Chelsea fans are very excited about the prospect of Aleksandr Golovin arriving at Stamford Bridge this summer. According to the Sun, the Blues are eager to tie him down to a contract at Chelsea, and it’s easy to see why.

He has bags of potential and class, and his future is undeniably very bright.

The addition of the young Russian star to the Blues’ squad wouldn’t be good news for everyone though.

Breaking into the first team at Stamford Bridge from the youth ranks is already notoriously difficult, as the small army of talented young payers the club currently have out on loan across Europe can attest to. 

In Golovin, Chelsea would be bringing one of football’s brightest young talents in, but they may have to accept losing a couple themselves as a consequence. 

Here are two players that may be forced to leave the club if Golovin joins Chelsea this summer…

Mason Mount

19-year-old Englishman Mason Mount spent the 2017/18 season on loan with Vitesse in the Eredivisie. 

Whilst it took him a while to establish himself as a starter in the Netherlands, Mount’s season can only be seen as a success (he won the club’s Player of the Year award). There was even some, admittedly mild, clamouring for him to be included in an England squad for a friendly.

Mount should now be raring to return to Stamford Bridge to stake his claim for a spot in the first team. The potentially imminent arrival of Golovin though could see the English youngster looking elsewhere once more for playing time, on a permanent deal.

The Bundesliga, which has recently taken to nurturing young British talent by providing more first team action than the Premier League can promise, could be attractive to Mount.

Charly Musonda

Like Mason Mount – and countless others – Charly Musonda spent last season on loan from Chelsea. 

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The 21-year-old spent 2017/18 with Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic but struggled for game time. 

He is certainly a talented attacking midfielder, but may now consider making his name in the Chelsea first team, with yet another obstacle in the form of Golovin in his way, a bridge too far. 

It will be an interesting few weeks for him, that’s for sure.

Tamil Nadu, thanks principally to an unbeaten 120 by N Lokesh, were297 for four wickets at stumps on the first day of their three dayKSCA Coca Cola Cup (under-25) tournament in Bangalore on Wednesday.Opting to bat, Tamil Nadu were given a good start with openersRavindra John (69) and SP Lakshmi Kumar (6) putting on 63 runs off20.3 overs. John who dominated the scoring was second out at 102 inthe 32nd over. He faced 110 balls and hit 11 of them to the ropes.Lokesh, who had come in at the fall of the first wicket, added 39 runsfor the second wicket off 11 overs with John. He was then concerned inthree more fruitful partnerships. First with Noorul Riaz (18) he added53 runs for the third wicket off 26 overs. Then with J Harish (36) hewas concerned in a fourth wicket stand of 81 runs off 21 overs. Andfinally, Lokesh and Surendra Doss (38 not out) put on 61 runs for theunbroken fifth wicket off 13.2 overs. By close, Lokesh had batted 270minutes and faced 174 balls, hitting 14 of them to the ropes.

Assured batting from the trio of Keith Dabengwa, Bonaparte Mujuru and Dion Ebrahim, in addition to Chris Mpofu’s match-haul of seven wickets, were the highlights in Matabeleland Tuskers’ seven-wicket win over Mashonaland Eagles at Bulawayo. Asked to bat first by the Eagles, the Tuskers’ top order set up a strong platform to dominate the match. Mujuru and Ebrahim contributed 70s before Dabengwa took centre-stage. His score of 136 included 13 fours and three sixes, and in the company of Charles Coventry, guided his side to an imposing 425 for 8 declared.Despite Prince Masvaure’s 94, the Eagles’ reply was always behind the eight-ball, as a concerted allround effort from the Tuskers’ attack pegged them back. John Nyumbu picked up three wickets, while Mpofu and Ebrahim scalped two apiece to ensure that the Eagles fell just short of avoiding the follow-on. They fared marginally better in the second dig, reaching an even 300 thanks to Ryan Butterworth’s 102, but would be disappointed with the way they collapsed from the strength of 192 for 2. Mpofu was in the thick of action, striking body blows on either side of a promising third-wicket stand between Butterworth and Forster Mutizwa. Mujuru and Ebrahim struck their second fifties of the game to ensure that the victory target of 140 was achieved in the 33rd over.Sean Ervine marked his comeback to the Zimbabwe domestic scene with a grand display that yielded 364 runs as Southern Rocks managed to hold on for a draw against Mid West Rhinos at Masvingo Sports Club, a middle-order wobble late on the fourth day notwithstanding. The Rhinos had their backs against the wall from the outset, as Blessing Mahwire and Tanyaradzwa Munyaradzi reduced them to 56 for 5. Malcolm Waller then put his head down to score a hundred and take his side from dire straits to respectability. A final score of 267 still looked under-par and required a lion-hearted performance from the bowlers. That was exactly what the Rhinos’ attack provided, reducing the Rocks to shambles at 13 for 4. Enter Sean Ervine.In the company of his brother Craig, Sean counterattacked in majestic style. Craig matched Sean shot for shot in the stand of 178 before falling 19 short of a century. There was to be no letting up from Sean though, as he brought up three-figures and then doubled his score in a batting display of rare dominance. After 22 fours and 3 sixes in 274 balls where he had given his side a lead in excess of 100, he was finally run out, the last wicket to fall. The Rhinos had a tough task on hand, and responded in fitting fashion as Innocent Chikunya and Brendan Taylor added 235 for the second wicket to take their side out of the red. Chikunya was the more sedate partner, striking 75 before falling to Tafadzwa Kamungozi, but Taylor was in a zone of his own. Striking at a rate better than a run-a-ball, he carted the bowlers to all corners, his four sixes and 24 fours standing testimony to the havoc he wreaked. He brought up the second 200 of the match, before falling to the man who had scored the first one. The Rhinos declared at 443 for 5, setting a sporting target of 337 for the Rocks.Early wickets fell again – two on this occasion – leaving Sean to do the repair-work for the second time in the match. And he responded in earnest yet again. Steve Marillier helped him add 131 for the third wicket and raise visions of a stunning chase. The Rocks were then set back by the losses of Marillier and Craig in quick succession, but Sean kept them in the hunt with another audacious display. Tendai Chisoro supported him, as he blasted 17 fours and a six to bring up his second three-figure score for the match. Graeme Cremer sparked a late collapse where three wickets fell for nine runs, prompting Sean to adopt a safety-first approach. His dismissal in the dying stages, for 160, put paid to hopes of a result in what had been a game of fluctuating fortunes.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has called for a complete rethink of Australia’s cricket system after the team’s crushing defeat in the ongoing Investec Ashes series in England. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Chappell said Australia were now worse off than they were before the Argus review of 2011, and he has forecast dark days ahead due to the lack of batting depth in the domestic system.The retirement of Michael Clarke and likely departure of Chris Rogers will leave Australia needing at least two new batsmen in their top six after this series, but their replacements are far from obvious. Chappell said the fact that so many of Australia’s new Test batsmen in recent years were older – including Rogers, Adam Voges, Ed Cowan, George Bailey and Rob Quiney – was evidence of a failing system.”Normally you’d be highly critical of the selection panel for doing that, but you have to have sympathy for the selection panel, because what they would obviously like is a lot of young players churning out runs regularly in first-class cricket, and sadly that’s just not happening,” Chappell said. “That to me is where the major concern is.”I think there are some guys there with a lot of skill. But whether they would do any better against the moving ball than what we’ve seen lately – you wouldn’t want to be betting your house on it.”The Argus review was, in my opinion, from the time it was done, a complete waste of time. We’re now back in the same boat. In fact I think we’re behind the eight-ball because what they did was they added another layer of management. The system is wrong, the Argus report was a waste of time.”Australia’s major failures in recent years have come when the ball has moved, either in spinning conditions or against seam and swing. Chappell said during his playing days, batsmen were exposed to enough variety in conditions during Sheffield Shield cricket that they had confidence in their techniques when asked to tour countries such as England or India, which he believes does not happen now.”Young players are going to be playing with an IPL contract in mind,” Chappell said. “If I can show that I’m a terrific hitter of the ball and I can score at eight an over, that could get me a big IPL contract. So the question you’ve got to ask yourself is, are they developing techniques that make it easier to play in that manner, to score at eight and ten runs an over and be terrific hitters?”Every time I hear people say the batting is better now, I nearly throw up, because the batting is not better. The hitting is better, but the batting is not better. We’ve seen that with Australia. The art of survival is on the way out fast. I don’t blame the young guys.”But this is what the officials, the administrators, have got to work out – is that going to help you in Test cricket? And the answer is no, not unless you have absolutely flat pitches in Test cricket, which I’m not sure we want.”Chappell said one key to improving Australian cricket would be to boost the numbers of 17- and 18-year-olds playing Sheffield Shield cricket and honing their games at that level. However, he felt it could be years before Australian cricket would begin to reap the rewards and in the meantime, the new captain Steven Smith would face some serious challenges with his Test team.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:31

England’s excellent summer continues

In years to come, people will look at the scorecard of this match and presume that Ben Stokes – with modest bowling figures and a peripheral figure with the bat – played nothing more than a supporting role in this game.But Stokes, with an outstanding catch and a nerveless final over, played a key part in an England victory that continues a remarkable summer that promised little more than pain and has delivered more promise and encouragement than even the most optimistic supporters could have anticipated.After a grim 2014 when they lost nine of their 12 T20Is, including a wretched World T20 campaign, new-look England have now won three in a row and have defeated the No. 2 ranked side. Their limited-overs resurgence, a development that looked most unlikely when they were knocked out of the World Cup at the first hurdle only a few months ago, continues.More importantly, with players such as Stokes involved, they appear to be developing into a team that relishes pressure moments. While some previous England sides have appeared to wilt in the spotlight, here they held their nerve under pressure to secure a five-run victory.With seven overs to go, it appeared Australia were cruising. Glenn Maxwell and Steven Smith, with his maiden T20I half-century, had added 112 for the third-wicket and the previous four overs had cost 13, 10, 14 and 14 respectively.But then Maxwell attempted to pull Moeen Ali’s first ball, little more than a dragged-down long-hop really, for six over mid-wicket only to see Stokes, dashing round from long-on, leap to his right and cling on to an outstanding catch.It was the moment that changed the game. Reece Topley, impressively calm for a 21-year-old on international debut, bowled Mitchell Marsh with a nicely disguised slower-ball delivered out of the back of the hand before Smith miss-hit to mid-on. Nerves spread through the Australian line-up and with Stokes delivering a fine final over – Australia could manage just six of the 12 runs they required for victory from it – they lost five wickets for 16 runs in the final 14 balls of the innings.Stokes is not the only one in this new-look England side that seems to relish the big occasion. His captain, Eoin Morgan, has struggled so badly in county cricket that it was decided to rest him for a month prior to this matchBut here, coming to the wicket with his side struggling to make progress against Australia’s impressive pace attack, he looked a high-class T20 player in thrashing 74 from just 39 balls. It was an innings that largely vindicated his decision to rest.”I’ve been practising for the last 10 days and it’s been really good,” he said. “I feel fresh mentally and physically.”I’ve never asked for a break before. It had been 11-months without one and, if I’d known I’d be so busy in October, I’d have asked for one before. It’s worked out well.”With Moeen, who made a career-best T20I score of 72 not out and was given his first international Man of the Match award, Morgan added 135 in 12.2 overs for the third-wicket – England’s fourth highest T20I partnership – to help them recover from a lacklustre start that yielded only 27 runs and two wickets from the Powerplay.At that stage, the Australian attack looked daunting. Pat Cummins, generating fierce speed (he averaged 91 mph), beat Alex Hales for pace with a full toss and then had Jason Roy taken at mid-off as he tried to hit over the top.But life became easier once the support bowlers were introduced into the attack immediately after the Powerplay. Moeen, unhurried and elegant, drove Marsh’s first delivery over extra cover for four and then took 13 off Marcus Stoinis first over in international cricket.Stoinis’ was a somewhat puzzling selection. Having only played nine T20 games in his entire career – he was injured for the last Big Bash season – and delivered just five overs, his attempt to bounce Moeen was greeted by a pulled six, while the next delivery was dragged over mid-wicket for four more. He was withdrawn from the attack after the over and not seen again.Morgan, while less elegant than Moeen, was every bit as effective. Skipping down the wicket to Shane Watson, he clubbed one six – with both feet off the ground – over the bowler’s head for six, before taking three sixes of the bowler in his next over: anything on a good length hit over the top; anything short clubbed over mid-wicket. With Moeen taking a liking to the sedate legspin of Cameron Boyce, who is not part of the one-day squad, the pair added 41 in two overs at one stage.By the time Cummins was reintroduced into the attack, Morgan was in full flow. A slower ball full toss was carved for one six before the next delivery, a short ball, was pulled for six more.While the impressive Nathan Coulter-Nile ended Morgan’s fun, Jos Buttler contributed 11 from four balls and, while England could managed only one more boundary from the final 16 balls of their innings, the target they set – 183 to win – had only been achieved once by Australia (against Pakistan in the memorable World T20 semi-final in 2010) in their T20I history.Still, Morgan admitted he was “disappointed we didn’t get 200” and “disappointed we didn’t finish better.”Australia lost both openers early. David Warner was caught at third-man off the leading edge, again attempting to punch a short ball into the leg side, before Watson, to the obvious amusement of the England team, was bowled after the ball trickled back on to his stumps from a defensive shot and he missed his attempt to kick it away: an ironic end given how many times he has been dismissed due to his feetHowever, Smith, batting in the top three for the first time in T20Is, looked imperious on a surface offering the bowlers little lateral movement and Maxwell demonstrated a maturity to complement his talent with a well-paced 44.It was hard to believe that Smith’s average in his previous 21 T20Is was just 14 as he drove Steven Finn for one glorious six and then swung him for another vast one into the pavilion.Stokes’ catch ended the partnership, though, and with Smith lacking support and England proving the calmer side, Australia’s chase fell away.”Moeen and Morgan got it over the fence quite a bit which is what you need,” Smith said. “And our bowlers didn’t execute as well as they would have liked. England have played some very good ODI cricket of late.”Stoinis will be better for the run – everyone is nervous in their first game – and Boyce bowled well in Dubai, where the conditions will be similar to the World T20 in India. It was quite hard going for him, but he will learn and continue to get better.”

Medium-pacer L Balaji has been named bowling coach and player for Tamil Nadu for the 2015-16 domestic season. Balaji, who was contemplating retirement after last season, has been roped in to play a mentoring role to the team’s seamers. TNCA sources said his vast experience would prove useful for a young bowling attack.Balaji said he accepted the role because it gave him a “sense of direction in his next chapter.””I felt I can definitely contribute on the subject. I have played enough to know how to help the fast bowlers, from my state especially. Whatever role I am going to take, it’s going to be a stepping stone and I am also learning.”Balaji, 33, did not play all the Ranji Trophy games in 2014-15 when Tamil Nadu reached the final, picking up 15 wickets in eight matches. While he is likely to be used in a similarly sparing manner this season on pitches that assist seam bowling, there is also a possibility he might not play at all. Balaji has had some game time recently, turning out for India Cements in the pre-season Moin-ud-Dowla tournament and picking up three wickets in the final against hosts Hyderabad.Balaji cited the examples of Justin Langer, Ryan Harris, Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid as players who performed mentoring roles even while playing competitive cricket. “As a current player you can bring equal chemistry to the players playing alongside you.”This is just a role that has been given, but I have been having a good rapport with these youngsters and pass on my experience from the time I was captain. [But, the] fast-bowling department hasn’t really blossomed, hasn’t really lived up to the expectation in the past 10 or 15 years, so we want to create a good environment for newcomers.”The Tamil Nadu team for their first three Ranji Trophy matches was also announced at Tuesday’s executive committee meeting of the TNCA, with Abhinav Mukund being retained as captain and B Indrajith his deputy.RI Palani was appointed Tamil Nadu’s cricket manager and M Sanjay, who served as WV Raman’s assistant last year, was named coach. The decision ended speculation surrounding the coaching staff after Raman’s contract was not extended. While Palani will decide team composition and strategy, Balaji and Sanjay will be in charge of organising practice sessions.Palani, who is also the joint secretary of the TNCA, was Tamil Nadu’s cricket manager during the 2011-12 season, when they were finalists. “They offered me [the job] one month back,” Palani told ESPNcricinfo. “I took time. There were two reasons. I was not watching too much cricket for a while, so I wanted to know if I would be able to do justice, so that’s why I went with the team to the Moin-ud-Dowla tournament. I had my hernia operation recently as well, so I had to see if my recovery was complete.”I also wanted to check with my sister if she could take care of my father in my absence. Also, I was waiting for an official offer [from the TNCA] which I got only today.”For more than a month, there had been confusion surrounding Raman’s position. It began immediately after he reportedly expressed his interest in coaching the TNCA academy. “Raman didn’t want to continue initially as the state coach and was interested in becoming a match referee,” a TNCA official said. “After that when he said he wanted to come back to coach Tamil Nadu, the TNCA was not interested because members felt he didn’t have the same motivation.”The dominant theory on why Tamil Nadu have not opted for a new head coach is that prospective candidates demanded huge sums as remuneration. “The people that the TNCA approached were quoting too much,” a TNCA insider said. “Also not a lot of people were coming forward from outside Tamil Nadu. [Former Karnataka and India batsman] Sujith Somasundar was discussed, but not much came of it. Nothing went to the final stage.”Another TNCA source said that while money was an issue, they didn’t want to change the core group. “[Apart from Raman], the support staff hasn’t changed. It’s a young team that has been doing well and I feel we didn’t want to disturb it. The dynamics of the new person will definitely be different. We also didn’t get anyone in that time frame.”Tamil Nadu play their opening game against Baroda on October 1 in Chennai.Squad for first game: Abhinav Mukund (capt), B Aparajith, K Bharath Shankar, B Indrajith, Vijay Shankar, R Prasanna, Dinesh Karthik, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil Shah, DT Chandrasekar, Aswin Crist, L Vignesh, M Mohammad, J Kousik

Bangladesh have opted to retain the squad that played the Test series against South Africa for the upcoming first Test against Australia. The squad also includes left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, who has recovered from a bout of jaundice which he suffered last month.

Rubel doubtful for first Test

A calf muscle strain has put Rubel Hossain in doubt for the first Test against Australia, after suffering the injury on the first day of the three-day game for Bangladesh A against India A in Bangalore on Sunday.
Rubel couldn’t bowl throughout the second day’s play, and there was further bad news for pace bowler, Shafiul Islam, who sustained a hamstring injury. According to the BCB, both Rubel and Shafiul are to be assessed upon returning to Dhaka on September 30.
Rubel, who was named in the 14-man squad to face Australia in the first Test, played his last Test against Pakistan in Khulna, before being rested for the solitary Test against India and benched for the two Tests against South Africa.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced the squad despite the uncertainty surrounding the series. Last week, Cricket Australia chose to delay the team’s scheduled departure on September 28 due to increased security concerns. CA’s chief executive, James Sutherland, cited “recent advice from a range of Australian government sources” that identified potential security risks to Australian interests in Bangladesh.CA’s decision to proceed with the Test series will depend on the outcome of meetings between its security chief Sean Carroll and government and police officials in Bangladesh. It is learnt that security officials who met with Carroll assured fool-proof security for the team and the BCB is also quietly confident of sharing more detailed information that can help ease CA’s concerns.According to the current schedule, the first Test is scheduled between October 9 and 13 in Chittagong, while the second Test will be played in Mirpur from October 17. Australia are also scheduled to play a three-day tour match against the BCB XI in Fatullah before the start of the Test series.Bangladesh squad for the first Test: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal (vice-capt), Imrul Kayes, Jubair Hossain, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Shahid, Mominul Haque, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam

ScorecardOn Wednesday the New Zealanders were trumpeting their superior preparation for the first Test against Australia. On Thursday they failed to take a single wicket against the Cricket Australia XI as Aaron Finch and Ryan Carters batted throughout the day and demoralised the New Zealand bowlers on the first day of their final tour match at Blacktown in Sydney.By stumps, Finch had recorded his maiden first-class double-century and was unbeaten on 214, while Carters had cruised along to 156. The total was 0 for 376, hardly the kind of final warm-up Brendon McCullum wanted for his bowlers a week out from the first Test at the Gabba. It did not help that Tim Southee bowled only three overs before leaving the field with an upset stomach.New Zealand were also without Trent Boult, who had been rested, but the rest of their likely Test bowlers were present and accounted for. By the close of play, McCullum had used nine bowlers as desperation combined with a desire not to overwork the frontline Test bowlers, with Ross Taylor and wicketkeeper BJ Watling the only ones not to roll their arm over.Nothing worked against Finch and Carters, who were only part of the CA XI because they had been overlooked by their states for the current round of Sheffield Shield matches. For Finch especially this was a significant achievement; despite being a key man in Australia’s ODI and T20 teams, he entered this game averaging less than 30 in first-class cricket, and without a first-class hundred in Australia since 2010.Victoria had preferred the uncapped opener Travis Dean to Finch for their Sheffield Shield outing against Queensland at the MCG, but there can now be no doubt Finch will be part of the next round of Shield cricket. While the state players faced pink balls in preparation for the day-night third Test against New Zealand, Finch showed that his skills can translate from white ball to red ball.He reached his hundred – the fourth of his first-class career – from his 168th delivery and moved on to a double-century from 263 deliveries. By stumps, Finch had struck 18 fours and five sixes, and he had outstanding support all along from Carters. It was the fifth first-class century of Carters’ career, brought up from his 177th delivery. He finished the day with 16 fours.