Incoming Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso was unable to rule out the possibility of losing three key stars this summer, as he looks ahead to taking charge of the Blues at the end of the Premier League season.
The west London outfit have endured a difficult campaign, with a bright start under Enzo Maresca quickly wiped away with his dismissal, before Liam Rosenior’s short stint as boss turned sour.
While many Chelsea fans will want the season over with, holding hope that the arrival of Alonso will bring brighter days ahead, there’s still a battle to be had for European football on the final day.
Beyond that, there are question marks over who will stay, who will go, and who will arrive at Stamford Bridge during a pivotal summer transfer window, with the new manager unable to give much insight as things stand.
With Chelsea missing out on Champions League football, and unrest seemingly surrounding some players in the squad, there are doubts over which players will be kept and who could be sold in the summer.
Among them are Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella, both of whom have been linked with a move to Barcelona, and Enzo Fernandez, who is rumoured with interest from Real Madrid.
All three were a topic of conversation for Alonso in an interview with El Chiringuito TV in his first public discussion since taking over the job at Chelsea.
When the interviewer suggested that the manager wouldn’t want to lose those key players, he simply responded: “Well… this is football, and we’ll make a good team.”
It’s something of a non-answer, which is telling, and suggests there is uncertainty over which players will be left at Chelsea this summer, and who could move on.
Alonso may have his own judgments too, with time now being taken to see how the squad best fits together to get the best possible results. Whether that means some brutal exits for some key players remains to be seen, but time will tell how the summer will shape up for the club.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League is set to cost Chelsea dearly heading into the summer, with a potential rethink needed about the current transfer strategy.
The Blues have generated roughly £79 million in prize money from the competition this season, making their way to the round of 16 before exiting at the hands of PSG.
Adding the additional revenue of tickets, sponsorship, and hospitality, and there is a likelihood that Chelsea will miss out on over £100 million from not being in the Champions League.
That, along with the need to refresh the squad in key areas, is what could force the club into making some key sales this summer to help generate funds.
Every Chelsea Player’s Wage [2026]
Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, and Moises Caicedo all feature as every Chelsea player’s wages are listed.
This will be particularly important in the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) era of Premier League finances, which will place a cap on spend based on a percentage of revenues.
If Chelsea can increase their revenues, then they will have more to spend, with the Champions League a clear way to generate extra income over some of their rivals.
It means this summer could be one of restructuring, ensuring that players can be sold to bolster elsewhere, rather than buying before selling later in the market.
Whether it’ll be someone like Fernandez, who will have a large amount of amortisation value still on his contract, meaning a huge fee is needed to land any profit, remains to be seen. Either way, the task is monumental, and it’ll need to be done right to give Alonso the best chance possible to succeed.
Manchester United enjoyed a fine season in 2025/26, finishing up in third place and claiming a spot in next season’s Champions League competition.
The Red Devils finished 14 points off top, but also 14 points above sixth-placed Bournemouth, showing their quality, with captain Bruno Fernandes leading the way with his performances in a record-breaking campaign in which he registered 21 assists in the Premier League, more than anyone else in the history of the division.
But the record-breaking assist for the Portugal international, which came on the final day in the 3-0 win over Brighton, was shrouded in controversy, with some calling for it to be recorded as an own goal after Patrick Dorgu’s header rebounded off the crossbar and hit the hand of goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen before going in.
The Premier League have since confirmed that the record will stand, after the dubious goal panel gave Dorgu the goal, but one ex-Man Utd star has called for them to reconsider their decision.
Plenty of rival fans have been calling for the assist to be scrapped, with Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne previously holding the record of 20 assists in a Premier League season.
And while speaking to BetVictor, via The Sun, former Man Utd midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba was asked for his opinion on the situation, and he revealed that he is in the same boat and feels that it should be chalked off.
“I think it should be chalked off,” he said.
“You can clearly see what happened. The ball did not cross the line properly and it came back off the goalkeeper into the net.
“In my opinion, they need to remove it. If the rules are the rules, then it should not count as an assist.”
Djemba-Djemba is widely regarded as one of the worst signings from the Sir Alex Ferguson era, having played just 39 games for the club over 18 months before leaving for Aston Villa.
Assists have always been a bit of a weird phenomenon in football, because you be credited with one for a sideways one yard pass, and receive nothing at all if you dribble past the whole team and play a pass to someone else who sets up the goal.
But what Fernandes did this season, while playing as a holding midfielder for much of the campaign under Ruben Amorim in a struggling team, before leading the side to a third-place finish and registering goals or assists against all but three opponents this season, tells you how good he was.
Some replays show that the ball was heading in before the touch off the goalkeeper, while others show the opposite. There’s nothing concrete, and therefore it would be crazy for the league to take the assist, and therefore the record, away from him.
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With UFC Freedom 250 now less than three weeks away, company CEO Dana White has revealed the one fight he wanted on the card that “slipped” away.
Preparations are already underway for the landmark event on the south lawn of the White House, which takes place on the 14th of June. The card has been timed to celebrate both the USA’s 250th anniversary and the 80th birthday of President Donald Trump.
The President has been heavily involved in putting the card together for the event, even playing a key role in adding an extra fight to the show. Freedom 250 is set to be one of the most stacked UFC shows in recent memory, with two title fights set to take place.
Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira will compete for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship, before Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje meet for the undisputed UFC Lightweight Championship.
In addition, high-profile fighters such as Sean O’Malley, Michael Chandler and Derrick Lewis will also step into the Octagon during the most culturally significant card in UFC history.
With a line-up packed with current and former champions, the promotion has delivered a top-tier card for the show, but Dana has admitted he would have loved to have added a third title fight to the bill.
In a recent interview with Time Magazine, White revealed that he had hoped to host a women’s title bout on the card. The fight in question would have seen Mackenzie Dern defending her UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship against Weili Zhang.
The bout would have seen Zhang handed the chance to regain the belt that she vacated when she moved up to flyweight to challenge titleholder Valentina Shevchenko.
However, the UFC were unsuccessful in booking Dern vs Zhang as the Chinese fighter wanted to take more time off before resuming her UFC career. Her last bout took place when she lost to Shevchenko at UFC 322 in November 2025.
“We did try to make a women’s fight. We couldn’t get it done,” declared White of the bout. As a result, there will be no female fighters on next month’s show.
Due to the work involved in clearing fighters and the cornermen to access the grounds of the White House, Freedom 250 will feature just seven fights in total. It is not uncommon for UFC events to feature almost twice that number of bouts.
Despite having to compromise when it comes to the number of fights on the card and dealing with other logistical issues, White is fiercely proud of the show he plans to put on next month. He even admits that he will lose a significant amount of money in the process.
“This is basically me spending a s***load of money to celebrate the 250th birthday of America, with America and the rest of the world,” he conceded.
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