Here are your Chelsea morning headlines for Thursday, 15 October.
Chelsea ‘stuck to their guns’ over Rice transfer
Frank Lampard may have missed out on signing a new defensive midfielder this summer, but his squad has been improved considerably with additions in other areas of the pitch.
Sky Italia journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed on the Here We Go Podcast that Chelsea were never seriously interested in Arsenal new boy Thomas Partey, preferring to pursue West Ham United’s Declan Rice instead.
Romano stated Chelsea do intend to return for Rice in the near future, indicating the club’s reluctance to settle for alternative candidates.
It is believed the Blues see Rice as their long-term project in defensive midfield but do not feel rushed to secure his signature.
Nevertheless, Chelsea could spend in January if the price falls to what is deemed a reasonable figure.
The club have previous when it comes to spending large sums in the winter transfer window, with Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud and Ross Barkley being signed in January in recent years.
Ziyech and Van de Beek are not alike, despite Ajax history
Morocco international Hakim Ziyech has yet to make his Chelsea debut after agreeing a move to Stamford Bridge from Ajax in February.
Former teammate Donny van de Beek has taken to the field at Old Trafford on a handful of occasions now, following his own summer move from the Amsterdam club, but parallels drawn between the two in England are premature to say the least.
Ziyech and the Dutchman are different players entirely, with the former preferring to be on the ball much more often than Van de Beek, creating from pockets of space, switching the play with diagonal passes and sending crosses into the box.
On the other hand the Manchester United man is more of a raumdeuter – a ‘space investigator’, to use the literal German translation - opting to drift into unoccupied areas of the attacking third and support the forward line with runs from midfield.
Chelsea fans can expect a great deal more creativity from 27-year-old Ziyech, who has a better passing range and repertoire of assists in his back catalogue.
For a statistical breakdown of what makes Ziyech different to Van de Beek, read the full article here.
Chilwell back-up sent on loan
Chelsea’s situation at left-back had been a troublesome one for Frank Lampard since taking over last summer.
Dissatisfied with the erratic Marcos Alonso and unreliable Emerson Palmieri, the Blues looked for an alternative and found one in Ben Chilwell.
This summer, the club attempted to offload both Alonso and Emerson but to no avail.
Consequently, the Blues board’s attention may shift to the January window, when either of the pair could be sent out on loan with a view to securing a permanent transfer.
That’s partly because Ian Maatsen has emerged as a potential long-term option as Chilwell’s back-up.
The Dutch youth international has joined Charlton Athletic for the season, where it is hoped he will get his first taste of regular senior action in English football.
Charlton enjoy a good relationship with Chelsea in this regard, having helped to develope Conor Gallagher last year.
Maatsen could return to the club next summer with a view to providing cover for Chilwell, particularly if Alonso and Emerson have departed by then.
