Chelsea have announced they are to tour China next summer. The trip is seen as an opportunity to increase the Blues’ Asian fanbase and attract young Chinese talent to Stamford Bridge. The tour is the latest stage in the Premiership champions’ partnership with the Chinese FA.
The Blues have been hosting China’s Olympic squad at their Cobham training ground for the past two weeks, but the visitors have moaned about the pitch and got into a brawl with QPR during that time. Business affairs director Paul Smith (pictured with Jose Mourinho) said with pound signs on his eyeballs: "We will take our first team and play games on the mainland. We see this as a long-term project." [Rob Parker]