Transfer Talk Topic

[exiledblue]

11 hours ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

What I don't understand about Lukaku is that his problem was with Tuchel. So what the hell is his problem to just come back to us and give it a fresh go now under a new manager and what is for all intents and purposes, basically an entirely new Club since he had his stupid interview in late 2021.

Maybe he doesnt trust himself to be a success in the same way most us wouldnt trust him to be a success

[exiledblue]

4 hours ago, chiswickblue said:

Assuming we sign Caicedo, I don't think we need to sign anyone else other than an experienced GK2. We can cope with a leaner squad this season, and include a number of youngsters that will hopefully be ready to play a fuller part in a season with European football in 2024/25.

Big decision to be made on Maatsen and Cucurella.

Doesnt seem so big to me, Cucurella to go. Always out of position and to slow to recover.

[xceleryx]

10 hours ago, martin1905 said:

I'm not gonna pretend to have seen loads of Maatsen but I've seen enough to want him to stay.

I'm not a Cucurella basher and wouldn't mind him staying for another year, if we didn't already have Maatsen.

For me it's a no brainer, get back as much as we can  Cucurella for and give his place in the squad to Maatsen. 

 

Cucurella has a place in this squad still IMO. With Chilwell's body not necessarily being 100% reliable as of right now, having that extra LB option, even in a reduced season, just gives us that little extra cover. I know people will say we have Hall, but for me he needs a loan where he can play in midfield and adjust to the senior game there. While he's done well to pinch hit at wingback, a fullback he's certainly not. 

Then depending on how Cucurella fairs this season we can then reassess next summer and not necessarily be put out.

And even though one has to take the Wrexham game for what it is, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to seeing more of Maatsen higher up the pitch at times based on how he looked. 

[xceleryx]

Looking at W.Fofana alternatives for the season got me thinking about Bonucci. With Giuntoli joining Juve recently as Sporting Director from Napoli, Bonucci has reportedly been told he'll not be a starter or part of the clubs plans for next season. While he's not the player he once was during those peak BBC years, he may be an inexpensive short-term solution to our problem.

At 36 he doesn't really block any sort of pathway for the younger guys, adds some experience and winning culture, plus suits a side wanting to play out from the back. Might be a more favourable solution than spending £40, 50 or 60 million on an alternative and then having to juggling that next season. 

[kev61]

5 hours ago, exiledblue said:

Doesnt seem so big to me, Cucurella to go. Always out of position and to slow to recover.

He tries,so credit to him for that - but his positional play is like a drunk man trying to tie his shoelaces - and anyone that thinks he can play as a centre back is delusional.

In fairness he's not in the same league as Ziyech in the need to get rid - but if we could get a decent price for him he is right up there with Havertz.

[kev61]

17 hours ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

What I don't understand about Lukaku is that his problem was with Tuchel. So what the hell is his problem to just come back to us and give it a fresh go now under a new manager and what is for all intents and purposes, basically an entirely new Club since he had his stupid interview in late 2021.

He's not interested in trying to be the best footballer he can be.He's a narcissist that thinks he could walk into any team.

He knows he's set for a life of luxury regardless what fans think of him.Even if the Saudis pull out he is still wealthy beyond most peoples dreams caused by a ridiculous contract.

Winston Bogarde was a bargain in comparison.

[Rob B]

4 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Looking at W.Fofana alternatives for the season got me thinking about Bonucci. With Giuntoli joining Juve recently as Sporting Director from Napoli, Bonucci has reportedly been told he'll not be a starter or part of the clubs plans for next season. While he's not the player he once was during those peak BBC years, he may be an inexpensive short-term solution to our problem.

At 36 he doesn't really block any sort of pathway for the younger guys, adds some experience and winning culture, plus suits a side wanting to play out from the back. Might be a more favourable solution than spending £40, 50 or 60 million on an alternative and then having to juggling that next season. 

What would you do with Chalobah?

With Trev, Badiashille, Levi and Silva I think we’re covered at centre-back? 

Silva will start the season at RCB with Colwill at LCB, and then Badiashille to fight for one of those spots in a month or so.  Trev can cover CB, RB and DM. 

Unless Trev specifically requests to leave (which even then we could politely say no) I’d leave that as it is. 

[Chelsea_Matt]

26 minutes ago, Rob B said:

What would you do with Chalobah?

With Trev, Badiashille, Levi and Silva I think we’re covered at centre-back? 

Silva will start the season at RCB with Colwill at LCB, and then Badiashille to fight for one of those spots in a month or so.  Trev can cover CB, RB and DM. 

Unless Trev specifically requests to leave (which even then we could politely say no) I’d leave that as it is. 

I would 💯 keep Trev. Absolutely. And Gallagher 💯 too!

[Mark Kelly]

The prices that Premier League clubs are apparently asking for some really mediocre players is astonishing , now is the time for the expensively assembled team in player procurement to earn their corn and find us a decent holding midfielder who doesn't cost more than a castle .

[Chelsea_Matt]

12 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

The prices that Premier League clubs are apparently asking for some really mediocre players is astonishing , now is the time for the expensively assembled team in player procurement to earn their corn and find us a decent holding midfielder who doesn't cost more than a castle .

I’d tell Brighton to stick it tbh. Leicester found Kante for £6m, didn’t they? Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could do something similar. I would love to see Gallagher coached into the DM role. 

Failing that, just buy some nasty brute from Eastern Europe or Scandyland! 🤣
 

[ROTG]

24 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Failing that, just buy some nasty brute from Eastern Europe or Scandyland! 🤣
 

Sander Berge anyone?

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, Rob B said:

What would you do with Chalobah?

With Trev, Badiashille, Levi and Silva I think we’re covered at centre-back? 

Silva will start the season at RCB with Colwill at LCB, and then Badiashille to fight for one of those spots in a month or so.  Trev can cover CB, RB and DM. 

Unless Trev specifically requests to leave (which even then we could politely say no) I’d leave that as it is. 

I'd be keeping Chalobah.

Given Fofana is more or less a wash for the season (I dare say), we're down to four options. Now, generally the wouldn't be a terrible position to be in however we do need to consider the make up of these remaining four. 

Badiashile is currently out until whenever, but what has flown under the radar about him is that even outside of his current injury he had missed about a month of football last season while at Monaco before he joined us - both muscular injuries. The season prior he also missed near 3 months of football across two seperate hamstring injuries. 

Colwill has talent but at the end of the day he's still a largely inexperienced 20 year old with only 17 top flight appearances to his name. While there's obviously a lot of plaudits about his talent and performances at Brighton, a lot of the focus is towards his on ball quality and not necessarily his actual defending. Outside of this though he missed about a month last season at Brighton with a muscular injury, and about 2 months across seperate ankle and knee issues at Huddersfield. 

As for Thiago Silva, as evergreen as he has been he's 39 in a couple of months time. At the sort of age he's at now there's always the risk of sudden decline, but it's also unrealistic to be expecting him to play every game of the season - even with a reduced fixture list. He also missed around 2 months of football last season through injuries, and has generally spent a portion of each season here out at some point. 

Considering the above it may pay to have an extra option on hand for some added insurance, as it is pretty likely none of those three are going to be fit throughout a whole season based on their recent history. 

[xceleryx]

54 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

The prices that Premier League clubs are apparently asking for some really mediocre players is astonishing , now is the time for the expensively assembled team in player procurement to earn their corn and find us a decent holding midfielder who doesn't cost more than a castle .

This is what happens when all Premier League clubs have money, it raises the prices within the domestic market as we're seeing. So, not only does it get harder to buy from within the league at good value, but then you get foreign clubs knowing that there's money in the Premier League and asking for inflated prices there. 

Will only continue to get worse, as it only takes a player having one good season for their price to skyrocket. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

12 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

This is what happens when all Premier League clubs have money, it raises the prices within the domestic market as we're seeing. So, not only does it get harder to buy from within the league at good value, but then you get foreign clubs knowing that there's money in the Premier League and asking for inflated prices there. 

Will only continue to get worse, as it only takes a player having one good season for their price to skyrocket. 

Every bubble, at some stage, must burst.

[Thiago97]

36 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

I'd be keeping Chalobah.

Given Fofana is more or less a wash for the season (I dare say), we're down to four options. Now, generally the wouldn't be a terrible position to be in however we do need to consider the make up of these remaining four. 

Badiashile is currently out until whenever, but what has flown under the radar about him is that even outside of his current injury he had missed about a month of football last season while at Monaco before he joined us - both muscular injuries. The season prior he also missed near 3 months of football across two seperate hamstring injuries. 

Colwill has talent but at the end of the day he's still a largely inexperienced 20 year old with only 17 top flight appearances to his name. While there's obviously a lot of plaudits about his talent and performances at Brighton, a lot of the focus is towards his on ball quality and not necessarily his actual defending. Outside of this though he missed about a month last season at Brighton with a muscular injury, and about 2 months across seperate ankle and knee issues at Huddersfield. 

As for Thiago Silva, as evergreen as he has been he's 39 in a couple of months time. At the sort of age he's at now there's always the risk of sudden decline, but it's also unrealistic to be expecting him to play every game of the season - even with a reduced fixture list. He also missed around 2 months of football last season through injuries, and has generally spent a portion of each season here out at some point. 

Considering the above it may pay to have an extra option on hand for some added insurance, as it is pretty likely none of those three are going to be fit throughout a whole season based on their recent history. 

I tend to agree. We need to keep Chalobah right now. I think we also need another relatively cheap and experienced option as fall back. It’s unlikely Thiago Silva stays fit all season, so we could head into key games with Colwill , Chalobah and Badiashille as our main options.  We need a steady eddie to throw into the mix here. Someone who is not going to cost millions and will be happy to be part of a squad.

ROTG mentioned Lindelof in more sarcastic terms recently, but he fits the bill to some degree. Though he will likely want to play a large number of games. Or maybe some like Ogbonna on a 2 year deal from West Ham. We need a modern day Emerson Thome . 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Thiago97

[My Blood Is Blue]

16 minutes ago, Thiago97 said:

I tend to agree. We need to keep Chalobah right now. I think we also need another relatively cheap and experienced option as fall back. It’s unlikely Thiago Silva stays fit all season, so we could head into key games with Colwill , Chalobah and Badiashille as our main options.  We need a steady eddie to throw into the mix here. Someone who is not going to cost millions and will be happy to be part of a squad.

ROTG mentioned Lindelof in more sarcastic terms recently, but he fits the bill to some degree. Though he will likely want to play a large number of games. Or maybe some like Ogbonna on a 2 year deal from West Ham. We need a modern day Emerson Thome . 

I agree RE Chalobah, he should stay, 100%. I also agree we need to bring someone in, someone with experience but at the right age where they won't block a path too much for the youngsters... personally, I'd be speaking to Man City about Laporte, once they've signed Gvardiol. Laporte has all the experience we could want, he's 29 so still at an age where he can play every week if needed. We could probably get 2/3 years out of him, by which time Fofana, Colwill and Badiashile will be experienced enough to form solid partnerships between them.

[Morgs]

25 minutes ago, Thiago97 said:

I tend to agree. We need to keep Chalobah right now. I think we also need another relatively cheap and experienced option as fall back. It’s unlikely Thiago Silva stays fit all season, so we could head into key games with Colwill , Chalobah and Badiashille as our main options.  We need a steady eddie to throw into the mix here. Someone who is not going to cost millions and will be happy to be part of a squad.

ROTG mentioned Lindelof in more sarcastic terms recently, but he fits the bill to some degree. Though he will likely want to play a large number of games. Or maybe some like Ogbonna on a 2 year deal from West Ham. We need a modern day Emerson Thome . 

The elephant in the room here is the fact that we have seen two or three seasons of some of the worst injuries I've ever seen at Chelsea. Consistently, a really heavy injury list and a larger number of big injuries vs years gone by. Partly this will be to do with the players having played 70+ games the last few seasons, the club having bought poorly so rotation cover hasn't been possible and I suspect also a factor of Tuchel's very hard emphasis on running. 

So whereas you could go into the season minus Fofana for the season with Chalobah, Silva, Badiashile, Colwill battling for three CB positions in years gone by and would be taking a huge punt, our recent injury record suggests this would be foolish in the extreme.

I think Bashir Humphries is more or less nailed to stick around this season for cover and I wouldn't be surprised to see the club add depth there as well.  The prem is littered with  strong, physical, relatively mobile, commanding right footed centrehalves. Someone like Lenglet who was on loan at Spurs last season - ok he is left footed, but he is good in the air, physical-ish, mobile and can pass a football.  

Edited July 21, 2023 by Morgs

[Miguelito07]

just to add to the above - but wasnt Colwill injured a fair few weeks too at Brighton?

[ROTG]

51 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

I'd be speaking to Man City about Laporte

Wages would be an issue - we are no longer a giving club "Unlike Brexit 😀"

Edited July 21, 2023 by ROTG

[xceleryx]

22 minutes ago, Thiago97 said:

I tend to agree. We need to keep Chalobah right now. I think we also need another relatively cheap and experienced option as fall back. It’s unlikely Thiago Silva stays fit all season, so we could head into key games with Colwill , Chalobah and Badiashille as our main options.  We need a steady eddie to throw into the mix here. Someone who is not going to cost millions and will be happy to be part of a squad.

ROTG mentioned Lindelof in more sarcastic terms recently, but he fits the bill to some degree. Though he will likely want to play a large number of games. Or maybe some like Ogbonna on a 2 year deal from West Ham. We need a modern day Emerson Thome . 

This is why I put forward Bonucci earlier. Unwanted at Juventus, at 36 is only a short term measure, will be rather inexpensive, and provides leadership, experience and winning mentality. 

2 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

I agree RE Chalobah, he should stay, 100%. I also agree we need to bring someone in, someone with experience but at the right age where they won't block a path too much for the youngsters... personally, I'd be speaking to Man City about Laporte, once they've signed Gvardiol. Laporte has all the experience we could want, he's 29 so still at an age where he can play every week if needed. We could probably get 2/3 years out of him, by which time Fofana, Colwill and Badiashile will be experienced enough to form solid partnerships between them.

The issue with Laporte is that he's fits into that issue re fielding two left-footed options, and secondly he's far too good of a player to be anything but a first choice option. I suppose if Thiago Silva departs next summer it opens up a spot, but I find it unlikely we willingly choose to play two left footers together as a first choice pairing. 

[xceleryx]

31 minutes ago, Miguelito07 said:

just to add to the above - but wasnt Colwill injured a fair few weeks too at Brighton?

Yeah, he missed about a month of football last season.

[ROTG]

2 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

I would 💯 keep Trev.

Dear Mr Door,

Trev being made capitano against Wrexham, IMO would indicate he's probably in Poch's thoughts for the coming season 

Have a nice day

ROTG

[ROTG]

33 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

This is why I put forward Bonucci earlier. Unwanted at Juventus, at 36 is only a short term measure, will be rather inexpensive, and provides leadership, experience and winning mentality. 

KK mk2 only slower, absolute disaster waiting to happen, and to think you mocked me for suggesting on PL wise players like Mee, Tawaroski, cody last season

Its a wonderful world

[Chelsea_Matt]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

Dear Mr Door,

Trev being made capitano against Wrexham, IMO would indicate he's probably in Poch's thoughts for the coming season 

Have a nice day

ROTG

My dear Mr. Gizmo,

Thank you for your message. It is always good to hear from you. How nice to be in agreement on a Friday.

Enjoy the afternoon,

C_M

[My Blood Is Blue]

2 hours ago, ROTG said:

KK mk2 only slower, absolute disaster waiting to happen, and to think you mocked me for suggesting on PL wise players like Mee, Tawaroski, cody last season

Its a wonderful world

Completely agree, Bonucci at this stage of his career would be a disaster. 

Having a quick look at CBs in their late 20s / early 30s with a year remaining on their contract (which is where we may be looking), the ones who 'stand out' are:

Savic
Nacho
Hummels
Lindelof
Lascelles

Not exactly an inspiring list, but if we go elsewhere the price will go up significantly... tricky.