Just one more day until the UEFA Europa League Final gets here, and thus we got all your preview material for the match right here. Like the team news/injury report for both sides and the Chelsea starting XI prediction.
Additionally, we have plenty of Chelsea FC news and transfer narratives to discuss today. So without further ado, let’s take a spin through the interwebs and see what’s buzzing right now in the Blues online community.
Eden Hazard has said that if his side wins tomorrow night, it would be the perfect farewell to the club…if he was definitely leaving of course.
And while everybody and their brother thinks he’s gone to Real Madrid, the team President for his (likely) next destination has spoken out about his pursuit of the Belgian. Perez has said that they are keen on Hazard, have been for some time, and feel much better about their chances of obtaining him this summer than they have in previous summers.
“We have wanted to sign Hazard for some years but up to now, we have not been able to do so,” the Madrid boss told Spanish radio station Onda Cero radio.
“I have hope to have him come this summer. I have a lot of interest in him coming to Real Madrid. We wanted him last year but this time it will be easier as he has one year left on his contract. He is one of the greats that remain in world football.”
In the same interview Perez also shot down the claims that Madrid are trying to acquire Kylian Mbappe or Neymar.
Elsewhere, Chelsea winger Willian says that the Premier League is so intensively competitive, at such a high level that it gets better by the hour.
“I always say that the Premier League is the toughest championship in the world,” he told ESPN. “Lots of players dream about playing in the Premier League someday and it’s clear to see why.
“The fact the four English teams are playing in the Champions League and Europa League final shows that the work is being well done.
“Liverpool are in the Champions League final for the second time in two years while Tottenham will be playing for the first time. Chelsea and Arsenal are no strangers to those types of matches either.
“The Premier League is growing as we speak, and it gets harder by the hour. This is why English teams are in the final of two tournaments like these.”
Finally, there have been some reports indicating that Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri as agreed to take the open Juventus job. How much truth there is to those claims is certainly questionable and debatable at this time.
Asked directly about this topic, Sarri said: “I want to think only about the final, of course. Then I have a contract with Chelsea for two years. So, first of all, I will speak with Chelsea. But this is not the moment.”
Asked indirectly about this topic, Sarri responded by expressing a strong love for his players, England and the Premier League.
“For me, at the beginning of the season, it was really very difficult to understand my players, to understand the mentality,” Sarri said.
“But, after a very difficult month in January, in February they started to change, I think. Or probably I changed, I don’t know.
“In this moment, I love them because I have 20, 22 wonderful men, and wonderful players. So now I’m really very happy with them. And, of course, I have to consider it for the future. And I have to consider that I love English football, I love the Premier League.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.