Here are your football.london Chelsea morning headlines on Wednesday, July 20.
Kounde's transfer 'hint'
Jules Kounde has dropped a 'hint' that he could be set to join Chelsea after he was reportedly spotted looking for a house in London.
Reports suggest the Blues are closing in on a deal for Kounde after finally landing on an agreement over a fee for the centre-back. And CBS journalist Ben Jacobs claims the Frenchman has been scouting out properties ahead of a transfer this summer.
It means Kounde could be expecting his move to Chelsea to finally go through, with an agreement over personal terms understood to have been in place for around a year.
Blues adopt new transfer model
Chelsea have adopted a new transfer model in a bid to land Thomas Tuchel his ideal summer targets.
Following the departures of Bruce Buck and Marina Granovskaia, a new team has quickly been put in place to handle the club's dealings in the transfer market. The approach has also changed, with greater incentives now being included in player contracts.
The club's bonus and contract structures is reportedly being overhauled in a bid to rebalance the wage bill and retain motivation levels. And these bonuses are thought to already be in place for new signings Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Koulibaly handed 'dream' shirt number
New Chelsea signing Kalidou Koulibaly has learned the shirt number he has been assigned for the club's pre-season tour – and it's likely he will be very happy.
The Senegal international is set to wear the number 26 – the same number he wore at Napoli. Koulibaly also becomes the first Chelsea player to wear No. 26 since John Terry, and the ex-Blues captain has already given the defender his blessing.
Following the defender's arrival at the club on Saturday, Terry tweeted: "@kkoulibaly26 Welcome to @chelseafc. Good Luck mate. 26," accompanied with two blue heart emojis. Raheem Sterling has also been given the No. 17 shirt, while Conor Gallagher has switched from No. 38 to No. 15.
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