^ ^ Why Liverpool missed out on the Chelsea summer signing they also wanted

Andoni Iraola could have had another option at right-back this season (Picture: Shutterstock)

Chelsea summer signing Marco Palestra was also a target for Liverpool, but they could not make a move for the man the Blues paid £47 million for.

Palestra moved to Stamford Bridge from Atalanta over the summer, in one of Xabi Alonso’s first major signings as Chelsea boss.

The 21-year-old does not have a great amount of experience, most of which came during last season on loan at Cagliari, where he made 37 appearances in all competitions.

The right-back did enough in that season to earn his first two caps for Italy, won in March this year, and ultimately a huge move to the Premier League.

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Injury has caused his early Chelsea career to stall, but he did impress in pre-season and hopes to make his competitive debut for the Blues soon.

Chelsea was not the only club interested in the Italian over the summer, with Liverpool also believed to have him on their shopping list before he moved to England.

The Athletic report that the Reds ‘explored the possibility of challenging Chelsea’ for the signing of Palestra over the last transfer window.

Marco Palestra featured and impressed in pre-season (Picture: Shutterstock)

Liverpool never followed through with the interest as their priorities were elsewhere in the transfer market.

After the departure of Mohamed Salah, the Reds needed to sign wide forwards, while the deal to bring in centre-back Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes was already agreed but went through over the summer.

Bradley Barcola proved to be the headline signing of the window, arriving from Paris Saint-Germain for £106m, while Victor Munoz also joined from Osasuna for £34.5m.

Jeremie Frimpong remains first choice at right-back, with Conor Bradley not expected back from his long-term knee injury until November.

Marco Palestra has watched from the sidelines so far at Chelsea (Picture: Shutterstock)

Palestra – who was also linked with a move to Inter Milan over the summer – is expected to feature regularly under Alonso this season when he has recovered from a knock picked up in training.

Speaking of the Italian’s spell on the sidelines, Alonso said this week: ‘It’s especially [frustrating] for him. He came with huge energy, huge desire to enjoy his game in the Premier League.

‘He had a very good pre-season and a few days before the first game against Fulham, he picked up an injury.

‘It’s part of the life of a football player to come back from injury and we will need him for sure. He has great potential and will add a lot of good qualities we need in the team.’

Chelsea host Hull City in the Premier League and there remains a chance Palestra could feature in the squad for the first time.

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^ ^ Rasmus Hojlund praises £55million Arsenal signing after Napoli defeat

Rasmus Hojlund got no change out of Arsenal’s defence (Credits: Purini/Insidefoto/Shutterstock)

Rasmus Hojlund praised Arsenal’s new-look defence after Napoli were beaten 1-0 in the Champions League last night.

The Gunners eventually made their dominance count with 15 minutes left on the clock when Martin Odegaard capped another man of the match performance with a sumptuous strike from the edge of the penalty area.

Arsenal’s margin of victory could and should have been greater but wayward finishing from the likes Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie meant Mikel Arteta’s side were forced to lean into their defensive strength to seal three points.

Even without without William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera and Jurrien Timber, last season’s finalists were comfortably able to restrict the Serie A side and their former Manchester United striker.

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Summer signing Ezri Konsa gave another commanding display alongside Gabriel Magalhaes and Hojlund admitted the challenge of making an impression against Arsenal’s defence was just as formidable despite the absences of so many established stars.

‘It’s hard for me to rank them because they obviously have a lot of good defenders,’ Hojlund told TNT Sport.

‘They have Mosquera and Saliba out and they just put Konsa in and so it’s a strong side.

Ezri Konsa already looks like a shrewd addition following his move from Aston Villa (Credits: Purini/Insidefoto/Shutterstock)

‘I think also Gabriel is the anchor of the team, I think he’s really, really strong he knows how to handle a duel.

‘I think I did well today even though I come off with nothing but I held up the ball well and it was good for me to try against the best of the best, even though we didn’t win.’

Overall, Arsenal created an xG of 4.31 to Napoli’s 0.21 but despite such a significant margin, Hojlund felt his side were unlucky not to come away with something tangible from the game.

Asked if he felt Napoli were worth a point, he added: ‘Yes and no. Arsenal created a lot of chances, and we were lucky to stay in the game, but we defended well.

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‘We have to admit that they are currently at a higher level than us. They are the champions of England and runners-up in Europe, so we need to look at ourselves, learn from this and continue to develop.’

Arteta, meanwhile, was thrilled with a near-perfect away performance which saw his side record a fifth win from five games in all competitions this season.

He said: ‘I’m very, very happy. A really tough place to come and a really different environment to play football – a beautiful one, by the way – against a really good team. 

Martin Odegaard scored the only goal of the game against Napoli (Credits: Shutterstock)

‘I love the way we attacked the game, the way we competed, the hunger that we showed, the desire to dominate, to come here, to own the pitch, and the quality that we showed against a team that it’s so difficult to create chances against.

‘We created a huge amount of them and the result doesn’t reflect what we saw on the pitch.

‘The players were immense, and to play with that personality, with that conviction and with that quality in the Champions League away from home, it’s something that I’m extremely pleased about.’

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^ ^ Mauricio Pochettino calls for former club Chelsea to be stripped of Premier League title

Former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino thinks the Blues got off lightly (Picture:Getty Images)

Mauricio Pochettino believes Chelsea should be stripped of the 2016-17 Premier League title and it should be handed to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Argentine, who went on to manage Chelsea, was in charge of Spurs at the time as they finished second, seven points adrift of Antonio Conte’s Blues.

Conte’s side finished with 93 points, led by Diego Costa up front and a fabulous season from Eden Hazard behind him, while the likes of N’Golo Kante, Gary Cahill and David Luiz all made the PFA Team of the Year.

However, it has since been tainted as Chelsea’s owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, self-reported 74 breaches of FA rules related to secret payments to unregistered agents after they purchased the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022.

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Chelsea admitted to making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and intermediaries between 2011 and 2018.

Deals for the likes of Hazard, Luiz, Willian and Nemanja Matic were all found to have broken rules.

After an initial punishment included a points deduction, on appeal Chelsea were fined £10 million and given a suspended two-window transfer ban by the Football Association over the summer.

Pochettino left after one season in charge of Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)

Pochettino feels that the punishment should extend beyond this and Chelsea should not be considered champions in 2017 as they broke rules to win the Premier League. Instead, his Tottenham team should be awarded the title.

‘We should win one Premier League, we should have been awarded it,’ said Pochettino. ‘If that was true, then we deserve to be champions that year, for sure. They were punished, they admitted it? So that’s it. The title should be for the team that was second.

‘We can say that they scored goals, they won games. OK. But it’s completely fair to say that we didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card. Maybe with the same rules, we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals.’

Eden Hazard was key to Chelsea’s success in 2016/17 (Picture: Getty Images)

While the Blues had plenty of world class players at the time, it was suggested to Pochettino that Hazard made a particular difference.

‘Maybe yes,’ said the USA manager. ‘I have no doubt and I’m not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me. But if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules, I’d admit the same: “We don’t deserve the title because we broke the rules.”

‘It’s impossible if only some clubs play with offside and another plays with no offside. Or one plays with VAR and another plays with no VAR. For everyone it needs to be the same rules. And then you have the capacity to create the best team.

‘I don’t say that Chelsea didn’t play well, that Conte was not great. I don’t say that. I don’t want the message to be twisted. But if you broke the rules then ciao – you need to give it to another team.

‘I don’t know why that didn’t happen. What is being promoted and incentivised is to break the rules. If you don’t punish in the way that you need to punish, I say: “Yeah … I lost my job [at Spurs] because we didn’t win a title.”’

Pochettino was in charge of Spurs from May 2014-November 2019 and went on to manage Chelsea for one season in 2023/24.

FA statement on Chelsea punishment

An FA statement in July read: ‘A financial sanction of £10m and a suspended two-window registration ban have been imposed on Chelsea FC for breaches of the Football Association Football Agent Regulations, Regulations on Working with Intermediaries and Third Party Investment in Players Regulations. The FA charged Chelsea FC with 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2 after its current ownership self-reported misconduct upon its purchase of the club. The FA is continuing to investigate individual misconduct arising out of this case.

‘Chelsea FC admitted to the 74 breaches of FA Rule E1.2 prior to a hearing and an independent Regulatory Commission imposed a six-point deduction, which was to be suspended until June 30, 2027, and a £10m fine.

‘The club appealed against the suspended points deduction and an independent Appeal Board allowed the appeal and set aside this sanction following a further hearing.

‘In its place, the Appeal Board imposed a registration ban for two complete and consecutive transfer windows which is suspended until 30 June 2027.’

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^ ^ Ben White names Manchester United star as toughest Premier League forward to mark

Ben White expects a tough test when he faces his fellow England international (Picture: Getty Images)

Ben White has faced the world’s best forwards while playing for Arsenal and has picked out a Manchester United star as the toughest to take on in the Premier League.

The 28-year-old is into his sixth season with the Gunners after signing from Brighton for £50 million in July 2021.

Injuries and competition for places have meant he has not always been a regular starter, but he is approaching 200 games for the club.

White has been firmly in the starting XI so far this season as Jurrien Timber has been out injured and his impressive partnership with Bukayo Saka on the right flank has been on show again.

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The six-cap England international has taken on plenty of huge names while playing at right-back and in the middle of defence and it is a Three Lions teammate who stands out as his most difficult opponent.

Speaking to Men In Blazers, White said of the toughest attacker to mark in the Premier League: ‘I’d probably still go with [Marcus] Rashford, I think he’s the toughest I’ve played against.’

It is high praise for Rashford, who is back in the Red Devils side after a year away on loan at Barcelona.

Marcus Rashford is back in the Manchester United team this season (Picture: Shutterstock)

The 28-year-old, who scored for England at the World Cup over the summer, is yet to add to his Premier League goal or assist tally this season, but appears to have reintegrated into the Manchester United squad under Michael Carrick.

Rashford came off the bench against Hull City on the opening weekend of the season but then started the win over Ipswich Town and the draw with Everton on Sunday.

Looking to his own teammates, White also had praise for Riccardo Calafiori, who has had a brilliant start to the season with Arsenal.

Nominally playing at left-back, the Italy international is proving to be impactful all over the pitch, popping up in unexpected positions and adding threat going forward.

Riccardo Calafiori has made a brilliant start to the season with Arsenal (Picture: Getty Images)

Calafiori has already provided two Premier League assists this campaign and scored in the Community Shield win over Manchester City.

Aston Villa captain John McGinn recently named the Italian as the toughest defender he has come up against in the Premier League, so he really is ticking all boxes for Mikel Arteta.

Speaking on Stick to Football, the Villa skipper said: ‘Do you know who really surprised me? Calafiori. Calafiori and Luke Shaw would be my two hardest opponents.

‘Luke Shaw because I needed to completely adapt my game with Luke Shaw. Because we’re of similar build. He’s one I had to completely try and adapt [to].

Riccardo Calafiori is growing more and more in stature at Arsenal (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Calafiori was much stronger than I thought, I was really impressed with him.’

White said of his impressive teammate: ‘He can do everything really so it’s tough to stop everything that he does.

‘If one thing’s not working for him he’s got other tools to be successful, so it’s really hard to keep him down really.’

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^ ^ Paul Scholes says Arsenal star ‘gets away with murder’ after Chelsea win

Former Man Utd and England midfielder Paul Scholes (Picture: YouTube)

Paul Scholes says Gabriel Magalhaes ‘gets away with murder’ after avoiding a red card in Arsenal’s recent win over Chelsea.

The Premier League champions maintained their perfect start to the new season with a 2-1 win over London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.

While trailing to Morgan Rogers’ early volley, Gabriel was perhaps fortunate not to see red after kicking Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the head during a scramble in the box.

The referee’s view was obstructed by several players and VAR did not intervene, much to the surprise of Manchester United legends Scholes and Nicky Butt.

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‘He should have been sent off,’ Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. ‘I missed it at first but it should be a red card. He’s gone miles over the bar.’

After podcast host Paddy McGuinness suggested Gabriel routinely ‘gets away with murder’, Scholes responded: ‘He does, yeah.

‘You get some players like that. Like, say me or Nicky made a foul, we got booked. Then there’s other players who can make ten fouls a game and nothing happens.

Gabriel after Arsenal’s win over Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

‘They get up and go to the referee, “oh, I’m sorry”. Do you know what I mean? They get away with it when other players don’t, and he’s one of them, isn’t he?’

Fellow former England midfielder Butt added: ‘It was ridiculous. If they don’t think that’s a sending off then there’s no point of having VAR. I don’t understand it.’

Ex-Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney also felt Gabriel should have seen red for his wild kick at new Chelsea goalkeeper Martinez.

How this was not a foul? Gabriel kicking Martinez on head, should have been straight RED. #ARSCHE pic.twitter.com/5icTyXMmh9

— The Final Whistle (@Rufus_45) September 6, 2026

Analysing the incident on BBC’s Match of the Day, Rooney said: ‘You don’t really see it at first sight but then when you see a replay and they slow it down…

‘Martinez has got the ball in his hands and Gabriel boots him in the head, he swings a leg and goes way over the top. He’s extremely lucky to stay on the pitch.’

Former England defender Ashley Young added: ‘I agree. When the ball is on the floor and Martinez has it, Gabriel kicks so high.

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‘I’m not sure why it hasn’t gone to VAR of if they’ve properly studied it because he’s nowhere the ball. He’s got away with one there.’

Gabriel has established himself as one of the best defenders in the world in recent years, helping Arsenal win their first Premier League title since 2004 last season.

Mikel Arteta’s side have made a flawless start to their title defence, beating Coventry City, Aston Villa and Chelsea in their first three games.

Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea thanks to goals from ex-Blue Kai Havertz and Gunners skipper Martin Odegaard.

‘It wasn’t the right start but we certainly reacted in an amazing way,’ Arteta said in his post-match interview. ‘I enjoyed the way we competed; we took risks, it was a joy to watch and an incredible game.

‘They have a great coach who can set them up in great condition. With the quality they have, you feel they can create something out of nothing at any moment.

‘We constrained them well. Overall, it was an incredible performance from our side.’

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^ ^ Lothar Matthaus names one English club in his five Champions League favourites

Arsenal are among the five favourites to win the Champions League, says Lothar Matthaus (Picture: Getty)

Bayern Munich and Germany legend Lothar Matthaus has named Arsenal among his five favourites to win this year’s Champions League.

Europe’s premier competition gets up and running this week and the stage is set for what promises to be a compelling tournament, which will be decided at Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium in nine months’ time.

Luis Enrique’s all-conquering Paris Saint-Germain side enter as the holders after finally bringing their curse to a halt with victories in each of the last two tournaments.

Last year’s runners-up, Arsenal, meanwhile, are still yet to get their hands on the prestigious prize and will hope to have ended that hoodoo at long last come next June.

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Domestically, the Gunners have started out in convincing fashion, winning the Community Shield before sweeping aside Coventry City, Aston Villa and Chelsea to claim top spot in the Premier League alongside Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta’s men, the reigning English champions, kick off their group-stage campaign on Wednesday night away to Serie A giants Napoli, where Massimiliano Allegri will be looking to put a first dent in the north Londoners’ perfect record.

‘For me, there are five favourites for the title this year: Arsenal, Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich,’Matthaus told Sky Germany ahead of the opening round of fixtures.

PSG have won the title in back-to-back seasons (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal open their campaign against Napoli on Wednesday (Picture: Getty)

‘However, Real Madrid still needs to gel as a team – as seen against Real Betis at the weekend – and therefore remains a question mark.

‘Jose Mourinho still needs to forge a unit from the squad.

‘If there are further issues with Kylian Mbappe or Vinicius Junior, it might be necessary to simply leave one of them out.’

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Matthaus – a two-time Champions League runner-up with Bayern – added: ‘The other four clubs are, in my opinion, clear title contenders.

‘However, teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, or Atletico Madrid, who would have a home game in the Champions League final, could also reach for the stars.

‘Borussia Dortmund recently passed their character test in Hoffenheim and should go further in the Champions League than last year, although that, of course, always depends on the draw.’

Arsenal are one of five English teams competing in this year’s competition, with Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester United also doing battle for the main prize.

City kick things off away to Portuguese champions Porto this evening, while Unai Emery’s Villa face off against Club Brugge in Belgium.

Six-time winners Liverpool open their European campaign at home to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, before Manchester United welcome Azerbaijani minnows Sabah to Old Trafford the following night.

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