News Thread

It’s been a thrilling Copa América so far with the competition entering the semi-final stage. Uruguay shocked Brazil by knocking them out on penalties in the quarter-finals to set-up a massive clash with Argentina, while Colombia eased past Panama and they’ll face Canada in the last four. 

Enzo Maresca got down to business as Chelsea manager on Monday as he labelled the Stamford Bridge side ‘one of the biggest clubs in the world’ in his first interview. Chelsea have won the Champions League twice across the last 15 years but Maresca faces a daunting task to return them to the elite of European football. Despite an encouraging end to the season, Mauricio Pochettino lost his job with Chelsea consigned to Europa Conference League football under Maresca.

A remarkable transfer summer continues for Atlanta United. After selling Georgios Giakoumakis for €9.3 million to Cruz Azul and Thiago Almada in a deal worth up an initial €19.5m and up to €27.6m to the Eagle Group, left-back Caleb Wiley could be next. Initially reported by The New York Times, Transfermarkt can confirm that the 19-year-old is set to complete a €10m move to Chelsea. But rather than joining Chelsea, Wiley will be immediately loaned out to Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg Alsace for playing time. 

José Mourinho is one of the most famous managers in history after a trophy-laden career that has spanned over two decades. The self-titled ‘special one’ sent shockwaves around football by winning back-to-back European titles with Porto. That achievement is unlikely to ever be emulated by a Portuguese club and it earned him a move to Chelsea.

Since the arrival of Todd Boehly as Chelsea's new chairman in 2022, the Blues have been spending unprecedented amounts. In fact even under old owner Roman Abramovich the club became renowned for being big spenders in the transfer market. But since the American Boehly came to West London just two years ago, Chelsea have spent over €1 billion, and more than any other club in world football in that same timeframe.

Chelsea are under new management this season and head coach Enzo Maresca isn’t waiting around in the transfer market to rebuild a squad that fell well short of expectation in the previous Premier League campaign. The club have already spent no less than €101 million on new signings, with the most notable of which being Maresca’s former Leicester City playmaker Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. However, the Stamford Bridge side are expected to spend even more money before the summer window shuts and it seems as though the next deal to get over the line will be for a young prospect from Argentina. According to reports in England, Chelsea are set to sign Boca Junior defender Aarón Anselmino for a fee of around €20m once the player has agreed to a six-year contract with the English club. But who is the young defender and why are Chelsea so intent on signing him?

Back in the day under legendary manager Arsène Wenger, Arsenal often carried the tag of a club who were never willing to splash the cash. The move from Highbury to the Emirates in 2006 put some serious shackles on the pursestrings, and meant the North London side were left with a restricted budget while many other teams around them were spending fortunes. In more recent season's that's changed. As the stadium debts been cleared, a new look Mikel Arteta team has been able to lay out some big transfer fees to bring in some top stars to try and take the Gunners back to the top.

It’s been a difficult few years for Federico Chiesa and his time at Juventus appears over. The 26-year-old suffered a serious knee injury in January 2022 and he’s struggled to reach his peak level of performance since his return. Chiesa was widely regarded as one of the most exciting wingers in Europe before his injury and he starred as Italy won Euro 2021 - he was named in the team of the tournament.

It was an incredibly quiet January transfer window as clubs were limited by financial fair play rules but planning was undertaken ahead of the summer market. Clubs across Europe, however, have already been busy bolstering their squads with the start of next season on the horizon. 

English clubs have gained the reputation for their extravagant spending of clubs across the last decade. With over one month of this transfer window alone, Premier League clubs alone have already spent over €1 billion with Aston Villa the biggest spenders having invested €176m.