prince harry and Meghan Markle have revealed a surprise visit to the United Kingdom in September.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s travels to Europe, which will also include a visit to Germany, have been arranged so that they can “visit with several charities close to their hearts,” a spokesperson has confirmed.
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The former royals – who were last in the UK for the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in June – will head to Manchester for the One Young World Summit on September 5.
Over the years, the Duchess of Sussex has served as a counselor in One Young World summits, a forum which brings together young leaders from over 190 countries around the world.
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Following the summit, Meghan and Harry will then embark on their trip to Germany to attend the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 “One Year to Go” event, as per TheMirror.
They will then return to the UK for the WellChild Awards which will take place September 8.
No further details regarding meetings with other members of the royal family have been released.
The Sussexes will make a series of visits to different charities. (Getty)
harry and meghan introduced their one-year-old daughter Lilibet to the Queen for the first time during their time in the UK for the Jubilee.
It was the first occasion that Lilibet and her brother Archie were reunited with much of the royal family since their parents royal exit in March 2020.
sources told The Sun that the Sussexes had “barely 15 minutes” of alone time with the Queen during the celebrations, so a trip back to the UK next month could pose as the perfect opportunity for the duo to spend more time with the monarch.
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Why Prince Charles goes by another title in Scotland
Australian cricketer Marcus Stoinis is copping a hammering after accusing Pakistan quick Muhammad Hasnain of having an illegal bowling action.
As Stoinis made his way from the middle after being dismissed for 37 by Hasnain in The Hundred on Monday (AEST), the all-rounder mimicked a chucking action.
When Stoinis smacked a 142km/h short ball back down the wicket during the Southern Brave’s match against the Oval Invincibles, he gifted Will Jacks an easy catch at mid-off.
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Then came the 32-year-old’s inflammatory gesture—an obvious dig at Hasnain’s recent suspension.
Hasnain was in February found guilty of having an illegal bowling action after a Big Bash League umpire reported him in a match between the Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers.
Marcus Stoinis is copping a beat after accusing Muhammad Hasnain of having an illegal bowling action in The Hundred. (kayo)
Biomechanic tests confirmed his action breached the ICC’s 15-degree limit on elbow extension.
But the 22-year-old’s action has since been declared legal, green-lighting his return to professional cricket.
According to the Pakistan Cricket Board, Hasnain’s technique was reassessed in May at the ICC-accredited testing clinic in Lahore, before the report was verified by Cricket Australia’s independent experts.
Daniel Brettig from The Age is among those to have condemned Stoinis’ antagonizing intimation.
“Yeah, this is poor,” Brettig wrote on Twitter.
“There’s a system in place to regulate bowling actions and it doesn’t include publicly questioning your opponent’s integrity.”
Former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq posted on Twitter: “This is shocking! Hasnain has been cleared and it has nothing to do with Stoinis”.
And Elizabeth Ammon from The Times wrote on Twitter: “Wonder if Stoinis will be in trouble for this implication.”
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The backstories and controversies that have ignited feuds involving athletes
The bitcoin boom spawned new billionaires and videos of beach parties and Lamborghinis. The crypto crash brought devastation for small investors and bankruptcy for many companies.
Blockchain technology underpins crypto and has been hailed as a world-changing innovation, but does it have any use beyond creating speculative financial instruments?
– More secure voting? –
A “blockchain-based mobile voting app”, I tweeted, would mean “we won’t have to wait for results, or have any questions on its validity”.
So far, experiments have been very small scale.
“From the American perspective, every single district runs its own voting programme,” he said.
“Centralizing the voting system in one digital place would be pretty risky -– then all you have to do is corrupt the blockchain and you could corrupt democracy.”
Blockchain at heart is a ledger, a way of storing transactions that is — according to fans — secure, transparent and permanent.
Diehl said it was “absurd” that the blockchain was “going back to things that were solved a millennium ago to justify its own existence”.
“The blockchain isn’t solving anything here.”
The blockchain emerged from a 2008 white paper on bitcoin, which was conceived as an alternative to fiat currency.
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. There are now more than 10,000 others sitting on many different blockchains.
Diehl pointed out that cryptoassets are speculative instruments not suitable for payments.
“It just doesn’t happen. You want something that’s going to be stable so the price of your coffee is the price of your coffee next week.”
Want to know where your handle came from? Some supermarkets believe the best way for you to find out is to access a blockchain-based system capable of tracking the fruit from the tropics of Central America to your cornerstore.
Carrefour told AFP earlier this year that shoppers would be able to scan a QR code and discover the provenance of an array of products.
Diehl pointed out that digital supply chain management has been around for years and is perfectly adequate without blockchain.
“If I have a carton of apples and report that I put 100 percent of them on the truck, but then I skim off 50 percent for myself, the blockchain is not going to prevent that.”
Microsoft’s attempts to finalize its Activision Blizzard acquisition have inadvertently revealed how poorly the Xbox One console in all its forms sold.
As Game Luster reports, Microsoft needs to get the sign-off for its $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition from competition authorities around the world. One of those is Brazil’s CADE competition authority.
An official court document (in Portuguese) submitted by Microsoft includes the claim that (Google translated), “Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales and install base, having sold more than twice as many [than] Xbox in the last generation.”
Sony no longer reports PS4 console sales, but the last official total reported earlier this month was 117.2 million units. It means that Microsoft didn’t manage to sell more than 58 million Xbox One consoles over its lifetime. And if Ampere Analysis’ data is accurate, Microsoft sold a grand total of just 51 million consoles. For reference, the Xbox 360 achieved 85.8 million units over its lifetime.
Ampere also believes that Sony will have a substantial lead this generation by the time we reach 2024. PS5 console sales are expected to top 67.3 million, while Xbox Series X and Series S combined will manage 44.3 million.
Microsoft is taking a different approach this generation, with the emphasis shifting to hardware sales combined with subscription gaming through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. We won’t know how well that works until much later in this generation of hardware, and just as importantly, if it works even with a much smaller installed user base then your main competitor if Ampere’s predictions are to be believed.
Anne Heche began acting in her teens, but despite her successes in television and film, and on stage, her career was overshadowed by a life steeped in tragedy and controversy. Heche, who has died aged 53 after a car crash, came to tabloid prominence in the late 1990s as the girlfriend of Ellen DeGeneres, who was then the star of a hit TV comedy series.
Heche later blamed the publicity around their relationship for hampering her career, saying Hollywood was not ready for a lesbian star in straight love-interest roles. That was exactly what her first starring role was; in Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), she marooned on a desert island with Harrison Ford. After a string of roles the previous year, including in Volcano and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and critical success in films such as Donnie Brasco and Wag the Dog, Heche had been cast in the film not long before her relationship with her. DeGeneres was made public.
They split up in 2000, and a year later, after marrying Coleman Laffoon, a cameraman who worked on DeGeneres’ standup tour, Heche published a memoir, Call Me Crazy, in which she detailed being abused by her father from infancy through to the age of 12. She said the abuse had left her “insane for 31 years”.
Anne was born in Aurora, Ohio, the youngest of five children born to Donald Heche, a choir director in fundamentalist churches, and his wife, Nancy (nee Prickett), whom Anne described as “eerily compliant”. The first-born child, Cynthia, died in infancy. The family moved 11 times during Anne’s childhood, often living on the charity of church members. Aged 12, Anne began working in a super theater in Ocean City, New Jersey; she was for a while the family’s main breadwinner.
Anne Heche with Tommy Lee Jones in Volcano, 1997. Photograph: 20th Century Fox/Allstar
When she was 13, her father died of Aids; Heche believed his hidden homosexuality was part of her life as a sexual predator. Three months after Donald’s death, Ella’s brother Nathan died when he crashed his car into a tree. Though his death from him was ruled an accident, I thought that Nathan had taken his own life, unable to bear his father’s legacy from him.
Nancy Heche moved the family to Chicago, where she became a Christian therapist and motivational speaker, advocating “overcoming” the sin of homosexuality. Anne studied at the progressive Francis Parker school in Chicago, and at 16 she was spotted by an agent in a school play. After an audition, she was offered a part in the long-running daytime soap opera As the World Turns; but she turned it down as her mother insisted that she finish school first.
Shortly before her graduation Heche was offered a dual role in the soap Another World. Her mother de ella again said no, but Heche, by now 18, left for New York, later writing: “I did my time with my mom in a one-bedroom, skanky apartment and I was done.”
For the remainder of her adult life she would be estranged from her mother and her elder sister Susan, who died in 2006 of brain cancer. Heche reconciled with her remaining sister of her, Abigail.
Anne Heche in a scene from Donnie Brasco, 1997. Photograph: Mandalay/Baltimore/Kobal/Shutterstock
Heche’s playing of Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in Another World won her a daytime Emmy award in 1991; she moved on to guest roles in TV shows and TV movies. Her first feature film by her was The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) and in 1995 she played Joan Chen’s lover in the straight-to-video Wild Side, whose writer-director David Cammell took his own life shortly after he saw the release version edited by the producers. He got good reviews for a co-starring part in the indy film Walking and Talking (1996), with Catherine Keener, and, in 1997, playing Johnny Depp’s wife in Donnie Brasco.
In the same year as Six Days, Seven Nights, she starred with Vince Vaughn in Return to Paradise and took the Janet Leigh role of Marion Crane in Gus Van Sant’s shot-by-shot remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho, with Vaughn as Norman Bates, who kills her in the shower. Heche was a prospective saint alongside Ed Harris in Agnieszka Holland’s The Third Miracle (1999).
Anne Heche as Marion Crane in the Gus Van Sant remake of Psycho, 1998. Photo: Reuters
Feeling stymied after her split from DeGeneres, Heche appeared on the hit TV show Ally McBeal in 2001, then left Hollywood for Broadway. In 2002 she starred in David Auburn’s Pulitzer-winning play Proof, as the daughter of a mathematical genius who fears she has inherited both her father’s talent and her mental instability. But despite her fine notices, when the play was filmed in 2005 the lead went to Gwyneth Paltrow.
In 2004 she was nominated for a Tony award opposite Alec Baldwin in a revival of Twentieth Century, nominated for an Emmy for the TV movie Gracie’s Choice, and won a Saturn award as best actress in the sci-fi TV movie The Dead Will Tell.
She remained busy, playing leads in TV movies and parts in theatrical films that garnered good notices, notably as one of two sisters, both ex-wives of a cop (Woody Harrelson) in the disappointing otherwise Rampart (2011), written by James Ellroy , a foil to Colin Firth and Emily Blunt in Arthur Newman (2012), starring alongside Sandra Oh in the underrated Catfight (2016), which follows an on-going rivalry between two college classmates, and excellent in My Friend Dahmer (2017), as the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother.
Anne Heche with Ellen DeGeneres in 1999; the couple parted the following year. Photograph: Graham Whitby-Boot/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar
In the meantime she starred in a string of TV series. In Men in Trees (2006-08) she was a New York City relationship coach who winds up in Elmo, Alaska. A mix of familiar tropes, it was notable because Heche began a relationship with her co-star James Tupper; their son, Atlas, was born in 2009, the same year her divorce from Ella from Laffoon was finalized. She and Tupper separated in 2018.
In Hung (2009-11), Heche played the ex-wife of a downtrodden basketball coach who becomes a gigolo. Save Me (2013) lasted seven episodes; she was a woman whose near-death experience turns her into a pipeline from God. In 2016 she starred in Aftermath, as part of a family fighting for post-apocalyptic survival, and in 2017 she was deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in The Brave, in which she and her control team manipulate agents in the field.
Her most recent film, Wildfire, is due for release later this year, based on the hit song by Michael Martin Murphey, as the mother of the girl who, in the song, is lost searching in the snow for her pony. She also starred in the TV movie Girl in Room 13, due to premiere next month.
After a crash in Los Angeles on 5 August, in which her car caught fire, Heche was hospitalized and spent nearly a week in a coma before being declared legally dead under California law on 12 August. From her Life support was withdrawn two days later.
Heche is survived by her sons, Homer, from her marriage to Laffoon, and Atlas.
Dragons fans will tell you the finish to Sunday’s game against the Raiders was a square-up after what happened in Wollongong earlier in the year, but the NRL is adamant the officials got the call right to not award St George Illawarra a penalty from 15m out which would have sent the match to golden point.
The Dragons were down 24-22 when Mathew Feagai broke into the clear, only to be chopped down close to the line as time was about to expire.
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The winger tried to get to his feet, but was held down by Corey Harawira-Naera and the ball then came free just as the referee blew his whistle, leaving the Red V with virtually no chance of making the finals.
Players were incensed that they weren’t given a penalty, and they were left to rue a shocking captain’s challenge at the start of the second half which meant they couldn’t send the play to the Bunker to have it reviewed.
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The Dragons’ Jack Bird was furious with the decision. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
It brought back memories of the farcical finish to the game at WIN Stadium when the Green Machine weren’t given a penalty when down 12-10 because the referee had called full-time.
However, NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the decision on Sunday was the correct one and that the Dragons would’ve been doubly disappointed even if they still had a challenge up their sleeve, because time had expired before the second movement by Harawira-Naera which pushed Feagai off his feet.
“The ball is not in play,” he said.
“There’s no possibility for the ball carrier to get up and play the ball in order to get another tackle.
“Regardless of any infringement that might take place by the defender – other than foul play – it’s irrelevant because the ball hasn’t been brought back into play and the referee can’t extend the play for a technical infringement to award a penalty.
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“They could’ve mounted a challenge had they had one left because the game is not finished at this point, even though time has expired and the referee has blown his whistle to indicate that he’s stopping play.
“He hasn’t at this point blown his whistle to say it’s full-time, so although the game could not have continued because of that technical infringement, it would not have prevented the Dragons from asking for a captain’s challenge.
“However, they would have lost the captain’s challenge because time had expired and we couldn’t restart the game for a technical infringement.
“It’s all very, very precise in terms of what can and can’t happen, and it needs to be that way because you can’t have another tackle after time has expired if the ball’s not already in play.”
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The incident was similar to the wild finish in Townsville a few weeks ago in that the Dragons would have technically been challenging the decision to end the game, just as the Cowboys did to snatch victory from the Wests Tigers.
“Not only could we not have restarted play because the tackle had been complete and hadn’t restarted, but we also couldn’t have restarted play because they’d knocked on in the ruck,” Annesley said.
“They would’ve been challenging the referee’s decision to stop the game in order to call full-time, similar to what happened with the Wests Tigers.
“They would’ve effectively been saying, ‘No, you can’t call full-time because we want to challenge what’s just happened.’
“But had they had a challenge and had it taken place, the Bunker would’ve had no choice but to deny the challenge because of not only the lost ball, but also play had not recommenced before time had expired.”
It was one of those weekends in the NRL, with a number of murky decisions.
Annesley said the Bunker made the right call to award a try to Bradman Best because the contact on Adam Reynolds wasn’t enough to prevent the try.
But he did concede the bunker got it horribly wrong at the SCG when Sam Verrills strolled over even though teammate Matt Lodge clearly held Griffin Neame back in the scrum.
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Sam Verrills celebrates a try which shouldn’t have been awarded. Picture; Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
“The contact caused Neame to do a 360, and Verrills has gone past,” Annesley said.
“It happens very quickly in real time, but I think there’s enough on this in replay that the Bunker had the opportunity to look at.
“There’s enough of a hold after the ball is out of the scrum to say that that would be a breach of the rules, and in normal circumstances, would result in a penalty to the Cowboys.
“However, in this particular case, it wouldn’t have resulted in a penalty to the Cowboys because of the off-side at the scrum, which was the first offence.”
A vaccine manufacturing facility is set to be built at Monash University in melbourne‘s south-east as part of a deal between the federal and Victorian governments.
The vaccine plant will be established by American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna, and is planned to be able to produce up to 100 million vaccine doses a year.
It will be Moderna’s only mRNA manufacturing and finishing center in the Southern Hemisphere and will produce Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax, but will give Australia mRNA manufacturing capability in the event of a new pandemic, such as avian influenza.
A vaccine manufacturing plant will be built in Melbourne’s south-east. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he is thrilled Moderna is building the plant in Melbourne, emphasizing the company had many locations to choose from.
“This is a show of faith in Australia, in our nation, for Moderna to locate themselves here,” he said.
Albanese said having a vaccine plant would give Australia more power, as well as more health supplies.
“This significant deal will protect Australians and Australian sovereignty,” he said.
“This is an issue which isn’t just about health, it’s not just about science, it’s also about national security. It’s about us being able to stand up for ourselves going forward and I think that’s particularly important.”
Speaking at Monash University in Melbourne’s south-east, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced a vaccine manufacturing facility will be built at the campus as part of a partnership with the federal government. (Nine)
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said he is “absolutely delighted” Melbourne has secured the facility.
“This is such an important day for our state, for our nation, and indeed, for the world,” he said.
The vaccine plant building is set to striking in appearance, with the exterior to be 85 per cent glass.
Moderna will also set up a headquarters and a Regional Research Center in Victoria.
The Great Wall of China, the cooling pond of Chernobyl, Bingham Canyon Mine, and the Greenhouses of Almería are some of the few things on Earth you can see from space. Well, prepare to add the Porsche 911 GT3 RS’ rear wing to the list as the track-focused machine has been spotted at the Nürburgring with a hardcore aerodynamic package. It looks as though the prototype had little to no camouflage on its aggressive coupe body.
The lack of disguise doesn’t come as a big surprise since we are days away from the car’s official reveal. Porsche has already announced the 992-generation 911 GT3 RS will break cover on August 17 when we’ll see the track monster in full. It’ll serve as the range-topping model for a while considering a potential GT2 RS is typically launched near the end of the generation.
47Photos
When it comes to outright top speed, the Turbo S should still reign supreme, while the 911 hybrid could become the most powerful of them all. Porsche will also explore the sports car’s adventurous side by introducing a high-riding variant believed to be called Dakar or Safari. A purely electric 911 won’t arrive before the end of the decade.
Since we mentioned power, Porsche has said the new 911 GT3 RS will have “approximately 500 PS,” which is 493 horsepower. However, chances are it’ll pack more punch since the non-RS derivative is already at 502 hp. No word about torque, but we’ll remind you the regular GT3 boasts 469 Newton-meters (346 pound-feet) from its six-cylinder boxer engine.
An educated guess tells us Porsche has found ways to shave off even more weight while increasing downforce at the rear axle judging by the colossal wing. The naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six will send power to the rear axle probably only through a seven-speed PDK, so look elsewhere in the vast 911 lineup if you want a manual transmission.
The peeps from Zuffenhausen have set up a livestream for the world premiere on Wednesday, so watch this space to discover the 2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
Olivia Wilde appeared to be in her element in her Sunday Instagram Story, after emerging victorious in her custody battle with her ex Jason Sudeikis.
The beaming actress, 38, flashed her legs in a thigh-split green floral maxi dress as she threw a hand in the air while out-and-about with one of her children in London.
It is unclear whether it was Otis, eight, or daughter Daisy, five, accompanying their mum on the evening out, however they were riding a purple scooter.
happy: Olivia Wilde appeared to be in her element in her Sunday Instagram Story, after emerging victorious in her custody battle with ex Jason Sudeikis
A follow-up snap saw Harry Styles’ girlfriend share a delicious-looking beverage with a mystery companion, featuring a smiley face on top of its froth.
Olivia and Jason, 46, initially met at a Saturday Night Live finale party in 2011.
The actress was previously married to Tao Ruspoli, and their marriage lasted from 2003 until 2011.
She subsequently began seeing the Horrible Bosses star, and they welcomed their son Otis into their lives in 2014 after having become engaged the year prior.
Exes: Olivia and Jason, 46, initially met at a Saturday Night Live finale party in 2011 (pictured in 2019)
The former couple went on to expand their family with the birth of their daughter Daisy in 2016.
The couple remained together for several years before it was announced that they had separated in November of 2020.
She subsequently began dating Harry, whom she directed in her upcoming thriller feature, Don’t Worry Darling.
The actor recently became the subject of criticism when his former partner was served custody papers at CinemaCon this past April.
Yum! A follow-up snap saw Harry Styles’ girlfriend share a delicious-looking beverage with a mystery companion, featuring a smiley face on top of its froth
The actress was in the middle of a presentation for 4,100 film industry executives about Don’t Worry Darling when she was awkwardly handed a manila envelope by a court process server.
The bizarre moment sparked furious speculation among attendees and reporters at the annual gathering of cinema owners and Hollywood studios about the envelope’s contents.
Neither of the parties publicly addressed the incident, and a source close to Jason later claimed that he did not know Olivia would be served the papers in such a public and humiliating way.
Exes: Olivia and ex Jason share two children together- eight-year-old son Otis and five-year-old daughter Daisy – and had continued co-parenting amicably after their split
The actor claimed he had always hoped she would be served in a ‘benign manner’ and requested service take place at Heathrow Airport, rather than at Styles’ home.
Olivia referenced the embarrassing incident for the first time in her court motion during her custody battle, slamming her ex for his ‘outrageous legal tactics’ and delivering the documents ‘mid-speech.’
Jason previously filed the suit against his ex in New York City Family Court over their two children in October 2021. He had wanted his kids to live with him in Brooklyn.
Olivia, however, wanted them to stay with her in Los Angeles, and possibly relocate to London, where Harry lives.
The judge, in a legal filing signed August 5, ruled ‘New York was not the home state of the subject children’ and that rather ‘California was the children’s home state.’
‘Therefore, for the reasons stated on the record on July 15, 2022, respondent’s motion to dismiss the custody petitions filed on October 21, 2021 is granted,’ the filing, which was reviewed by Page Six, stated.
The court determined ‘New York does not have jurisdiction to hear the custody petitions’ because it is not Otis and Daisy’s home state.
The custody battle will now have to be tried in California, so the ‘whole thing will start over’ in court there, legal experts allege.
New man: She subsequently began dating Harry, whom she directed in her upcoming thriller feature, Don’t Worry Darling
Heavy spenders Chelsea have already been busy during the transfer window, and are almost certainly not finished despite spending €186.59m ($A270m) so far.
According to reports, the club are reportedly prepared to sign both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona, as well as Wesley Fofana from Leicester.
Chelsea have already signed Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Gabriel Slonina, Carney Chukwuemeka and Marc Cucurella in their squad overhaul.
World-class striker Aubameyang, a former club captain of London rivals Arsenal, would represent the latest in a long line of superstar strikers to have joined Stamford Bridge – although many have struggled to make their mark.
Indeed, Chelsea’s number nine jersey has been worn by so many flops in recent years that coach Thomas Tuchel revealed that no-one will wear the number this season.
“It’s cursed, it’s cursed, people tell me it’s cursed … nobody wants to touch the No 9,” he said.
But it’s not just the number nine jersey that has been a curse at Chelsea. Dating back to the end of the last century, many of Chelsea’s big-name attacking signings have failed to make their mark.
Here are some of the great Blues flops of the modern era.
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CHRIS SUTTON
Transfer fee: £10m ($17m AUD) from Blackburn in 1999
Playing record: One goal in 28 Premier League games
Chelsea reached deep into their pockets to lure Sutton to Stamford Bridge from relegation stricken Blackburn, for what was then a club record fee.
The striker had signed from the Rovers, where he starred alongside Premier League icon Alan Shearer, after they placed second-last in the 1998-99 season.
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But the former England international had a forgettable debut campaign with the Blues, scoring just one goal from his 28 Premier League appearances.
Sutton’s sole contribution on the scoresheet came in a 5-0 thrashing of English giants Manchester United, which was a highlight in an otherwise quiet tenure in London.
His season went from bad to worse when he failed to make Chelsea’s bench for the 2000 FA Cup Final against Aston Villa, which the Blues won 1-0.
Sutton was a one season flop at Chelsea, though, after securing a transfer to Scottish giants Celtic.
ADRIAN MUTU
Transfer fees: €22.5m ($32m AUD) from Parma in 2003
Playing record: 10 goals from 38 games
Mutu began his Chelsea career in fine form, scoring four goals from his first three appearances for the giants of English football.
Playing in front of new fans for the first time, the Romanian scored the winning goal on his club debut against Leicester City.
But drama ensued as his relationship with Jose Mourinho reportedly reached its boiling point, with Mutu facing backlash from his manager after he claimed to be injured.
Chelsea later fired the striker after he tested positive for cocaine use in 2004, and was suspended for seven months.
Although he was not at the London club anymore, Mutu failed another anti-doping test in January of 2010, as reported by the Guardian.
Mutu, who also wore the number seven jersey at Chelsea, was handed a nine-month ban for that incident.
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ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO
Transfer fees: €43.9m ($63m AUD) from Milan in 2006
Playing record: Nine goals from 48 Premier League games
Chelsea splashed the cash once again to sign Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, who became the biggest signing in English football at the time.
Shevchenko, who was 30-year-old when he moved to London from Milan, was handed the number seven jersey under decorated coach Jose Mourinho.
But he failed to live up to the hype, scoring just 14 goals from 51 games during his first season with the famous London club.
Andriy Shevchenko had a forgettable spell with Chelsea.Source: AP
Shevchenko was loaned out to AC Milan, the club he’d signed from, during the 2008/09 season after failing to hit his stride at Stamford Bridge.
As reported by The Guardian, manager Carlo Ancelotti believed that Shevchenko was the fourth best striker at the club, just three years after he secured his record transfer.
Shevchenko was left out of Chelsea’s squad for the 2009/10 Champions League, and later returned to Dynamo Kyiv.
FERNANDO TORRES
Transfer fees: £50m ($85m AUD) from Liverpool in 2011
Playing record: 20 goals in 110 Premier League games for Chelsea
Fernando Torres rose to footballing stardom during a successful stint at Liverpool, where he truly embodied the phrase ‘human highlight reel’.
Torres had already made his name in Spain, after being handed the Atletico Madrid captaincy at just 19 years of age.
The Spaniard left Madrid for Liverpool, although he’d return to the club at the back end of his career, and quickly proved himself to be one of the most exciting players in England.
Fernando Torres struggled to find some form after completing his move to Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
But drama struck early in 2011, as Torres completed a sensational transfer to Premier League rivals Chelsea.
The Blues again broke the British transfer record for a reported fee of £50 million, as the striker completed a mid-season move sent shockwaves throughout the league.
Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it better, though, as Torres made his club debut for Chelsea after Liverpool.
The Blues lost that 1-0 and maybe it was a sign of things to come, as Torres went on to score just 20 goals in 110 Premier League appearances for Chelsea.
But while he failed to fire, these big money moves are all about making an impact when it counts, and Torres did that in the biggest competition that world football has to offer.
While he was far from an overwhelming success at Stamford Bridge, Torres did score a game sealing goal against Barcelona in a Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea went on to win their first ever Champions League crown in the 2011-12 campaign, beating German powerhouse Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties.
MOHAMED SALAH
Transfer fee: £11m ($18m AUD) from Basel in 2014
Playing record: Two goals from 13 games
Mohamed Salah has cemented his legacy as a Premier League legend after a stellar career with Liverpool, but his career in England wasn’t always so successful.
The ‘Egyptian King’ made just 19 appearances for Chelsea, before he was loaned out to Fiorentina just 13-months after moving to London.
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Salah’s two best Premier League games in Blue came in a 6-0 win over rivals Arsenal, where he scored, as well as a promising showing against Stoke.
Salah was later loaned out to Roma, before securing a permanent move to the Italian capital soon after.
But the scintillating winger really took his career to the next Liverpool after he secured a well-known transfer to Liverpool.
Not only has Salah tasted success in both the Champions League and Premier League with the Merseyside club, but he’s widely considered to be one of the best footballers on the planet.
In fact he’s become so popular, the Economist revealed that more than one million Egyptians spoiled their ballots by trying to vote for Salah during the presidential election in 2018.
With many noteworthy individual accolades on the football field to speak of as well, Salah is certainly another gem that Chelsea failed to cherish when they had the chance.
ALVARO MORATA
Transfer fees: Around £60m ($103m AUD) from Real Madrid in 2017
Playing record: 24 goals from about 72 games
After impressive spells with European giants Juventus and Real Madrid, Morata was brought into the club as a replacement for Diego Costa.
Costa, who won two Premier League titles and scored 59 goals for Chelsea, returned to Atletico Madrid after being told he was free to look elsewhere.
Morata was another striker who had the weight of the world on his shoulders when he moved to Stamford Bridge, due to the hype surrounding his arrival.
But the Spaniard failed to make an impression on the scoresheet, scoring just 15 goals in his 48 games.
After initially signing for the club on a five year deal, Morata was eventually loaned out to Atletico Madrid on an 18-month deal.
Atletico signed him on a permanent deal later, although he was loaned out to Juventus soon after in September, 2020.
TIMO WERNER
Transfer fees: €60m ($87m AUD) from RB Leipzig in 2020
playing record 23 goals in 89 appearances
Werner was one of the hottest properties on the football transfer market as European giants came looking to sign the star striker after an incredible spell at RB Leipzig.
During his four years at the German club, Werner scored 90 goals and had 40 assists from 156 competitive games.
Liverpool were also believed to be in the hunt for his signature, before he completed an expensive move to Chelsea on a five-year deal.
But the German quickly fell out of favor at Chelsea, having scored just 23 goals in 89 appearances.
With Chelsea reportedly looking to sign some strikers in the ongoing transfer window, the 26-year-old left the club and returned to RB Leipzig.
ROMELU LUKAKU
Transfer fees: £97.5m ($167m AUD) from Inter Milan in 2021
Playing record: 15 goals in all competitions from 44 games
Belgian Romelu Lukaku may have had a fairly expensive price tag to his name last year, but that didn’t stop Chelsea from making another mind-blowing investment in their future.
Once again, the Blues broke their transfer record to sign the striker from Italian giants Inter Milan.
Romelu Lukaku was a marquee signing for Chelsea, but he failed to make his mark on the scoresheet. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
With their Champions League glory still fresh in the minds of football fans, Chelsea managed to lure the powerful striker back to Stamford Bridge on an incredible transfer.
Despite their European success, Chelsea had come fourth in the Premier League the year before, but this signing was widely considered to be a difference maker.
Many believed that Lukaku could fire for the Blues after a previous stint at the club earlier in his career, before more well-known and successful stints with the likes of Everton and Manchester United.
But it was a disastrous return to the Premier League for Lukaku, who scored just eight goals before completing a loan move back to Inter Milan – and leaving the number nine jersey vacant.
