Categories
football Slides Sports News Transfer News

Hazard could head back to Chelsea as Juve eye Prem duo

Chelsea are exploring the possibility of re-signing Eden Hazard from Real Madrid.

Hazard, 30, cost Real more than £100million when he swapped Stamford Bridge for the Bernabeu in 2019.

But he has failed to live up to expectations and would be allowed to leave if a suitable offer came in.

Reports in Spain say Blues owner Roman Abramovich is convinced Hazard would become a world beater again back in the familiar surroundings of West London.

He made 310 appearances during seven seasons at the Bridge, scoring 110 goals as he lifted the Premier League and Europa League twice, as well as the FA Cup and EFL Cup.

The problem is Real would want to recoup as much of the fee they paid as possible — but Chelsea are unlikely to offer more than £40m for a player who has been beset by injury and fitness problems.

Real boss Carlo Ancelotti is a big fan of Blues full-back Reece James and the suggestion is the Spanish giants may try to factor him into any deal.

James, 21, has not nailed down a regular starting spot since Thomas Tuchel took charge last season but it is unlikely Chelsea would want to sell the England international.

Juventus are ready to raid Manchester as they look to win back the Serie A title.

Max Allegri’s side have made a poor start to the domestic campaign after failing to win the league for the first time in 10 years in 2020-21.

Now reports in Italy suggest they want to sign both Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek in January.

Silva, 27, has been one of City’s best players this season but wanted to leave the Etihad before the summer transfer window slammed shut.

Whether or not his starring role in the past two months has changed matters remains to be seen — and Pep Guardiola will not want to lose the Portuguese maestro.

For Van de Beek, 24, it has been a miserable 15 months since swapping Ajax for Old Trafford.

Only four of his 17 starts for United have come in the Premier League and he was linked with an exit throughout the window.

Both deals would be loans, though the suggestion is they may come with obligations to buy at the end of the season.
In other news

Manchester United are interested in Leicester midfielder Wilfried Ndidi, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes.

The Sun say United will make Jesse Lingard available for £15m in January if he fails to extend his stay at Old Trafford, with his contract expiring next year.

Alexandre Lacazette has no intention of signing a new deal at Arsenal, according to Football.London, with his current contract running out at the end of the season.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

CHELSEA BEAT SOUTHAMPTON TO GO TOP OF THE LEAGUE TABLE

Timo Werner and Ben Chilwell’s late strikes sent Chelsea top of the Premier League as the Blues dispatched 10-man Southampton 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.

James Ward-Prowse scored a penalty only to be sent off for a late, lunging tackle on Jorginho, opening the door for Werner and Chilwell to send the Blues back to winning ways.

Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Everton teed up the chance for Chelsea to climb to the league’s summit, and after a testing and at times tetchy afternoon, Thomas Tuchel’s men obliged.

Trevoh Chalobah’s header had the home side in the box seat, until Chilwell upended former Chelsea academy star Tino Livramento in the box.

Ward-Prowse converted the spot-kick to threaten Chelsea’s ambitions of moving top of the pile.

Chelsea saw first-half finishes ruled out for both Romelu Lukaku and Werner, but just when the west Londoners feared paying the price, two late goals turned the tide.

Werner turned in Cesar Azpilicueta’s smart cross to spark celebrations of relief as Chelsea moved 2-1 ahead, before Chilwell atoned for conceding the penalty by lashing in the third.

Lukaku’s dlsallowed effort came when he slotted home neatly after Toni Rudiger’s fine through-ball, only to be pulled back for offside.

Werner’s chalked-off finish was when he nodded in from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s inch-perfect cross.

Referee Martin Atkinson ruled out the goal after viewing the pitchside monitors and judging Azpilicueta to have fouled Kyle Walker-Peters in the build-up.

Thomas Tuchel was then booked for his excessive touchline protests, and the Chelsea boss even ended up nose-to-nose with Atkinson as tempers threatened to boil over.

Werner should have fired Chelsea ahead mere minutes into the clash, only to deliver a shot lacking entirely in conviction that proved easy enough for Alex McCarthy to save.

The Blues quickly shook off that profligacy however, as Chalobah nodded into the empty net at the far post following Chilwell’s corner.

Chalobah’s goal owed everything to Loftus-Cheek’s flick on, with the one-time England midfielder rising highest in the middle of the box to tee up the centre-back.

Chilwell should have found the net when played through by Mateo Kovacic, only to deliver a finish lacking in any real power.

Theo Walcott headed wide in a rare Southampton foray, but Chelsea maintained control with precious little issue.

Lukaku thought he had doubled the home lead when slotting home, only for the offside flag to thwart the Belgium hitman.

Rudiger’s mazy run and through ball lit up Stamford Bridge and almost deserved Lukaku’s finish to stand.

Werner was the next to see a neat finish chalked off, with the Germany forward heading in from Hudson-Odoi’s pinpoint cross.

The Blues celebrated the goal and expected to move 2-0 ahead, only for VAR to scrub the effort for a foul by Azpilicueta on Walker-Peters in the build-up.

Tuchel’s over-exuberant remonstrations led to a booking, and that needless square-up to referee Atkinson.

Chelsea’s near-total dominance was left without just reward at half-time then, with the Blues still only leading by the solitary Chalobah effort.

The hosts’ control wavered slightly after the interval, and ultimately the Blues paid for wasting all that dominance.

Chilwell upended Livramento in the box and Ward-Prowse buried the rightful penalty, to level the contest.

Ward-Prowse was then sent off after a VAR review for a horror tackle on Jorginho, with the Italy midfielder fortunate to avoid injury at full stretch.

Just when Chelsea feared running out of time and opportunities however, up popped Werner with a side-footed winner.

Barkley’s raking pass was cleverly redirected into the box by Azpilicueta with a fine first-time ball, and Werner did the rest with a tap-in.

Chilwell then drilled a third at the end, as Chelsea turned a nervy afternoon into an important win.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHARPER – TUCHEL CONDEMNS CHELSEA SHOWING IN JUVENTUS LOSS

Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea were “not free enough” as they slumped to a 1-0 Champions League defeat at Juventus.

Federico Chiesa’s sucker-punch strike just 11 seconds into the second half floored the Champions League holders in Turin.

Chelsea slipped to a second straight 1-0 loss, following Saturday’s Premier League defeat by Manchester City.

And manager Tuchel held up his hands afterwards in an honest appraisal of Chelsea’s shortcomings.

“We were so good yesterday in training, and not good enough, not free enough today,” Tuchel told BT Sport.

“I felt us slow, tired, mentally slow for decision-making. It’s a strange one to analyse, but OK.

“I think we started not sharp enough, we had possession and possession, but the first 12, 15 minutes we could have harmed them much more.

“We should have been much, much sharper.

“We should have asked more questions.

“We had two big ball losses where we almost gave goals away. You cannot have this.

“We struggled to create our own rhythm, because they were so deep and so passive.

“We struggled to find our own intensity, to find the spaces.”

Chelsea’s loss leaves their Group H situation in the balance, but the Blues can still easily reach the knockout stages should they sharpen up performances and results.

Federico Bernardeschi missed a gilt-edged chance to double the hosts’ lead and kill the contest, before Romelu Lukaku blazed a fine opening wide for Chelsea.

Kai Havertz headed over from a corner at the death as the Blues pushed hard late on, but Juventus were good value for their win.

Caught napping for the goal with collective minds clearly still ruminating on half-time team talks, Chelsea were punished by Juve’s superior sharpness.

Lamenting the manner of the goal, Tuchel said: “It should be impossible to concede an easy goal like this at this level in the first seconds of the second half.

“You know what’s coming, you have defensive organisation like we have, so normally at all times it should be possible to defend it.

“And we got punished for it, of course.”

Categories
football Slides Sports News

UCL: CHIESA’S SECOND HALF STRIKE HELP JUVENTUS EDGE CHELSEA

Federico Chiesa’s rocket finish stunned Chelsea in Turin as Juventus condemned the Blues to a second straight 1-0 defeat.

Italy forward Chiesa sneaked in on goal and lashed past Edouard Mendy as Chelsea were caught cold just 11 seconds into the second half.

The visitors were still processing their half-time adjustments when Juventus struck, and Thomas Tuchel’s side never recovered.

Chelsea had opened their Champions League defence with a patchy 1-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg at Stamford Bridge on September 14, and this loss left their Group H status in the balance.

The Blues flailed at fluency in Saturday’s 1-0 Premier League home defeat to Manchester City, and four days later Tuchel’s men struggled for rhythm again.

Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz failed to hit the target with fine late chances, as Chelsea slipped to consecutive defeats for just the second time in Tuchel’s tenure.

Chelsea looked laboured and one-paced in a difficult first half where the hosts were able to shut out the Blues almost at will.

Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic conceded possession too cheaply too often, with the visiting deep-lying midfielders struggling with their spacing.

The pair stayed too close to each other too many times when on the ball, stunting the Blues’ attacking impetus.

Kovacic was forced to toe the ball away from Federico Bernardeschi just when the Juve forward was about to pull the trigger, in the first instance of the Blues losing the ball cheaply.

Croatia midfielder Kovacic was then reprieved for ceding possession when Adrien Rabiot botched a break with a poor pass.

And then Chiesa drilled just wide in the third instance of Chelsea losing the ball unnecessarily.

Havertz and Hakim Ziyech could neither push tight enough to Lukaku nor power beyond the Belgium striker.

Chelsea limped to half-time without conceding – but also without creating any clear-cut chances.

Ben Chilwell joined the fray after the break, but Tuchel’s half-time instructions were still ringing in Chelsea ears when Chiesa rifled the ball into the net.

Caught napping and punished squarely, Chelsea slipped deservedly behind and into big pressure.

The Blues settled down after conceding and started pinning Juve into their own half.

Territorial dominance alone could not unpick the Juventus rearguard however, and ahead of the hour Tuchel emptied the bench.

Jorginho, Ziyech and captain Cesar Azpilicueta were all hooked, in favour of Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Bernardeschi should have put the game out of sight only to bungle wide in a rare Juve breakout consisting of Rabiot’s raking pass and Juan Cuadrado’s fine first-time cross.

Ross Barkley was thrown into the mix as well, underscoring Tuchel’s desperation to force a change.

The one-time England midfielder made his first European appearance for Chelsea since August 2020, and offered a quick impact too.

The 27-year-old threaded a fine ball through for Lukaku, only for the £98million signing to blaze wide.

At the death Havertz headed over from a Chilwell corner, but while Chelsea will lament late chances missed the Blues will certainly admit falling short in Italy.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

CHELSEA’S NGOLO KANTE TO MISS JUVENTUS TIE AFTER TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Juventus.

The 30-year-old France international will isolate for 10 days.

He will not feature against Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday and is also likely to miss France’s Nations League game with Belgium on 7 October.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel said he did not know how many of his players are vaccinated against Covid-19.

“We are a reflection of society, the players are adults and they have a free choice,” Tuchel told a news conference on Tuesday.

“We should accept it. This is more or less all I can say. I know the situation is far from over. It makes you very aware it is not over.”

When asked if players should lead by example and get the vaccine, Tuchel said: “Do I have the right to say it? I’m not so sure.

“It is a serious question, vaccinations seems to be a proper protection – I am vaccinated but I don’t see myself in the position to speak out on recommendations.”

Chelsea will also be without Reece James, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount against Juventus.

Defender James injured his ankle against Manchester City on Saturday, while Mount and Pulisic are missing with longer-standing injuries.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

GABRIEL JESUS GIVES MANCITY VICTORY, ENDS CHELSEA UNBEATEN START

Gabriel Jesus fired an early Premier League warning shot as defending champions Manchester City toppled title rivals Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Brazil forward Jesus angled a deflected finish in the 53rd minute to help City leapfrog Chelsea in the table on goal difference, ending the Blues’ unbeaten league start.

City offered far the greater enterprise, with Jesus’ winner helping Pep Guardiola avoid an unwanted first of losing to the same rival manager four matches in succession.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel and his team had sunk City three times last term, culminating in the 1-0 Champions League final triumph in Porto.

But in a new campaign that promises a mouthwatering title tussle between holders City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, Guardiola’s men have delivered the first real statement victory.

City’s ferocious press stifled Chelsea throughout, and the visitors to west London coped easily with the hosts’ formation tweak.

Tuchel packed the midfield with all three of N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, but that 3-5-2 left Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku too often too isolated up front.

Mason Mount’s injury absence robbed the Blues of a major pressing threat at the top of their tree however, handing the visitors time to build from the back.

Chelsea could do little more than contain the visitors in a first half where the home players found possession greatly limited.

The Blues certainly sacrificed a creative edge for that central stability, with Werner and Lukaku often isolated up front.

Werner did beat the City line once, but could not pick out Lukaku in the middle.

Kevin De Bruyne’s cutback found no one in the area for City, leaving Chelsea to breathe a sigh of relief, before Jorginho produced an important clearance after a Phil Foden corner.

Then, at the end of the half, Jesus hooked well wide from the best chance to that point.

The City forward smartly lost Antonio Rudiger in the box and teed himself up well – but undid the good work with a botched finish.

For once Tuchel resisted the temptation to make a half-time change, and no sooner had the second half started than the home boss would have wished he had twisted instead of stuck.

Jack Grealish offered a warning shot by curling one wide, before Jesus finally broke the deadlock.

Joao Cancelo’s low effort found its way to Jesus in the box, the Brazil forward spun in traffic and his low shot took a slight deflection en route to finding the Chelsea net. Edouard Mendy was left with no chance, as City gained just reward for boasting the greater attacking endeavour.

Grealish almost doubled City’s lead minutes later, but the former Aston Villa man angled his effort just wide after neatly stepping beyond Cesar Azpilicueta.

Just before the hour Tuchel finally made the first change, with Kai Havertz replacing Kante. France’s World Cup-winning midfielder had struggled to settle in his new role in Chelsea’s three-man midfield.

City pressed on undeterred however, and Silva had to clear Jesus’ shot off the line after Grealish again left Azpilicueta for dead.

Lukaku thought he had equalised for Chelsea from Havertz’s square pass, only for the Germany star to be rightly ruled offside in the build-up.

Chelsea continued to press but with no clear incision, despite greatly raising their tempo.

But City could have wrapped up the win when Grealish ghosted through on goal, only for Mendy to stand him up and produce a fine save.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

CHELSEA BEAT TOUGH ASTONVILLA SIDE IN PENALTY SHOOT-OUT, ADVANCE TO CARABAO FOURTH ROUND

A much-changed Chelsea side crept into the fourth round of the League Cup as they beat Aston Villa 4-3 on penalties after the Stamford Bridge clash ended 1-1 on Wednesday.

Manchester United crashed out though as West Ham United avenged a weekend loss in the Premier League to claim a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford with Manuel Lanzini scoring early.

Tottenham Hotspur surrendered an early 2-0 lead at Wolverhampton Wanderers but eventually won 3-2 on penalties as manager Nuno Espirito Santo claimed his second win of the season against his former club.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel made 10 changes to his starting lineup and German striker Timo Werner took his opportunity to give his side the lead in the 54th minute as he headed a Reece James cross past Villa keeper Jed Steer.

It was Werner’s first goal of the season and he wasted another chance to make it 2-0 before Villa hit back through youngster Cameron Archer’s header to send the tie into the penalty shootout.

Ben Chilwell struck the bar when he could have won it for Chelsea but James made no mistake as his spot kick found the top corner of the net.

Categories
football Sports News

THOMAS TUCHEL DEFENDS MARCOS ALONSO’S DECISION TO STOP TAKING THE KNEE

Thomas Tuchel has defended Marcos Alonso’s decision to stop taking the knee before Chelsea matches.

Blues defender Alonso has explained he will continue to stand and point to the ‘No To Racism’ badge on his shirt, insisting taking the knee has lost some of its impact.

And now Chelsea boss Tuchel has thrown his support behind the Spanish full-back, insisting that the 30-year-old is “absolutely committed against racism”.

Chelsea’s other players are expected to continue to take the knee, but manager Tuchel is confident Alonso’s motives are solely positive in the fight against discrimination.

“It wasn’t a discussion within the group but of course if a player takes a decision like this, we are not in a bubble, so of course discussions come up,” said Tuchel.

“The most important thing for me is that I know Marcos personally and I trust 1000 per cent that he is absolutely committed against racism, any form of racism.

“And there is no question about it. We are all against it. We took altogether the decision to take the knee.

“Maybe it takes sometimes an action against a routine to wake up again and have another good discussion and the discussion takes a new direction.

“Because we want to do the most we can against racism and stand up against it. So there are different forms of doing it.

“Marcos took his decision, he’s a grown up, a responsible person. This is his decision and we accept it and he gave his reasons for it.

“And from here the discussion can end or it can go on in a productive way.

“The most important thing for me is that we live it every single day and this is what we do in Cobham.”

Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha stopped taking the knee last season, opting to stand instead in his own protest against racism and discrimination.

Alonso is the latest Premier League star to take their own approach and the former Real Madrid defender has the full backing of his club.

Asked if he could understand Alonso’s reasoning, Tuchel said: “There are so many games maybe it becomes normal, maybe it lowers the effect of it: if this is his point I can see his point.

“We can now see if it’s necessary to have this discussion and for him to be the only guy to stand up.

“He is experienced enough, responsible enough and that’s the way it is.

“This development also started with single people taking the knee and then became a bigger thing.

“And I think Marcos’ point is that it cannot end like this, it cannot become normal. It should be normal that we are against racism.

“I understand that Marcos thinks there is always more to do, and it’s also right.

“At the same time we also want to focus on sport, but use the platform and use the possibilities that we have in how we live together and how we produce performances together is living by example and I think this is the most important part.”

Categories
football Slides Sports News

CHELSEA THRASH SORRY SPURS 3-0 TO GO TOP OF THE TABLE

Thomas Tuchel’s half-time intervention allowed Chelsea to show their Premier League title challenging credentials with an impressive 3-0 win at Tottenham.

After being second best in the first half, Tuchel introduced N’Golo Kante and switched formation and it paid immediate dividends as Thiago Silva and the Frenchman both scored in the opening 12 minutes of the second half, with Antonio Rudiger adding a late third.

It extended their unbeaten start to the season and this statement victory – their third successive win at Spurs’ new home – shows they will be contenders to win the title this season.

Tottenham – like Chelsea – were mourning the death of Jimmy Greaves and they are a million miles away from the side that Greaves was a rampant scorer in during the 1960s and even further away from the one that reached the Champions League final just over two years ago.

After winning their opening three games under new boss Nuno Espirito Santo, things are beginning to unravel with a second successive 3-0 defeat in the league.

There are serious concerns over the form of Harry Kane, who was desperate to leave the club this summer and on this evidence it is easy to see why.

With the death of Greaves announced early on Sunday, this was a perfect fixture considering he played for both teams.

The atmosphere was heightened by a warming pre-match tribute to Greaves, where a host of former players came pitchside to join in the minute’s applause for Tottenham’s record goalscorer, who scored 266 goals in 379 appearances.

Tottenham fed off the energy of that and started the game brightly, with two loose balls in the area just evading Giovani Lo Celso.

Chelsea were a threat on the counter-attack, though, and had Spurs on the rack as they broke in a three-on-two situation.

Mason Mount fed Romelu Lukaku, whose return ball was under-hit, allowing Emerson Royal to get across and block Mount’s shot.

With Kane, Son Heung-min, Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli in the team there was a different feel about Spurs from the one that limped to a 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last week and they had two big openings.

Son, returning from an injury, sent Sergio Reguilon through on goal and the Spaniard had the opportunity to drive in on goal, but instead he tried to pass to Lo Celso and the ball was cut out.

Then, just after the half-hour it was Son who was in after a Lo Celso pass, but the South Korean’s touch was heavy and Kepa Arrizabalaga came out to block the shot.

Tuchel was not happy with what he saw and brought Kante on at half-time and switched to a 3-5-2 formation.

And it transformed the game as Chelsea took a 49th-minute lead.

Marcos Alonso had a flying shot tipped over by Hugo Lloris and at a second corner from that save, Silva climbed highest and found the bottom corner with his header.

Chelsea were rampant and deserved the luck they got for their second goal just before the hour.

Lo Celso ran into trouble and was dispossessed, with Kante afforded space to line up a shot, which took a wicked deflection off Eric Dier and flew into the bottom corner.

Spurs – seemingly shattered from their first-half exertions – had nothing in the way of a response, with Kane’s fizzed shot at Arrizabalaga their only meaningful effort of the second half.

At the other end Chelsea had enough chances to rack up a handsome victory, but Lloris saved well from Silva, Timo Werner was twice denied when through on goal and Lukaku headed straight at the Frenchman.

Eventually the third goal came in injury time as Rudiger swept home Werner’s cross as Chelsea end the weekend on top of the Premier League table.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

FORMER ENGLAND, CHELSEA AND SPURS STRIKER JIMMY GREAVES DIES AT 81

Former England, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur striker Jimmy Greaves has died. He was 81.

One of England’s greatest forwards, Greaves scored 44 goals in 57 international appearances and is Spurs’ record goal-scorer with 266 goals in 279 games.

Greaves also played for AC Milan and West Ham United and scored a total of 366 top-flight goals during a 14-year career, which stood as a record for most goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues for 46 years until it was broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017.

A member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, Greaves missed out on the final after getting injured during the tournament. He was replaced by Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat trick in England’s 4-2 win against West Germany.

Alcoholism cut Greaves’ career short at the age of 31, and he also had health issues during his later years and suffered strokes in 2012 and 2015.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher described Greaves as “the best goal scorer we have seen”, while Spurs striker Harry Kane called him “a true legend.”

Gary Lineker, a former Tottenham and England striker, said: “Terribly sad news that Jimmy Greaves has died. Quite possibly the greatest striker this country has ever produced. A truly magnificent footballer who was at home both in the box and on the box. A charismatic, knowledgeable, witty and warm man. A giant of the sport.”

England manager Gareth Southgate said the national team would pay tribute to Greaves in next month’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary at Wembley, while Spurs and Chelsea also paid tribute to their former player.

“Jimmy Greaves was someone who was admired by all who love football, regardless of club allegiances,” Southgate said in a statement released by the Football Association.

“I was privileged to be able to meet Jimmy’s family last year at Tottenham Hotspur as the club marked his 80th birthday. My thoughts are with them and I know the entire game will mourn his passing.”

Born in east London in 1940, Greaves signed for Chelsea and made his professional debut at the age of 17. He scored 132 goals in 169 games, racking up 100 league goals by the time he turned 20.

He attracted interest from Italy and signed with AC Milan in 1961, but only managed 12 appearances and nine goals in his single season at the club.

Greaves returned to England with Spurs in 1962 for £99,000 and scored in the FA Cup final as Tottenham lifted the trophy that season.

His nine seasons in north London coincided with the most successful decade in the club’s history. Greaves would also win the FA Cup with Spurs in 1967, as well as the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963.

Greaves made his England debut in 1959, scoring in a 4-1 win against Peru. He holds the record for the most hat tricks scored by an England player and netted the first of his six in an 8-0 win against Luxembourg in 1960.

He scored the last of his 44 England goals in 1967 and is fourth on England’s all-time goal-scorers list behind Wayne Rooney, Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker.

After leaving Spurs in 1969, Greaves moved across London to sign for West Ham, where he stayed for two seasons until 1971. Due to alcoholism and fitness issues, Greaves was less prolific during his final two years in the top flight and scored 13 goals in 40 appearances for West Ham before he retired in 1971 at the age of 31.

After retiring, Greaves pursued a career in broadcast media and presented popular football talk show “Saint and Greavsie” alongside former Liverpool striker Ian St John from 1985 to 1992.

Greaves eventually received his World Cup winners medal in 2009. Due to FIFA rules which were subsequently overturned, only the players who finished England’s 4-2 win over West Germany on the pitch received winners’ medals in 1966.