Chelsea Round-Up, Thursday 5th November: Estevao Decision on Barcelona 'Big Proposal' Leads the News as Injury Picture Before Sunderland Takes Shape
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Chelsea have made their final call on a reported "big proposal" from Barcelona for Estevao, with the Brazilian winger continuing to be strongly linked with a move to the Catalan giants (TeamTalk) (Football365). Steven Gerrard has waded in on the saga too, suggesting the youngster could become a "problem" for Xabi Alonso given the transfer talk, even as Romano dropped a fresh update on the situation (Football365).
There's also been fresh talk over Levi Colwill's future, with reports suggesting Chelsea are ready to open contract talks with the homegrown defender, aiming to get an extension sorted in 2027 amid interest from Liverpool (TeamTalk) (Football365). Elsewhere on the transfer front, Chelsea are said to have made Bournemouth's Alex Scott their top January target after a summer move fell through when offers up to £64million were knocked back, with Liverpool also keen (The Sun) (Evening Standard). The futures of Harrison Armstrong and Tomas Aranda have also been mentioned as possible targets as Chelsea look to win the race for Scott (Evening Standard), while there's been plenty of chatter about Trent Alexander-Arnold, with suggestions Chelsea have been urged to swoop given his struggles for game time at Real Madrid (Football365) (Football.London).
Ahead of Sunday's trip to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland, the injury situation is starting to clear up a little. Emiliano Martinez has been training again, less than three weeks on from the fractured jaw he suffered in the win over Manchester United, and could be in contention to return (Evening Standard) (Sports Mole) (We Ain't Got No History) (Football.London). Joao Pedro remains a doubt after missing the last three games, while Maxence Lacroix and Jorrel Hato are also part of the fitness picture Alonso will need to assess (Evening Standard) (Sports Mole). Jordan Henderson, who sat out the United win through illness, is another one Alonso is expected to give an update on, with Romeo Lavia having impressed as his replacement and pushing a case to keep his place (Evening Standard). Football.London also reports a fresh concern after another player missed training this week (Football.London).
Away from team news, Liam Rosenior has spoken out at length about his short spell in charge at Stamford Bridge, insisting "I'm not a joke" and claiming his exit after just over 100 days had "nothing to do with football" (Evening Standard) (The Sun) (Sports Mole) (Sports Mole). He's also pointed to an incident involving Alejandro Garnacho as part of his side of the story (Football.London).
On the women's and development side of things, new signing Marco Palestra has been honest about his start in English football, admitting he need[s] to improve (Evening Standard). Elsewhere, Chelsea fans have been asked to get behind Xabi Alonso for the Premier League Manager of the Month award and goalkeeper Mike Penders for Save of the Month (ChelseaFC.com) (ChelseaFC.com). There's also an England angle, with medical checks carried out on Cole Palmer as Thomas Tuchel considers whether to call him up (Evening Standard).
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
