Good morning, Chelsea fans. Here are your morning headlines for Tuesday, June 30.
Chelsea closing in on United youngster
Manchester United youngster Angel Gomes’ contract expires today and Chelsea will offer him a lucrative deal to move to Stamford Bridge, according to the Independent.
The 19-year-old, who was linked with a switch to the Blues in January, has turned down a £25,000-a-week contract from United as he has better offers on the table.
Chelsea are not the only club in the race to land Gomes, however, with clubs across Europe interested in the attacking midfielder, including Hamburg, Valencia and Benfica.
“It seems like we haven’t managed to agree,” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed yesterday when asked if there had been a breakthrough between United and Gomes. “The answer is probably short and ‘Yes [he's leaving]’, then.”
Ziyech posts emotional farewell
Hakim Ziyech will officially become a Chelsea player tomorrow and has taken to social media to say a heartfelt goodbye to Ajax.
The Blues agreed a £33.4m deal for the Morocco international in February, and he would join the club once the 2019/20 Eredivisie campaign was concluded.
That happened earlier than expected due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Ziyech stayed in Amsterdam and took part in his final training session with Ajax yesterday before saying goodbye.
"The last 4 years were amazing. I don’t even know where to start for expressing how I’ve experienced this journey," he wrote on Instagram.
"I guess making the Europa League final, making the Champions League semi-final, winning the Johan Cruijffschaal, winning the KNVB Beker, winning the Eredivisie and becoming football player of the year says enough about how beautiful these years were.
"I want to thank everyone at @afcajax for making this next step possible. You have all played a part in my progression over the last years. I hope you are proud of that, at least I’m proud to have worn the jersey of the best team in the Netherlands.
"Until we meet again."
Chelsea can’t repeat Real mistake
N’Golo Kante has been linked with a move away from Chelsea this summer, with the club supposedly prepared to cash in on the midfielder if they need to raise funds to sign Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell.
Yet if Kante was to depart, the Blues could be making a mistake equal to the one Real Madrid made in the summer of 2003 when they let Claude Makelele move to Stamford Bridge.
Football.London says: Zinedine Zidane famously said losing Makelele from the Madrid side was akin to losing it’s engine. It would be a similar story with Kante.
Chelsea have a wealth of midfield talent, but none have the same defensive instincts and desire to reclaim the ball as the 29-year-old.
He is the best at what he does, perhaps in Europe. Quite simply, the Blues can’t afford to lose - or replace - Kante.
