With the exception of Belarus, South Korea and now, Germany, global football is currently suspended. The Premier League has been given the all clear by the government to restart after June 1, behind closed doors, and with that in mind, teams are hoping to resume training, if given the all clear, this upcoming week.
However, there are still plenty of questions to be answered when it comes to Project Restart, and we’ll learn more on Monday. Until football returns, we still have plenty of news items to cover. So let’s take a spin through the Chelsea FC community in cyberspace.
We start today with Blues boss Frank Lampard stating that he hopes the out-of-contract players on his squad can stay past June 30. Had the coronavirus pandemic not struck, this season would have ended long before that date, but any restart now means the season would end long past that date.
FIFA has allowed players and teams to enter into short term contracts for those whose deals expire on June 30, but the agreement must be mutual between both parties. June 23 is the deadline for reaching agreement on these kinds of deals.
“We have big players in that position so that’s obviously something I’m looking at very carefully,” said Lampard to Chelsea FC.com
‘The ones out of contract here have been great servants for the club and actually have a lot of feeling for the club, but of course they will be concerned about themselves in terms of how they are now, and if pre-season is rushed they’ll want to make sure they’re alright.”
“So it’s going to have to be something we look at. Hopefully we can have that arrangement so they can stay with us because if we play again I would love the squad to look as it’s looked all season, but we’ll have to see how that works.”
Wingers Willian and Pedro are in this category, as is striker Olivier Giroud. Willian, who has been strongly linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur/reunion with Jose Mourinho, says the majority of Premier League players do not feel comfortable about resuming the season.
Pedro has been linked with AS Roma and Real Betis. Giroud’s future remains in limbo.
Elsewhere Christian Pulisic has said, on a few occasions already, he’s 100% fully fit now and ready for selection if/when play resumes. However, over the weekend he told the club website that he didn’t take his adductor injury as seriously as he thinks he should have.
It was a freak injury to be sure, and after convalescing initially, Pulisic suffered a set back in February.
“I didn’t take it as seriously as I think I should have. It was one of those you felt you could do a lot of things but you try to push it that one extra step and realise it’s not ready yet,” Pulisic said.
“It was very tough and frustrating going through times like that. I underestimated it and tried to get back as soon as I could because I just wanted to play so bad. If anything, I’ve given myself a little more time to rest now and make sure that I’m 100 per cent fit.”
“I’d say I’m fully recovered and ready to go as soon as we get back.”
Pulisic last featured on New Year’s Day, in a 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
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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