Monday 6 August
Fikayo Tomori has joined the Derby revolution after signing a new three-year contract with us.
The real news today is that Thibaut Courtois didn’t show up for training. The wantaway stopper seems to be happy to strike until we sell him to Real Madrid.
Tuesday 7 August
Chelsea 0:0 Olympique Lyonnais
A stuttering match in which we started with a second XI and finished with the side that might start on Saturday.
What we learned from the experience is anyone’s guess. Ethan Ampadu really made a statement by singlehandedly turning away everything that threatened our box.
Willian looked the part already where Eden Hazard – who came on to huge cheers – looked rusty.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek looked lively on his return after the World Cup and hit the post.
Swindon Town 0:4 Chelsea
The Checkatrade trophy trail started with a blistering display. Charly Brown scored two, showing great determination to get to the ball for the first and composure to finish one-on-one for his second. Charly Musonda converted a penalty on the hour and Ike Ugbo muscled in a header at the death.
Wednesday 8 August
Chelsea 3:0 Juventus
The girls slotted into gear tonight as goals from Ramona Bachmann, Maren Mjelde and Fran Kirby.
Kepa Arrizabalaga paid the £71m release clause in his contract with Athletic Bilbao and looks like he is our new goalkeeper. Thibaut Courtois is in Spain finalising his move so a bit of deadline day news is out early. Suitably his first name is pronounced Keep-ah.
Thursday 9 August
Courtois is a Madrid player, as Kepa Arrizabalaga becomes a Chelsea player to replace him. The fee of £71m is a world record for a goalkeeper and will put a bit of pressure on the lad. Kepa is from the Basque region just like Cesar Azpilicueta and comes with a formidable reputation but not much experience.
As part of the Courtois deal comes Mateo Kovačić on loan with a view to a permanent deal next summer. Kovacic is a deep lying playmaker but has also played as an attacking and wide player with
The early finish to deadline day means we can all knock off in time for tea. Very little happening at Chelsea on the day. Jay Dasilva joined Bristol City on loan and it looks a good move for his development.
Rumours that Kurt Zouma is off to Everton on loan took ages to confirm…
Friday 10 August
… so long in fact that it took until Friday afternoon for confirmation of the move. Kurt will be a Toffee for one season.
Michy Batshuayi will spend the season with Valencia. We are not sure what he needs to do to impress a Chelsea boss because despite scoring the goal that won us the title and then putting in a string of impressive goal-scoring displays for Dortmund on loan last season and two strikes at the World Cup he has been overlooked again.
Josimar Quintero has joined Lleida in the Spanish Segunda División B (third division). You will not be seeing too much of our Ecuadorian midfielder on Sky outside of the Copa del Rey. Adi Viveash played him in midfield plenty of times in 2015/16 but a string of anonymous loans to lower league sides make you wonder what we are planning for his future.
Saturday 11 August
Huddersfield Town 0:3 Chelsea
The penalty we doubled our lead with looked really soft as Marco Alonso was felled in the box by what looked a perfectly timed tackle. Only on seeing the incident from ten angles did it become clear that the defender had missed the ball and taken the man. New-boy Jorginho slotted on his league debut.
We gained a better measure of control after the break and kept the home team at arms length. The final strike was set up by Eden Hazard, making a late substitute appearance, and was well finished by Pedro.
Southampton U18 1:3 Chelsea
Andy Myers has his first win as U18s head coach as goals from Tino Anjorin, Thierno Ballo and George Nunn. It wasn’t an easy match but the Chelsea youngsters showed real determination to outclass their opponents by the end.
Sunday 12 August
Chelsea U23 1:1 Everton U23
We came from behind to secure the draw. The goal came from Charly Musonda’s spot-kick after Tariq Lamptey had been felled. Marc Guehi had a header over the line but the absence of goal-line technology meant the officials didn’t believe him.
All in all it was a good draw from an even contest.
