Premier League news and gossip: Alvaro Morata, Willian, Yoshinori Muto

Five things to know today about English football’s top-flight

Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata previously played for Real Madrid and Juventus
Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata previously played for Real Madrid in Spain and Juventus in Italy
(Image credit: Alex Morton/Getty Images)

‘Morata struggling - water is wet’

Alvaro Morata’s future at Chelsea looks bleak after fans hit out at the striker following his poor performance in the pre-season match against Arsenal.

Morata saw a penalty saved by former Blues keeper Petr Cech in the 1-1 draw last night in Dublin and the Gunners went on to win 6-5 on spot-kicks.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Chelsea fans were not happy with the Spaniard, talkSPORT reports, and one wrote on Twitter: “Morata struggling. Water is wet.”

After signing for a club record £60m last season Morata is now linked with a move away before the close of the transfer window on 9 August. The Daily Star says AC Milan and Juventus are favourites for his signature.

See more

New kits for referees

Premier League referees, assistants and fourth officials will wear new kits this season. The strips will come in four colours. Last season’s “anthracite black” and “siren red” remain but officials will also wear the new colours “equator blue” and “volt”, a shade of yellow.

£217m wages paid to injured players

The BBC reports that during the 2017-18 season Premier League clubs paid £217m in wages to injured players. Manchester United (£23.3m) paid the highest amount while Arsenal had 54 separate injuries, the most for one club during the season. According to data by insurance broker JLT Specialty “an injury costs a club an average of £323,000 in wages”.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.