Here are your Chelsea morning headlines for Thursday, 24 September.
Saturday too soon for Mendy debut?
Chelsea have completed the signing of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Rennes, for a fee of £22million.
After Kepa Arrizabalaga made an error to gift Sadio Mane his second goal in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, most people would expect Frank Lampard to give Mendy his debut in Saturday’s trip to face West Bromwich Albion.
However, former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop isn’t sure that it’s a good idea, and would rather see Willy Caballero – who kept a clean sheet in the 6-0 Carabao Cup win over Barnsley last night – in goal at The Hawthorns.
“Maybe Saturday would be a bit too soon,” he told ESPN. “It takes a little bit of time to get to know your defenders, know their names, they need to get to know you a little bit more.”
Lampard on Havertz hat-trick
Chelsea responded well to their recent setback against Liverpool by brushing aside Barnsley at Stamford Bridge last night.
While four players got on the scoresheet in the victory, Kai Havertz dominated the match by scoring three times to open his account for the Blues.
Lampard was understandably delighted with the 21-year-old’s performance, as he explained after the match.
"He makes the recovery tackle for Ross’s goal, but then to also just have some freedom on the ball in central areas roaming behind Tammy,” he said. “It was a great night for Kai and the first of many for him."
You can read everything Lampard had to say after the Barnsley match, including his thoughts on the performances of Tammy Abraham, Thiago Silva and Callum Hudson-Odoi, here.
Thiago’s debut assessed
From the Champions League final to facing Championship opposition.
There can’t be too many players in the history of the sport who have faced two such different occasions in consecutive appearances, but that’s exactly what happened to Thiago Silva as he made his Chelsea debut last night.
The Brazilian played for an hour, before being replaced by Kurt Zouma. It wasn’t a flawless debut, but he can be pleased to pick up a clean sheet in his first appearance for his new club.
It will be interesting to see if he is in Lampard’s starting XI for the forthcoming West Brom match. Alan Smith assesses the Brazilian’s debut in full here.
