Chelsea
Alonso’s Fernández call underlines Chelsea’s stance
Alonso’s first major selection call at Chelsea pointed to a growing uncertainty around Fernández.
Xabi Alonso wasted little time in making a point of authority at Chelsea, leaving Enzo Fernández out of the squad for the Carabao Cup meeting with Luton Town. Asked about the decision, Alonso was clear that it came from within the club as much as from himself.
“It was a decision from myself and from the club,” he said to the assembled media.
Chelsea still named several new faces, with Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers both starting, alongside Maxence Lacroix. Reece James wore the armband, Estêvão featured, and Danny Welbeck also appeared among the changes. Fernández, however, was absent entirely, not even making the bench.
Alonso expanded on the reasoning behind the omission, stressing that the choice was made with the team in mind. “We assess individually, collectively what’s the best for the team, for tonight, what was better, for other players that were playing and we take the decision,” he explained.
When the subject turned to Fernández’s response, Alonso was equally direct in his assessment. “He’s a good professional,” the former Real Madrid manager said. “He’s training well and I have nothing to say about him. It was just a decision that we had to take, thinking about the game that we’re playing tonight and we’ll see for Sunday.”
The situation around Fernández has been building for months. It began in March, when the Argentine openly entertained the idea of joining Real Madrid, comments that angered then-manager Liam Rosenior and led to an internal suspension. Although Fernández later returned because Chelsea needed him, the desire to move on has remained.
This time, the destination appears to be Manchester City rather than Real Madrid, after the latter distanced themselves with a statement of their own. Chelsea, for their part, set a firm price of £120 million before the start of the Premier League season last Friday, but no bid arrived.
Alonso’s early tenure was given a boost by Chelsea’s 3-2 win over rivals Fulham on Monday night, yet Fernández’s exclusion suggests the situation is far from settled.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Premier League’s priciest teenage transfers, led by Bouaddi record
A look at the Premier League’s costliest teenage transfers, with Bouaddi setting a new record.
Premier League clubs have long shown a willingness to spend heavily on teenagers rather than wait for them to emerge through their own systems. The biggest deals have frequently involved familiar names, but the record list is not limited to English football’s most powerful sides.
The latest benchmark was set during the 2026-27 summer transfer window, when Manchester City paid £86 million ($117 million) for 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi. The fee reflected both his rapid rise at Lille and his excellent World Cup with Morocco, placing him at the top of the list of the most expensive teenage signings in Premier League history.
Manchester United also appear prominently. Their £52 million ($67.6 million) move for Leny Yoro from Lille sits near the top end of the rankings, and it is only a little above the £50.4 million ($77.1 million) they spent on Anthony Martial from Monaco in 2015. That Martial deal, according to the Manchester Evening News, was based on the conditional add-ons he actually achieved at Old Trafford.
Chelsea are represented more than once. Roméo Lavia’s switch from Southampton in 2023 cost £58 million ($73.9 million) and stands second on the list. Geovany Quenda and Jorrel Hato are also included among the top 10, underlining how active the club has been in this market.
Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers all feature through notable teenage moves. Luka Vušković joined Brighton & Hove Albion from Tottenham Hotspur for £46 million ($62.5 million), while Tyler Dibling’s move from Southampton to Everton and Fábio Silva’s transfer from Porto to Wolverhampton Wanderers complete the lower end of the ranking.
The omission of Estêvão is explained by his transfer structure, which included an initial fee of £29 million ($37 million) from Palmeiras and could rise to £51.4 million ($78 million) with add-ons.
Aston Villa
Chelsea Weigh Martínez Move After Sánchez Stumble
Chelsea are weighing Emiliano Martínez as Sánchez’s costly opener exposes a familiar problem in goal.
Chelsea’s goalkeeping picture has shifted quickly in the opening days of the season. In early August, Xabi Alonso was publicly comfortable with the options available to him, and before the club’s preseason meeting with AC Milan on Aug. 8 he said he was “very happy with Rob.” He added of Robert Sánchez: “He has played many years at the club, as well as in the Premier League, and has experience. To have this security in goal is important.”
That assurance now looks far less secure. Sánchez was at fault for both goals in Monday night’s Premier League opener at Craven Cottage, and Alonso declined to single him out, saying: “It is not about talking about individuals.” It was another reminder that Sánchez has repeatedly moved in and out of the starting role, even after outlasting Filip Jörgensen as last season’s main competition.
According to The Guardian, Chelsea are now in contact with Emiliano Martínez through his representatives. The goalkeeper is said to have caught the club’s interest, with the possibility viewed as “too good an opportunity to turn down.” Reports suggested Martínez’s camp had approached Chelsea after the Fulham match, offering his availability.
His situation has been building for some time. With Aston Villa since 2020, Martínez had already said farewell to supporters at the end of 2024-25 before staying when no move was completed. This summer, Villa brought in Zion Suzuki from Parma as their new long-term No. 1, while Juventus also moved for Suzuki and Martínez before taking Guglielmo Vicario from Tottenham Hotspur. Martínez was then left out of Villa’s Premier League opener against Brighton & Hove Albion.
For Chelsea, the attraction is obvious. Martínez is proven in the Premier League and Champions League, is a World Cup Golden Glove winner, a two-time Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper and recorded the 2024-25 Premier League Save of the Season.
Chelsea also have 21-year-old Mike Penders in the squad after sending him to Strasbourg in 2025-26, but the current pressure makes a young option difficult to trust. Martínez may not be the long-term answer, yet he could steady the position until Penders is ready.
Chelsea
Chelsea Turn Delap Deal Into Major Profit Despite Meagre Return
Chelsea have turned Liam Delap into a major profit despite his difficult spell in west London.
Chelsea have turned Liam Delap into a sizeable piece of business, with the club now set to make as much as $27.2 million (£20 million) from his move to Nottingham Forest.
It is a striking outcome for a striker who arrived with considerable expectation and departed after a return that never fully matched the early hype. Delap scored on only his third appearance for Chelsea and was quickly framed as a possible answer to the club’s long-running issues in the No. 9 shirt. But that early moment proved misleading. Across 44 more appearances, he found the net only twice, and his final Premier League record for Chelsea stood at one goal in 28 matches. His previous season at Ipswich Town had been far more productive, with 12 goals in a side that was relegated in 2025.
His time in west London never settled. A serious hamstring injury on his full home debut last August disrupted the opening months of his spell, and when he returned at the end of October in a Carabao Cup meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers, matters worsened. He picked up two yellow cards in seven minutes, prompting strong criticism from then-manager Enzo Maresca.
The Italian coach, who had previously overseen Delap’s youth form at Manchester City, described the “very stupid” sending off as “embarrassing.”
“Liam is a player who, when he’s on the pitch, is probably playing the game for himself and struggles to realize and listen to those around him,” Maresca damningly concluded.
A later move to Liam Rosenior, Delap’s former manager at Hull City, did not revive his form. Even so, Chelsea managed to secure a $68 million (£50 million) deal from Forest, including $61.2 million (£45 million) guaranteed. Given the $40.8 million (£30 million) fee they paid, the profit is significant.
That is what made Delap such an appealing target in the first place. Last summer, Chelsea were among several clubs chasing his signature because a relegation clause in his Ipswich contract fixed his price at $40.8 million. At 22, with an English passport and a double-digit Premier League return, he looked underpriced.
The market has only moved higher since then, and Chelsea’s timing has clearly worked in their favour.
