Although Chelsea are seven places ahead of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League table just three points separate them, and both clubs will rival the other for the signature of a talented Premier League centre-back.

CaughtOffside sources have indicated that despite Bournemouth having only recently tied down Ilya Zabarnyi to a deal which keeps him with the Cherries until 2029, they will listen to clubs willing to offer around £50m for the Ukrainian.

Tottenham and Chelsea want Zabarnyi

Sources indicate that the North Londoners have been tracking the player for a while and are eager to add him to their squad.

Ange Postecoglou certainly has the Lilywhites playing some of their best football in many a year, however, the same could be said of Enzo Maresca’s impact at Stamford Bridge.

The Italian is also thought to be a huge fan of the defender’s playing capabilities and would make room for him in an ever-expanding Chelsea squad.

Of course, Bournemouth’s financial demands are factors that could complicate the transfer process, notwithstanding that sources further advance that both Tottenham and Chelsea are apparently willing to meet those requirements.

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Chelsea are already looking at beating Arsenal to one of their prime targets, whilst Tottenham could agree a pre-contract with a former Man United ace.

Zabarnyi has played in all 11 of Bournemouth’s Premier League games this season (transfermarkt), and his excellence in defence has see the South Coast side beat reigning champions Man City amongst others.

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Andoni Iraola and his board clearly see the player as someone that should be staying at the club for the longer term, but are not in a position to keep him if any of their opponents come up with an offer that they can’t refuse.

From the player’s point of view, sources understand that he would be willing to make the move to the capital but is equally content at the Vitality Stadium, should any of the rumours come to nothing.

The post Exclusive: Tottenham and Chelsea to battle it out for £50m-rated Premier League centre-back appeared first on CaughtOffside.

England took a huge step toward Uefa Nations League promotion with a resounding 3-0 win away in Greece on Thursday.

Avenging their shock defeat at Wembley, the Three Lions put their hosts to the sword with goals from Ollie Watkins and debutant Curtis Jones, either side of an Odisseas Vlachodimos own goal forced by a Jude Bellingham shot that hit the post.

The result takes England top of the group, level on points with Greece but now boasting a better goal difference and head-to-head record.

Any sort of win against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday will return England to League A at the first time of asking.

For now, read on for full England player ratings from a huge win in Athens.

England player ratings vs Greece: Curtis Jones ‘outstanding’ on debut

Jordan Pickford – 9/10 – Made some vital saves to preserve the win and clean sheet, while reminding everyone how important he is for England.

Kyle Walker – 6/10 – A little negative with his play, going backwards when he’d taken up some great positions. Slotted in well enough at centre-back in the second half.

Ezri Konsa – 7/10 – A solid performance, completing 100% of his passes and winning both of his contested ground duels. Brought off at half-time, presumably with an injury.

Marc Guehi – 8/10 – Tidy with the ball and made a couple of important interceptions and tackles to keep the Greeks at bay.

Rico Lewis – 8/10 – Used the ball brilliantly and popped up in some dangerous positions. Perhaps should have got himself on the scoresheet in the second half but was denied by a good save.

Conor Gallagher – 8/10 – Got through plenty of defensive work and did his best to drive England forward once he turned the ball over.

Curtis Jones – 9/10 – Absolute class on the ball and alert to any Greek counter-attacks. Misplaced just three of 68 attempted passes. Capped off an outstanding England debut with a beautifully taken goal. ‘Outstanding’ according to former England and Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie.

Noni Madueke – 8/10 – Set up Watkins’ goal with a great run and cut-back and was a menace all game, creating a match-high three chances and having five touches in the opposition box.

Jude Bellingham – 9/10 – The Greeks couldn’t handle Bellingham once he got into full flow, powering through midfield with immense force. Hit the post twice, first with a header, then with a shot from the edge of the box which hit Vlachodimos and went in. Unlucky not to be credited with a goal but did the damage.

Anthony Gordon – 6/10 – A few dangerous flashes but was more subdued than Madueke.

Ollie Watkins – 8/10 – Took his goal well and provided England with a good focal point, even if he was a little isolated at times.

Substitutes:

Lewis Hall (46′, for Konsa) – 7/10 – A solid England debut from a youngster with the potential to be his nation’s left-back for years to come.

Harry Kane (67′, for Watkins) – 7/10 – Did a lot of work off the ball, including his run to create the space for Bellingham’s shot on the second goal.

Morgan Rogers (67′, for Gordon) – 7/10 – Won’t be credited with an assist on the second goal but it was his smart pass inside to Bellingham that set England away.

Jarrod Bown (67′, for Madueke) – 7/10 – Did well in the build-up for the third goal.

Morgan Gibbs-White (79′, for Gallagher) – 7/10 – Set up Jones as England finished the job.

The post Greece 0-3 England: Player ratings as ‘outstanding’ Liverpool star enjoys perfect debut appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Former Chelsea coach Jody Morris says he would have been ‘fuming’ with Noni Madueke after he went straight down the tunnel following his substitution against Arsenal. 

Madueke played 68 minutes in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with the Gunners, completing a match-high three dribbles and creating one chance.

The England international was replaced by Mykhaylo Mudryk in what Enzo Maresca insisted was a change for tactical reasons.

However, Madueke didn’t see it that way, storming straight down the tunnel, which resulted in him missing Pedro Neto’s equaliser.

“The problem is that when you change a player, they’re never happy,” Maresca said after the match (via Football.London). “We changed him. It’s not only about Noni, it’s about all the players. In that moment, we thought in a different way that Pedro with Timber would be more aggressive.”

Chelsea: Jody Morris reacts to Noni Madueke outburst

Madueke’s conduct has been the subject of much debate over the past few days and now, former Chelsea midfielder and coach Morris has weighed in.

He believes Maresca should come down hard on his winger following a show of ‘disrespect’.

“I’d be fuming,” Morris told talkSPORT.

“Listen, sometimes there are mitigating circumstances which may have transpired before this happened, you never know.

“Sometimes players have got little niggles and they’re moaning about it and then try to act like they’re going down the tunnel because they’re injured.

“But no, I’d be fuming and I think we’ve got a manager that would address that instantly which I think the best ones do.

“It’s not just disrespectful to your teammates but to the fans as well.

“We’re all sitting there, we’re all watching the game and someone doesn’t want to watch just because they’re not on the pitch at the end.

“But it’s not the first time we’ve seen it with football players up and down the country and listen, if it’s put to bed quickly, which I think the best managers do.

“Get it nailed down, probably in the dressing room would have pulled him straight away, that’s what I would have done personally anyway. Maybe I would have called him back up the tunnel.”

The post “Get it nailed down” – Ex-Chelsea coach lashes out at Noni Madueke conduct appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Crystal Palace have reportedly made an approach to Chelsea to ask about a potential loan transfer deal for Mykhailo Mudryk.

The Ukraine international has struggled during his time at Stamford Bridge, proving a major disappointment despite arriving with so much in the way of expectation on his shoulders after impressing at previous club Shakhtar Donetsk.

Palace have now asked about a possible loan move for Mudryk as they look to strengthen their attack after the blow of losing star winger Michael Olise to Bayern Munich in the summer, according to Football Transfers.

Chelsea have joined the race for one of the best talents in the world!

It certainly makes sense now for Chelsea to offload Mudryk, even if it is only on loan, with the Blues having plenty of other attacking options ahead of him in the pecking order such as Cole Palmer, Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke.

Can Mykhailo Mudryk revive his career at Crystal Palace?

Mudryk once looked destined for a great career at the very top level of European football, so would a move to Palace really be the right one for him right now?

The 23-year-old could arguably be good enough to play for a bigger club than that, but at the same time he might also benefit from dropping down a level to somewhere with slightly lower expectations.

Palace could also surely guarantee Mudryk the playing time he needs to re-establish himself in the Premier League, and it could be that he’ll then return to Chelsea a better player.

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Still, with so much in the way of competition in Enzo Maresca’s squad now, one imagines it’s more likely that Mudryk would be going on loan to Selhurst Park to put himself in the shop window to a certain extent.

It will be interesting to see how Mudryk gets on if this move goes ahead, but Palace fans would surely welcome this talented young attacker to breathe new life into their struggling side.

The post Approach made: Club ask about signing big-money Chelsea flop on loan appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Chelsea reportedly look to be the latest name to strongly enter the running for the transfer of Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres, along with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal.

The Sweden international has been in the form of his life since joining Sporting Lisbon from Coventry City last season, scoring a remarkable 66 goals in just 68 games for the Portuguese giants.

This has seen Gyokeres apparently attract interest from big names like Man United, as per the Daily Star, while Charles Watts has also told us about Arsenal looking at the 26-year-old.

It remains to be seen precisely what will happen next with Gyokeres as the speculation seems to change slightly almost every day at the moment, with the latest from Fichajes being that Chelsea are looking to strongly enter the race for his signature.

Chelsea could certainly do with a marquee signing up front at the moment as Nicolas Jackson hasn’t been entirely convincing during his time at Stamford Bridge, while Christopher Nkunku has had injury problems and seems to have slightly fallen down the pecking order.

Is Viktor Gyokeres the striker Chelsea need?

Although Gyokeres looks like a player with bags of ability, it does perhaps seem a tad risky for these big Premier League clubs to be relying on him to come in and become their main man up front.

There is, unfortunately, just no guarantee that Gyokeres will look anything like the same player once he leaves Portugal for English football.

Darwin Nunez shone at Benfica before looking a lot less convincing at Liverpool, while there have been other examples of top players who simply couldn’t quite adjust to the English game.

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Still, Chelsea could do with a striker, so if there’s a deal to be done there for Gyokeres it makes sense that he’s at least one of the names being considered.

Arsenal and United also surely need to strengthen in that area, with the Gunners relying too much on Kai Havertz up front even though that’s not necessarily even his best position.

United, meanwhile, have invested a lot in young forwards Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, but both are struggling to live up to expectations so far.

The post Chelsea strongly enter the running for Man United & Arsenal transfer target appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak has directly addressed the speculation over his future at the moment as he continues to be linked with Arsenal and other top clubs.

The Sweden international has been a star performer since joining Newcastle and it’s easy to imagine him also being a success at other top clubs at some point in the near future if he gets himself a big move.

Isak has been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool by TBR Sport, who recently reported that the 25-year-old’s talks over a new contract with Newcastle were not going well.

Isak could clearly do a job for Arsenal right now as they’re short of quality up front, with Kai Havertz not really a natural number 9, while there’s a lot of pressure on Bukayo Saka to deliver the spark in basically every game without ever getting much of an opportunity to rest.

Alexander Isak addresses talk over his future

Still, Isak has decided not to comment too much on a potential move as he clearly wants to show respect to Newcastle, though it’s also worth saying that he hasn’t taken the opportunity to deny that he could be on the move somewhere else.

“Throughout my career, I have never talked about or really commented on the move rumours during the season,’ Isak told fotbollskanalen, as quoted and translated by the Metro.

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“There have been many such years where it has been talked about. It doesn’t affect me.

“I am commenting on my situation in Newcastle and I have never had any problem there. I am fully focused on my task there and that we will have a fantastic season. There are still great opportunities for that. I have no thoughts about anything else.

Asked specifically about talks over a new contract with Newcastle, he replied: “No comment.”

The post Alexander Isak directly addresses “move rumours” amid Arsenal transfer interest appeared first on CaughtOffside.

It’s been a terrible start to the 2024/25 Premier League season for Julen Lopetegui at West Ham, but one man that apparently won’t be replacing him at the London Stadium is Graham Potter.

The former Chelsea manager has been out of work since being sacked by the Blues, and even if the Spaniard does get the bullet from the Hammers because of their poor form, Give Me Sport sources indicate that Potter won’t be the man to replace him.

Lopetegui appeared more than happy to be going home to Spain during the international break, and it’s clear that he still feels the head coach’s job is his because he’s continuing to demand signings for the East Londoners.

West Ham won’t take Graham Potter as Lopetegui’s replacement

The issue for David Sullivan is whether to stick or twist.

If he decides to give Lopetegui more time to turn things around, he runs the risk of the Hammers slipping further away from where they want to be.

Equally, if Sullivan doesn’t believe that there’s a standout candidate available to take over from the Spaniard, there’s no point in him making a change for the sake of it.

Unfortunately for the chairman, not bagging either Hansi Flick or Ruben Amorim when he apparently had the chance to do so is looking more and more short-sighted.

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The former has Barca playing back to somewhere near their best, whilst the latter is about to embark on his own Premier League journey at Man United.

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It’s as if Sullivan is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t, though supporters will surely just want to see a return to the ‘West Ham way’ of playing football.

They didn’t get it with David Moyes, and thoughts that Lopetegui would be the man to bring that continental style back to East London have quickly been revised.

The post Sullivan decides against appointment of English boss at West Ham appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Ben Chilwell would appear to have no future at Chelsea under Enzo Maresca, and it’s believed that Crystal Palace have moved into pole position to sign him.

Back in September, The Sun noted the attentions of the Eagles for the left-back, who earns a cool £200,000 per week (Capology) with the Blues, and it’s understood that interest hasn’t waned.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed over the last couple of months for the player who is rotting on the sidelines at present.

Palace still hoping to land Ben Chilwell

Leicester City apparently want to re-sign their former player, whilst Newcastle and West Ham are also understood to be interested.

Clearly, he is still a commodity wanted by others, even if the West London outfit see no value any longer in a player that was once their captain.

At just 27 years of age, Chilwell will surely have a lot to offer whichever club is able to acquire his services, albeit, it may take time for him to get back up to the level required given how long he’s been out of service so to speak.

Maresca has always been honest and forthright with his views on every player, and though the Italian is a little too direct sometimes with his assessments of the relative merits – or not – of his players, none of the first-team staff can bleat about not knowing where they stand.

That’s because Maresca leaves no room for any grey areas. He knows what he wants and how he wants to go about getting it, and that’s arguably one of the main reasons why Chelsea are flying high once again in 2024/25.

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Palace are doing the exact opposite and currently find themselves down in 18th place with just one win all season long.

That’s unlikely to bother Chilwell if it means that he’s played regularly and given a chance to affect the immediate future of the South London outfit.

The post Palace still in race to sign £200k-a-week Chelsea star appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Chelsea star Cole Palmer has admitted he can’t properly remember the moment he scored for England against Spain in the final of Euro 2024 as it was one of those big moments that happened so fast.

Palmer has been a world class performer since joining Chelsea from Manchester City last season, but he was surprisingly used quite sparingly by Gareth Southgate at the Euros this summer.

Still, the 22-year-old did come off the bench in England’s big game in the final against Spain, and scored a superbly-taken equaliser within minutes of being introduced.

Chelsea summer signing could leave ALREADY and Man Utd are preparing their move!

It was a huge moment that will have been celebrated like mad up and down the country, but Palmer himself admits he doesn’t remember it too well.

Speaking in an interview with GQ, Palmer had this to say when asked about that goal: “Obviously, I’ve watched it all back, the highlights and that… but it’s one of those things that happened so fast you don’t really remember it.”

Cole Palmer’s England snub one of Gareth Southgate’s biggest errors

Even if Southgate did a mostly really impressive job during his time in charge of England, he undoubtedly got it badly wrong with Palmer this summer.

In the end, Southgate’s Three Lions side were beaten 2-1 by Spain in that final, with Palmer’s introduction proving too little, too late.

And yet struggling performers like Harry Kane and Phil Foden stayed in the team throughout the tournament, which raises serious questions about Southgate’s judgement.

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Ultimately, it was probably the right time for England to make a change, with Thomas Tuchel now set to start in the job in 2025.

Lee Carsley remains in charge as interim manager until then, and Palmer will hope to continue to impress with Chelsea so as to give himself the best chance of playing regularly for England in the future.

The post Chelsea star admits he doesn’t “really remember” one of the biggest moments of his career appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku is reportedly “unhappy” at the club and tempted by the prospect of a possible transfer to rivals Manchester United.

That’s according to a report from Football Insider, who have followed up on yesterday’s claim by L’Equipe that Man Utd could emerge as a surprise destination for Nkunku if he leaves Stamford Bridge.

Nkunku looked a world class talent at former club RB Leipzig, but has struggled for playing time at Chelsea, partly due to initial problems with injuries when he first joined.

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Still, the France international remains a top talent who could surely be a tempting option for other big clubs, and it seems he’d also be keen on a move like United, according to Football Insider.

It’s certainly easy to imagine Nkunku might get the chance to play more often at Old Trafford, where the likes of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have been pretty unconvincing up front, while the goals have also dried up a bit for Marcus Rashford.

Christopher Nkunku surely needs to leave Chelsea

Nkunku is surely too good to stay sitting on the bench at Chelsea, and he’s arguably deserving of more minutes given that Nicolas Jackson hasn’t even been that convincing as the Blues’ main starter up front.

Either way, if Nkunku is unhappy and doesn’t feel valued at Chelsea, then he could do well to try his luck at a club like United, who would likely be able to give him more of a key role.

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Even if things haven’t been going well for MUFC in recent times, they’ve just hired the highly-rated Ruben Amorim as their new manager, so their fortunes could be about to change.

Nkunku might feel it would be tempting to be a part of that new-look United side under an exciting coach like Amorim, so it will be interesting to see how this saga develops in the weeks building up to January.

The post “Unhappy” Premier League star tempted by surprise Manchester United transfer appeared first on CaughtOffside.