Chelsea boss Pochettino receives big boost for Arsenal match

Reaction from The Pride of London as Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino supposedly receives a big boost for the Arsenal match. Will Reece James return for the important clash?

Even though the impressive Arsenal sit joint-first in the Premier League, the Blues will be more confident of taking points from the Gunners at the moment. And their chance of getting something from the game may have been raised further, according to this news:

"The Blues have a number of concerns heading into the game, but captain Reece James does not appear one of them with The Athletic reporting he is expected to return from his two-month absence this weekend.football.london"

Barcelona interested in up-and-coming Chelsea player

PoL presumed that this season could perhaps be Ian Maatsen’s breakout one. That judgement followed a successful loan spell with Vincent Kompany’s Burnley, along with a rather eye-catching preseason run with the senior Blues side. Although, ‘Poch’ went in another direction in the leftback or wingback role, well several directions really.

First of all, Ben Chilwell pretty much cemented himself in the position, as expected. But injury set him back so Levi Colwill came into a four-man defence. Marc Cucurella hasn’t really had his chance on the left, but has made inroads within the boss’s plans as an inverted rightback. Maybe the Argentine manager considers Maatsen too forward-thinking, unless there is a three-centreback system in place of course.

But don’t worry, it appears as though the Netherlands Under-21s man is still valued at Stamford Bridge, in spite of only featuring for 83 minutes of English top-flight football this term. Maatsen is so rated, we hear, that the mighty Barcelona may have him on their radar. Not that Barca can push the west London club around. Yet they may be able to pounce for the 21-year-old anyway.

Apparently Maatsen’s CFC contract ends in July 2024. This naturally means Chelsea will want to extend the agreement. If the capital team cannot do so, Barca would hypothetically be permitted to speak to the player in January of that year.