Aston Villa presenter Kate Tracey has responded with humour to a social media post jokingly claiming Chelsea had signed her, following the club's real-life acquisitions of Morgan Rogers and set-piece coach Austin MacPhee.
Social media banter
A post on X read: "BREAKING: Chelsea have reportedly met the release clause of #avfc TV host Kate Tracey. Tracey will become the new host of Chelsea TV for the 26-27 season. Personal terms believed not be an issue."
Fans joined in, with one writing: "They thought the 117m was only for Rogers" and another: "We are snatching everything from villa." A third commented: "How did I know this was to come next?!!"
Tracey's response
Tracey, who has nearly 79,000 Instagram followers and fronts Aston Villa TV and Sky Sports Racing, took a screenshot of the claim for her For You page and wrote: "You never quite know what’ll greet you when you open up this app."
To further dismiss the rumours, she posted a photo of herself wearing a claret-coloured dress, the main colour of Villa's home strip, with the caption: "Felt it was necessary to wear this colour today" alongside a laughing emoji.
Actual Chelsea raids from Villa
Chelsea had already signed attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers in a club record £117 million transfer and set-piece coach Austin MacPhee from Villa, two significant losses for manager Unai Emery.
MacPhee's departure is notable given Villa's set-piece prowess; they scored the joint-most goals from set-pieces (29) alongside Arsenal last season.
Rogers, 24, will reunite with former Manchester City team-mate Cole Palmer at Stamford Bridge. On signing, he said: "I'm so excited. For me, Chelsea are the biggest club in London and a club I've always admired since I was a kid. I'm really excited about the project with the new manager, the players we've got and where the club is heading. That's why I'm here and I can't wait to get started."
