Enzo Maresca will be determined to extend his winning streak when Chelsea lock horns with Brighton. The Blues have won each of their last three matches, across all competitions, and that means they head into this weekend’s clash with a real spring in their step.
On Tuesday night, Maresca made wholesale changes as Chelsea stormed past League Two opponents Barrow at Stamford Bridge. Christopher Nkunku fired the west Londoners into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, netting his first hat-trick for the club.
Maresca will be hoping his side pick up from where they left off when they face the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon. So, with that being said, football.london has rounded-up the very latest Chelsea news and transfer gossip ahead of the Blues’ trip to the south coast;
Yamal role in Chelsea transfer revealed
According to Fabrizio Romano in his column for CaughtOffside, Barcelona were interested in signing Estevao Willian from Palmeiras. The 17-year-old forward was heavily linked with several elite clubs in Europe during the summer transfer window before signing for Chelsea in a deal worth an initial £29million.
The report states that Estevao was on the Catalan side’s shortlist before Spain’s sensation Lamine Yamal suddenly burst on to the scene. The teenage sensation enjoyed a meteoric rise to superstardom at the iconic Camp Nou last season, quickly establishing himself as one of Xavi’s most important players.
football.london says: “While Castello Lukeba would be a good signing, Chelsea are already spoiled for choice at the back. If Enzo Maresca was to secure his signature then the Blues would probably need to make space for him, (possibly) offloading either Benoit Badiashile or Axel Disasi.”
Carragher makes U-turn on Chelsea verdict
Jamie Carragher has admitted that he’s changed his mind about Chelsea following the Blues’ exciting start to the season. Speaking on The Overlap, the former Liverpool defender said: “I must say they’ve surprised me a lot. I think especially in the away games.
“You know those types of results where you haven’t watched the game and then someone tells you Wolves away, and you go; ‘Wow’. West Ham was pretty similar. That feels like a really big result.
“I didn’t have them anywhere near the top four at the start of the season, or thought you could really challenge it, but it looks like now they could.”
football.london says: “If it only took Jamie Carragher a handful of games to take a quite dramatic 180, then what on earth did he see to justify he initial takes on Chelsea? Of course, you can’t always be right. Fine. But to go from, ‘Chelsea are not a young and exciting team’ and ‘Chelsea made a big mistake in getting rid of Mauricio Pochettino’ and ‘Chelsea won’t finish in the top six’ to ‘Chelsea could challenge for top-four’ in just a few weeks is quite the U-turn. The Blues finally have a coach with a clear vision now, and I’m glad Carragher is beginning to realise that.”
