In fact, my colleague on this site put out an exclusive yesterday suggesting that there is actually substance to the noise around Chelsea making enquiries to sign Alessandro Bastoni from Inter Milan ...

Chelsea have just drawn 0-0 with Crystal Palace at home, a little bit of a disappointing start to the season after so much promise in the friendly games last week.

The chequebooker is said to be “closed for centrebacks”.

However, they will be more encouraged by the figure of 1.81 expected goals (xG), which was superior to Palace's 1.07, and was the Blues' highest xG figure without scoring in a league match in 2025.

The biggest moment of the game came when Chelsea were handed a let-off in the 13th minute, when Eberechi Eze thumped a free kick into the goal, only for it to be ruled out.