ROMAN ABRAMOVICH has reportedly contacted Thomas Tuchel and Max Allegri as Frank Lampard feels the heat.
Meanwhile Fikayo Tomori is set to join AC Milan on loan with a view to a permanent move as soon as Monday.
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- Joshua Jones
NEXT UP
Frank Lampard faces a tricky test tomorrow night when his side travel to Leicester.
The Foxes sit third in the table, just two points behind leaders Manchester United.
Goals from James Maddison and Harvey Barnes saw off Southampton on Saturday night as they made it five matches unbeaten.
It is an 8.15pm kick-off at the King Power with the match live on Sky Sports.
- Joshua Jones
MISSING THE TRIPP
Kieran Trippier will miss the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie with Chelsea.
Fifa backed the FA over the England star’s 10-week betting ban after being found guilty of four breaches of betting rules over friends gambling on his move from to Atletico Madrid in 2019.
But the suspension was put on hold after Atletico appealed to Fifa over its worldwide application.
The LaLiga leaders claimed it was unfair the FA should have jurisdiction over a player in Spain, hinting that Wembley beaks had deliberately imposed a ban that would rule him out of the first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano on February 23.
- Joshua Jones
HEADING TO TURKEY
It is not just Mesut Ozil who is heading to Turkey from London.
Danny Drinkwater has joined Super Lig side Kasimpasa on loan for the rest of the season.
He signed for Chelsea in 2017 for £35m but has made just 23 appearances, most recently in the 2018 Community Shield.
It is unclear if he hitched a lift on the same flight as Ozil from Luton to Istanbul last night!
- Joshua Jones
PAULO PARTY
Today is Paulo Ferreira’s birthday – the former Blues right-back turns 42.
He signed for Chelsea in the same summer as Ricardo Carvalho after Jose Mourinho’s arrival.
Ferreira made 214 appearances and scored two goals across his nine years at Stamford Bridge, winning 12 trophies including three Premier Leagues and the Champions League.
Have a great day, Paulo!
- Joshua Jones
GET SHEV
Former striker Andriy Shevchenko is the outright favourite to replace Frank Lampard as manager at Stamford Bridge.
The 44-year-old was a distant 66/1 chance last week but a 'flurry of bets' promoted bookmakers Betfair to cut his price to 4/1.
However, just 48 hours later Shevchenko's odds have been slashed again.
The 2004 Ballon d'Or winner now leads the betting market at 7/5 to be appointed Chelsea's next permanent manager.
Shevchenko, who scored 22 goals in 77 appearances for Chelsea, became manager of the Ukrainian national team in 2016.
And his stock is at an all-time high having guided his country to Euro 2020 qualification – beating reigning European champions Portugal to top position in Group B.
- Joshua Jones
KEP-ING IT REAL
Talking of Kepa Arrizabalaga, the back-up Chelsea goalkeeper was celebrating last night.
And not because his rival Edouard Mendy kept a clean sheet at Craven Cottage…
The Spaniard’s former side Athletic Bilbao beat Barcelona to win the Spanish Super Cup, their second trophy since 1985.
Lionel Messi was sent off in the final minute of extra time for swinging at Asier Villalibre, who played a trumpet as part of the celebrations.
Kepa shared a pic of the trophy lift and wrote: “Congratulation Athletic Bilbao Champions!”
- Joshua Jones
HAARD TIMES
Chelsea are ‘determined’ to sign Erling Haaland this summer – and are prepared to break their transfer record, according to The Athletic.
The Borussia Dortmund star, 20, is also a target for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United.
His £66.6million release clause cannot be activated until the end of the 2021-22 campaign.
But it is going to take an eye-watering amount to convince Dortmund to sell this summer.
The most expensive player in Chelsea’s history is goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who cost them £71.6m in 2018.
- Joshua Jones
TIM WILL TELL
Frank Lampard insisted Timo Werner will rediscover his goalscoring form for Chelsea.
The struggling striker, 24, has not scored in his last ten Premier League games.
He was dropped to the bench for Saturday's win at Fulham – after he was introduced in the 75th minute, he missed yet another clear chance to score.
Lampard, 42, jumped to his defence and said: "I was happy with him when he came on.
"When he gets into those positions, particularly with the [chance] that went wide, where he’s in that in-between position because that’s where I’ve seen him score a lot of goals in his career so far. And he will score them.”
- Joshua Jones
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
But Frank Lampard knows not everything is sorted just yet.
He said: “A month ago we were flying high, but since then we've struggled. It's a challenge even a man down.
"Maybe a bit [confidence affecting his players], that's normal in football, but every team are having phases of form. Within that you get individuals short of form. We've got talent at the top end and it's my job to sort that out.
"Perfection is not an easy thing to get. I won't say I was blown away with the performance. There were lots of bits I was happy with, but we won't get too ahead of ourselves."
- Joshua Jones
1-0 TO THE… CHELSEA?
It is a phrase so often associated with Arsenal but actually it is Chelsea who are the 1-0 kings.
Their narrow victory at Fulham on Saturday was their 131st 1-0 scoreline, the most common winning score for a single team in Premier League history.
It also ended a run of three away defeats on the bounce for the Blues and their fourth clean sheet of the season – after managing just one last term.
- Joshua Jones
GOOD MORNING CHELSEA FANS
David Moyes has issued a hands-off warning as Manchester United and Chelsea reportedly eye-up a move for Declan Rice.
Neither side has yet made a bid but are said to be interested in the England international.
Moyes said: “They’re not true [rumours of a bid], we’ve had no contact from either of those clubs regarding Declan and we wouldn’t want any anyway.
“He’s doing great for us, he’s a big leader now, he’s taken a lot of the weight off Mark Noble. He’s turning out to be a really good player but also a really good boy and good around the club.”
Elsewhere, AC Milan have the option to make Fikayo Tomori’s loan move permanent in the summer for just £27million, according to reports.
The Serie A league leaders are on the brink of signing the out-of-favour Blues defender, 23, until the end of the season.
Tomori has slipped below Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen under Frank Lampard this season.
Now, reports in Italy claim Milan have the option – but not obligation – to make Tomori’s loan move permanent in the summer in a £27m deal.
Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed the latest on Tomori’s move.
Romano tweeted: “Fikayo Tomori is set to join AC Milan from Chelsea.
“The agreement is expected to be completed next week on loan with buy option [no obligation] around €30m.
“Tomori will fly to Milan in the next few days.”
And finally, Jamie Redknapp heaped praise on Mason Mount after he scored the winner in the Blues’ 1-0 win at Fulham.
He said: “Energy, he [Mount] had energy.
“I looked at times today you’re thinking [Christian] Pulisic might do something, [Hakim] Ziyech had a couple of moments but not enough.
“But what Mason Mount did today is he set the tempo all game.
“Frank’s got a few players in that team right now that he will be picking every single week; he [Mount] is one, Mendy, Thiago Silva’s incredible, Chilwell.
“Apart from that, I think there’s only a few of them. Mount was the man today for Chelsea.”
- William Pugh
UNDROPPABLE MASON
Jamie Redknapp has identified Mason Mount as one of four Chelsea stars that should start every game.
The pundit named Mount along with summer signings Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Redknapp said: “Energy, he [Mount] had energy.
“I looked at times today you’re thinking [Christian] Pulisic might do something, [Hakim] Ziyech had a couple of moments but not enough.
“But what Mason Mount did today is he set the tempo all game.
“Frank’s got a few players in that team right now that he will be picking every single week; he [Mount] is one, Mendy, Thiago Silva’s incredible, Chilwell.
“Apart from that, I think there’s only a few of them. He [Mount] was the man today for Chelsea.”
- William Pugh
LEFT-BACK CONUNDRUM
Chelsea have yet to receive offers for reserve left-backs Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri this month, according to reports.
The Blues have been working to reduce Frank Lampard’s squad size during the January transfer window, with Fikayo Tomori and Danny Drinkwater expected to head out on loan before the deadline.
The Athletic understands there have been no offers whatsoever for Marcos Alonso, who has been frozen out by Lampard since September.
Emerson is known to have interest from Serie A but Lampard is happy to keep the Italy international as back-up until the end of the season.
- William Pugh
OD-OI, STOP THAT!
Chelsea heaped praise on Callum Hudson-Odoi for his range of passing during their 1-0 win at Fulham.
The winger was seen spraying balls all over the place at Craven Cottage as his side nabbed the win at their local rivals.
- William Pugh
THROWBACK THURS… SUNDAY
Chelsea posted a throwback video from this day in 2015.
The Blues beat Swansea 5-0 at the Liberty Stadium with Diego Costa and Oscar both scoring twice each.
- William Pugh
BLUE LEADERS
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard and captain Cesar Azpilicueta looked pleased with their afternoon's work after their team won 1-0 at local rivals Fulham.
Mason Mount's second-half goal was enough to separate the teams and Lampard and his skipper took a moment to fist bump after the game.
- William Pugh
MONU-MOUNT-AL PERFORMANCE
Chelsea fans had their say and voted Mason Mount their man-of-the-match by a landslide.
The midfielder scored the winner in their 1-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage yesterday and 83 per cent of Blues fans thought he was the best player in a blue shirt.
- Giacomo Pisa
UNLUCKY CALLUM
Despite earning credit for his impressive performances of late, Callum Hudson-Odoi was unlucky not to start last night for the Blues.
And after the game Frank Lampard admitted he should have started the 20-year-old.
He said: "Callum could’ve deserved to start today to be fair.
"It’s not easy selections for me on that side of the pitch at the moment.
"I am delighted with how he is playing at the minute and he is approaching it in the right way. He will get many, many minutes for us."
- Giacomo Pisa
HIGH PRAISE
This is what Blues boss Frank Lampard had to say on Mason Mount after the England international hit the winner against Fulham last night:
"He’s been very, very good for us. He only turned 22 last week, and he’s an example of our youth.
"I came to Chelsea at 22 and I wasn’t blowing the world away in my first year at Chelsea, I was finding my feet.
"Mason has already got so many games under his belt. His effort and attitude was outstanding."
- Giacomo Pisa
AS IT STANDS
Here's how the Premier League table shapes up from a Chelsea point of view.
The Blues picked up their second win in seven Premier League games to close the gap on the top four.
Frank Lampard will be hoping that yesterday's result will kick start a good run of form for his Chelsea side.
- Giacomo Pisa
TOP OF THE TABLE
Chelsea women claimed a huge victory over Manchester United this afternoon to go above United and top of the WSL table.
Fran Kirby netted the winner for the Blues with 25 minutes left on the clock to pick up a vital three points in this season's title race.
- Giacomo Pisa
MARVELLOUS MASON
Blues match winner Mason Mount has taken to Instagram expressing his delight about grabbing the winner against Fulham last night.
That's two goals in his last two games for the 22-year-old, who is quickly establishing his position as one of the first names on Frank Lampard's team sheet.
- Giacomo Pisa
ICYMI
AC Milan have the option to make Fikayo Tomori's loan move permanent in the summer for just £27million, according to reports.
The Serie A league leaders are on the brink of signing the out-of-favour Blues defender, 23, until the end of the season.
Tomori has slipped below Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen under Frank Lampard this season.
Now, reports in Italy claim Milan have the option – but not obligation – to make Tomori's loan move permanent in the summer in a £27m deal, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Credit: Reuters - Giacomo Pisa
COACH EL NINO
Ex-Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has been appointed Atletico Madrid B manager.
The 36-year-old, who also played for Liverpool and AC Milan, has begun his managerial career at the club where he spent most of his playing days.
Torres had returned to Atletico in September to take on a coaching role with the B team but has now got the main job.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, the club's youngsters are said to be amazed by his training sessions.
Chelsea spent £50million on Torres in January 2011, signing El Nino from Liverpool, but he never lived up to his billing.
He scored just 20 Premier League goals in three-and-a-half seasons with the Blues before being offloaded to Milan.
- Giacomo Pisa
EYE OF THE NEEDLE
Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi has impressed Blues fans with his recent performances.
The 20-year-old has bagged two goals in his last three games, with many fans believing he was unlucky not to start last night's game against Fulham.
Hudson-Odoi was lively when he came on and looked a constant threat with his pace, but also provided this inch-perfect pass to Timo Werner.
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