London is Blue Dispatch #028

We sincerely apologize for interrupting your well-earned break away from all things Chelsea Football Club with this week’s newsletter, but we didn’t want you to miss out on too much! Don’t worry, we’re keeping it short and sweet to give you a lowdown of things you may be missing out on.

Transfer Gossip

Yesterday began with a report coming out of Portugal that the Blues’ bid of around 80m for Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres had been rejected, but was refuted by friend of the pod Nizaar Kinsella’s report denying a bid and emphasizing little interest in the target. Sweden’s Gyokeres has been one of Europe’s elite marksmen in the Portuguese Liga, after managing 11 goals and 8 assists in just 16 league games after signing in the summer from Coventry in the Championship. We even did a transfer special on him last night which you can find here! Another report linked Chelsea with a surprise swoop for Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran, who made 23 appearances after joining from Chicago Fire last season. Other obscure reports filtering in are from the Saudi League, where a host of household names have been linked with a move away, with the Blues reportedly keeping a keen eye on the fates of Karim Benzema, Alexander Mitrovic and Roberto Firmino.

Financial Breaches Clampdown, Chelsea safe (for now)

Everton and Nottingham Forest were found guilty of breaching the PL’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), which will now kick off a legal battle which could result in anything ranging from fines to more docked points (which would be catastrophic for Everton after losing ten points earlier in the season.) Manchester City’s 115 charges, which spanned the first decade of their current ownership’s reign, will take more time to assess. Chelsea seemingly remain under investigation as well, but the new ownership moves swiftly and transparently to declare financial irregularities under Roman Abramovic’s ownership, which will almost certainly be perceived positively in the eyes of the authorities. But for this three-year cycle, the club seems to have complied to the rules adequately.

A Massive Loss for Football

On a night decades ago in a small village in Santa Fe in Argentina, renowned manager Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge Griffa knocked on the door of the house where the locality’s most promising boy lived. Legend goes that the boy was fast asleep, so Bielsa and Griffa inspected his limbs and concluded that he would make for a fine footballer. The 13-year-old boy was Pochettino, and the two men at his doorstep, who would change Argentinian football forever, ended up talking Pochettino and his family from going through with their decision of signing for Rosario, Newell’s fierce rivals.

Two days ago, Griffa sadly passed away at the age of 88. An Atletico legend who helped break their cross-town rival’s vicegrip on Spain’s footballing elite in the 60’s, Griffa would go on to scout some of the best talents in Argentina, simultaneously shaping Argentina’s footballing culture. Among talents, Argentina’s greatest exports such as Gabriel Batistuta, Gabriel Heinze, Carlos Tevez owe him everything, while managers like Gerardo “Tata” Martino and Bielsa and Pochettino themselves count him as a key influence. Pochettino took to Instagram to post a heartfelt tribute to the man who helped him take his first strides in football.

Kings of Africa

In my eye, one of the most underrated footballing tournaments in the world kicked off earlier this week in the Ivory Coast. Incredible players with scarcely believable stories, sweltering conditions and breakneck intensity and David judo-throwing Goliath into a trash can are all hallmarks of the AFCON experience. 115^th ranked Namibia won against 28^th ranked. last World Cup’s participants Tunisia yesterday. Nico Jackson played 32 minutes in defending champions Senegal’s 3-0 win against The Gambia, a game in which he did really well to control a difficult long ball and craft a big chance for himself but shot it straight at the keeper. With former Blues Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly helping Senegal reach the summit last time, Jackson too will hoping to play a crucial part in helping Senegal become only the third team to defend an AFCON crown, and the first since Egypt in 2010 (they won it thrice in a row!)

Injury Respite

A 9-day long break also means getting one week closer to a host of recoveries from the injury room. The most notable of them is Christopher Nkunku, who, after being unable to train for ten days, could very well be in contention to feature in the crunch tie vs Boro in the 2^nd leg. Ben Chilwell came on at the end of the last game, as did Carney Chukwuemeka. There is optimism that Wesley Fofana and Trev Chalobah, who are both back running on the grass, could finally see an easing of a severe injury crisis that saw us missing 14 players against Crystal Palace.