Ameobi opined that the resignation of the club’s director of football, Joe Kinnear, won’t distract the Toons from their preparations for the Blues, insisting the players are focused on bouncing back in the Premier League
Browsing: Chelsea
More damagingly, the home side, with their unblemished home record to defend, were without South American firecrackers, Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero, and the bang in form French ace, Samir Nasri
The draw means Manchester City and Chelsea can overtake the Premier League leaders if they win their fixtures on Wednesday but Wenger, whose side arrived late due to congestion around the stadium, refused to regard the draw as a missed opportunity
If Chelsea’s visit to the Etihad Stadium is the outstanding tie of the round, the draw threw up a second meeting of comparable magnitude, with Arsenal welcoming Liverpool
The background to the Mata deal is a case study about how complicated and sensitive these big-money arrangements can be, and an insight into the high influence of agents in the modern business
The England striker has been trusted with transfer-market information and kept in the loop about possible signings in a move that acknowledges his importance to the club and a recognition, at the highest level within Old Trafford, that a player of Rooney’s stature deserves to know whether a team who have been struggling all season have the financial muscle and ambition to put it right
With his options at parent club, Moses would have wanted to use his year at Liverpool as a chance to show he can shine at a big club and now he wants to use his strike against the Cherries as motivation to do just that
Mohamed Salah joins from Swiss champions, FC Basel, for a fee in the region of £11 million, which makes him the most expensive Egyptian player of all time
Ten-time winners and current Premier League pacesetters, Arsenal, were paired with Liverpool after their victories over Coventry and Bournemouth respectively
Liverpool cruise past their opponents with their goals coming from a likely and a less likely source, their second from Daniel Sturridge but their opener from Victor Moses, a player who had scored only once all season prior to Saturday
Essien had fallen down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge this season and has been linked with a move to Italy these past few weeks
The Arsenal manager expressed his surprise that Chelsea should do business with a Premier League rival, albeit one that is flagging this season, and he warned his Stamford Bridge counterpart, José Mourinho, that he could live to regret the decision in the longer term
Salah has been a rumoured transfer target for Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool side during the January transfer window, although they have been usurped
Even in a ridiculously bad shoot-out, De Gea’s save from Adam Johnson meant Sunderland had only scored twice
A few things are clear: Chelsea and United are close to agreeing a £40m deal for Mata, the playmaker whom José Mourinho just does not fancy. What is indisputable is that the Spaniard can finish
There is an instinctive reluctance at Stamford Bridge to lose their player of the season from each of his two full campaigns at the club, sentiment expressed publicly by Mourinho over recent weeks when the manager has been asked about Mata’s immediate future
Mata, Chelsea’s player of the season in each of his two full campaigns with the club, has lost his integral role under José Mourinho this term and has found himself limited to 11 Premier League starts to date
United would have looked to get back into the match early in the second-half but the game was put well and truly out of their reach as Eto’o helped himself to his third just minutes after the re-start
Rooney is expected back at United’s Carrington training base on Friday following his break in Egypt
“It’s been an amazing journey. I’ve enjoyed every bit of it,” he told the club’s official website. “I’ve worked with some great people, great players from when I came to the ones that are here now. They’ve all been brilliant