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

Deschamps asks Lampard to return favour

According to ESPN.com, Didier Deschamps has suggested Frank Lampard could play Olivier Giroud more often in exchange for the France manager agreeing to leave out N’Golo Kante from last month's Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Speaking after he had named both Kante and Giroud in his squad to face Iceland and Turkey, Deschamps revealed he spoke to Lampard last month when Kante was recovering from injury.

‘Frank rang to ask me not to pick N'Golo for last month's matches,’ said the former Chelsea midfielder.

‘Fine, but sometimes it should go the other way too... I have two important matches coming up! Maybe I should ask him to play Olivier more!’

Giroud has missed matches this month as a result of illness and the good form of Tammy Abraham but Deschamps hopes to see the veteran striker getting more playing time with the Blues.

‘I do not want to take away from what Olivier has done with us,’ he added. ‘He has put in some very good performances, not to mention that he is third-best active French scorer. However, I hope his situation develops.

‘Beyond his efficiency with us, it is a matter of rhythm too. He has already gone through spells where he has played less, but now it is not sufficient physically -- he cannot be at his best.’

On his part, Giroud admitted in an interview with L’Equipe that he fully understands Lampard’s decision to pick Abraham ahead of himself.

'At this moment, Tammy is walking on water. Listen, it's hard to drop a striker when he's successful,’ said Giroud, as reported by the Daily Mail.

'I am patient. I work in training. You have to keep a good state of mind. We have a lot of games to play.'

Why Tomori switched from Canada to England

In the wake of Fikayo Tomori’s first call-up to England’s senior side on Thursday, the Daily Mail traced how the Chelsea youngster went from Canada’s Under-20 side to playing for the Three Lions.

According to the paper, the Calgary-born defender grabbed the attention of the Football Association after he played a big role in Canada’s victory against England in an Under-20 friendly in Doncaster three years ago.

‘England new boy Fikayo Tomori's performance in shackling Marcus Rashford while playing for Canada Under- 20s in 2016 persuaded Football Association chiefs to target the Chelsea defender,’ wrote the paper..‘It was Tomori's faultless display against England's Under-20s, in a team that also included Harry Winks, Angus Gunn and Mason Holgate, in Canada's 2-1 win at the Keepmoat Stadium in March 2016 that alerted coaches to his talent.

‘His job in marking Rashford convinced the FA to apply for his registration to be converted so he could play for England. He was named in England's Under-19 squad two months later.’

Tomori, who was born in Canada but moved to England as a toddler, went on to help England to win the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2017.

Morris keeping tabs on Chelsea Under-8s

Speaking on TalkSport, Glen Johnson spoke of the degree to which Chelsea are monitoring the progress of our young Academy products, with assistant manager Jody Morris even watching the club’s Under-8 team.

The former Chelsea full-back has a son playing in the Academy and he revealed Morris has been having a look at the club’s young stars in action.

‘Maybe there’s more out there and if they’re given a chance, they’ll take it with both hands,’ said Johnson on the same day Academy products Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount were called up to England’s senior team..‘My young one is at Chelsea’s academy and we see Jody Morris over there, it’s the Under-8s!

‘Them boys are well off in terms of the timeline, but they’re looking at all of the age groups and building bridges up to the first team.

‘Normally the first team is miles away from the academy and none of the kids will ever get an opportunity.’