World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

3

Chelseahaveoftenbeencriticised

forfailingtoutilisetheiracademy,

butthissummeralonetheyhave

raisedcloseto£100mwiththe

salesofAbraham,FikayoTomori,Marc

GuehiandTinoLivramento,effectively

fundingtheirsigningofRomeluLukaku.

Perhapsasa directresult of their

experiencewithLukaku– aplayer they

first signedfromAnderlechtin 2014 –

Chelseaincludedabuy-backclause

inthe saleofAbraham:in 2023 , they

willbe abletore-sign theiracademy

graduate for£68m.

Itisnotdifficulttoimagine the

clausebeingactivatedeither. Abraham

isa player that,whengivenchances,

scoresgoals.Nobodyhasbaggedmore

forChelsea sincethe startofthe

2019 -20season;lastseasonhewas

frozenouttotheextentthathewasn’t

evenincludedonthe 12-manbench

fortheChampionsLeaguefinal,yet

still finishedjoint-topscorerwith

TimoWernerin 20 fewergames.

JoseMourinhohasshowngreatfaith

inthe 23-year-oldbymakinghimhis

biggestsigning at Roma.Canhe deliver

forthePortuguesemanager?

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Al

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WhenAlabaagreedtojoin

RealMadridona freetransfer

fromBayernMunichearlierthis

year, hisversatilitywascitedas

a keyfactorinthedecisiontosignhim,

withtheAustrianabletoplayonthe

leftor in thecentreofboth defence

andmidfield.

However, thesummerdepartures

ofSergioRamosandRaphaelVarane

haveelevatedhisstatusto themost

experiencedChampionsLeague

centre-backinthesquad.Injuriesto

FerlandMendyandMarcelomeantthat

hestarted thefirst La Ligagameofthe

season– a 4-1 victoryatAlaves– at

left-back,butheislikelytospendmuch

ofthe campaigninthe heartofthe

defencealongsidethelessexperienced

buthugelytalentedEderMilitao,while

theversatileNachoofferscover.Itis

potentiallya title-winningcombination.

(BayernMunichtoRealMadrid)

DAVIDALABA

(ChelseatoRoma)

TAMMYABRAHAM

Newchallenge...TammyAbraham