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    Potter would be great brother-in-law but Chelsea boss not cut out for elite management.. no one ever felt bad for Fergie

    LIKE many people, I feel sorry for Graham Potter.The Chelsea boss is a very likeable man, the sort you’d love as a brother-in-law or nextdoor neighbour.
    Graham Potter is under growing pressure at ChelseaCredit: Getty
    And a talented coach who has proved himself an enlightened over-achiever at lesser clubs.
    But when the manager of an elite football club becomes a figure of widespread sympathy, it feels he isn’t cut out to be an elite football manager.
    It was interesting that Potter chose to disclose last week that he had received death threats from supporters.
    Such treatment is vile and criminal. It is a sad indictment on football’s rampant anger culture and anyone with an ounce of humanity feels for Potter.
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    The Chelsea boss has a masters degree in emotional intelligence. If he wants to make those death threats public, he does so with a more informed background than most of us.
    Shining a light on such despicable behaviour might do football some sort of service.
    But brutal as it sounds, it didn’t help with the image problem Potter has among Chelsea fans.
    Since arriving at Stamford Bridge, Potter has become the epitome of the old adage ‘show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser’.
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    That quote from legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is harsh but enduring because, in top-level sport, it is true.
    The greatest managers hate losing – see Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, who despite being intelligent and urbane, was the worst loser of the lot.
    Did anyone ever feel sorry for Ferguson, Mourinho or Wenger?
    Potter takes every defeat on the chin – never angry; always stoical.
    But his Chelsea team is terrible. Truly pitiful. They aren’t winning or scoring.
    A home defeat by bottom club Southampton was followed by a limp surrender in a supposed grudge match against Tottenham.
    A club which finished third last season, and have since spent £550million, have two wins from 15 games and one goal in six outings.
    There is every chance they will finish in the bottom half, as the third best team in west London, below Fulham and Brentford.
    Is there really no limit to how low Chelsea can go this season before Potter is sacked?
    The Blues have been in relegation form since the World Cup but are still ten points and eight places above the drop zone so there is no genuine danger of the drop.
    If Chelsea fail to overturn a 1-0 deficit and exit the Champions League to Borussia Dortmund next week, perhaps that will be the trigger point.
    It is a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and therefore a year since the start of the decline of Chelsea, the plaything of Putin crony Roman Abramovich for the previous 19 years.
    New owner Todd Boehly seems utterly determined to stick with Potter and prove he is nothing like hire-and-fire Abramovich.
    And it’s unlikely that any of Boehly’s mates will launch a full-scale invasion of a sovereign nation anytime soon.
    Showing patience can be a good thing. Mikel Arteta – whose Arsenal side sank lower than Potter’s Chelsea have yet done – was backed and may now win the title.
    But surely for Potter to survive, there must be signs that the manager has a plan, that the players believe in him, that there is hope?
    At Spurs on Sunday, there was none of that.
    The Chelsea boss spun his Potter’s wheel again, making six changes. And it got even worse.
    Hakim Ziyech, who would have joined Paris St Germain on January deadline day before the deal fell through, started the game, was lucky not to receive a red card and was generally shocking.
    Mykhailo Mudryk, all £88.5m of him, was benched.
    Benoit Badiashile, the one January signing who has settled in impressively, was dropped too.
    Kai Havertz, who really isn’t a centre-forward, was centre-forward again.
    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got a late run-out after a month in the wilderness during which he was axed from Chelsea’s Champions League squad.
    Reece James and Ben Chilwell, who thrive as attacking wing-backs, were neutered in a back four.
    Enzo Fernandez, the most expensive player in English football history, gave the ball away for Oliver Skipp’s opener.
    For the second goal, Raheem Sterling was marking Harry Kane at a corner. Sterling is a little winger, Kane is Tottenham’s most prolific goalscorer. Kane scored. Go figure.
    So where are the signs here? Where is the pattern? Where are the hints that Potter might turn this around?
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    Nobody takes any pleasure at pointing this out because everyone recognises Potter’s inherent decency.
    But elite football management is no country for nice men.
    Chelsea have won once in 11 gamesCredit: Alamy More

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    Graham Potter fears Chelsea’s big squad is affecting coaching with 31 players – worth £600m-plus – in training every day

    GRAHAM POTTER fears his Chelsea training sessions are suffering as a result of his £600m 31-man squad, according to reports.The Blues spent £250million in the summer, with Todd Boehly backing then boss Thomas Tuchel with eight players.
    Graham Potter feels his training sessions are suffering due to having a large squadCredit: Getty
    Potter has 31 layers to fit into sessionsCredit: Getty
    However, following a poor start to the season, Tuchel was SACKED in September and replaced with then Brighton boss Potter.
    Before the New Year, Potter had managed to pick up eight wins in 15 games across all competitions.
    A further £290m was then spent in January, bringing in big names such as World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid.
    But Potter has been unable to get a tune out of his 31-man £600m-plus squad.
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    Chelsea have won just ONE game in 2023.
    That came on January 15 in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
    And with the Blues without a win in their last six outings, pressure is building on Potter to turn around results.
    But according to the Daily Mail, Potter fears the quality of his training sessions at Chelsea are taking a hit due to having to manage a big squad.
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    Potter has been forced to alter his coaching sessions to accommodate all his players.
    The Englishman typically likes to run 11 vs 11 training matches – but has had to leave several players hanging around or working in smaller groups elsewhere until required.
    Potter said earlier this month: “There are challenges when you’ve got that many players.
    “There are challenges in terms of what role they play because most players want to play.
    “They want to play, be on the pitch and help the team.
    “When they are not, it is a challenge and it is a challenge for lots of reasons at this football club.
    “When you go through a period of transition and the steps we’ve gone through then there are going to be periods when it is going to be tougher than you ideally want – it’s not optimal.
    “I am not complaining about it and I have to do my best to support and manage the club.
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    “Step by step I want to put the team in a better place than when I arrived.”
    The Telegraph report that Potter has “two make-or-break” games to save his job as Chelsea boss. More

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    I was a Chelsea youth team star but gave it up for Olympics.. I nearly came back to football after shock transfer offer

    TEAM GB star Adam Gemili nearly quit athletics to return to playing football having played on Chelsea’s books as a kid.Gemili has competed at the highest level as a sprinter, with one of his highs being making the 2012 Team GB Olympic team as an 18-year-old.
    Adam Gemili in team line at Chelsea’s academyCredit: Chelsea FC
    Gemili says he nearly quit athletics to return to playing footballCredit: Getty
    He has also since competed in the Rio Olympic games in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
    Gemili also has a gold medal in relay from the 2017 world championships.
    However, the 29-year-old questioned quitting athletics after crashing out of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which came six years after agonisingly missing out on a bronze medal in the 200ms at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
    The British sprinter, who is of Iranian and Moroccan descent, considered going back to his roots: playing football.
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    Gemili was on Chelsea’s books between 2001 and 2008, and also had a stint at Reading before moving onto Dagenham & Redbridge, where he stayed between 2010-12.
    He told The Times: “I was going back to football.
    “I reached out to a few clubs and they said, ‘Come and do some training with us.’
    “I can’t say the clubs but there was a Championship club and a League One club.
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    “No Premier League clubs — maybe one day — but Chelsea are great and they’ve always said I can go down and do some stuff with them whenever I want.
    “After the Commonwealth Games it was a big, ‘Do I quit and go back to football and try it, maybe go into the National League and make a bit of money and enjoy my last few years of sport — or do I commit to this?’
    “And I thought, ‘Do you know what, I’ve got unfinished business.’
    “I’ve come fourth at the Olympics and the world champs [in 2019].
    “I’ve always been just about close and I believe that if I can get myself in shape, I can run with the best.”
    But Gemili says he’s starting to fall back in love with running – despite not making any money out of the sport or being sponsored.
    Gemili came second place behind the rising star Charlie Dobson in the 60m at the World Indoor Tour Finals in Birmingham on Saturday.
    He said: “I basically quit the sport.
    “I didn’t have any interest. I didn’t enjoy getting up [and] training.
    “I hated it and that was because of all the stressful stuff that was going on.
    “There were a lot of times last year where I was only training once a week, if that.
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    “I’d wake up and just find little niggles, here-and-there injuries, and you can’t motivate yourself to get up and go.
    “I don’t make any money out of the sport and I’m not sponsored, but I’m finding the love again.”
    Gemili has now fallen back in love with athleticsCredit: Alamy More

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    Graham Potter has ‘two make-or-break matches’ to save his job with Chelsea boss under pressure after horror winless run

    GRAHAM POTTER faces “two make-or-break” games to save his job as Chelsea boss, according to reports.The Blues manager’s struggles continued with Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.
    Graham Potter is clinging on to his job as Chelsea managerCredit: Getty
    Chelsea have now lost their last three games without scoring and are winless in six – with just one goal.
    And according to The Telegraph, the matches against Leeds and Borussia Dortmund are key to keeping Potter in charge.
    Goals from Ollie Skipp and Harry Kane in the second half saw the Blues fall to that 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane yesterday.
    That came after last week’s shocking 1-0 home loss to relegation-threatened Southampton.
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    Their Champions League hopes are also on thin ice after a 1-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund.
    They take on the German giants again next Tuesday, knowing an early exit from Europe would effectively end their season.
    The first-leg defeat was preceded by draws with West Ham, Fulham and Liverpool.
    Chelsea’s last win came in 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on January 15.
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    That remains their only win from 11 matches in 2023, including an FA Cup hammering at Manchester City.
    Chelsea owners have supported Potter and recognise it will take time for the £600million worth of new signings to gel.
    They also know the new manager’s appointment is a long-term project, just as he demonstrated at Brighton.
    Potter signed a £10m-per-season, five-year contract at Stamford Bridge in September.
    But The Telegraph report suggests patience is finally beginning to wear thin with the owners, senior players and fans.
    New signings are even said to be stunned by the pressure they are under and others are furious at being left out of matchday squads due to the number of players at the club.

    Mateo Kovacic missed the Spurs defeat through illness while Potter admitted Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Carney Chukwuemeka and David Datro Fofana were “unfortunate” to be left out of the squad.
    The problems of an overloaded squad will only worsen when N’Golo Kante, Christian Pulisic and Edouard Mendy return from injury.
    Potter is said to be concerned about the size of the squad and has altered his regular training methods to accommodate the high numbers.
    Speaking about the increased pressure after the Tottenham defeat, Potter added: “If results aren’t good enough, which they aren’t at the moment, you can’t rely on support forever that is for sure.
    “I take full responsibility for those results and it isn’t good enough for Chelsea. We want to improve it, absolutely.
    “My job is to keep going, to keep working with the team to try and change the moment. The players are hurting. It’s a tough moment for us.

    “We were talking before the game about watching ‘All or Nothing’ and Arsenal two years into Mikel’s [Arteta] reign, he is close to getting the sack, people are wanting him out and it is a disaster.
    “Obviously now things have changed a little bit, but that is just the way it is. You look at Jurgen’s [Klopp] situation. He hasn’t got the results and all of a sudden people want him out. That is just the nature of football.”
    Boehly is set to be joined by co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali for the upcoming clashes with Leeds and Dortmund.
    And even though a further two matches without victory may not spell an immediate sacking next week, it is thought there would ultimately be no way back.
    A petition for Potter’s sacking has hit more than 30,000 signatures with the club languishing down in tenth in the Premier League table, 14 points adrift of the top four.
    Incredibly, Chelsea are now closer to bottom-side Southampton with their tally of 18 points just 13 fewer than the West Londoners’ 31.
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    However, as Mikel Arteta has shown at Arsenal, it is not impossible to turn this dire situation around.
    The Spaniard battled through a torrid patch at the beginning of last season and now his side sit top of the Premier League with a game in hand.
    Potter is struggling to get a song out of the Chelsea playersCredit: Getty More

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    Enzo Fernandez’s poor start at Chelsea continues as alarming stat about Premier League record transfer comes to light

    ENZO FERNANDEZ’S poor start to life at Chelsea has continued with a worrying Premier League stat coming to light.The World Cup-winning Argentine, 22, joined the Blues from Benfica in January for a British transfer record.
    Enzo Fernandez has been dribbled past three times a game in the Premier LeagueCredit: Getty
    The Argentine is struggling to adjust to life in the Premier LeagueCredit: Reuters
    Chelsea shelled out £106million on the midfielder, adding to the £200m-plus already spent in the winter window.
    However, Fernandez is yet to win a game with the Stamford Bridge club.
    He has played five games across all competitions for Chelsea, losing three and drawing two.
    And he is struggling to adjust to life in the Prem in particular, with a concerning stat coming to light.
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    According to WhoScored.com, no player in Europe’s Top Five Leagues is being dribbled past more times per game than Fernandez, since his move to Chelsea.
    He is being dribbled past an astonishing three times per game.
    Chelsea lost their last outing 2-0 to London rivals Tottenham.
    And Fernandez played a role in Spurs’ opening goal.
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    The Argentine fluffed his clearance, which fell into the path of Oliver Skipp, who cannoned a shot in off the underside of the crossbar.
    However, fans have been quick to dismiss the woeful stat.
    One said on Twitter: “He’s alone in the midfield playing with a mediocre manager who doesn’t know how to use him and not in his natural position but you must run your agenda.”
    On the other hand, rival fans have been less forgiving.
    A Manchester United fan declared: “When I said that Fred is better than this guy Chelsea fans cooked me.”
    Enzo Fernandez’s Premier League stats More

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    Top ten managers who never played football – including FOUR former Chelsea bosses

    JOSE MOURINHO ‘sacked’ himself as a player – but he’s not the only top manager who couldn’t hack it on the pitch.”Don’t do as I play, do as I say” might be the motto of the ten we’ve selected – after they defied their inability or poor luck as footballers to make it big as bosses.
    Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas-Boas have had eye-popping careers as managers but might cover their eyes when it comes to their playing daysCredit: EPA
    Four of them managed Chelsea and two of them Liverpool.
    And one’s become the youngest Bundesliga manager in history.
    The one thing they seem to have in common is making an early commitment to coaching.
    Here are the tales of the managers who, rather than has-beens, are a bunch of never-was’s.
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    Gerard Houllier
    The Frenchman was not known to have had any professional career.
    However, he played for seven years at amateur club Le Touquet, where he would get his first managerial job between 1973 and 1976.
    He would then guide amateur club Noeux-les-Mines to the second tier before moving to Lens.
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    A successful spell there would see him take over at PSG before he became his national team boss but failed to guide them to the World Cup.
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    Later, he would guide Liverpool to two League Cups, an FA Cup and a Uefa Cup before being replaced by Rafa Benitez.
    Two Ligue 1 titles with Lyon would follow before he finished his career with an unsuccessful spell at Aston Villa.
    Arrigo Sacchi
    “I didn’t know that to be a jockey, you have to have been a horse,” was Sacchi’s response when asked about managing with no playing experience.
    One of the greatest bosses of all time, Sacchi earned his money as a shoe salesman while managing his local club because he wasn’t good enough to play for them.
    Italian legend Arrigo Sacchi jockeyed for position before becoming an iconic manager for clubs and countryCredit: Getty
    And indeed he galloped to glory as a manager.
    Having started at Fusignano aged 27 in 1973, he reached the big time with Parma in 1987, later bossing AC Milan twice, Italy, Atletico Madrid and finally with Parma again.
    He guided the Azzurri to the 1994 World Cup final, also winning Serie A in his first full year at Milan.
    Jose Mourinho
    The Special One’s first brutal tactical decision was to end his own playing carer.
    Deciding he lacked the pace and power to thrive as a striker, Mourinho quit the lower-league Portugal game to coach at a school and then for hometown club Vitória de Setúbal.
    But while captaining his last team, Comércio e Indústria, he put football in perspective by saving the life of a team-mate trapped in a burning car.
    Mourinho, whose dad won a single cap for Portugal, sprang to prominence with coaching/translator roles under English managerial legend Bobby Robson.
    He launched his own life in the hot-seat at Benfica and Uniao de Leiria before fame struck at Porto from 2002-4, with two Portuguese titles plus Champions League glory.
    Since then he’s won silverware aplenty at Chelsea twice, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United, before completing the clean sweep of European trophies with current club Roma.
    Carlos Alberto Parreira
    The three-time Brazil manager bossed five different nations at the World Cup – despite not having a shred of a playing career.
    The 1994 World Cup winner even launched his career aged 24, bossing Ghana in 1967.
    Apart from four spells in charge of home-country giants Fluminense, he was also entrusted by Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, plus South Africa when they hosted the 2010 World Cup.
    Parreira only managed twice in Europe, with Valencia and then taking Fenerbahçe to the Turkish crown.
    Avram Grant
    Even in this list of managerial early-starters, the Israeli deserves special mention.
    Grant coached the youth team of home-town club Hapoel Petah Tikva at the age of 18.
    He finally landed the top job there 14 years later, winning the Toto Cup twice.
    Roman Abramovich’s pal Avram Grant only lasted a season at ChelseaCredit: Getty
    Grant most notably bossed Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israel before his friend Roman Abramovich made him Chelsea boss in 2007.
    But runners-up spot in both the Prem and Champions League failed to save him from the axe at the end of his first season.
    After that, he bossed Portsmouth, West Ham and Partizan Belgrade, followed by Ghana and, since, December 2022, Zambia.
    Andre Villas Boas
    Never quite the Special One II, but the Portuguese was given his first off-the-field job aged SIXTEEN by then-Porto chief Bobby Robson.
    AVB, already fluent in English, found himself chatting to Robson as they lived in the same apartment block.
    And the Newcastle legend appointed him to Porto’s observation department.
    Robson then helped Villas-Boas storm through his qualifications, getting the C licence in Scotland at 17, the B a year later and the top-level a licence aged 19.
    Two years later he took the obvious career choice of becoming… technical director for the British Virgin Islands.
    But AVB then became Mourinho’s assistant at Porto, Chelsea and Inter before himself bossing Academica and Porto, with whom he won the treble of top-flight title, Portugal Cup and Europa league in 2010-11.
    But he failed to win silverware in a year apiece at Chelsea and Tottenham.
    AVB went on to lift the Russian crown with Zenit but was then trophyless with Shanghai SIPG and Marseille.
    Brendan Rodgers
    The Northern Irishman is different from many on this list – as his promising playing career was ended by a genetic knee condition aged 20.
    The ex-schoolboy international defender began with local team Ballymena United before starring for Reading reserves until quitting as a pro in 1993.
    Enjury forced Brendan Rodgers to quit playing aged 20Credit: Rex
    Unusually, he stayed on as a Royals’ youth coach while playing for non-League clubs Newport IOW, Witney Town and Newbury and working at John Lewis.
    Mourinho then lured him to coach Chelsea’s Academy before he impressed in charge of Watford, Reading and Swansea with stylish, tactically-astute football.
    He missed out on honours during three years bossing Liverpool, but won the League and Cup double in successive season for Celtic, earning a Prem return with Leicester in 2019.
    He steered he Foxes to historic FA Cup glory two years later.
    But where might he be now if he hadn’t had to stop playing so early?
    Maurizio Sarri
    The Italian’s purely-amateur playing career had its “if only” moments – even after he had failed trials with Torino and Fiorentina.
    The centre-back was a one-club man with local team Figline until injuries led to his retirement aged 30.
    His nearly moment came at 19 when a move to Montevarchi was only foiled by Figline demanding a massive compensation fee.
    Sarri also rejected a move to Pontedera.
    And since turning to coaching in 1990 he’s managed TWENTY-ONE clubs.
    Guiding the 17th of those teams, Empoli, to Serie B runners-up spot in 2014, helped transform his progress.
    He moved on to Napoli, Chelsea (where he won the Europa League), Juventus (Serie A winners) and now Lazio.
    Julian Nagelsmann
    Like Rodgers, the German’s hopes of a decent playing career were wrecked by injury before he really got started.
    He captained 1860 Munich’s youth team and made it into the reserve-team squad, only to suffer knee problems.
    Julian Nagelsmann has had an extraordinary rise in management despite, just like Brendan Rodgers, quitting playing aged 20Credit: EPA
    Similar misfortune after switching to Thomas Tuchel’s Augsburg, so he stopped playing aged 20, becoming a scout and studying sports science.
    Spells in youth coaching at 1860 Munich and 1899 Hoffenheim followed.
    And in 2016, aged 28, Hoffenheim made him the youngest manager in Bundesliga history and he somehow kept them up
    After bossing RB Leipzig from 2019 to 2021, he’s now gunning for his second successive Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich.
    Ron Noades
    The late Londoner was completely devoid of a playing or coachign background, instead entering football through investment as a businessman.
    He was involved in the ownership of FOUR clubs in turn- starting with non-league Southall.
    He then became part of Wimbledon’s early rise up the lower divisions as chairman – famously appointing Dave Bassett as boss.
    Moving to a similar position at Selhurst Park, he oversaw arguably Crystal Palace’s brightest ever spell.
    They won promotion to the top flight in 1989, reached the FA Cup final the following year and came third at the highest level in 1991.
    But he sparked a furore that year with comments about the racial mix of the Eagles’ team, with key men Ian Wright, Mark Bright and Andy Gray departing in the fall-out.
    Palace went topsy-turvy after that – none more so than when Noades sold his interest to Mark Goldberg and also became CARETAKER-MANAGER, albeit failing to save them from the drop.
    Terry Venables came in as his successor and Noades left the club – ending up as chairman and then manager of Brentford.
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    He won promotion to the third tier in his first term.
    But one of the more controversial careers in chairmanship/management ended in 2000, when he sold his majority shareholding to fans’ group Bees United and quit both roles. More

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    Chelsea set to loan star back to Burnley for Prem return despite left-back’s stunning goal record

    BURNLEY want to bring Ian Maatsen back to Turf Moor next season as the Clarets draw up plans for their Premier League return.Vincent Kompany’s side are out on their own at the top of the Championship and bosses at the club are already mapping out their summer ahead of an instant return to the top flight.
    Ian Maatsen has impressed with Burnley this season – scoring four goalsCredit: Reuters
    Chelsea’s Maatsen could be set to play for the Clarets in the Premier League next seasonCredit: Getty
    Left-back Maatsen, who joined on loan from Chelsea at the start of the campaign, has been key to their superb season with four goals and five assists so far.
    Such has been his form that Kompany is desperate to bring the 20-year-old back to the club for next season.
    The Dutchman will have one year left on his Blues deal in the summer.
    But, with Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella both ahead of him at Stamford Bridge, the club are expected to be open to another loan move.
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    And that will likely involve signing a new deal in west London before heading back out.
    Burnley are expected to give Kompany plenty of backing following his flying start to life as a manager in English football.
    Nathan Tella, on loan from Southampton, has been another star with 12 goals and two assists in 30 Championship appearances.
    Kompany is yet to decide whether or not to make a move and bring him back for a Premier League push.
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    January arrival Michael Obafemi, who joined on loan from Swansea last month, has one goal in his two sub appearances so far.
    The Clarets have an option to make his loan permanent in the summer. More

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    Olivier Giroud wants ANOTHER London move as ex-Chelsea and Arsenal star eyes shock transfer

    OLIVIER GIROUD is open to a move back to the Premier League — at a London club.The French veteran striker has one eye on a move away from AC Milan, where his contract runs out in the summer.
    Olivier Giroud managed to become a popular figure at both Arsenal and Chelsea during his nine-year stay in EnglandCredit: Getty
    World Cup finalist Giroud was a star for Arsenal and Chelsea but could be a real coup for one of the lesser clubs if they can fund his wages.
    He was a late target for Everton in the last window but did not want to be that far away from the capital.
    If he does leave the San Siro, the 36-year-old will not be short of admirers after a long career at the top level.
    West Ham, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Brentford could all be potential destinations for Giroud, with the Hammers and Eagles particularly short of goals this season.
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    The forward needs only to look at former Chelsea team-mate Willian and his career turnaround at Craven Cottage to be tempted to moving back to the capital.
    Giroud has led the line for AC Milan this season and delivered seven goals and four assists.
    It follows on from his nine-year stay in England where he first spent six years at the Emirates before making the switch to west London.
    He would win the FA Cup a combined four times and pick up a Champions League medal with Chelsea in 2021.
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    Giroud’s best goal-scoring season would come in the 2015-16 campaign when he notched up 24 goals for Arsenal in all competitions.
    Perhaps his most well-remembered goal was his jaw-dropping scorpion-kick effort against Crystal Palace in 2017. More