Pep Chavarria is set to be Chelsea’s most interesting signing of the summer.

Not a typical BlueCo bet on youthful potential or a high-character veteran in his mid-thirties, Chavarria is the type of acquisition not seen at Chelsea since the summer of 2022: a player in the middle of his prime who has been profiled for his ability to do a specific job on the pitch.

A little more than a month after selling Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid for €60million (£51.7m; $69.4m), Chelsea are on track to essentially replace one diminutive 28-year-old Catalan left-back with another. Chavarria is considerably cheaper in transfer fee and salary, but has never been capped by Spain and only started playing in La Liga four years ago.

He has, however, built his career impressively to this point since breaking through for Catalan semi-professional club UE Figueres in the lower reaches of Spanish football as a teenager, and he was an important contributor to a Rayo Vallecano side who finished eighth in La Liga last season and reached the final of the UEFA Conference League, losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace.

Chavarria’s role in that Rayo side may offer some clues as to how Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso will look to use him.

Typically the starting left-back in a 4-2-3-1 that would often become a three-man defence in possession, he was given plenty of freedom to scamper up the left flank with the ball: only two full-backs completed more carries of 10 metres or more last season across Europe’s top five leagues, and 24.9 per cent of those carries were progressive.

The graphic below shows where Chavarria liked to carry the ball last season: always on the left flank and frequently through the middle third of the pitch into crossing positions.

Once there, he is very capable of picking out team-mates with inviting whipped deliveries, as he did to set up Alemao’s late winner against Alaves in October.

Rayo’s former coach Inigo Perez often paired Chavarria on the left flank with Alvaro Garcia, a very direct winger who regularly sought to drive to the byline. This tendency often opened up the opportunity for Chavarria to make the kind of underlapping runs that Chelsea supporters saw Cucurella perform regularly for Enzo Maresca, and he was adept at recognising the space.

Below is a good example which takes the form of a one-two with Pacha Espino. With a better return pass, Chavarria would have had a golden opportunity to create a goal.

Speaking of golden opportunities to create goals, here is Chavarria using his speed to break Hansi Flick’s notoriously high defensive line and dart in behind Barcelona inside the first minute of a La Liga match in March and square the ball perfectly. He deserved an assist.

Chavarria is also well-versed in more traditional overlapping runs into areas where he can cross or cut the ball back. Here he is doing just that in a 1-1 draw with Girona in May.

Chelsea’s left flank may afford Chavarria fewer underlapping opportunities if Morgan Rogers is the regular starter in that area of the pitch, but the Spaniard was as versatile as he was active as an off-ball runner at Rayo last season. There is every reason to think he could build positive attacking chemistry with a variety of different team-mates on that side.

If there is one word that best describes Chavarria, it is busy. His engine appears well suited to the relentless intensity of Premier League football: he ranked 10th among full-backs across Europe’s top five leagues last season for sprints completed per 90 minutes (defined as off-ball runs that exceed 25km/h and are sustained for at least 0.7 seconds).

It is no wonder that Andoni Iraola found Chavarria useful during his tenure as Rayo coach and so did Perez, who is very much of the same school of vertical, high-intensity running football. The 28-year-old’s speed and aggression in hunting the ball down makes him easy to incorporate into a modern pressing system.

Here he is against Strasbourg in the second leg of a Conference League semi-final tie between the two clubs in in May, hounding Diego Moreira into turning the ball over deep inside his own half and yielding an immediate shooting opportunity for team-mate Isi Palazon.

Chavarria’s defensive numbers do not jump off the page, but he is scrappy and clearly takes pride in not allowing opponents to get the better of him. Here he is using his body position and acceleration to defend in isolation against Girona winger Viktor Tsygankov, tracking him to the byline, forcing the Ukrainian to abandon all hope of crossing the ball and eventually creating a turnover.

Not unlike Cucurella, Chavarria’s size and relatively skinny frame will make him an obvious target for Premier League opponents with larger, more physically and athletically gifted attackers, but he is capable of mounting at least some resistance and if there is a particularly unfavourable match-up, Alonso can also turn to the bigger, stronger Jorrel Hato instead.

Chelsea may miss Cucurella’s uncanny knack of arriving at the back post to score important goals, as he did on several occasions for Maresca. Chavarria has not demonstrated the same instincts in the final third, though his most memorable contribution for Rayo last season was a long-range screamer against Atletico Madrid in September which had an xG value of 0.01.

It was Chavarria’s only goal of the 2025-26 season and, as the shot map below illustrates, he had several other unsuccessful attempts from similar positions:

These pot-shots are unlikely to move the needle for Chelsea in either direction. What could matter more is that Chavarria has demonstrated he is a good striker of the ball from outside the penalty area, which should prompt a reaction from opponents when he receives the ball in such positions and potentially open up spaces for team-mates.

It is far from clear whether or not Chavarria will be a regular starter for Chelsea, as Cucurella was. But even if he is not, his arrival does indicate a willingness from BlueCo to move away from making endless multi-million-pound bets on potential and target a good, seasoned player at a reasonable price who fits what their manager wants to do.

HARRISON, N.J. — Gotham FC forward Jaedyn Shaw’s goal against San Diego Wave on Friday night helped the 2025 NWSL champions strengthen their position at the top of the National Women’s Soccer League table.

The 21-year-old found the back of the net against her former club in the 44th minute, scoring off an assist from rookie Jordynn Dudley in Gotham’s 1-0 win. Shaw calmly positioned herself in the right spot before bending the ball perfectly to slip through San Diego’s crowded box.

“For me, scoring goals is always amazing,” a smiling Shaw said after the game. “Obviously, to play at home, finally, is just so nice … even through the rain, lightning, monsoon, whatever just happened a couple hours ago.

“It was honestly really, really amazing to score in front of our home fans, and I hope we can continue to help the team win.”

The goal — Shaw’s fifth of the regular season and first since May 16 — helped Gotham extend their win streak to three games. The team has a 12-3-4 (win-loss-draw) record with a seven-game unbeaten streak.

Gotham has lost only one game since the NWSL’s monthlong pause for the men’s World Cup in June, falling 2-0 to San Diego on July 4. The Wave have been one of the most consistent teams in the NWSL this season and have floated at the top of the table. They are in fourth place with 32 points (10-7-2).

Ahead of the match, acting Gotham head coach Shaun Harris emphasized the importance of creating goal-scoring opportunities in the attacking third. He described Friday night’s win as a “really good team performance,” emphasizing Shaw’s ability to come up in big moments for the club.

“We’ve spoken a lot and watched a lot of filming in the areas that she gets in,” Harris said, referring to the specific shot she finessed by bending around San Diego’s goalkeeper. “It’s very, very difficult to defend, so that was something that we looked (at) and we worked on, so I’m really pleased that she was able to execute today.”

Gotham has momentum in the second half of the season despite several weeks on the road and lots of change in the locker room.

The team’s head coach, Juan Carlos Amorós, is on parental leave, and the club recently lost two of its most veteran players. Defender Emily Sonnett suffered a season-ending knee injury last month. The club also mutually agreed to terminate 2023 World Cup winner Esther González’s contract, which ran through 2027. Citing personal reasons, the striker said she is stepping away from soccer to return to Spain.

Former Chelsea star Sam Kerr, who played three seasons for the franchise when it was Sky Blue FC, recently re-signed with Gotham. The team also signed a pair of NWSL veterans in Ireland captain Denise O’Sullivan and midfielder Meredith Speck.

Gotham also welcomed back several players who have had long absences due to injury, including defenders Mandy Freeman and Bruninha. Midfielder Taryn Torres was also recently activated off the club’s season-ending injury list, returning Friday night to roaring applause in her first home game since she tore an ACL last year.

“Because it’s my second SEI, I kind of knew what it was going to be like,” Torres said, “and the biggest thing that I focused on was staying present and taking it day by day. So, whether that was rehab, whether that was being positive, whether that was whatever came my way, I just stayed present. … Today, being able to be back out on the field, it’s so rewarding.”

Friday night marked Gotham’s first match at Sports Illustrated Stadium since May 31, with an electric crowd flocking to Harrison despite severe thunderstorms and flooding in the area, making it difficult to get to the stadium.

Gotham return to the pitch Aug. 14 against the Kansas City Current.

Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer activity this summer has taken just about everybody by surprise.

We are not talking only about spending nearly £250million on six new signings, breaking their transfer record twice in the process with the arrivals of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali from West Ham United and Newcastle United respectively, but also making strategic sales.

Chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham has spoken publicly on multiple occasions about how Spurs need to improve at selling. Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City are the best examples of top clubs who are unafraid to cash in on their young talent and reinvest the fees received into the first-team squad.

Luka Vuskovic was 16 years old when Tottenham agreed to sign him from Hajduk Split in his native Croatia. Vuskovic officially moved to north London only last summer after turning 18, then spent the season on loan with German side Hamburg.

The centre-back’s £46million transfer to Brighton & Hove Albion in July feels bittersweet, as he never made an official first-team appearance for Spurs, but that money represents a significant profit on the £12m they paid for him. The 19-year-old has no Premier League experience, and would have been stuck behind new signing Jan Paul van Hecke and Kevin Danso for playing time in the right-sided centre-back spot.

Vuskovic is this summer’s headline sale, and the third biggest in the club’s history behind Gareth Bale and Harry Kane, but Tottenham have extracted value from other players on the fringes of their first team.

Will Lankshear joined Middlesbrough of the Championship last month in a deal worth £10million, with another £10m to possibly follow in add-ons. Ashley Phillips, who has spent the past two seasons on loan to Stoke City in that same division, is following Lankshear to the Riverside Stadium for an initial £7m, which could rise to £20m.

Alejo Veliz and Alfie Devine have moved permanently to Brazilian side Bahia and the Championship’s Preston North End respectively, while 18-year-old winger Tynan Thompson joined Manchester United for up to £8m.

Spurs have inserted sell-on clauses into most of these deals, and have matching rights for Vuskovic, Lankshear and Thompson.

Those six players had a combined total of less than 20 senior appearances for Tottenham, but if you add all of their fees together, they cover a significant chunk of the club-record £100million they are paying Newcastle United for Tonali.

Vuskovic’s value skyrocketed during his loan at Hamburg (Selim Sudheimer/Getty Images)

In an ideal world, these players would become first-team stars at Tottenham, but it is not always possible. Sometimes, letting young talent leave is right for all parties.

Spurs have not always sold well when it comes to academy players who don’t become senior squad regulars.

Over the past five years, their best deals of that kind were Cameron Carter-Vickers’ move to Scottish giants Celtic and Troy Parrott’s €8million (£6.9m/$9.2m at the current rates) sale to AZ of the Netherlands. Last summer, the only significant departure was Josh Keeley’s £1m switch to Luton Town of third-tier League One.

It is no coincidence that they have raised a lot of money offloading youngsters this summer. Considered and sometimes bold decisions have been made about their development by head of loans and pathways Andy Scoulding and academy director Simon Davies, which have finally come to fruition.

Vuskovic spent time on loan with Polish side Radomiak Radom and Westerlo of Belgium as well as Hamburg. Westerlo were viewed as a good opportunity because they play top-flight football but do not attract a lot of attention. Vuskovic could make mistakes and grow without intense pressure. There was a huge emotional draw for Vuskovic to join Hamburg — his older brother Mario is contracted to them but is serving a doping ban until this November — and it was seen as a natural next step in a more competitive environment.

Mikey Moore initially struggled after joining Rangers in Scotland’s Premiership last summer. In September, the winger was substituted at half-time twice in less than two weeks during home defeats to Hearts and Belgium’s Genk. The now 18-year-old did not score his first goal for Rangers until November and then missed the next four games with a muscle injury.

By the end of the campaign, though, Moore was an integral part of a team which experienced a revival following Danny Rohl’s appointment as manager in the October. He made 47 appearances and scored seven goals.

“I wanted to go somewhere there was a lot riding on it every week,” Moore told The Athletic in April. “I didn’t want to go somewhere we were mid-table and you’re not bothered if you lose. If you lose at Rangers, it’s a disaster.”

Moore is one of the most highly-rated players to emerge from Tottenham’s academy in the past decade and needs to be prepared for intense scrutiny. Scoulding, who previously worked for Rangers as their chief scout, helped to facilitate his loan move to Glasgow.

Having impressed for Spurs on this summer’s pre-season tour to Australia and New Zealand, Moore is close to joining Koln of the Bundesliga on loan.

There is a track record of young English players, including Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho, flourishing in Germany’s top flight. The transitional and chaotic nature of Bundesliga football allows forwards to thrive in open spaces and its 18 clubs gave the second-most minutes to under-21 players across the top five European leagues last season.

Mikey Moore eventually thrived in Scotland with Rangers (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Learning a new culture and language will present Moore with a different challenge but he should earn enough playing time to thrive in Cologne, especially as he would be linking up with fellow England youth internationals Reigan Heskey, 18-year-old son of ex-Liverpool and Wigan Athletic forward Emile, and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, 20, who both joined Koln permanently from Manchester City earlier this summer.

A successful season in Germany will either give Moore a springboard to break into Roberto De Zerbi’s squad back at Tottenham or hugely increase his value and options for the next step in his career.

While Moore was competing in the Europa League with Rangers, Lankshear suffered relegation from the Championship on loan at Oxford United. Despite the difficult circumstances, he scored 12 goals in 47 appearances and was named Oxford’s Young Player of the Year, drawing the attention of many other sides in that division.

Not every loan goes according to plan. Lankshear worked under two different head coaches in a short spell with West Bromwich Albion in the second half of the 2024-25 season. On paper, it looked like a disappointment because he failed to score or provide an assist in 11 appearances, but that experience enabled the now 21-year-old to shine when farmed out again to Oxford a few months later.

“I had a taste of the Premier League, where everything is really intense and everyone is so good,” he told The Athletic shortly before signing for Oxford. “In the Championship, there are more aerial duels, and it’s more physical. That was my biggest lesson. Being able to adapt. Learning, putting it all together, and trying to get better at everything.

“West Brom was massive for my development. Even though the goals didn’t come, I had some really good games. I learned loads: the managers, what they would like, different systems. I loved it. They treated me really well, and I enjoyed it.”

Jamie Donley was superb for Leyton Orient of League One in the 2024-25 season, including famously scoring from near the halfway line in an FA Cup tie against Manchester City, but then only played four times when he stepped up to the second-tier with Stoke for what was supposed to be a year’s loan and ended that campaign as a team-mate of Lankshear’s at Oxford.

Going further back, Parrott’s career was stalling after a series of loans across the Championship and League One. Spurs encouraged him to try something different by joining Excelsior of the Netherlands for 2023-24. Parrott finished the season with 10 goals in 25 league appearances, earning that permanent move to fellow Dutch side AZ. Barely a year after struggling for game time at Preston in England’s second tier, the Irishman was scoring for fun in the Eredivisie and Europa League.

Capping two successful seasons with AZ, Parrott helped them win the Dutch Cup in April. Tottenham will benefit from the sell-on clause they inserted into the original deal that took him to Alkmaar if he leaves this summer.

Parrott’s loan at Preston (above) did not work out – but his one to Excelsior did (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

The knock-on effect of the successes of Moore, Phillips and Lankshear is that the reputation of other young players at Tottenham will improve.

There was a huge amount of interest in Mason Melia before the 18-year-old striker decided to join newly-promoted Lincoln City in the second tier on a season-long loan. Spurs’ staff believe Melia’s style of play fits with Lincoln, in and out of possession, which should help him to make a strong impression.

This all also makes life easier for head of academy recruitment Jack Chapman when he pitches a move to Tottenham to potential new signings, as he can detail a proven development pathway. It should help with contract renewals, too.

Luca Williams-Barnett and Jun’ai Byfield both made their Spurs first-team debuts last season and turn 18 later this year. When they do, De Zerbi, sporting director Johan Lange, Scoulding and Davies need to decide if it is better for them to remain with the senior squad or gain experience by going out on their first loans.

Tottenham do need to ensure a genuine pathway into their first team exists and that academy players do not just become assets who get developed elsewhere and sold long-term.

If selling young talent has been easy for Spurs this summer, then they have a challenge over the remainder of the window with more senior players.

There is a strong chance that current captain Cristian Romero will leave. The Argentina international centre-back is attracting interest from Atletico Madrid, Inter and, surprisingly, north London rivals Arsenal. Inter have verbally agreed in principle a fee of around €40million for the 28-year-old, but personal terms are yet to be nailed down.

Guglielmo Vicario could depart after being replaced as first-choice goalkeeper by Antonin Kinsky, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest have seen offers for midfielder Lucas Bergvall rejected and De Zerbi admitted during the pre-season tour that the club’s 2025-26 top goalscorer Richarlison “sometimes wants to leave”.

There will be some tough negotiations, but Spurs should be pleased with the sales they have already made.