Here are the Chelsea evening headlines for Saturday, November 14.
Callum Hudson-Odoi admits injury concerns continue as Chelsea prepare for Newcastle United trip
Callum Hudson-Odoi has revealed he is fighting a fitness battle following his Achilles injury last year.
Hudson-Odoi, 20, ruptured his Achilles over 18 months ago, spending five months on the sidelines.
He was part of England U21s win against Andorra on Friday and spoke to the BT Sport cameras afterwards.
“I still feel to myself that I’m still improving," he said.
"Obviously I am still trying to get more strength in the calf, which I lost a lot of muscle from, but I feel like I’m getting back to my best.
"Hopefully, sooner or later, I’ll be back to normal as I was before, but I just want to keep improving, keep working hard daily and keep getting better day-by-day.”
Marina Granovskaia transfer masterclass underlined as Chelsea's squad value revealed
Chelsea have the seventh most valuable squad in world football and the third most valuable in the Premier League according to a new report.
The Blues (£755.01m) are behind only Liverpool (£973.35m) and Manchester City (£971.64m) from the Premier League, according to data produced by Transfermarkt.
That means Lampard’s squad, which was boosted by a significant spending spree this summer, is worth more than Manchester United (£719.87m), and also London rivals Tottenham Hotspur (£664.7m) and Arsenal (£568.76m).
You can read the full story here.
Declan Rice defends teammate Mason Mount
Declan Rice has jumped to the defence of Mason Mount.
The West Ham United midfielder spent time in the Chelsea academy alongside Mount, and believes some of the criticism he has faced has been unwarranted.
The pair are currently preparing for a game against Belgium on Sunday, and speaking ahead of that meeting, Rice said: “We don’t speak about it but like you said there I think it’s very harsh. I witnessed it here when I came to train here. I trained with him since I was a kid and I know what his mentality is like.
“I know how hard he works and how driven it is and it’s no surprise that Gareth picks him, that Frank picks him.
“I think if you give every Premier League manager the chance to pick him they would pick him because if you see him day in and day out and what he gives to the team and as an individual he’s a top talent. I definitely think the criticism is very harsh.’
“I think if you look at Jack and look at Mason there will always be comparisons but they are playing in pretty much two different areas of the pitch. ‘Mason at Chelsea is playing as an attacking no.8 and Jack is playing off the left. I think as you saw the other night they can play in the same team and they are both great players we should be valuing.”
