Chelsea knew going into tonight’s friendly that they needed to perform well and that the outcome mattered.
They succeeded in the first part of it. Even though the opposition isn’t very good, Chelsea continues to seem strong and is distributing the ball much more skillfully now that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is starting.
First, there was again another brilliant penalty from preseason standout Christopher Nkunku.
Here is where you may view it:
The always outstanding Marc Guiu scored the second goal. He rose well, and after KDH crossed it in from the left, he nodded in a near-post header off a defender.
We enjoy having a striker with that kind of run; we haven’t had one in a while. If he stays around this season, he’s really demonstrating to us what kind of alternate option he can be.
The goal is visible in the club’s embedded video here:
Conor Gallagher declines Chelsea’s offer of a three-year contract extension in response to interest from Atletico Madrid
Conor Gallagher rejected Chelsea’s offer of a new three-year contract extension twice in as many weeks, most recently on Wednesday, in the midst of rumors of a £33.7 million transfer to Atletico Madrid.
The England international’s pay would have been on level with the highest paid players in Chelsea’s midfield if he had signed a three-year contract instead of a two-year one.
In the past, he declined an extension in 2022 because he wanted to play games.Chelsea was aware of his position at the time, but under Mauricio Pochettino, he became a consistent starter for the entirety of the 2023–24 campaign, frequently donning the captain’s armband while Reece James was out.
There are rumors that Gallagher wants to sign with Atletico, who have a deal in place with Chelsea that is reportedly worth £33.7 million plus add-ons. If he informs the Blues that this is his wish, they are now prepared to support him in carrying out that move since they would prefer that he sign with a European team than a Premier League opponent.
Gallagher chose to stay with Aston Villa despite the club-record offer they made in June, which was reportedly better than what Atletico was willing to offer.