FOOTBALL NEWS

Chelsea have paid out more than £26m over the sacking of Antonio Conte. The Premier League club's latest accounts show they paid a total of £26.6m in compensation to former head coach Conte and his backroom staff and legal costs. Conte was sacked by Chelsea in July 2018 after two years in charge, and was later replaced by Maurizio Sarri. Former Italy midfielder Conte steered Chelsea to the 2017 Premier League title but was dismissed a year later with 12 months left on his contract as the team finished fifth and failed to qualify for the Champions League. Conte, who is currently in charge of Inter Milan, also led Chelsea to victory in the 2018 FA Cup, with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the final. "Exceptional items in the current year of £26.6m relate to changes in respect of the men's team management and coaching staff, together with associated legal costs," read Chelsea's latest set of published accounts, for the year ending June 30, 2019.

Frank Lampard heaped praise on Tammy Abraham after his contribution to a 5-2 win against Wolves in the Premier League. Lampard has integrated youth players into his squad as he was faced with a transfer ban when taking over as manager, and they have repaid his faith in the opening five games of the season On Saturday, Tammy Abraham scored a hat-trick at Molineux - having scored twice in each of his previous two league games - with Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori adding to the tally And Lampard was thrilled with their efforts, telling Sky Sports : "I'm delighted to see that [youngsters taking their chances] because it's not easy.   "Tammy is [looking the part] and that's work, having gone out on loan and scoring a lot of goals in the Championship, having a year in the Premier League and now I think he feels the responsibility of the Chelsea shirt as he should. The last three games speak for themselves. "The only challenge for Tammy now is c...

  After a disappointing 2-2 home draw in the last match against Sheffield United at home, Chelsea have registered a thrashing 5-2 away victory against Wolves at Molineux Stadium on Saturday. Chelsea manager Frank Lampard had a few surprises in his starting XI. After the inclusion of the German international Antonio Rudiger and the exclusion of the Italian left-back Emerson because of the injury, Lampard switched his squad to a 3-5-2-1 formation. Marcos Alonso made his name in the starting line-up as expected for the first time in this season. Apart from that, Willian also was chosen ahead of the American sensation Christian Pulisic. Kurt Zouma was left out following his poor recent form. So, the 21-year-old youngster Fikayo Tomori was promoted to the starting XI.      On the other hand, the home side manager Nuno Espirito Santo made four changes from their 3-2 away defeat against Everton in the last game. Jesus Vallejo and Romain Saiss were promo...