According to Spanish reports this morning, Chelsea have moved quickly to snap up recently released Barcelona academy youngster Gael Etock. The 17 year-old Cameroonian, who made his way to Spain as part of the Eto’o Foundation along with half a dozen other compatriots, reportedly departed ‘La Masia’ last week with no sign of a new contract. It is not clear as to whether he chose to leave or was released….
In the past few weeks, Yeovil boss Terry Skiverton has taken to Twitter to ask his followers for ‘scouting’ advice on new signings. Upon recommendations from a number of his followers, the Glovers’ boss secured the signature of striker Kieran Agard, formerly of Everton. In keeping with that sort of thinking, TheChels presents five young Chelsea players who are likely to head out on loan during the 2011-12 season and…
With June coming to an end, impatient domestic football fans are turning their attentions towards pre-season football. Whilst Chelsea’s first team are heading off to Asia for much of the month, their youth and reserve teams are in action on domestic shores and there will be plenty of action to look out for. Players have been returning in dribs and drabs throughout this week ahead of a full scale return…
Never let it be said that there’s no football in the summer months. Whilst the western club football calendar takes its traditional break, there has nonetheless been regular action from all corners of the world, perhaps most notably in Mexico, where a quartet of Chelsea players have been representing their countries at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Chief amongst those is Nathaniel Chalobah, the sixteen year-old defender who has successfully…
In the midst of all the anger and disgust in the manner in which Carlo Ancelotti was sacked, it’s about time we looked underneath the surface and see what may be the reasons behind his sacking. It was hardly a surprising sacking, even though everybody wanted him to see out his contract, deep down this was what everyone had feared, albeit the manner did shock everyone. So let’s recap how…
A young, charismatic football manager is about to join a top premier league side after an outstanding season with Porto, sounds familiar? That must be the only comparison that is made with Andre Villas-Boas and the ‘special one’, Jose Mourinho. There’s no doubt to Chelsea fans, Mourinho was the most successful manager ever to have graced Stamford Bridge and his legacy is somewhat still part of the team now. However,…
One of the plus points to the 24/7 society we are now living in is that the gnawing tedium of Sundays that most of us endured as children has ended. When I was young in the 70s and early 80s, Sunday consisted of going to Mass, dinner (not lunch, this was Birmingham) – often cooked by my father if Old Mother Baby was at work as a nurse at the…
For the fifth time in slightly under five years, Chelsea have a new manager. Andre Villas-Boas returns to Stamford Bridge having departed with Jose Mourinho in September of 2007, and he returns as one of the hottest commodities in the game, a 33 year-old academic who smashed records with FC Porto last season. For Chelsea’s academy, however, things are about to change again as they will embark upon yet another…
The Chelsea managerial merry-go-round continues to spin, but news this morning suggests it may be slowing down ready to stop. Major sources in Portugal are reporting that FC Porto manager André Villas-Boas is headed to London after Blues owner Roman Abramovich agreed to pay his release clause, believed to be in the region of €15m. The 33 year-old, who has previous experience at Stamford Bridge working as a scout for…
When Jeffrey Bruma returns from his holidays later next week, he will complete the formalities in a deal to join German outfit Hamburg on a two-year loan. The reaction to the news has been mixed amongst Chelsea supporters, with some suggesting that the young Dutch defender will never be capable of holding down a regular place in the Blues’ lineup, whilst others have vented their anger at Frank Arnesen for…