Welcome to our football.london CareFree Chelsea daily news round-up. Maybe not the first, we’ve definitely done transfer round-ups before, and European round-ups, so I guess in some ways it’s not that new at all. Anyway, we thought we would enter the world of football in a broad and roundabout manner for you and have some fun with some of the stories and captions doing the daily rounds.
Former Blue makes transfer admission
Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba has confessed that playing for Paris Saint Germain was always his dream but insisted that a move to Stamford Bridge instead was written in the stars.
Ba, who joined the west Londoners in January 2013 from Newcastle in a move worth around £8 million, claimed that Chelsea was pitched to him as a potential suitor at the age of just 16-years-old.
Speaking to beINSPORTS via Sport Witness, the retired striker spoke on how he felt it was his fate to join the Blues.
“My dream would have been to play for Paris, and sometimes dreams are good where they are. Dreams remain dreams,” Ba said.
“At the time of the transfer, I was really happy, because playing for Chelsea was an objective. Chelsea was written on a piece of paper when I was 16, with other clubs around it.
“It was already planned 10 years before, in my head. In my career as a footballer, I started with a map to follow.”
Players asked to withdraw from international break
A handful of Premier League clubs have pleaded with their south American stars to withdraw from the international break by missing Friday week’s fixtures, according to the Daily Mail.
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay all play a week on Friday – the day before the Premier League resumes.
The report claims that some clubs believe there is not enough time between the third and final clash of the international break and the resumption of the Premier League for players to be in contention.
Following the saga that saw officials storm the pitch in the last international break when Brazil played Argentina, there is continued uncertainty over which players are eligible for a quarantine exemption upon their return from the international break.
Thiago Silva, who could feature for Brazil a week on Friday, will potentially be unavailable for the Blues the following day against Brentford.
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Southgate holds Hudson-Odoi talks
England boss Gareth Southgate has spoken to Callum Hudson-Odoi about his international future and ambitions in an attempt to clear the air, with the Chelsea winger able to switch allegiances to Ghana next year, according to the Telegraph.
football.london understands that the 20-year-old trickster has now turned down successive opportunities to join up with the England Under-21s in a bid to focus on securing a first-team role under Tuchel at Chelsea.
(Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Hudson-Odoi has featured five times this season for the Blues but just one of which came in his preferred role as a left-winger as oppose to right wing-back.
He impressed and the Cobham graduate will likely be looking to build on his newly found momentum at the club by continuing to work closely with Tuchel over the break.
Rudiger unimpressed by latest contract offer
Tuchel has urged Chelsea to wrap up Antonio Rudiger’s contract saga as soon as possible as talks with the centre-half come to a halt, according to the Express.
The report claims that the Germany international rejected an offer of £125,000-a-week from the Blues, despite The Athletic claiming Rudiger is eyeing a new wage packet closer to £200,000-a-week.
Paris Saint Germain has now entered the list of sides circling the situation, joining Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as the trio wait to pounce.
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