Injury rules Fabregas out of London derby Marchisio calls time at Juventus
LONDON: Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas will miss today’s Premier League reunion with former club Arsenal due to a leg injury, manager Maurizio Sarri said.
The Spaniard took a knock to his leg near his knee and is expected to resume training with the squad next week.
“Fabregas is out for this match. I hope he’ll be able to feature next week. I’m not sure,” Sarri said. “It’s nothing serious but he has a very unusual injury. He has pain near the knee, not in the knee.”
Sarri also said he was confident midfielder Eden Hazard would stay at the club this season. British and Spanish media reports have linked the Belgium international with a switch to Real Madrid, following in the footsteps of Thibaut Courtois.
The move could still go through as the transfer window for European leagues is open until August 31. However, Sarri assured Chelsea supporters his talisman would stay.
“I’ve spoken with him often but he has never said to me anything about this so I am sure Eden will be with us for this season,” Sarri said.
Ahead of the clash at Stamford Bridge, the Italian backed his counterpart Unai Emery to make Arsenal a force to be reckoned with. The Spaniard suffered a 2-0 defeat by Manchester City in his first League match since succeeding Arsene Wenger.
“He won the Europa
League three times, he won in France with Paris St Germain. Arsenal will be competitive. They will be able to fight for a place in the Champions League,” Sarri said.
Meanwhile, Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne will miss up to three months of action but will not need surgery after scans revealed the full extent of his knee injury, the club said.
De Bruyne, who came on as a substitute in City’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal in their first league match of the season last weekend, suffered the injury in training this week.
“Manchester City can confirm Kevin De Bruyne has suffered a lateral collateral ligament lesion in his right knee,” the club said in a statement.
“No surgery is required and the midfielder is expected to be out for around three months.”
De Bruyne scored eight goals and provided 16 assists as City won the league title with a record-breaking 100 points last season.
The 27-year-old Belgium international helped his country progress to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia.
City take on Huddersfield Town tomorrow.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho yesterday dismissed talk of a fallout with Paul Pogba, saying that he “couldn’t be happier” with the World Cup-winning France midfielder.
Pogba scored in United’s
2-1 opening day League win over Leicester City last week but appeared to fuel speculation about his future at the club afterwards by saying he would be punished if he said the wrong thing.
The 25-year-old, who joined United in 2016 for £89.3 million, has been linked with a big-money move to Barcelona following a series of apparent rifts with Mourinho.
“The truth is, we’ve been together for two years and a couple of weeks and I’ve never been so happy with him as I’m now,” Mourinho said ahead of tomorrow’s league trip to Brighton. – Reuters
FIXTURES
Today: Cardiff v Newcastle (1.30pm SA time); Everton v Southampton, Leicester v Wolves, Tottenham v Fulham, West Ham v Bournemouth (all 4pm); Chelsea v Arsenal (6.30pm) Tomorrow: Burnley v Watford, Man City v Huddersfield (both 2.30pm); Brighton v Man Utd (5pm)
Monday: Palace v Liverpool (9pm) TURIN: Juventus veteran midfielder Claudio Marchisio has ended his contract with the Serie A champions by mutual agreement after 25 years at the club, the Italian side said yesterday.
The 32-year-old, born and raised in Turin, made his professional debut in Serie B in 2006 after Juventus were relegated following the Calciopoli corruption scandal.
Marchisio, capped 55 times by Italy, progressed through Juve’s youth ranks and only played for one other club, spending a year on loan at Empoli in the 2007-08 season.
Marchisio made a total of 389 appearances in all competitions, scoring 37 goals, and won seven Serie A titles as well as four Italian cups with the club.
“I love this shirt (Juventus) to the point that, after all, I am convinced that the good for the club comes first,” the player said. Marchisio suffered a series of setbacks following a cruciate ligament injury in his left knee in 2016 which initially put him out of action for six months.
Meanwhile, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri says he is still trying to fit all the new pieces together following a close season spending spree which included the signing of five-time world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo.
Allegri confirmed that Ronaldo would start when the side, aiming for an eighth consecutive Serie A title and a fifth league and cup double in a row, visit Chievo for the season-opening game today.
“This summer, we bought Ronaldo – the best player in the world – (while) Emre Can, (Joao) Cancelo, (Mattia) Perin, (Leonardo) Spinazzola arrived, (Leonardo) Bonucci returned,” he said. “We must put aside this period of excitement for the arrival of these players and get back down to earth.”
Allegri added that Ronaldo was “curious” about what awaited him in Serie A.
The phlegmatic coach said he was still working out the ideal formation.
“I have some ideas on how we’ll play but I need to see a couple more games and training sessions to figure it all out,” said Allegri, who is beginning his fifth season in charge.
“Whether we use wingers, whether it’s Ronaldo with Paulo Dybala, or Dybala with Mario Mandzukic, our system also depends on the characteristics of the other players.” – Reuters