CHELSEA will travel to Brighton on Monday, September 14 in their opening Premier League fixture.
And Marina Granovskaia will hope to have completed the signing of Kai Havertz by then, along with other targets such as Ben Chilwell and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Follow all the latest transfer updates from the Bridge below…
OL BE FINE
Chelsea's Olivier Giroud will not be worried about the arrival of Timo Werner, according to Louis Saha.
Werner has moved to Stamford Bridge from RB Leipzig in a deal worth £53million.
Saha told the Football Index Podcast: “Olivier Giroud is a very tough cookie and he will not worry too much about the arrival of Timo Werner at Chelsea.
“Giroud wants to score and he wants to help his teammates. He is a competitor and wherever he is, he will always perform.
“Giroud is very motivated and I’m sure that next year we will hear about him again.”
HOLI-YAY?
Chelsea have the second highest number of days off out of their fellow top six rivals.
The Blues have a total of 37 days between crashing out to Bayern Munich in the Champions League and their first Premier League fixture.
Frank Lampard's troops are due to start 2020-21 on September 14.
London rivals Arsenal have the shortest amount of time to turn around into the new campaign.
HE KANT SURELY…
Chelsea star N'Golo Kante is being linked with a surprise move to Manchester United.
A number of bets on the move have seen the odds on French World Cup winner Kante becoming a Red Devil slashed.
According to Oddschecker, United are front runners in the race to sign Kante – who could be offloaded by Frank Lampard as part of his squad revamp.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are priced at just 1/2 to poach former Foxes title-winner Kante from West London.
XAV THAT
Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Xavier Mbuyamba from Barcelona.
The 18-year-old centre-back has signed on a free transfer until 2023.
He is likely to play youth football for the Blues or be shipped out on loan.
Definitely one for the future, the Holland Under-19 international is highly rated and at 6ft 5in will be a towering presence in the heart of the defence.
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IZ OFF AGAIN
Chelsea's Izzy Brown has joined Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan.
The 23-year-old spent last season on loan at Luton Town.
The versatile midfielder has appeared once for the Blues and will being his seventh loan spell.
The former England Under-20s star made 28 appearances for the Hatters in the Championship last term and will once again play in the second tier.
JORGIN-GO?
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho could follow ex-team-mate Pedro by heading to Roma.
The Guardian reports Roma are interested in bringing the 28-year-old back to Italy.
And the Blues are supposedly open to letting the former Napoli man leave.
Frank Lampard's side are trying to balance the books as they splash the cash on stars like Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz reportedly on his way too.
WHITE LINES
Chelsea are reportedly interested in signing Brighton defender Ben White.
The defender spent last season on loan with Leeds United and won promotion to the Premier League as Championship winners.
The Guardian reports Frank Lampard is a fan of the player and the Blues as well as Liverpool are monitoring his situation with the Seagull suggesting the talented centre-back is not for sale.
Leeds have already had two bids rejected and made a third of £25million but Brighton are holding firm.
KAI HIGH
Chelsea are moving towards a deal for Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz THIS WEEK.
The Guardian reports the Blues are edging towards a deal as they creep up towards the German side's £90million valuation.
Frank Lampard's side originally offered around £72m but after productive meetings between club bosses are thought to be boosting their bid.
And The Telegraph reports Havertz will sign a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge if the gap in valuations can be ironed out.
FIXTURES LIST
Here are Chelsea's fixtures in full this season.
Remember, many of the kick-off times will change depending on what games the broadcasters want to show.
CALL OF DUTY
Callum Hudson-Odoi has been putting in some extra yards as Chelsea's fixtures got announced today.
Here he is working out on a 3G pitch with one of the club's coaches.
The 19-year-old suffered an injury in February that he overcame and began to feature again in the Blues' fifth game post-lockdown.
But he has realised he needs to put in extra work to get back to being first choice for Frank Lampard next term, with plenty of competition among Chelsea's ranks.
BIG GAMES FOR BLUES
Here are some important Premier League fixtures for Chelsea in the upcoming season.
BOX CLEVER
Fans will reportedly be treated to an extra 20 live Premier League games in 2020/21 although NONE will be free.
There was hope that, with fans not expected to return to stadiums for a couple of months at least, broadcasters will again allow for a handful of free-to-air games.
However, Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime are said to have successfully banded together to keep matches on their subscription services.
The Mail report that, with fans locked out for the start of the campaign at least, 20 more games will be shown.
Sky's total has been bolstered by 12 to total a whopping 140 live games, with BT handed six more to make 58.
Online streaming service Amazon Prime, which secured a number of games from the decision to show every game during the lockdown, ups its tally from 20 to 22.
KAI GETTING CLOSER?
Chelsea HAVE made an improved offer above the £77million they initially thrust under the noses of Bayer Leverkusen, according to reports.
The Blues are hoping to get a deal for less than the £90m valuation the Bundesliga side have on the 21-year-old.
Leverkusen have reportedly lowered their asking price to £86m, giving Chelsea the chance to make the next move.
Jan Aage Fjortoft tweeted: “Havertz latest.
“Chelsea have offered 85 mill Euro. Leverkusen will accept 95 mill. Negotiations ongoing.”
'LET'S CASH IN'
Gabrielle Marcotti is convinced Leverkusen are trying to squeeze every penny out of Chelsea in the chase for Kai Havertz.
He told ESPN: “I don’t know, it to me continues to smack of Leverkusen saying ‘oh let's try to cash in on Havertz, let’s try to strike while the iron is hot.
“I don’t think Chelsea are in any rush, I don’t think Chelsea feel that they need Kai Havertz, given the players they’ve already added, Werner and Ziyech and the players who are already there, Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek and the list goes on.
“But equally Chelsea are saying ‘if there’s a chance to get this guy on terms we like because yeah we’re going to go for it, because apparently he wants to come to us.’
“So I don’t think Chelsea are going to budge from their position or inch upwards or Lampard is going to force the club to say ‘I need Havertz now’, not when they have more important positions to fill.”
SILVA'S A GO-GO
Thiago Silva has been offered to Chelsea, AC Milan and Fiorentina, according to reports in Italy.
The experienced Brazilian is leaving PSG after this season, with one game to go for the French club: the Champions League final.
If he can lift Old Big Ears and walk away with club football's biggest trophy then Chelsea fans would surely be keen to have him at Stamford Bridge.
However, Silva turns 36 just 10 days after the new season starts and his best years are most certainly behind him.
GET WELL MICHAEL
Ex-Chelsea star Michael Ballack has undergone an operation to remove a tumour in his back.
Doctors found the growth during a routine MRI scan.
He immediately underwent surgery in Hanover to remove the tumour from near his spinal cord.
And according to Bild, the German football legend has thankfully been given the all-clear by doctors, with the tumour revealed to be benign.
And the 43-year-old is now recovering on holiday in Portugal, where he is enjoying watching his former team Bayern Munich in the Champions League on television.
PRIME CUT
Amazon Prime Video have released the 20 fixtures fans can watch for free in the 2020/21 Premier League season – including Liverpool against Tottenham.
Just like last season, the online streaming platform won the rights to two complete match weeks.
An extra two additional individual fixtures will be confirmed at a later date.
But in the two rounds of Premier League matches already in the Prime diary, Spurs' trip to Anfield is the standout tie.
Amazon have the midweek games from December 15 to 17 as well as the round of fixtures between the Boxing Day games and New Year, from December 28 to 30.
All 20 matches will be shown live on Amazon Prime Video across the two three-day windows.
IT TAKES TIME
Journalist Kevin Palmer has been keen to reassure Chelsea fans that the club are pushing ahead with a deal for Kai Havertz.
There are just the minor details – including price – still to work out for Marina Granovskaia.
OPENING WEEKEND STATS
Here are some facts on Chelsea's game against Brighton, courtesy of Opta.
- Brighton have failed to win any of their six Premier League encounters with Chelsea, losing five times and scoring just two goals in the process (D1).
- Chelsea have never lost against Brighton in league competition, winning nine and drawing one. The Blues have faced Brighton more times without ever losing than they have against any other side in their league history.
- Chelsea have lost two of their last three season openers in the Premier League (W1), this after going 18 consecutive campaigns without defeat on the opening matchday between 1999-00 and 2016-17.
CHELSEA RUN-IN
Here are the Blues' last five games of the season.
Sat May 1 – Fulham (H)
Sat May 8 – Man City (A)
Tues May 11 – Arsenal (H)
Sat May 15 – Leicester (H)
Sun May 23 – Aston Villa (A)
FIRST FIVE GAMES
Here are Chelsea's opening fixtures of the new Prem season – note that 'Saturday' games are subject to tweaks, as usually happens after the broadcasters have their say in kick-off times.
Mon Sept 14 – Brighton (A)
Sat Sept 26 – West Brom (A)
Sat Oct 3 – Crystal Palace (H)
Sat Oct 17 – Southampton (H)
Sat Oct 24 – Man Utd (A)
FIXTURES RELEASED
Chelsea will travel to Brighton for the opening game of their Premier League season, with the match taking place on Monday, September 14.
WIN TOGETHER, LUIZ TOGETHER
Arsenal’s new signing Willian revealed close pal David Luiz convinced him to join the Gunners.
Willian told the Arsenal club website: “He's very happy. We played together in the national team, we played together at Chelsea, and now at Arsenal again.
“I think we can do great things together, I hope so, but I'm very happy to be with him again.
“He said, 'Come to Arsenal, come to Arsenal, I want you to come!' So that was the conversation.
“He is a very nice guy, a top player and I'm very excited to play with him again.
“Of course [he helped in the past], many times. Many times when I had difficult times at Chelsea he was helping me a lot.”
FEDEX
Chelsea and Atletico Madrid are eyeing up a move for Juventus star Federico Bernardeschi, according to reports.
The 26-year-old was a regular in the 2019-20 season, helping Maurizio Sarri's side to the Serie A title.
But with Sarri having now been sacked, Juve could cash in on the former Fiorentina attacker.
And according to Calciomercato, Juve are now hoping to cash in on the man they bought for £36million three years ago.
Initially they tried to offload him back to former club Fiorentina in exchange for Federico Chiesa.
But with La Viola refusing to budge, Juve will look to sell him outright.
KOUL RUNNINGS
Chelsea could make a move for Kalidou Koulibaly, with Marina Granovskaia reportedly having held calls with the Napoli star's agent.
Speaking on Instagram's live feed, Bleacher Report's Dean Jones made clear that Chelsea are interested in far more players than just top target Kai Havertz.
He said: “I think there’s something to bear in mind for Chelsea fans is that they’re trying to sign a lot of players right now.
“[Havertz] is not the only deal they’re focusing on.
“[Marina] is also on the phone to Koulibaly’s agent, she’s on the phone to Ben Chilwell’s agent, she’s trying to find a midfielder, she’s got someone speaking to Declan Rice, they’re trying to find a goalkeeper – basically trying to sign half a team here!
“I mean it’s really difficult. Marina’s days must be really long at Chelsea right now, the amount of calls she’s got to get through.”
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