Here are your Chelsea evening headlines for Friday July 17.
Kante ruled out of FA Cup semi-final
N’Golo Kante has been ruled out of Chelsea ’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, Frank Lampard has confirmed.
Kante hasn’t featured since the Blues’ 3-0 win against Watford earlier this month, having suffered a hamstring injury to go with the litany of fitness issues he has experienced this season.
Asked for a general injury update in his pre-match press conference, Lampard said: “N’Golo Kante won’t be fit for the match, he’s still not right. So he’s out.
“Other than that we have a few people with a few little niggles that I’ll monitor over the next 24 hours or so, and then we’ll be ready to go.”
Lampard remains tight-lipped on summer spending
As well as fielding questions on Chelsea’s injury problems ahead of the United game, Lampard was asked whether he expects a big summer of spending in the transfer window.
There has been feverish speculation over a move for Kai Havertz in recent weeks while, in an interview with Marca , outgoing Atletico Madrid assistant manager German Burgos has suggested that Roman Abramovich is keen to sign Atleti’s talismanic goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Signing both Havertz and Oblak would likely cost Chelsea around £200million. Having already spent big on Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, that would represent a monstrous financial outlay all told.
“We’ll see, I can’t answer that one, we’re not there yet,” said Lampard when pressed on his summer transfer plans. “We have to focus on what’s in front of us.
“I wouldn’t want to compare it to any other spending summer or not. We’ll see how I feel and we feel as a club.
“If the squad needs strengthening or the balance needs changing, if it does and we make moves, great, but at the moment we don’t know.”
Pedro edges closer to Roma
While there could still be new arrivals at Stamford Bridge this summer, there are certain to be several departures.
According to Corriere dello Sport , Pedro will be among them. Though he is fully committed to Chelsea in the interim, his short-term contract extension comes to an end next month and he is edging closer to joining Roma by the minute.
Pedro has reportedly agreed with the Chelsea hierarchy not to talk about the Giallorossi , follow any Roma-related accounts on social media or make trips to Italy to scout out the city ahead of his departure.
The move is progressing through his representatives, however, and a deal is likely to be agreed in the coming weeks.
