Here are the Chelsea morning headlines for Wednesday, July 8.
Chelsea learn Havertz price tag
It’s not a secret that Chelsea are admirers of German attacker Kai Havertz, with rumours suggesting they are keen to land him this summer in a big-money deal.
Now, reports out of Italy suggest they have made contact with Havertz’s agent and Bayer Leverkusen have set their price at €90million (£80m).
That’s according to journalist Alfredo Pedulla, who suggests on his own website the German team want slightly more - closer to €100m - but would ‘settle’ for lower.
Pedulla also says Chelsea are pressing ahead with plans to sign Havertz, even against Frank Lampard’s insistence that he is not one of the players the Blues need.
His arrival would give the Stamford Bridge club enormous depth in attack, but reports in England have suggested they’ll need to sell squad members to fund the move.
Confusion over officials
There was initial confusion before Chelsea took on Crystal Palace on Tuesday, with one match official denied entry behind the scenes.
Everyone allowed inside the stadium has to have an access barcode which, when scanned, brings up their last Covid-19 test result and the area of the stadium to which they are allowed to proceed.
Players and match officials, naturally, are allowed into the red zone - the area directly affecting play - but reserve match official Andrew Laver was initially not allowed in as he is meant to remain in the amber zone until called upon.
However, Premier League stadiums’ layouts are all slightly different and, in this case, the officials’ dressing room was within the red zone.
Laver was eventually allowed to pass through to the officials’ area after match referee David Coote intervened to ask for permission.
Cole questions Kepa after Zaha strike
Wilfried Zaha scored an excellent goal for Crystal Palace against Chelsea in the back-and-forth encounter, which the blues eventually won 3-2.
In his role as Sky Sports pundit, though, Ashley Cole was less than impressed by the slow reactions of Kepa Arrizabalaga, suggesting that the goalkeeper should have done better as the strike was central - no matter how hard it was hit.
“I think whenever a ball goes near enough in the middle of the goal there will be criticism but the power he's hit that with, maybe Zouma blinded him a bit, it's a great finish,” he said.
"But I think there will be question marks over Kepa there. Maybe it's a little bit harsh.”
Fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp preferred to acknowledge the incredible power generated in the shot, which would have given most goalkeepers problems in reacting to.
