With the exception of Belarus, global football is currently suspended. There is talk of the Premier League eying a potential mid-June return, and with that in mind, a possible May 18 return to team training for Chelsea FC. Of course, there are just more questions than answers right now with Project Restart.
The English top flight just doesn’t seem to have the same coherence and direction as the leading leagues in Germany, Spain and Italy right now. In the meantime, we still have transfer talk to do, so with that in mind, let’s take a spin through the Blues rumor mill.
We start with Feyenoord midfielder Orkun Kokcu, who is being monitored by both Arsenal and Chelsea. The pair of London giant clubs are keen on the 19-year-old with a reported valuation of about $28 million (£23m). According to the Daily Express, the Gunners are understood to have even “made contact with the Turkey under-21 international’s representatives with the view to a future move.”
Also said to be interested are Real Betis, Sevilla, Roma and Atalanta.
Elsewhere, Frank Lampard is looking at his old team as a source for new players on the Chelsea roster, in the form of Max Bird. According to Football Insider, Chelsea are making progress towards signing the Derby County midfielder, rated at about £5 million.
And finally, United and Chelsea have received a boost in their pursuit of ACF Fiorentina forward Federico Chiesa, 22. Club chief Joe Barone says they don’t want him to leave, but at the same time, they won’t force him to stay.
“At the moment, unfortunately, everything is blocked, so we can only see and talk when everything is over,” said Barone to Calciomercato when asked about the player’s future with the club.
“Everyone is free to make their own choices. We don’t force anyone to stay, we want players happy to be in Florence, to grow in Florence and to try to achieve important goals with Fiorentina.”
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 contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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