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.
Chelsea Target dispels Tuchel doubt
RB Leipzig are reportedly looking for a new transfer record to cut ties with Christopher Nkunku in the upcoming transfer window. This will lead to the Bundesliga club aiming to receive a €60m fee to allow the French winger to leave.
Coming from German publication Bild via Sport Witness, Chelsea have joined Real Madrid and Manchester City in the chase for Nkunku. Thomas Tuchel knows the player well as he coached him during his final year at PSG. Bild have claimed the original reason Tuchel allowed the 23-year-old to sign for Leipzig in 2019 was because he was unsure whether Nkunku was mentally ready for Europe’s top teams.
Nkunku has started this campaign extremely well, netting nine goals and registering six assists in only 10 games for Jesse Marsch's side.
It seems the current Premier League leaders would be interested in acquiring Nkunku and if so would have to pay the reported fee to reunite the French star with Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.
Bayer Leverkusen star scouted by Blues
The name of Florian Wirtz has been regularly linked with Chelsea in recent weeks as the 18-year-old breakthrough talent has attracted early interest from top European clubs.
There have already been natural comparisons to the development of Kai Havertz who signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2020 after forging a path at the BayArena to become widely regarded as one of the continents next bright stars.
Wirtz has already 6 goals and 5 assists in 8 games this season, marking him out as one of Bundesliga's hot prospects, with the Blues already watching him according to Bild via Sport Witness.
Though giants Bayern Munich are said to be lurking for the €100m touted midfielder whose alleged preference is to remain in his home nation and Bayern would offer the quickest path to stardom from Leverkusen.
Premier League clubs fear they are losing battle
Premier League clubs fear they are losing the battle to have their South American stars released early from international duty, in time to line up in the next round of top-flight matches.
As first reported by Adrian Kajumba for The Daily Mail, sides had asked their own players to consider withdrawing from the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, noting Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay all playing just a day before the domestic action recommences on October 16th.
From a Chelsea perspective this most impacts Thiago Silva on duty with Brazil during this next break. The 37-year-old defender was effectively ruled out of the trip to Brentford by Thomas Tuchel following his involvement in the win against Southampton.
"He will go and then he will play for Brazil, and then he will come back on the matchday versus Brentford. This is the life of international breaks in 2021. Like it or not, what can I do?
"He's our player and he arrives on the matchday back from a country where he then needs to do quarantine. Is this a good solution for us as a club? No, but we cannot hold him back. It's impossible.
"If they call him, he needs to go, otherwise he gets suspended by FIFA. So there is no choice. You simply have to live with it."
What are your thoughts on the latest transfer rumours? Follow our CareFreeChelsea Writer Daniel Childs on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below
