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Chelsea have held extensive talks over signing a former Fulham star who José Mourinho personally wants at Fenerbahçe, according to reports, with Enzo Maresca and BlueCo looking to shore up a key area.

The positions Chelsea are looking to strengthen this summer

The west Londoners took a huge step towards Champions League qualification by beating Premier League champions Liverpool 3-1 over the weekend, a result which puts some wiggle room between them and Nottingham Forest in sixth.

£60m star tempted to re-join Chelsea as BlueCo eye potential reunion

The ex-Blue is contemplating a return to Stamford Bridge.

By
Emilio Galantini

May 6, 2025

Arsenal’s journey to the Champions League semi-finals means the English top flight has been awarded an extra qualifying place for next term, so finishing fifth would guarantee a spot for Chelsea in the competition.

This is excellent news for Maresca, as a place in next season’s Champions League draw is widely reported to have a big impact on the club’s summer transfer plans.

Chelsea will also be busy behind-the-scenes, as there will be a special edition transfer window open from June 1st to June 10th – which allows the Blues and Man City to sign players before the Club World Cup begins.

According to journalist Simon Phillips, Chelsea want a centre-back, winger and forward as three top priorities. Depending on player sales and their European status, Maresca’s side could also go after another central defender, a left-back, goalkeeper and versatile attacking player.

There are also suggestions that Chelsea are still looking at signing another midfielder. While Roméo Lavia has performed excellently when available, the Belgian’s injury woes have left Maresca short in that area far too consistently.

Chelsea expressed a serious interest in Man United starlet Kobbie Mainoo back in January, holding talks with his agents, but the England international ultimately remained at Old Trafford.

The 20-year-old’s importance to Ruben Amorim could place him too far out of Chelsea’s reach, with Maresca’s side believed to be keen on Napoli star Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa as a potential alternative.

The 60-cap Cameroon international is a key starter for Antonio Conte’s title-chasing Napoli side, bagging six goals and five assists in all competitions. Anguissa could also add some much-needed experience to the squad, with Chelsea already making moves for him.

Chelsea hold extensive talks over signing Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa

According to Italian newspaper Il Mattino, via Sport Witness, Chelsea have held more than one round of negotiations over signing Anguissa ahead of the summer.

The 29-year-old is also keen to make a Premier League return, in an act of personal redemption, as he believes that he’s got far more to offer in Europe’s most prestigious division.

The former Fulham midfielder also has a real admirer in Mourinho, according to reports in Turkey, which claim the tactician is personally keen to sign him for Fenerbahçe (Fanatik).

Anguissa’s contract includes a £38 million release clause as well, but it is unclear just how much Chelsea would be willing to pay for a player whose fast approaching 30.

In any case, there is little denying the African’s quality, and his form this season is turning heads at Cobham. Previously called a “machine” by ex-teammate Joachim Andersen, Anguissa would undoubtedly provide Maresca’s midfield with real steel.

Liverpool have made new contact with the agents of a “world-class” player ahead of a potential summer move, an exciting new transfer rumour has claimed.

A huge summer awaits at Liverpool

The Reds may be the new Premier League champions, but there are still flaws within the squad that Arne Slot will want to address this summer. New full-backs will be needed, for example, with Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving and Andy Robertson arguably past his best, and a centre forward also looks to be required.

Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez has been linked with a move to Liverpool, with the Argentine seen as an upgrade on Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez, both of whom have struggled to make their mark this season.

Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne has been linked with a shock move to the Reds from Manchester City, having confirmed that he will leave the Etihad at the end of the current campaign. West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus is another rumoured option for Liverpool when the summer window arrives, with Arsenal also believed to be interested. Now, one of the most well-known attacking players in Europe has been linked with a switch to Anfield, though.

Liverpool make contact with "world-class" Real Madrid star Rodrygo

According to The Boot Room, Liverpool have “spoken” to the representatives of Real Madrid forward Rodrygo over a summer move to Anfield, as have Manchester City and Arsenal.

These are fresh discussions, having only happened in “recent weeks”, with previous reports earlier in the year also saying that contact had been made.

The idea of Rodrygo playing for Liverpool is mouthwatering, considering he is a world-renowned star who still has so much of his career ahead of him. The 24-year-old has 68 goals and 50 assists for Madrid, which is no mean feat, while Luka Modric has called him a “world-class” footballer.

If Liverpool managed to entice him to the club ahead of next season, it could feel like one of the biggest transfer coups in their recent history, and the Brazil international may well be considered the natural long-term replacement for Mohamed Salah on the right flank.

Rodrygo can also be a threat from the left-hand side, however, so he could even arrive as an immediate upgrade to Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, amid doubts over the latter’s future with the Reds.

It remains to be seen if Rodrygo sees his future away from Madrid, however, at a time when there are so many superstars at the club, and always a great chance of winning major silverware every season. The report states that he is “not happy” but will “assess” things in the summer when the managerial situation at the Bernabeu is cleared up.

Huge Nunez upgrade: Liverpool plot big move for "the best CF in the world"

Liverpool desperately need to sign a new centre-forward this summer.

By
Angus Sinclair

May 9, 2025

Liverpool are a major attraction in their own right, and could easily only go from strength to strength under Slot, so the £204,000-a-week Rodrygo’s head will hopefully be turned by a move to Merseyside.

England opener says Bazballers still believe in their method

Andrew Miller28-Mar-2024Zak Crawley says that England will not allow their shortcomings in India to derail their positive approach to Test cricket but admits that a bit of “refinement” is needed to capitalise on their positions of dominance, such as the one that slipped through their fingers in the fourth Test in Ranchi last month.Speaking at the Kia Oval on the eve of the county season, Crawley insisted that England had never lost faith in their attacking methods, even though they were distinctly second-best by the time the series culminated in an innings defeat inside three days in Dharamsala.The 4-1 series scoreline, he added, could have been very different had England seized their opportunity in Ranchi. After two days of the fourth Test, India were facing a 100-plus first-innings deficit having slipped to 177 for 7 in reply to 353, only for Dhruv Jurel’s hard-fought 90 to turn the tide and allow his team’s spinners to put the pressure back on England.Related

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“We never really lost faith and had the same attitude, as you can tell from some of our press!” Crawley said, as he joked about some of the more outlandish expressions of optimism that came out of the England camp in the course of the tour.”We had the same attitude throughout and I don’t think that is arrogance. We genuinely believed in ourselves and thought we could win the series. We were in all the games. We certainly weren’t in the games when I was in India last time, so we gave ourselves a good chance and we weren’t quite clinical enough, like they were, to be fair.”We should have won in Ranchi to make it 2-2 and then you never know how the last one goes, but it is always hard to wrestle the momentum back. Over five days, their skills are always going to come out, and they are a phenomenal team. It was a really enjoyable tour though, we gave it a good crack, and there is a lot to learn from.”On a personal level, Crawley was pleased with his own performances, having been England’s leading performer for the second major series in a row, with 407 runs at 40.70 in the five Tests to go alongside his 480 at 53.33 in the Ashes. Given his struggles in the preceding two years, in which he had averaged 20.57 across 20 Tests between January 2021 and November 2022, that represented a significant uptick in fortunes.”Hopefully I can push on from here but I certainly feel in a better place now than I did at the start of last year,” Crawley said. “Whenever I try to maintain [my form], I think you start getting worse, so I am always looking to improve.”Against spin, I was trying to get forward to smother the ball and it kind of worked for me. My head is a lot further forward than it used to be in my set-up. But mainly it’s just my attitude. I am trying to embrace failure more and accepting it is part of the game. So, I’m trying to stick with that.”Although he made four scores between 60 and 79, Crawley was unable to hit the heights that he reached with his remarkable 189 from 182 balls at Old Trafford during the Ashes. Nevertheless, he was part of seven opening stands of 45 or more in the course of ten innings, as he and Ben Duckett consistently took the attack to India’s new-ball bowlers, including their outstanding quick Jasprit Bumrah.Crawley’s confidence against India’s seamers, particularly on the drive, continued a theme that began with his memorable first-ball four against Pat Cummins in the Ashes. And, in keeping with his role as the first batter in an aggressive line-up, he admitted that going toe-to-toe with the opposition attack leaders was very much part of his gameplan.”I was certainly conscious of that in the summer against the Aussies,” he said. “I just thought, ‘there are a couple of good balls in here, I just need to put them under pressure early’, so that was more of a conscious effort.”I feel like a bit more pace on the ball has always suited my game a little bit more,” he added. “I just think less when they’re bowling fast. You have to calm the brain and calm the mind and just react. That’s always suited me rather than the Tim Murtaghs of the world where you play seven different shots before it comes down and that has never been my forte, but I’ll try and get better at that as well.”Crawley revealed how he had undergone laser surgery at the age of 18 to correct a short-sightedness that had required him to use contact lens, adding that one of his practice techniques when younger had been to crank the bowling machine up to full speed and play the ball from halfway down the pitch. “It was only half-volleys but obviously 90mph would feel very slow by the time you go back,” he said.Crawley believes Bazball needs “a bit of refinement”•Getty ImagesEven so, the challenge of facing Bumrah, with his high pace, wide range of skills and idiosyncratic action, is not something that can be easily replicated in training.”I love facing the best bowlers in the world. Him, Cummins, a few others, but he would probably be the best I have faced,” Crawley said. “He bowls fast anyway and lets it go later, so it feels even quicker. Then it is just a weird action, so it is hard to pick up at times and he has got tremendous skill. He swings it both ways, with a slower-ball yorker, so, yeah, he’s a phenomenal bowler. It was tricky but I loved it.”Though he stood out among England’s batters, Crawley’s series record still paled against that of his opposite number Yashasvi Jaiswal, whose 712 runs included back-to-back double-centuries in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot. But, he said, those efforts didn’t necessarily make him more hungry for big scores, because his best cricket invariably comes when he limits his focus to one ball at a time.”Whenever I have looked too far ahead like that, that is how you get out straight away,” Crawley said. “Actually, a couple of those occasions I was thinking, ‘I need to get a big score’ and I wasn’t in the process. That is why – as simple as that – I got out.”At Old Trafford in the summer, I was just trying to bat and bat time, I wasn’t thinking about getting a hundred. I was very present and it’s quite hard to get into that mindset. Whenever I’ve got into that mindset, I’ve managed to get a decent score, and if I got ahead of myself, I haven’t.”England do not play another Test series until the arrival of West Indies in July, and so there is plenty time for the players to absorb the lessons of the India series.”It just needs a bit of refinement,” Crawley said. “We always talk about absorbing pressure and putting pressure back on. The last couple of years we’ve done the putting back on pretty well, and we’ve spoken about maybe picking those moments to absorb at the right times as well. We can certainly refine that.”That’s not to say we’re going to get more negative. We will still try to play the way we have and try to score quickly, but just pick those moments where they’re on top. We need to make sure we stay positive and don’t let a tough result get in the way of what we’re done really well over the last couple of years.”[India] have won 17 home series on the spin, so it would have had to be pretty special for us to turn it over and we will not get too down on ourselves. We’ll still stick to what we know but just be slightly better.”

In September, we laughed, we cringed, we looked on awe-struck, all under our umbrellas

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Sep-2019The gag
The thing everyone knows about jokes is that they get funnier the more you repeat them. Which is why the sandpaper jokes – hahaha, oh man – just got better and better as the Ashes went on (even though the whole thing happened in March 2018, which was 16 months ago). Some fans in England dressed as sandpaper, yelled about sandpaper, made street signs about sandpaper, and probably named their newborns Sandpaper just to dress them in yellow and take them to the ground for a laugh. The whole thing was terrific and the boos were wonderful and everyone was on the ground in fits of outrageous, uncontrollable laughter until Steve Smith scored a billion runs and Australia retained the Ashes.This Steve Smith guy, though
For any normal cricketer, a year-long ban might make the Test-match muscles atrophy. Smith came back and hit 774 runs in four Tests and batted in several important stands in which he was clearly dragging the other partner along. It was as if he spent his year off gorging himself like a mother penguin in the winter, then returned to vomit up huge volumes of runs into the mouths of his team-mates, thus sustaining the fragile Australia top order.The takeover
Misbah-ul-Haq is a good guy, right? He guided Pakistan with immeasurable poise through one of their most difficult periods… so we know for a fact that he’s a stand-up guy, correct? Only asking because, having sat on the committee that sacked the previous Pakistan coach, he later applied for the position he had helped make vacant, before eventually going on to become not only coach but chief selector as well. From a distance this seems like a move right out of a banana-republic dictator’s playbook. But we’re all okay with what happened, because, come on, it’s Misbah. He’s incorruptible. It’s going to end well.Please end well.The message
At its best, cricket transports the fan and provides a reprieve from real life. In September, though, real life had this annoying tendency to impose itself on (what was supposed to be) the cricket. In a month in which the global conversation has been about climate change, unseasonal rains showed up to complicate New Zealand’s series in Sri Lanka. Rains then forced abandonments in both the men’s and women’s India v South Africa series. Finally, on Friday apocalyptic-looking weather systems turned up in generally arid Karachi, filling the ground with so much water there was a risk a Swedish teenager might sail across it.So okay. We saw the global protests. We saw the wall-to-wall climate-crisis coverage. Can the forces trying to deliver this message now leave cricket alone so it can be the thing that takes our minds off impending doom? We get it already.A dogged endeavour
Geoffrey Boycott has wanted to be knighted for a long time. Twice, he said, his knighthood had been turned down. He was so annoyed about this in 2017 that he said he would have had a better chance of being knighted if he’d “blacked up” because West Indian cricketers had been handed knighthoods “like confetti” (those privileged swine!). Eventually, thanks to the wishes of former UK prime minister Theresa May, Boycott will be knighted, amid controversy over his 1998 conviction in France for assault on a woman. It has been a long, attritional road to the knighthood, during which Boycott has angered plenty and lost fans, before ultimately going on to secure the personal accolade he craved. The whole thing has been so much like one of his innings, except even more difficult to watch.Ongoing incompetence update
It has now been almost two and a half months since Sri Lanka Cricket suspended head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, partly because they said he was charging too much for the work he was doing. They haven’t found a way to fire him yet. Meanwhile, they continue to pay him for doing nothing.Next month on The Briefing
– Misbah-ul-Haq gains control of the PCB constitution and makes himself coach and selector for life.- Cricket Australia bans Steve Smith until the start of the next Ashes. “If we force him to sit two years out he’ll average 200 next time.”

Liverpool are reportedly planning to hijack Arsenal's move for Viktor Gyokeres, with the Sporting CP striker seen as a possible replacement for Darwin Nunez.

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Nunez set to swap Anfield for NapoliLiverpool want Gyokeres to fill the voidFace stiff competition from ArsenalFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

After joining Liverpool from Benfica in 2022, Nunez has endured a mixed spell at the club, with flashes of promise overshadowed by inconsistency in front of goal. Although Al-Nassr attempted to sign him during the January transfer window, it is Napoli who now seem poised to secure his signature in a deal that could be worth around €50 million (£43m/$58m).

AdvertisementGetty THE BIGGER PICTURE

Arne Slot is eager to fill that void, and, according to , they are preparing to disrupt Arsenal’s pursuit of Gyokeres, with the Sporting CP striker now being identified as a leading candidate to replace Nunez. The Merseyside club has instructed intermediaries to get them information about the exact asking price for the 26-year-old, who is believed to have a release clause of €80m (£68m/$93m).

DID YOU KNOW?

Gyokeres has already made it clear to Sporting that he wants to leave this summer, following a stellar campaign in which he finished as one of the top scorers across Europe. Arsenal have been leading the race for him in recent weeks, but Liverpool are reportedly preparing a serious push to beat their rivals to the striker's signature. The striker has previously rejected a potential reunion with former Sporting boss Ruben Amorim at Manchester United and is carefully weighing his next move.

Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

In addition to Nunez, Colombian winger Luis Díaz is also being linked with a departure from Liverpool. Barcelona are reportedly monitoring his situation closely and are described as “very interested” in securing his services. If those sales are completed, Liverpool will have the funds necessary to invest further after breaking the British transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz. A move for Gyokeres, with his scoring pedigree, may soon become a priority for the Anfield hierarchy.

With rain scheduled on day four, Madsen, with the help of Alex Thomson, kept alive Derbyshire’s hopes of a draw

ECB Reporters Network21-Apr-2024

Derbyshire 167 (Lloyd 54, Scriven 3-30) and (Madsen 59*, Thomson 46*, Currie 3-36) trail Leicestershire 574 for 7 dec by 183 runsWayne Madsen was again a thorn in Leicestershire’s side as he rescued Derbyshire from the threat of a three-day defeat in the Vitality County Championship match at Derby.After Derbyshire were made to follow-on 407 runs in arrears, the 40-year-old blocked the visitors’ push for victory with an obdurate unbeaten 59 from 114 balls to steer his team to 224 for 6 at the close.But with rain forecast on the final day, Madsen, who has scored five centuries against Leicestershire, has given his side a good chance of salvaging a draw.Despite missing several frontline bowlers, Leicestershire bowled Derbyshire out for 167 with Tom Scriven, Ben Mike and Scott Currie all taking three wickets. When Derbyshire slipped to 144 for 6 in their second innings, Leicestershire sensed an early finish but Alex Thomson, 46 not out, stayed with Madsen for 27 overs to keep them waiting.Derbyshire’s chances of avoiding the follow on had been slim at the start of another sunny but chilly day and drifted even further 10 overs into the morning session. Nightwatchman Sam Conners was the first to go when he played across the line at Scriven but the departure of David Lloyd was a damaging blow to the hosts.The Derbyshire captain looked in good touch, pulling Mike for six before driving the seamer to the cover boundary to reach 50 from 63 balls. But Mike had the last word when he deceived Lloyd with a ball that angled away to knock out his off stump.Aneurin Donald and Anuj Dal restored some order with a stand of 67 from 74 balls until the introduction of Liam Trevaskis lured Donald into a rush of blood. He swept the left arm spinner’s first ball to the boundary but then charged down the pitch, missed an ugly swipe and was bowled. It was a reckless shot in any circumstances but was wholly inappropriate given the state of the match.The lower order subsided quickly with Currie claiming the last two wickets which left Derbyshire to face one over before lunch. Harry Came survived a hard chance to short leg off the penultimate ball but the openers looked relatively comfortable after the interval, passing 50 before Currie hit a hot streak. Running in from the Racecourse End, he trapped Came on the crease and in his next over removed Reece who misjudged the line, offering no shot to a ball that nipped back.But the best was still to come. Lloyd was completely deceived by a full toss that dipped on him, knocking out the off stump and leaving him flat on his back. When Trevaskis again struck in his first over, pinning Brooke Guest leg before half-forward just before tea, the scent of victory was in the air for the visitors.On a day of little comfort for Derbyshire, Wayne Madsen passed 15,000 first-class runs after the interval but lost Donald who aimed a pull at Scrivens and was bowled.Dal stayed with Madsen for seven overs before Mike had him caught behind down the legside but Thomson joined Madsen to frustrate Leicestershire.