Live Blog
- 13 Apr 2020, 16:37
- Updated: 13 Apr 2020, 16:37
CHELSEA are mourning the sad loss of legendary goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, who passed away today after a long-term illness.
But in better news another Blues icon, Gianluca Vialli, has announced he is completely free of cancer after winning a 17-month battle.
Get all the latest news and gossip from Stamford Bridge here…
Ian Tuckey4 minutes ago13th April 2020
ROMAN NO TO SPURS
Roman Abramovich rejected the chance to invest in Tottenham before taking over Chelsea in 2003.
Ex-Blues director Mark Taylor claims that Russian billionaire Abramovich was initially interested in becoming the majority shareholder at Spurs 17 years ago.
He spoke with Daniel Levy a day before meeting then-Chelsea chief Ken Bates.
But Abramovich was not offered a majority stake by Levy and decided to take his business to London rivals Chelsea instead.
Taylor told The Athletic: “The key point was that when Ken met Roman and Eugene Tenenbaum they made it clear they wanted to buy control.
“I think the story is they had seen Daniel Levy the previous day and he tried to sell them 29.9 per cent of Spurs.
“But they didn’t want a minority stake, they wanted control.
“Chelsea had been looking for investors for about 18 months and we’d had a lot of time-wasters and Roman seemed viable.
“Nobody really knew who he was – and so on the Friday morning his lawyers brought in Forbes magazine from America and I think he was No 15 on the list with X billion dollars, which seemed to be quite a good starting point.”
40 minutes ago13th April 2020
BILLY’S ON HIS BIKE
Billy Gilmour relaxed on easter Sunday by having a bike ride with his brother Harvey.
The Chelsea teenage midfield starlet shared the footage on Instagram of the spin with his sibling, with government allowing people to get out once a day for exercise.
2 hours ago13th April 2020
CUT AND DRIE
Chelsea are set to make their second transfer bid for Dries Mertens this summer after the Belgian backtracked on signing a new deal with Napoli.
The Belgian was the subject of concrete interest from the West Londoners back in January, but a move failed to materialise.
Blues chiefs have now been handed encouragement in their hopes of landing the diminutive 32-year-old on a free transfer in the summer though, with his current deal set to expire in June.
Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport claims the coronavirus outbreak halted Mertens from putting pen to paper on a new £6.3m-a-year deal.
The report adds that there is now uncertainty over whether the winger wants to stay at Stadio San Paolo.
And the Mail report that Chelsea could be among the clubs open to acquiring him for nothing, with Mertens aware of bigger wages plus a large signing-on fee if he comes to England.
2 hours ago13th April 2020
DID THE RIGHT THING
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has offered his hospital as a coronavirus treatment centre with Ivory Coast fearing a rise in cases.
The hospital is based in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan and opened in 2016.
It was named after former Ivory Coast footballer Laurent Pokou, who died aged 69, the same year the hospital opened.
National hero Drogba has since offered the building to help fight the killer disease.
Vincent Toh Bi Irie, the head of Abidjan’s regional council, thanked Drogba for the patriotic gesture.
He said: “We thank Drogba for this gift considered as an act of patriotism.”
3 hours ago13th April 2020
GIL POWER
Frank Lampard says he is ready to unleash Billy Gilmour on the Premier League – after admitting he held the Scottish superkid back for too long at Chelsea.
Blues boss Lamps believes he has been “conservative” with his teen midfield maestro’s development, writes Paul Jiggins.
But after seeing Gilmour, 18, star in his side’s FA Cup win over
Liverpool and Prem rout of Everton – in their last two matches before the coronavirus shutdown – Lampard hinted he will play him more when football in this country eventually resumes.
The Chelsea chief said: “We’ve had a few young players come through this year and that’s given me great pleasure. They are great to work with, young players are like sponges. They want to come in, they want to learn.
“Billy gives me as much pleasure as anyone. When you look at him he can be quite slight in terms of his size, he’s quiet, he’s young, he’s polite.
“But when you see him train and he moved over to the first team building a little while ago because he just had to.”
3pm Chelsea news LIVE: Vialli wins cancer battle, Chilwell £50m transfer bid, Bonetti tributes pour in - The Sun
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