These stories are samples pulled from external media sources. They do not represent the views or position of Chelsea Football Club.

Blues linked with Raphinha

Chelsea have joined the growing number of clubs being linked with a move to sign Leeds United’s Brazilian international Raphinha.

The 24-year-old’s three goals in seven Premier League appearances this season have caught the eye and he impressed again alongside Thiago Silva for Brazil during the recent international break.

It is claimed on Team Talk that the Blues have joined a growing list of top clubs showing an interest in Raphinha, with Manchester United and Liverpool also named in the report.

It is also suggested that the fact his agent Deco spent two seasons as a player at Stamford Bridge himself, helping the club win our first Premier League and FA Cup Double in 2009/10, could work in Chelsea’s favour were we to make a bid.

However, in addition to likely competition from other clubs, as Deco confirmed Liverpool showed an interest in the last transfer window, the agent also suggested any bid would need to be in excess of the £28.8m value predicted by the Transfermarkt website.

‘He’s young, he has many challenges ahead,’ said Deco. ‘There are certainly several clubs that like him, and Liverpool do like him. There were enquiries, but nothing official. Leeds wanted to keep him for another season.

‘To be honest, I don’t understand Transfermakt’s valuations. I think now it should go up.’

Ferdinand praises Chelsea duo

Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand was full of praise for the performances of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Edouard Mendy on his Five YouTube channel.

He seemed particularly impressed with the performance of our midfielder in the new deeper role he was given by Thomas Tuchel in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Brentford, insisting he would like to see him there more often in the future.

‘Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the deep-lying position was magnificent,’ said Ferdinand. ‘I want to see him there regularly.’

However, it was Mendy he reserved his best praise for, with Ferdinand explaining that as a former centre-back he knows how much confidence a goalkeeper like him can give to his team-mates.

‘Mendy was unreal,’ he added. ‘A goalkeeper that will instil confidence in a back line. You look back and go, “Yeah, my man is protecting us, don’t worry! They breach us, he’s there and they’ve still got another wall to go through”.

‘He’s been tremendous. He can be quiet for the whole game and then he just pulls out that save and that’s concentration. They’re the best goalkeepers.’

Lukaku tops the language league

Romelu Lukaku has managed to impress journalists around Europe without even kicking a ball.

Ahead of tonight’s Champions League tie with Malmo, UEFA provided journalists with a list of the languages spoken by each Chelsea player to help with media interviews around the game and, after one member of the press shared the list on Twitter, Lukaku’s linguistic prowess caught the eye.

A report on Give Me Sport stated: ‘The first thing that immediately stands out is that Lukaku can speak so many languages that they don’t even fit in the box.

‘UEFA’s list reveals he can speak eight languages: French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Flemish and Italian.

‘He can, in fact, speak nine languages. He also speaks Lingala. The fact he can speak nine languages is just remarkable and conveys how intelligent he is.’

Mateo Kovacic also got an honourable mention for sitting second on the list with five languages (Croatian, Spanish, German, Italian and English) listed by UEFA as options for journalists conducting interviews.