The Daily Telegraph - 01.08.2019

The

Russian

has not

been at a

game in

England

since

running

into visa

issues

Interested

spectator: Roman

Abramovich

watches Chelsea

in action

Lampard: I already know

what Abramovich wants

Chelsea manager meets

the owner in Salzburg

£58m signing Pulisic

inspires friendly victory

By Matt Law

FOOTBALL NEWS CORRESPONDENT

Frank Lampard met with Chelsea

owner Roman Abramovich for the

first time since taking over as head

coach last night in Salzburg.

Abramovich was inside the Red

Bull Arena to watch new signing

Christian Pulisic inspire a 5-3 pre-

season friendly win over Austrian

side Red Bull Salzburg.

Lampard revealed that he had

not met with Abramovich during

negotiations to succeed Maurizio

Sarri and the Russian billionaire

had not been at any of Chelsea’s

pre-season games before the Salz-

burg clash.

Abramovich has not attended a

Chelsea game in England since run-

ning into problems renewing his

British visa, although he was at the

Europa League final in Baku.

“I’ve spoken with him, so it was

good to see him,” said Lampard. “I

obviously know him, as well as you

know your owner, from my playing

days. I knew that I was going to

speak to the owner in pre-season

and I’ve spoken to him this even-

ing. It was good to see him here and

he was happy with the excitement

of the game.

“I have a good relationship with

the owner already, I know the de-

sires of the club, I know there are

non-negotiables, standards, what-

ever you want to call them.

“I know  how he feels about this

club. It’s nice to see him, but it

wasn’t a huge deal for me. I’m

happy, I know the ins and outs, but

great to see him and if we see him in

the future, then great.”

Abramovich will have been de-

lighted to see the impact of £58 mil-

lion signing Pulisic, who scored his

first pre-season goals for Chelsea

since joining up with the squad.

Pulisic netted twice and won the

penalty from which Ross Barkley

scored. Barkley set up Pedro to

score a spectacular volleyed back-

heel with substitute Michy Batsh-

uayi also getting a goal.

“It was a good night for him

[Pulisic],” said Lampard. “He

showed his quality. I loved the na-

ture of his goals where he had an

intention to run behind the line and

not come short.

“It is what he is going to have to

do because he will be playing in the

Premier League, the Champions

League, this is the top end.

“The winger has to not just have

the desire to be tidy, but to get be-

hind and then, with his quality, he

can be a really big player for us.

“He is a big signing for us and has

a big potential for us. The question

for him is that he has to adapt to a

different league. But what I have

seen is that he has a real good atti-

tude, a willingness to listen to infor-

mation from myself and the staff,

and had some really good moments

tonight and shown that.”

N’Golo Kante is yet to play for

Chelsea in pre-season as he recov-

ers from a knee problem and he did

not travel to Salzburg. Midfielders

Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny

Drinkwater also missed the trip.

“We’ve got a squad of a lot of

players and, at this point, the bal-

ance of training and playing is im-

portant and I can’t bring everyone

and give everyone 90 minutes,”

said Lampard.

“So they [Bakayoko and Drink-

water] are players who have stayed

back to train, rather than travel and

not play. So I wouldn’t read too

much into it on one game.”

Forestieri hit with ban for racism

Sheffield Wednesday striker

Fernando Forestieri said he

was “devastated and disap-

pointed” after being handed

a six-match ban by the Foot-

ball Association’s independ-

ent regulatory commission

for using racist language.

The incident happened in

a pre-season friendly last

July against Mansfield, with

Forestieri’s comments made

towards Mansfield defender

Krystian Pearce sparking a

pitch brawl.

Forestieri was acquitted in

March at Mansfield Magis-

trates’ Court of racially abus-

ing Pearce but was charged

by the FA in June.

The commission deemed

the case against Forestieri

proven on a lower burden of

proof than the criminal pro-

ceedings, and the 29-year-

old has also been given a

£25,000 fine, warned as to

his future conduct and or-

dered to attend face-to-face

education.

The sanctions have been

set aside with Forestieri

given the right to appeal,

which he immediately an-

nounced he would be doing.

He said: “I am devastated

and disappointed with the

decision of the Regulatory

Commission. It has been an

extremely stressful time for

both me personally and also

my family in both England

and Argentina.

“I am not and never will be

a person who says offensive

things by reference to race to

my colleagues or other play-

ers, either on or off the pitch.”

The Daily Telegraph Thursday 1 August 2019 ** 7
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