Chelsea were dominant in their victory over Crystal Palace in week one, so they’ll be brimming with confidence when they take on Arsenal in a week two London derby.
Before we get to that however, we have transfer business to discuss. There is still two weeks until deadline day and we are likely to see another deal or two closed. Last week, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel was very open about the prospect of Tammy Abraham leaving this summer, and now we know his destination- AS Roma.
Like Jose Mourinho, Abraham is a man who used to work for Chelsea, who now works for Roma. He’ll move to the Italian capital on a much-anticipated €40 million deal. If Abraham meets all his incentives, that price tag will rise to a club-record €45 million fee, as he signs for the Italians until June 2026.
After completing his Roma medical, Abraham returns to London to finalize his post-Brexit paperwork. Once Romelu Lukaku was signed, you knew Abraham was out the door, and hopefully, for all involved, the move to Rome will work out for him.
Elsewhere, we have another Borussia Dortmund buys a talented youngster, develops him further, and then sells him for a tidy profit. At least potentially.
According to Eurosport, the the southwest London club are keen on signing 18-year-old Jude Bellingham from BVB. That is, if Chelsea are unlikely to secure Declan Rice from West Ham (which honestly, doesn’t seem too likely)
The English international might just check off all the boxes for the Blues. And certainly Dortmund had done this kind of deal before with Chelsea, i.e. Christian Pulisic.
In our final item, we cover a player that you likely forgot is still on the team- central defender Matt Miazga. Technically, he is still a Chelsea man, but he’s spend the last four seasons out on loan with Vitesse Arnhem (twice), Nantes, Reading and Anderlecht since joining the Blues from the New York Red Bulls in 2016.
His next non-Stamford Bridge stop? La Liga side Alaves, according to Goal. Indeed the 26-year-old American is peripatetic.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.