Are Chelsea and Tottenham about to scrap over a top defender this summer? It’s not out of the question.

Both clubs have different priorities right now, but things could get interesting if Bayern Munich decide to let Kim Min-Jae go. That would put two London rivals on a collision course, each desperate for defensive reinforcements.

Chelsea, under Liam Rosenior, appears to be a different team, boasting eight wins from eleven games in all competitions. Rosenior’s barely had time to settle in, and he’s already been tested on four fronts. They’re hungry, and the mood around Stamford Bridge has shifted.

Tottenham, though, are in a very different place. They’re flirting with the relegation zone, and this time the threat feels real. West Ham, Leeds, and Forest are all clawing for survival. Spurs have Igor Tudor in charge until the end of the season, and managing in England for the first time while juggling a pile of injuries isn’t exactly a dream start. If they stay up, and right now, that’s still a big "if", they’ll need to strengthen fast.

That’s where Kim Min-Jae comes in. Both Chelsea and Spurs are eyeing him up, according to reports. Bayern paid £43 million to bring him in from Napoli last year, making him the most expensive Asian player ever. He helped Napoli win the Scudetto before that, and he’s won titles in Germany and South Korea, too. The guy knows how to get over the line.

But things haven’t clicked at Bayern. Kim was excellent in their 3-0 win over Bremen last weekend, but he’s mostly been third-choice behind Upamecano and Tah. Ten Bundesliga starts, just two in the Champions League. Not exactly what he signed up for. Bayern insider Christian Falk says Chelsea and Spurs have both shown interest, and Kim’s on their shortlist. Liverpool have been linked to, but right now, it’s the London clubs circling.

Chelsea have a hole at the back ever since Thiago Silva moved on. Kim, at 29, would instantly become the oldest player in the squad – not a bad thing for a team packed with young talent that sometimes looks a bit lost under pressure. They need his experience.

Spurs, on the other hand, have a solid pairing with Van de Ven and Romero, but if they lose one, things get thin pretty fast. Kim would be an upgrade on their depth and could slot straight into the starting eleven. And let’s be honest, the Son Heung-min effect is real. Kim would draw huge support from South Korea, just like Son has.

Kim isn’t agitating for a move just yet, but if Bayern decide to cash in and the right offer lands on the table, don’t be surprised to see him in the Premier League next season. Whether it’s in blue or white, that’s the part nobody knows yet.

Chris Kavanagh won’t be refereeing any Premier League games this weekend, and honestly, that’s no surprise after all the drama in last Saturday’s Aston Villa vs Newcastle FA Cup match.

Kavanagh and his assistants, Gary Beswick and Nick Greenhalgh, got hammered by critics for how they handled that fourth-round tie at Villa Park. There was no VAR in play; none of the matches in that round had it, so the officials had to make the big calls themselves.

They missed Tammy Abraham standing offside for Villa’s first goal. Then Lucas Digne put in a high challenge on Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy, the sort of tackle that usually gets a red card, but nothing happened. Later, Digne got penalised for a handball, but he was clearly inside the box, and somehow the ref gave a free-kick outside instead.

This weekend, Beswick is working as an assistant for the Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool game on Sunday, but Kavanagh and Greenhalgh are nowhere to be seen on the official appointments list.

Referees are judged on their performances. The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) decide who gets which games based on a bunch of factors, including independent assessments after each match.

Still, Kavanagh is well-regarded among refs. He just made it onto UEFA’s top officials list and often gets Champions League matches. Earlier on Monday, Wayne Rooney chimed in and said the mistakes from Saturday showed just how much refs have come to rely on VAR.

On BBC’s live coverage that night, Rooney called the handball decision “one of the worst” he’d ever seen. Later, on his podcast, he said, “I think there’s over-reliance on VAR. Now the officials are used to it; they wait for VAR to bail them out. With no VAR, they have to make the call themselves, and they’re so used to keeping the flag down that it cost them yesterday.”

Graham Scott, who used to referee in the Premier League, joined the podcast too. He pushed back against the idea that refs hide behind VAR. “I work with them closely; I know these guys, and they’re not like that,” Scott said. “That’s not how they think or work. I spent half my career with VAR and half without it – well, actually, without it first. Even when I was in the Premier League, I’d sometimes ref in the Championship with no VAR. You’re in and out, but your process doesn’t really change.”

VAR comes back for the FA Cup from the fifth round. In the Premier League, officials are told to trust their own judgement. The English top flight actually has the lowest rate of VAR interventions in Europe’s major leagues. Here, they only overturn a call if it’s clearly and obviously wrong.