prefer to sell, rather than loan out the 21-year-old in the longer term. Dortmund would happily keep Chukwuemeka beyond the Club World Cup but are reluctant to pay Chelsea's £40m asking price. They will wait to see if Chelsea's demand changes or whether it might be possible to re-sign Chukwuemeka on loan later in the likely means Chukwuemeka will return to Chelsea for at least a few weeks following this Club World Cup campaign.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Borussia Dortmund ‘confident' they can keep Carney Chukwuemeka
Borussia Dortmund secured their place in the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 1-0 win against Ulsan HD on Wednesday night. Speaking after their narrow victory, Sebastian Kehl remains confident that they can keep Chelsea loanee Carney Chukwuemeka until the end of the tournament. The 21-year-old's loan deal at Dortmund expires at the end of the month and while it would be financially unfeasible for the Bundesliga side to sign Chukwuemeka on a permanent basis, BVB want to keep the English midfielder on loan for the duration of the Club World Cup. Advertisement 'I'm very confident we can do it,' BVB sporting director Kehl told reporters. 'We don't want to get any worse. That's why we'd like to keep him. Chelsea know that too.' Chukwuemeka has featured in all three games at the Club World Cup for Dortmund. According to FussballTransfers, a short-term loan agreement could be a part of the agreement that would see Jamie Gittens join Chelsea. GGFN | Daniel Pinder
New York Times
09-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Carney Chukwuemeka feels key to Borussia Dortmund's future – but can they afford to keep him?
It is a sign of how strange Borussia Dortmund's season has been that as they travel to Barcelona, and despite barely having played to date, Carney Chukwuemeka suddenly seems so important. Chukwuemeka arrived on loan from Chelsea in the winter transfer window but, owing to illness and injury, the 21-year-old midfielder has only been fit enough to play 135 Bundesliga minutes in the period since. He started his first game for the club on Saturday, playing 70 minutes of the 4-1 away win over Freiburg, and had a profound impact. Advertisement In possession, he was cutting and purposeful with his passes, and typically bold with the ball at his feet. But he was rugged in the tackle, too, and physically commanding. Chukwuemeka created a flurry of first-half chances, scored with a deflected shot from the edge of the box in the second, then set Julian Brandt free to create Dortmund's third goal for Serhou Guirassy. It was deeply impressive. At the end of the weekend, Chukwuemeka earned his first nomination to Kicker's coveted Elf des Tages, their team of the weekend. Given that he has had so little chance to develop chemistry with his team-mates and that eighth-placed Dortmund are hardly enjoying a vintage season, that is quite the accolade. And this is a strange situation. Chukwuemeka has been a virtual bystander since he arrived. But he has also played in short, rich doses that have shown his talent and pointed to a future direction for Dortmund. It helps that he so clearly fits the house style — that he is such a Dortmund player. The Westfalenstadion crowd wants to be moved by the football it sees on the pitch below and Chukwuemeka, as a blend of slashing technique, craft and ambition on the ball, suits that mood, conforming to all the local ideals while also helping the side to be much progressive — not to get stuck in second or third gear, but to play football at a pace that makes the terraces quiver. Tactically, as Saturday showed, many Dortmund players can profit from having Chukwuemeka in their midfield. Karim Adeyemi and Maximilian Beier both had first-half chances arising directly from the loanee's ability to find gaps in Freiburg's defensive and midfield lines. Brandt, who has suffered through an extremely difficult season, often appearing bereft of confidence, gave one of his best performances in recent months. Advertisement Brandt showed improvement a week ago, in the 3-1 win over Mainz, but he seemed liberated by having Chukwuemeka alongside him and not compelled, as is so often his way and his weakness, to overplay. There is some overlap between their respective abilities and so taking some of the creative responsibility away from Brandt, particularly in deeper positions, splits the defensive attention he faces and focuses him more precisely. It was notable how often he received passes in space at Europa-Park Stadion and how he was regularly running towards Freiburg's back four. Recently, Niko Kovac has moved away from the 4-2-3-1 he initially used upon taking charge, employing a 3-5-2 instead. Felix Nmecha has now recovered from the knee injury he suffered in January and is set to return to the No 6 role he was playing with such distinction in the late autumn. A central three of Nmecha, Chukwuemeka and Brandt certainly seems balanced and capable of extracting the best from each of those players. But perhaps nothing seems as valuable as Chukwuemeka's personality. Prior to Freiburg, one of the characteristics of his impact across those cameo performances — particularly in the 20 minutes against Union Berlin and, a few weeks later, RB Leipzig — was his capacity to come on, demand the ball and simply play. It often felt like a tonic. That may sound like a vague virtue, but Dortmund have received a lot of criticism this season — rightly — and that has bred neuroses throughout their team. Kovac is dealing with fearful, inhibited players, some of whom seem preoccupied with not making mistakes. Whether because of his age, his personality or simply because he has not been at the club long enough, Chukwuemeka has not been infected by that willingness to hide in plain sight. After the Freiburg game, he told reporters with a shrug that he 'hadn't really thought about his performance in the first half' and that he had just played by feel. Advertisement Also speaking in Breisgau, Adeyemi described his new team-mate as a 'chilled out guy, a street footballer', with Pascal Gross also praising Chukwuemeka as 'a superb footballer' who 'plays with great confidence'. Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund's sporting director, admitted that while 'Carney is still not at 100 per cent, he is always capable of making a difference'. Within this context, it's easy to see Chukwuemeka less as a midfielder and more a heavy dose of vitamin B. Someone capable of jolting Dortmund to life with changes of rhythm, but also being more generally restorative and beneficial to the squad's mood. Having a player to whom the game comes so easily rarely hurts. Especially not at Dortmund, where it has often looked so, so hard this season. Still: 135 minutes. These are big conclusions to draw from so little playing time. Furthermore, unless Dortmund requalify for the Champions League next season, it is difficult to imagine how they might afford the fee of around €50million (£42.9m; $54.7m) that would make Chukwuemeka's loan permanent. At the moment, he is due to return to Chelsea even before the FIFA Club World Cup starts in June. Rather like the situation with Jadon Sancho and Ian Maatsen last season, who were so good on loan in the second half of the season but ultimately out of financial reach, it's perfectly possible that Borussia Dortmund and Chukwuemeka will both be starting again in the summer. They work together and they seem to need each other. Whether they can stay together is another matter entirely.
Associated Press
05-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Buendia's late goal gives subdued Leverkusen a win in its Bundesliga title chase
HEIDENHEIM, Germany (AP) — Emiliano Buendia's stoppage-time winner against Heidenheim boosted Bayer Leverkusen's faint hopes of defending the Bundesliga title on Saturday. Four days after a shock German Cup semifinal loss to third-division Arminia Bielefeld, Leverkusen created few meaningful chances until substitute Buendia curled a shot from outside the penalty area in off the post in the 1-0 win. Leverkusen restored a six-point gap to league leader Bayern Munich, which beat Augsburg 3-1 on Friday. Six games remain. Last-minute goals were a headline feature of Leverkusen's Bundesliga-winning campaign last season, but a team once viewed as near unbeatable was largely second best to 16th-placed Heidenheim. At times, Leverkusen seemed headed for what would have been a fifth loss in seven games across competitions. Chukwuemeka ends long wait for a goal Carney Chukwuemeka got his first start and first goal since joining Borussia Dortmund on loan from Chelsea as Freiburg was beaten 4-1. After Karim Adeyemi's goal gave Dortmund the lead, Chukwuemeka hit a shot which took a deflection off a defender and looped over the goalkeeper. After injuries disrupted Chukwuemeka's development at Chelsea, the goal was his first in any competition for over a year. Serhou Guirassy and Jamie Gittens also scored in what was one of Dortmund's most commanding performances since Niko Kovac took over as coach just over two months ago. Dortmund is up to eighth in the Bundesliga standings — one place behind Freiburg and four points off the Champions League places — ahead of its Champions League quarterfinal with Barcelona on Wednesday. New Leipzig coach gets a win After a German Cup semifinal loss in his first game, Zsolt Low got his first win as the Leipzig coach, 3-1 over Hoffenheim. Initially, it seemed Low's Leipzig was heading for another loss when a blunder by goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi allowed Tom Bischof to score the opening goal for Hoffenheim. However, Benjamin Sesko headed Leipzig level then a red card for Hoffenheim defender Leo Ostigard put Leipzig in control. Ridle Baku gave Leipzig the lead just before halftime and Yussuf Poulsen made it 3-1 late. Ermedin Demirovic scored a hat trick as Stuttgart swept aside relegation-threatened Bochum 4-0. Mainz hit a setback in its bid to qualify for the Champions League, drawing with last-placed Holstein Kiel 1-1. Eintracht Frankfurt visits Werder Bremen later Saturday. ___
New York Times
24-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Carney Chukwuemeka can bring Dortmund ‘joy' after ‘sensationally good' debut
Carney Chukwuemeka's debut for Borussia Dortmund was described as 'sensationally good' by head coach Niko Kovac, following the 6-0 Bundesliga win over Union Berlin on Saturday. Chukwuemeka, who joined Dortmund on loan from Chelsea during the winter transfer window, replaced Gio Reyna as a 70th minute substitute at the Westfalenstadion, as Dortmund scored four times in a pulsating final 15 minutes to record their biggest win since May 2023. Advertisement 'Carney came in and was sensationally good,' Kovac said. 'We saw what skills he has and the way he takes possession of the ball and how quickly he turns and carries forward. That's really unique. He has really good acceleration and technique. He'll bring us joy if he stays healthy.' Chukwuemeka, 21, almost created a goal with his first touches, cutting a pass beyond the defence which Karim Adeyemi dragged onto the foot of the post. Minutes later, with Dortmund leading 3-0, a turn and driving run in midfield created a chance from which Serhou Guirassy converted a Maximiliar Beier cross to score his third goal, and his side's fourth, of the game. 'I loved playing in front of 80,000 fans,' the England Under-20 international said in the mixed zone at full time. 'I just wanted to play my game and help the team. We played really directly and precisely in the final third. Hopefully we can build on this performance.' Chukwuemeka is on loan until the summer, with Dortmund possessing the option to make the move permanent. 'He obviously lacks a bit of rhythm,' said Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund's sporting director, after the game. 'Because he hasn't played for a long time. But you could see in one or two situations today that he is a player who is a lot of fun, who has good timing, who moves well between the lines and has good control.' The win took struggling Dortmund into 10th place in the Bundesliga. It was their first league victory under Kovac and first in the league since the 2-1 success in Heidenheim on February 1st. Dortmund will travel to Hamburg to face St Pauli on Saturday, before facing Lille at home in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 the following Tuesday, ahead of which Chukwuemeka's debut has been a boost. (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
