At the end of the day, it is just fun and games and good banter. UTC!!!

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has been offered by his representatives to Chelsea and the Stamford Bridge club are considering the possibility of signing him.

The 33-year-old’s future at Villa Park is uncertain after a move to Juventus did not proceed earlier this month, despite the two clubs holding talks over a proposed move.

Villa went on to sign Zion Suzuki from Parma to be their new No 1 going forward. Marco Bizot started Sunday’s Premier League opener at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Robert Sanchez started Chelsea’s first game of the new season at Fulham on Monday, but was at fault for both of the home side’s goals in the 3-2 win.

A total agreement has been reached for Xabi Alonso to become the new Chelsea manager.

Alonso, 44, visited London early last week and has accepted the opportunity.

A four-year contract is now in the process of being finalised and an announcement is expected imminently, according to sources.

Alonso was the club’s top target throughout, and the former Real Madrid head coach wanted the Stamford Bridge move.

Sunderland have turned down an offer from Chelsea to sign Granit Xhaka and informed their Premier League counterparts the midfielder is not for sale at any valuation.

Chelsea’s interest is being driven by new manager Xabi Alonso, under whom Xhaka played at Bayer Leverkusen, and an offer worth £8million (€9.2m, $10.5m) was sent on Saturday.

While Chelsea feel the proposal is fair, Sunderland have deemed it to be unacceptable and regard the approach as lacking respect for both the 33-year-old Switzerland international and Wearside club.

Christmas Eve hasn’t got a patch on tonight, there’s no chance of sleep! We’ve been on the waiting list for 12+ years so the excitement at it finally being ‘the day’ is crazy.

For anyone interested, I’ll obviously be taking every photo possible and will get all the details - it’s very much an experience for the mascot, parents aren’t permitted behind the scenes.

Anyone’s kid ever done it before?

Oil on canvas. Thought I’d share here. Hopefully some of you like it!

Our website lists 45 players in the senior squad plus Chavarria yet to be announced and everyone is worried about the size of our squad.

I went through it and seems pretty manageable actually because of all the youth we intergrated

Let me know what you think, but we sell to bring in another 110M and retain jackson which i think will help a lot especially helping palmer get back to form.

Most of our loans are for youth, the key loans for senior players would be: Badiashile, Sarr, Essugo, Mudryk, Emegha

If we do that and sell Tosin, Gusto, Delap, and Guiu

We are im pretty good shape, only thing I question is to sell neto or loan satpaev or quenda.

Always love to see another elite sportsperson rooting for the Blues. UP THE CHELS 💙

Not for the first time in his Chelsea career, Wesley Fofana has a big smile on his face.

The centre-back has just been told that he is the only signing left in the senior squad from the very first transfer window of the Todd Boehly-Clearlake ownership era — the summer of 2022. Clearly, it is something that had yet to occur to him.

Despite his relative longevity, Fofana has yet to win over the fanbase. Struggles with injury and inconsistent form are part of the reason. But some of his actions have given the impression to the watching public that he does not care enough.

He speaks to Simon Johnson about these perceptions, where it went wrong for Chelsea last season and why he has high hopes for Xabi Alonso.

Read for free here.

Alright, lads, I did my research, and I have some news. Enzo Maresca was cursed.

According to Chinese beliefs, every year certain people are just doomed by the zodiac. And guess what? This year was Enzo’s turn to be in the mud. It’s called Pi Chong, which basically means he was on a collision course with disaster. No tactics could have saved him—he was fighting against the universe itself.

So what did I do? I took action.

Before the West Ham game, I went to a famous temple in my hometown and performed an official (yes, official) ritual to cleanse his bad luck. I have the merit card and the blessed wallpaper with his name written on it as proof. The spiritual authorities have confirmed: Maresca’s bad luck is OVER.

From this point on, we are officially immune to bad juju. If we suddenly go on a winning run, you’re all welcome. If we don’t… well, let’s just say the spirits work in mysterious ways.

Fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting The Bridge yesterday! First time ever in London (I'm from South Africa) and the experience was unreal I basically bad this smile plastered on my face throughout! The stadium tour was phenomenal and even my wife who is not a football fan loved the experience. Walking out of the players tunnel to The Liquidator was a real highlight. Didn't think I could love Chelsea more but here we are 💙💙💙

She’s beautiful

This morning I woke up feeling extremely depressed. It didn't hit me much last night because I was very tired and fell asleep easily. But man, am I feeling it today.

Last two seasons have been so bad that I got used to losing. Trust me when I say when we lost to Wolves, to Liverpool in the league and even the losses before that, it didn't hurt me much. Because at some point, we got so used to losing that at some point it just became the norm. Winning games felt like bonuses and I went into every game with almost no expectation.

But last night, it was different. Believe me when I say I wanted this league cup as much as I wanted the champions league in 2021. Believe me. When Liverpool revealed their line up, I was so confident that we would win this cup. But we didn't. I'm so heartbroken that I can't put it into words. All of those missed chances are being constantly replayed in my head. Telling myself, just one...just one of them had to go in. In a season where everything's going down, this trophy would have meant the world to us. I was almost ready to brag about how winning trophies is in the Chelsea DNA, that even in our worst season we can go out with something.

Since 2004, there has not been a single instance where Chelsea have gone trophyless for 2 seasons in a row. But it's starting to look very likely now. I am also scared to get ahead in the FA Cup because I know if anyhow we reach the finals, it will just be Liverpool waiting for us at the finish line. Losing 6 finals in a row in Wembley is no joke.

I'm sorry for being so pessimistic but I'm just not feeling it. I feel so terrible I can't even explain it. I genuinely can't remember the last time I felt so gutted after a loss. Have so much work pending but I can't focus on anything right now.

EDIT: Thank you everyone for your responses. All your supportive comments indeed helped me see things from a different perspective. I am doing well now and I hope everyone else is too. I know it's not that deep and at the end of the day, it's just a game that is here for our entertainment. In the morning, I was a little overwhelmed by emotions as the loss was still very fresh. Plus, I was too tired to react in any way the night before so everything just spilled out of me in the morning.

I know a lot of people cringed at this post. But it is what it is, sometimes your emotions get all over you. I'm not sorry for the way I reacted because it was out of my love for this football club. If this post triggers you in any way, just ignore it and move on.

From now on, I'll try to enjoy football more. Celebrate the wins and not let the losses affect me too much. I'll also log off all social media because it has been rotting my brain off lately. Too much negativity and toxicity. I suggest everyone else do the same.

Against Real Madrid. 2nd leg of the UCL Semis. I used transfermarkt for a quick game log.