Chelsea: FIFA ratings and new numbers and sleeve badges, oh my!

A lot of the talk around Chelsea late this week centered around player FIFA ratings, the new squad numbers and Premier League social changes.

Every new season presents some miscellaneous tidbits that have fans on the edge of their seats, eagerly awaiting announcements. Amongst them is the annual FIFA Top 100 player ratings drop, the official release of Chelsea squad numbers for the upcoming season and changes to the Premier League’s status quo. All three created some buzz this year, so what significant news was announced surrounding the Blues?

EA dropped its perennial game teaser late this week, the ratings reveal of FIFA 21’s Top 100 players. It’s no surprise to anybody that a host of Blues made the list, but who are they and what are their ratings? N’Golo Kante topped the list of Chelsea players at an 88 overall. The Frenchman narrowly missed out on the top 25 (No. 26) and is the 10th Premier League player on the list.

Unfortunately, you have to scroll all the way to No. 67 to find the next Blue, Kai Havertz. Havertz earned an 85 overall, along with his new teammates Hakim Ziyech (No. 72), Timo Werner (No. 74) and Thiago Silva (No. 78). These five round out the Chelsea inclusions on the list, which is a surprise to some given Mateo Kovacic’s constant Player of the Season performances and his current 84 rating. What do you make of the rankings—are some players wrongfully left off, others’ numbers too low?

Speaking of numbers, the Blues also released an exciting graphic of their own on Thursday, the ’20/21 kit listing. There were a plethora of talking points, but most notably, Christian Pulisic takes over the No. 10 shirt following Willian’s departure. The young American made the switch to the No. 10 for the national team a few years ago and there were questions as to whether or not he’d get it this year. After a superb run of form following the restart last season, he’s certainly earned it.

The numbers of new signings were made official today, as well. As expected, Werner takes the No. 11 shirt with Ziyech taking over for Pulisic as No. 22. Fikayo Tomori was kind enough to grant Havertz the No. 29 kit as he switches to No. 14. Following Michy Batshuayi’s departure on loan, young Billy Gilmour gets his first big boy number, 23. Rounding out the changes are Ben Chilwell (No. 21) and Thiago Silva (No. 6). However, keep an eye on the vacant No. 16, it may be occupied in the coming days.

Lastly—and most importantly—the Premier League announced its plan for continued support of social reforms around the world. At a meeting of the Premier League club captains earlier in the week, the group decided to continue to bring awareness to the issues surrounding race plaguing our society everywhere, every day.

All 20 clubs will wear ‘No room for racism’ badges on their right sleeves (underneath the Premier League badge) for the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign. This comes after players wore ‘Black Lives Matter’ on the back of their kits at the beginning of the restart and numerous other patches throughout the end of the season. The Premier League also announced it supports the players kneeling before each match amongst other forms of protest aimed to rid football of discrimination.

What’re your thoughts on these exciting new updates going forward? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!