Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min City are playing with Reijnders on the left \u2013 or at least playing from the left – and Phil Foden in the centre, not the other way round as advertised on this channel.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.35 EST<\/p>\n 1 min Peep peep! After a strikingly well observed minute\u2019s silence for all those connected to City who died in 2025, Chelsea<\/a> gets this match under way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Today’s Premier League resultsShare<\/a> Antoine Semenyo, it seems likely, will soon join Manchester City<\/a> from Bournemouth for a fee of \u00a365m. Given how well Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden have played from the right this season, it is not immediately obvious why City need him, but the modern game is the modern game, the rammed calendar makes large and flexible squads essential and Pep Guardiola may have some esoteric plan for the Ghanaian anyway. But perhaps what is most striking about the deal is the fee \u2013 or, more precisely, how little attention it has drawn.<\/p>\n English football has become inured to big transfers. The fee feels about right. Semenyo is 25. He has four and a half years left on his contract. He is quick, skilful, intelligent and works hard. He is disciplined, but has the capacity to do the unexpected. Of course a player of his ability costs that much. Yet \u00a365m would make him the third-most expensive player in Bundesliga history. He would be the seventh-most expensive in Serie A history, the 14th-most expensive in La Liga history. Only nine non-English clubs have paid a fee higher than that. Even in Premier League<\/a> terms, Semenyo sneaks into the top 25.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Chelsea\u2019s visit to Manchester City<\/a> will be a homecoming for members of the travelling party. Five Chelsea players were nurtured at the academy that sits a few hundred yards from the Etihad Stadium, on the other side of a bridge.<\/p>\n The London club\u2019s recent recruitment has been heavily influenced by City\u2019s teaching of players and coaches. Tosin Adarabioyo, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Rom\u00e9o Lavia were members of City\u2019s youth ranks, most working there under Enzo Maresca. If one thread was unpicked this week when Maresca dramatically departed Chelsea<\/a>, the link remains strong because Sunday\u2019s caretaker, Calum McFarlane, was formerly the under-18s assistant manager at City.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Team news<\/p>\n Josko Gvardiol, Rodri and Tijjani Reijnders return to the City side in place of Nathan Ake, Nico Gonzalez and Savinho.<\/p>\n Five changes for Chelsea<\/a>. Filip Jorgensen, Benoit Badiashile, Reece James, Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro come in for Robert Sanchez, Wesley Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap. Caicedo\u2019s absence through suspension is a big blow to Chelsea.<\/p>\n Man City (possible 4-1-4-1) Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O\u2019Reilly; Rodri; Cherki, Bernardo Silva, Reijnders, Foden; Haaland.<\/p>\n Subs: Trafford, Ake, Doku, Khusanov, McAidoo, Mukasa, Lewis, Mfuni, R Heskey.<\/p>\n Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Jorgensen; Acheampong, Chalobah, Badiashile, Gusto; James, Fernandez; Estevao, Palmer, Pedro Neto; Joao Pedro.<\/p>\n Subs: Garnacho, Guiu, Hato, Santos, Bynoe-Gittens, Delap, Adarabioyo, Merrick, Slonina.<\/p>\n Referee Michael Oliver.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.44 EST<\/p>\n Preamble<\/p>\n![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767548407_510_Jonathan_Wilson,_L.png\")
Jonathan Wilson<\/p>\n![\"Will](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Will_Unwin.png\")
Will Unwin<\/p>\n