Kaptein's strike gets Chelsea Women off the mark
Wieke Kaptein scored the only goal as Chelsea Women beat Austria Wien 1–0 in their Women's Champions League opener (4) (6) (8). One hard shot from distance, and that was the game (4). It was far from comfortable (8).
Sonia Bompastor did not pretend otherwise. "Probably the performance is not the one we wanted to have," she said. "We could have controlled the game a little bit better in terms of scoring a second goal to kill the opposition's hope, but sometimes you need to focus on what is most important and tonight that was to win and to take the three points from the game" (1).
Chelsea move on from Camara, and have two Premier League names in mind
Lamine Camara is no longer the plan. Chelsea have dropped their interest in the Monaco midfielder and turned to two Premier League options (2) (3) (16). Alex Scott at Bournemouth and Adam Wharton at Crystal Palace are the names (2) (3). Those talks are for the January window (2).
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Chelsea also passed on an emergency option to sign a former Liverpool player (2).
Koné would now cost around €100m
Chelsea wanted Manu Koné in the summer. That move collapsed, and the Roma midfielder's value has climbed towards €100m (9). Going back for him now costs far more than it would have.
Camarda back on the radar
Chelsea have reignited their interest in AC Milan striker Francesco Camarda (5). He is one of Italy's most highly rated young forwards (5).
Two more names being watched
Chelsea are tracking Feyenoord midfielder Gjivai Zechiël, with Liverpool and Aston Villa also in (14). Further back, Real Sociedad centre-back Jon Martin is on a four-club list that includes Real Madrid, Arsenal and Liverpool (15).
João Pedro explains the new deal
João Pedro has signed a new contract at Chelsea and explained why in a post on LinkedIn (1). He talked about the project the club is building (1).
Fan reactions
Chelsea Women's opener drew a straightforward, respectful reception on r/soccer, with Kaptein's eleventh-minute winner the main talking point (match thread). One post resurfaced the 2014 Guardian story on Mohamed Salah's move to Chelsea, framed as a lesson for newer Liverpool fans (thread). And a Strasbourg figure gave Liam Rosenior both barrels over his mid-season exit and his return to the stands (thread).
