Chelsea news and transfers recap Jules Kounde swap deal, Haaland replacement secured, pre-season
Hello and welcome to Tuesday's Chelsea live blog from football.london.
The Blues continue their preparations for the upcoming 2021/22 campaign this evening as they face AFC Bournemouth in a pre-season clash.
Thomas Tuchel is set to rest the majority of his stars, despite nine key players returning to training at the weekend, football.london understands.
That means the likes of N'Golo Kante, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and plenty more are set to sit out of tonight's runout against the Cherries.
We will have plenty of build-up to tonight's game as well as plenty of transfer speculation that continues to come in thick and fast recently.
No new arrivals have been confirmed at Stamford Bridge just yet, but the west London club are working tirelessly behind the scenes to bolster Tuchel's options ahead of their first game against Crystal Palace in less than three weeks' time.
We're expected to hear plenty more in terms of transfer rumours throughout the day, so just scroll down for the very latest updates.
22:10Danyal Khan
Tammy Abraham has been urged to leave Chelsea by Darren Ambrose due to Thomas Tuchel not being a fan of the striker.
The striker featured today in Chelsea's 2-1 pre-season win on the south coast against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium .
“Thomas Tuchel is not a fan of Tammy Abraham,” he said on the White and Jordan show on talkSPORT. “Again, I think talking about taking a slight step back to go forwards; I think Tammy has to do that.
“I think there will be takers, for sure, for £40m and I think he has been okay at Chelsea. He hasn’t had the opportunities he wanted under Thomas Tuchel.
“But that happens sometimes with managers and some players; sometimes you don’t get these opportunities when you can bring in players.
“I think to trial Havertz as a false nine as opposed to putting Tammy in…I think he will know that it is probably right to go.
“Try and become a main man somewhere and see where that takes him.”
21:37Danyal Khan
Two wins now in pre-season for Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea.
Armando Broja and Ike Ugbo score the goals on the south coast, as Emiliano Marcondes initially put the home side in front.
21:20Danyal Khan
It's now 2-1 to Chelsea after a Ross Barkley corner was headed in at close range by the young striker!
21:14Danyal Khan
Chelsea equalise as Armando Broja rounds off some great play from forgotten man Baba Rahman!
1-1 with 18 minutes to go!
21:11Danyal Khan
Emiliano Marcondes profits off an Eduoard Mendy poor clearance to put the Cherries in front here on the south coast.
1-0 to Bournemouth....
Follow the action here as Chelsea look for a response in the 20 minutes that remain in the game.
20:14Danyal Khan
Chelsea U23s tasted victory earlier after Mothersille scores twice to secure win for young Blues.
The game ended in a 2-0 win!
Catch the recap here.
Thomas Tuchel's side are nearly 30 minutes in against Bournemouth with the score currently 0-0.
Tammy Abraham has gone the closest so far for the Blues.
Follow all the action here.
19:36Danyal Khan
Our Chelsea correspondent Sam Inkersole is at the match tonight reporting on the action as the Blues play out their second pre-season game on the south coast against Bournemouth.
Follow updates here as we are now only 10 minutes away from the match starting.
19:08Danyal Khan
18:53Danyal Khan
Still 0-0 here at Cobham in what has been an entertaining first-half.
Both teams have had their moments, with Jacobs coming close for Pompey and Ballo looking very lively for Chelsea. It'll be interesting to see what happens from here.
18:19Danyal Khan
Blues youngster Dynel Simeu joins Southampton on a three-year deal.
18:15Danyal Khan
Every Blues fan wants to be at Stamford Bridge to cheer on Thomas Tuchel's Champions League-winning side next season.
It has been revealed that the Premier League will confirm official matchday protocols to clubs on Thursday meaning tickets could go on sale very soon!
Keep an eye on this situation.
17:58Danyal Khan
Chelsea's transfer window has exploded into life today, with Borussia Dortmund confirming the signing of potential Erling Haaland replacement Donyell Malen.
The Dutch forward has signed a deal running till June 2026.
All eyes now are on what this acquisition will mean for the Norwegian's future at the club, as the Blues prepare bid to try and tempt Dortmund to sell this summer.
17:54Danyal Khan
Fabrizio Romano has provided another update on Jules Kounde's potential transfer to Chelsea saying the Blues may include Kurt Zouma in the deal.
He has also said that personal terms have been agreed upon between Kounde and the club.
This deal is moving fast!
17:40Danyal Khan
Our reporter Lewis Pangratiou is at Cobham to see Chelsea U23s take on Portsmouth.
We have a live blog up and running, with kick-off now less than 20 minutes away.
Keep up to date with all the action here.
16:56Danyal Khan
It seems like the Blues have now started to make some real big moves in this summer's transfer window.
Jules Kounde and now Saul Niguez seem to be two targets that Chelsea are keen to bring in this summer.
Marca (via Sport Witness) has stated that both Chelsea and Liverpool have been in contact with Saul’s agents over a potential summer move.
16:44Danyal Khan
Dean Jones explained that Timo Werner is definitely not keen on being used by Chelsea as a makeweight to sign Erling Haaland.
Speaking on the Football Terrace YouTube channel, Jones divulged into the Blues current striker situation.
“I’m told that Timo Werner doesn’t want to join Borussia Dortmund,” said the transfer connoisseur.
“When he left (RB) Leipzig, it was like ‘if I stay in Germany, I’m going to Bayern Munich. That’s the only club I’m interested in, otherwise, I’m going to the Premier League.’
“At the moment, Bayern weren’t interested.”
15:54Danyal Khan
Chelsea have opened talks with Jules Kounde, and have been doing so secretly for more than two weeks according to Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari.
In negotiations, the Blues have offered Emerson to the La Liga side but they said no!
Will be interesting to see how this one unfolds...
14:35Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
Once Marcus Bettinelli completes his free transfer, supporters will be looking forward to seeing the goalkeeper holding the Chelsea shirt at his unveiling - but what squad number could he take at Stamford Bridge?
Well, he could take the No.13 shirt which is widely regarded as the perfect squad number for a backup goalkeeper.
That Chelsea shirt number became vacant earlier in the summer following the departure of Willy Caballero at the end of his contract.
READ MORE
13:56Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
13:48Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
13:30Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
Look who was present at Borussia Dortmund's training session...
12:58Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
12:37Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
Earlier we brought you news of Chelsea closing in on the signing of former Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.
The 29-year-old has reportedly agreed a two-year deal with the Champions League holders.
Furthermore, it is claimed that he is due to complete his medical and sign for the club in the next 48 hours.
READ MORE
12:16Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
11:47Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
John Terry never passes up a chance to aim a dig at Tottenham Hotspur.
With Chelsea set to parade the Champions League trophy at Stamford Bridge ahead of the pre-season friendly with Spurs on August 4, Terry took to Instagram and delivered his verdict with a series of laughing and clapping emojis, whilst rounding his response off with a trophy emoji.
READ MORE
11:15Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
Aggie Beever-Jones has signed her first professional contract with Chelsea Women.
As announced on Chelsea's website, Beever-Jones, who turns 18 today, has put pen-to-paper on a two-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months.
10:49Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
10:26Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
Before the game at the Vitality Stadium, there was a mini-battle between Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek at the club's Cobham training base.
They were asked to compete against each other in the 'Diego Maradona 7 challenge'.
The rules of the challenge were to move the ball between the two feet, knees, shoulders and head without allowing the ball to touch the ground.
Click here to find out who won.
09:53Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
Despite actively attempting to move Griezmann on, Barcelona’s task appears somewhat more difficult than first perceived.
According to Spanish outlet Marca, no offers have been received for the forward. President Joan Laporta has suggested however that there is interest.
He is a Barca player, he has a contract in force and unless there are different circumstances, we have him.
There have been movements in the market but it is normal in the transfer market. We cannot deny that there has been interest in the player and that shows his quality.
READ MORE
09:24Tashan Deniran-Alleyne
According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Chelsea are trying to hijack Manchester City's signing of Jack Grealish.
Grealish has been heavily linked with a switch to the Etihad Stadium recently, but the Blues are said to have an interest in the England star.
Villa are thought to value their captain at around £100million, but are determined to keep hold of him.