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Manchester City got their quest for a fifth consecutive Premier League title off to a perfect start by beating Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Erling Haaland gave the visitors the lead after 20 minutes when he beat Levi Colwill and held off Marc Cucurella to finish past Robert Sanchez.
Mateo Kovacic sealed the score when Robert Sanchez failed to get a strong enough hand to stop his shot from 25 yards.
Chelsea may not panic because the result was against the reigning champions, but they will not want this result to linger for too long.
Mail Sport’s KIERAN GILL looks at some of the things you might have missed at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are still trying to get rid of their departed players and Conor Gallagher’s future is one of many players whose future is up in the air.
Kyle Walker is among a pair of Manchester City players attracting interest from Saudi Arabia
Can Chelsea get rid of what it doesn’t need?
Chelsea executives are confident they can offload the club’s departed players before the summer transfer window closes on the evening of August 30.
Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah and Djordje Petrovic are among those who will be available between now and that deadline.
Conor Gallagher’s future is also expected to be resolved this week, with Atletico Madrid his most likely destination, while talks over Joao Felix, which point in the opposite direction, have been moving slowly but surely.
Trevoh Chalobah has been told he does not meet Chelsea’s requirements as he looks to move away from the club.
Chelsea aims to conquer the American market
When Chelsea and Manchester City met in pre-season in the United States (a 4-2 victory for Pep Guardiola over Enzo Maresca) there were more blue shirts among the 71,000 fans who packed the stands in Columbus. City feel they have made great strides in conquering the American market.
Chelsea want that for themselves, and their women’s team have now travelled to the United States to play two pre-season friendlies there against NJ/NY Gotham in New Jersey and Arsenal in Washington.
Saudi interest in City continues
Joao Cancelo is among the Manchester City players attracting interest from the Saudi professional league
Manchester City may have thought they were done with the Saudi Pro League this summer but it has emerged that two of their full-backs are interesting to Al-Hilal.
João Cancelo and Kyle Walker are the three candidates to replace Saud Abdulhamid, who is leaving for Roma. Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, who came through City’s youth system, is considered the ideal candidate and the Bundesliga champions value him at around 60 million euros.
Al-Hilal chief executive Esteve Calzada was previously the commercial manager of City Football Group. City are unlikely to entertain offers for Walker at this stage of the transfer market but Cancelo, who was again left out of Pep Guardiola’s squad yesterday, is free to leave.
That depends on whether the Saudi side, who boast Neymar and Ruben Neves, can successfully push ahead with their plans to sign Frimpong.
Despite the racism scandal hanging over his head, Enzo Fernández received the Chelsea captain’s armband
Enzo Fernandez has been named Chelsea captain in the absence of Reece James, with the club confident that the racism scandal that sparked in the summer is behind them. Both teams took the knee before kick-off, although there was some booing from fans inside Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Fernandez approached a Chelsea corner where Manchester City fans were gathered and was greeted with: “You fucking racist, you know what you are.”
The Manchester City football family
Rico Lewis is not the only player making waves in the family at the moment. His younger sister Sacha is already making waves as she progresses through the academy.
The 16-year-old, who can play anywhere on the right-hand side, is expected to be included in Gareth Taylor’s squad for his pre-season tour of Australia.
City will be joined Down Under by PSG, West Ham and Leicester and are due to fly out early this week.
Lewis joined City’s academy three years ago and has been called up to the camp ahead of the Under-17 World Cup in England, the tournament kicks off in the Dominican Republic on October 16.
Sacha, like his older brother, is represented by CAA Base.
Chelsea’s academy remains strong
Chelsea’s academy was rocked by the sudden departures of chief architects Neil Bath and Jim Fraser, but the production line continues.
Ollie Harrison, who previously made the substitutes’ bench for a Premier League game against Manchester City, has signed a professional contract for the first time since turning 17.
