Tag: Chelsea

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Arsenal complete £48.5m signing of Madueke from Chelsea

Arsenal have completed the signing of England winger Noni Madueke from Chelsea for an initial fee of £48.5m.

The 23-year-old was part of Chelsea’s squad at the Club World Cup in the United States but left the camp before last Sunday’s 3-0 win against Paris St-Germain in the final to finalise his move to Mikel Arteta’s side.

Madueke has signed a five-year contract at Emirates Stadium, with his fee rising to just over £50m with add-ons.

“Humbled and blessed to be here. Thank you to everyone that made this possible,” he wrote on Instagram.

“I can’t wait to get on the pitch and start to repay the faith shown in me. It’s going to be so special.”

He made 92 appearances for Chelsea after joining from PSV Eindhoven for £30m in January 2023 and scored 20 goals, helping them win the Conference League last season.

He was part of Crystal Palace and then Tottenham’s academy before spending four-and-a-half years in the Netherlands, where he won the Dutch Cup.

Madueke made his England senior debut in August 2024 and set up Harry Kane’s winner as Thomas Tuchel’s side defeated Andorra 1-0 in World Cup qualification last month.

Arteta told Arsenal’s website, external: “Noni is an exciting and powerful young player, with his performances and numbers in recent seasons being of consistently high quality.

“He is one of the most talented wide forward players in the Premier League.

“At just 23, Noni already brings experience of club and international football, and he knows the Premier League very well.

“Having seen the quality of Noni’s performances up close in recent seasons, we’re really excited he is joining us. His arrival will really improve our squad.”

News of Arsenal’s interest in the Chelsea winger had prompted a backlash from a section of the Gunners supporters earlier this month.

A petition, titled #NoToMadueke, was signed more than 5,000 times and murals outside the club’s Emirates Stadium were vandalised with ‘Arteta out’.

Madueke becomes Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer and second from Chelsea following the arrival of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Midfielders Christian Norgaard from Brentford and Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad have also joined while the club are also close to signing striker Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting and Valencia defender Cristhian Mosquera. (BBC)

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Palmer stars as Chelsea stun PSG to win Club World Cup final

Cole Palmer scored two goals and made another as Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday, beating the European champions 3-0 at the MetLife Stadium to win the first edition of FIFA’s new competition.

PSG were the favourites for a game attended by Donald Trump after coming to the United States fresh from winning the UEFA Champions League and having destroyed Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals.

But having been three goals ahead midway through the first half in the semis, this time the roles were reversed as PSG found themselves 3-0 down by the break.

Palmer opened the scoring midway through the first half and struck again to make it two on the half-hour mark, before taking advantage of passive defending to set up Joao Pedro for the third on 43 minutes.

A bad day for PSG was summed up when Joao Neves was shown red following a VAR review four minutes from the end for pulling Marc Cucurella by the hair off the ball.

It was a scoreline that few could have predicted as Chelsea capped what has been a long but memorable season — they are the first ever winners of the 32-team Club World Cup having also won the UEFA Conference League and finished fourth in the Premier League.

They will also take away around $125 million in prize money, meaning the prospect of a drastically curtailed summer break before returning for next season will surely feel worth it.

For PSG, meanwhile, the financial rewards are similar but there will be genuine disappointment at falling short of adding this title to their Champions League triumph and French league and cup double.

Nevertheless, conquering Europe was always the main aim this season for Luis Enrique’s team, who now have exactly a month to digest this and take a holiday before returning to action in the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.

There was a real sense of occasion at the MetLife Stadium, with the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline and with President Trump in attendance along with First Lady Melania Trump in a crowd of 81,118.

There was even the first-ever half-time show at a FIFA tournament, adding a Super Bowl feel to a final played at the home of NFL sides the New York Giants and New York Jets.

As for the football, for the second time in six weeks PSG found themselves involved in a final that quickly turned into a one-sided affair.

The club claimed a historic 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, but here they were ripped apart by Chelsea on another hot afternoon.

Palmer almost put Chelsea ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, before PSG should have scored at the other end only for Desire Doue to try to pass to Achraf Hakimi rather than shoot inside the box, allowing Cucurella to block.

It was Chelsea who struck in the 22nd minute as Malo Gusto got the better of Nuno Mendes down the right before seeing his shot blocked by Lucas Beraldo. The ball came back to Gusto and he teed up Palmer to finish into the bottom-left corner.

Palmer has been the face of Chelsea on billboards in the United States during the tournament and he lived up to his star billing by scoring again on the half-hour. (Punch)

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Chelsea defeat LAFC in poorly attended Club World Cup opener

Chelsea kicked off their Club World Cup campaign with a solid 2-0 victory over Los Angeles FC on Monday in Group D, although there were nearly 50,000 empty seats in the stadium in Atlanta.

Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez’s goals got the Blues off to a good start in a competitive clash against one of the three qualified MLS teams.

New signing Liam Delap made his debut as a substitute and helped set up Fernandez’s strike, with Chelsea hoping to go far after their UEFA Conference League triumph and Champions League qualification, looking to re-establish themselves among the elite.

After a solid start to the tournament regarding attendance numbers over the opening weekend, a sparse crowd of just over 22,000 settled in at the stylish 71,000 capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Behind former Tottenham Hotspur stopper Hugo Lloris’ goal in the first half, a couple of hundred LAFC ‘ultras’ helped provide an atmosphere with a drum beat and constant song.

Although the closed stadium roof offered refuge from the Georgia humidity and mid-afternoon summer sun which Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid stars roasted under on Sunday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, the attendance suffered badly because of the 3:00 pm local time kick-off.

Despite regular strong crowds for MLS side Atlanta United, the best supported US team, few locals decided to take a Monday off work for the tournament’s first weekday afternoon game, seemingly chosen to suit a British television audience.

After beating Club America in a play-off to qualify for the competition as late as May, LAFC took the place of the banned Mexican side Club Leon, and play none of their three group games in California.

The top ring of the stadium was entirely shut and other levels were only partly filled, despite ticket prices dropping in the days ahead of the game.

Lloris rated his team’s chances against Chelsea as “really thin” on the eve of the game and was called into action several times as the Blues took control from the start.

The French stopper saved from Nicolas Jackson and then Noni Madueke after the Senegalese forward set him up, while Cole Palmer whistled a strike narrowly over.

With new signing Delap looking on from the bench, Jackson played like a man determined to keep his starting spot.

The striker was instrumental in Neto’s opener, releasing the Portuguese winger with an excellent through ball.

Neto chopped in the box to leave LA defender Ryan Hollingshead stumbling helplessly out of sight and then buried a powerful strike past Lloris low at the near post.

Former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud came on at half-time for the Americans, hoping to threaten Robert Sanchez’s goal more than Steve Cherundolo’s team managed in the first half.

Jackson came close with a header and LA almost levelled but Sanchez made a fine save with his outstretched leg to thwart 2023 MLS golden boot winner Denis Bouanga after he shook off Neto.

Maresca brought on 22-year-old striker Delap for his Chelsea debut after the hour mark, having begun the game with all of the club’s new faces on the bench.

The forward drove into space and tried to tee up Fernandez with a promising first move in a Chelsea shirt since his arrival from relegated Ipswich Town.

Chelsea star Palmer, who had shown occasional flashes of brilliance, hammered over.

LA threatened increasingly, with Marc Cucurella blocking well from David Martinez, before Fernandez grabbed Chelsea’s second.

Running into the six-yard box the Argentine midfielder controlled Delap’s cross from the right and beat Lloris to put the game to bed.

Elsewhere in Group D Esperance Tunis face Brazil’s Flamengo later on Monday. (Punch)