Europe targets 10 in a row at Club World Cup

THE DUST has barely settled on Qatar 2022 and already the next Fifa jamboree, the Club World Cup, is about to begin in another destination with big hosting ambitions.

Chelsea won last year in Abu Dhabi but won’t be defending their title in Morocco over the next 10 days, since they didn’t qualify via the Champions League. Despite the absence of English teams, there is still plenty of intrigue, not least in the presence of a first ever qualifier from Major League Soccer.

European clubs have won

Football Comment

Trevor Steven

CHELSEA’S strategy in the transfer market has been fascinating to watch since Todd Boehly’s consortium bought the club from Roman Abramovich last year.

From the outside, the signing of more than a dozen new players for an outlay of around half a billion pounds in transfer fees looks like a scattergun approach.

But I can’t imagine for one moment that Boehly and his partners, who have a track record of success in US sport as well as business, have not thought this recruitment strategy through to the nth degree.

The question they will have asked themselves is: how do we get Chelsea back to the top of European football as quickly as possible?

And the answer they have arrived at is amassing the best squad possible.

Manchester City have set the standard in recent years, with two world-class players in each position, and that is the way that the game is going.

That means that when a good player becomes available Chelsea go all out to get them. Mykhailo Mudryk, who they snatched from under the noses of Arsenal, is a prime example. For me, Mudryk is the pick of their signings; a truly exceptional player.

But this is about the group, and acquiring the best players that they can on the longest contracts possible improves the Boehly group’s chances of increasing the value of their asset.

They are trying to concertina their spending into as short a period as possible, probably mindful that rule changes expected this summer may make it more difficult to spend as freely. These are experienced businessmen trying to make the most of current regulations.

Chemistry

It is out with the old as well as in with the new, though, and Chelsea have also moved on some players who are past their best or have been there too long. And the club will want to keep the pipeline of academy players running, as they also help the bottom line.

Clubs’ strategies have changed since I was playing, when it was all about

Holders Chelsea may not be there but Real Madrid can extend Uefa dominance in Morocco, writes Frank Dalleres

the last nine editions of the Club World Cup, so Real Madrid, this year’s Uefa representative, will start as the firm favourites.

The Spanish giants are seeking their fifth title and some respite from their stuttering form in LaLiga, where they currently trail rivals Barcelona by five points.

South American champions

Madrid have won four times

Flamengo, whose stars include Arturo Vidal and Gabriel Barbosa, are the next biggest side involved and, like Real Madrid, will enter at the semi-final stage.

Before then Al Ahly of Egypt, Auckland City, Wydad Casablanca, Al-Hilal and Seattle Sounders will battle it out for the other two places in the last four. The Sounders, marking a debut for MLS teams, face the winner of Wednesday’s game between Al Ahly and Auckland in the second round for a chance to play Real Madrid.

Morocco is staging the Club World Cup for a third time in the latest attempt to underline its credentials as a possible host of the men’s World Cup.

The country has the unwanted distinction of bidding unsuccessfully on five occasions but, encouraged by the national team’s run in Qatar, has hopes of staging in the big one in 2030.

Games this week will take place at the 65,000-capacity Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier and Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, which holds 60,000.

Expansion

This is technically the 2022 Club World Cup as it was pushed back a few weeks from its usual December slot to avoid a clash with Fifa’s chief event last month. It kicks off on Wednesday, with the