Blues target City winger.
New Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas is lining up a surprise swoop for Manchester City winger Adam Johnson, talkSPORT reports.
Villas-Boas is said to be a keen admirer of the 24-year-old winger and could make a bid before the start of the season. Johnson featured in 31 Premier League games for City last season, but 16 of those came from the substitutes bench and sparked fears that City boss Roberto Mancini did not believe that the former Middlesbrough man was a first choice.
Chelsea are looking to bring in width and pace to supply strikers Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres with chances next season. Johnson could be open to the switch for regular first team football, but Mancini would be looking for a potential replacement first before making any form of negotiations for the winger to leave Eastlands.
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Terry: Torres no Sheva.
Chelsea captain John Terry has dismissed any fears that Fernando Torres could be another Andriy Shevchenko and disappoint at the Blues, Sky Sports reports.
Shevchenko arrived for £30m in 2006 from Italian giants AC Milan, but injury and lack of form restricted his appearances and he only scored nine league goals before moving back to Milan in 2008. Torres has only scored one goal so far in his Chelsea striker and failed to show the form that he previously had at Liverpool. Terry feels that Torres will step up this season and prove his £50m price tag.
The 30-year-old skipper said: ‘That kind of talk is unfair to Nando. When he started last season with Liverpool, he was very open about the injury he picked up at the World Cup. Naturally, there is pressure on him, but he can deal with it. He is one of the best strikers in the world.’
Courtois Madrid move.
New Chelsea signing Thibaut Courtois will spend next season on loan at Atletico Madrid to gain more experience in top flight football, uefa.com reports.
The Blues paid £7.8m to Belgian side KRC Genk for the 19 year old goalkeeper, who conceded just 32 goals in Genk’s championship winning campaign last season. The Belgian goalkeeper of the year is delighted with the chance to join Chelsea, but Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas wants Courtois to gain more experience in the Europa League with Atletico before making his Chelsea debut.
Courtois’ form last season attracted attention from a whole host of European clubs, but the Belgian chose Chelsea because he believed it ‘will be a wonderful opportunity to play for one of the best teams in the world’. Courtois replaces David De Gea in the Atletico goal after the Spanish under 21’s summer transfer to Premier League champions Manchester United.
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