⚽️ EPL Investigating Chelsea Transfers, Secret Payments from Abramovich Era

Good morning. We cannot say there were too many surprises in the results this past weekend save perhaps for Everton’s win in London over West Ham. Beyond that one, form largely held and the Premier League’s best teams showed repeatedly why they’re separating themselves from the chasing pack at the top of the table.

The Scores:

• Crystal Palace (H) 1, Tottenham Hotspur 2: Spurs got goals from (who else?) Son Heung-Min and a Palace own goal created by a sharp James Maddison cross to remain in first place in the league.

• Chelsea (H) 0, Brentford 2: The Blues had almost 70% of possession, but only managed to put two of their 17 shot attempts on target in a dispiriting home loss.

• Bournemouth (H) 2, Burnley 1: The Cherries, unexpectedly in an early relegation dogfight with Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United, had to have this match, and they got it.

• Arsenal (H) 5, Sheffield United 0: The Blades were only down 1-0 at the half, but eventually the Gunners’ quality and an Eddie Nketiah hat trick dealt Sheffield United another lopsided loss.

• Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) 2, Newcastle United 2: The Magpies definitely seemed a bit worn down from their Champions League loss to Borussia Dortmund three days before, and Wolves pounced on the chance to take a point.

• West Ham United (H) 0, Everton 1: The Hammers were similarly gassed from a Thursday night Europa League loss to Olympiacos in Greece, and Everton had just enough to steal a crucial three points.

• Aston Villa (H) 3, Luton Town 1: Ollie Watkins didn’t score, but the beat still goes on for Villa while Luton Town continues to look entirely outmanned and outgunned at this level.

• Brighton & Hove Albion (H) 1, Fulham 1: The Seagulls had over 71% of the ball, which made Fulham’s 65th minute equalizer a bit of a smash and grab.

• Liverpool (H) 3, Nottingham Forest 0: Jurgen Klopp’s men continue to put together a quietly excellent campaign. Fourth in the table but only three back of Spurs, you’d be hard-pressed to pick Spurs to finish ahead of Liverpool this season.

• Manchester United (H) 0, Manchester City 3: This used to be a proper rivalry. But City is the hammer, United is the nail, and a hammer doesn’t have a rivalry with a nail.

Top of the Table:

In the email today:

Roman Abramovich’s time as Chelsea’s owner was full of trophies but also occasionally laden with shadows and controversy. Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea was finalized in May of last year, and some of the skeletons are starting to fall out of closets.

• A Premier League investigation is looking into some of Chelsea's transfer dealings during the Roman Abramovich era.

• The focus of the current investigation is on secret payments allegedly made by Chelsea when they signed players Willian and Samuel Eto'o in August 2013.

• Chelsea's current owners, led by Todd Boehly, flagged these transfers during the process of purchasing the club from Abramovich.

• Brazilian winger Willian joined Chelsea in a £30 million deal, and Eto'o took a £10 million pay cut to join Chelsea.

• Financial records suggest that there were additional payments made to so-called 'Russian entities' beyond the transfer fees, which were unknown to the players.

• Chelsea released a statement, stating that the allegations pre-date the club's current ownership and do not involve individuals currently at the club.

Our take: Willian and Eto’o joined Chelsea in August 2013. The passage of time takes some of the zing out of this story. Willian featured on Chelsea’s Premier League title winners in 2015 and 2017. Eto’o didn’t have much impact for Chelsea and left for Everton on a free transfer a year after joining Chelsea. So Chelsea will probably skate on this one, but it would not stun us if more of these fishy transfer reports come to light.

2) 📈 Buy or Sell?

Ten matches into the season, we are starting to detect some patterns. These recommendations are useful not only for following the league but (ahem) placing an occasional wager or shaping your fantasy team(s).

• 🟢 Callum Wilson, Newcastle United: Wilson’s brace against Wolves gave him seven goals in nine appearances, all the more remarkable since he’s only started four matches.

• 🔴 Mauricio Pochettino, manager, Chelsea: Poch was handed a bin full of mismatched pieces and tasked with making it a cohesive unit. It’s not working.

• 🟢 Erling Haaland, Manchester City: Haaland’s start to the season would be electric for many players. For him it was sort of blah. Two goals and an assist in the derby proved that he’s still the same dominant guy you remember.

• 🔴 Sheffield United: That’s a 5-0 loss at Arsenal and an 8-0 home loss to Newcastle so far this season. Losing is inevitable. Getting hosed is, in part, a choice.

• 🟢 Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins is the star man, but Luis and Diary are tied second in points with six apiece for surging Villa.

• 🔴 Manchester United supporters: Erling Haaland smoked the Red Devils, and all their fans wanted to talk about was the time Roy Keane cheap-shotted Erling’s father.

Our take: This is going to be a great title race. City are still favored, but -150 is hardly prohibitive. Putting a small stake on Liverpool and Arsenal (both +500) might not be the worst plan.

3) ❌ of the Day: “Officer, I’d Like to Report a Robbery!”

4) 🗳️ Who Should Have Won the Ballon D’or?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Links Roundup:

• 🚌 Chelsea supporters wishing to make the trip to Wolverhampton for the Christmas Eve match can travel on the club’s dime.

• 📊 Concerns abound about the massive gap in quality between the Premier League’s best clubs and the foot of the table.

• 👨‍🦽 At 39, Thiago Silva is making noises about his inevitable retirement.

• 🔴 Premier League fans continue to hold out hope for the safe return of Liverpool striker Luis Diaz’ father, currently missing in Colombia.

• 👀 Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger tapped rival Spurs as this season’s “real contenders” for the league title.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil @philkeidel on X.

Thanks for reading!