Transfer Talk Topic

[Gurj SS]

1 minute ago, Morgs said:

We move Cucurella, Ziyech and Lukaku on and we are in business. 

Starting to really like what I am seeing from Jackson and Nkunku. 

We'll have to take a massive loss with Cucu, but only if Maatsen plays at LB in pre-season in a game scenario, Hall will need a loan because of his age and having Chilly in front of him; Maatsen has looked good enough to challenge Chilly as a LWB but he hasn't been tested in game pressure at LB; could be another Cucu at LB as Cucu looks far better at LWB than LB or LCB.

Ziyech is a strange one, if we try and make him leave he stays, if he tries to leave we mess up and he stays. It'll end in having to cancel the contract if we don't act fast.

Lukaku has been our worst signing ever, no in terms of quality because I actually think he's a very good striker when fit, he has scored goals for every club he has played for; but the events around his transfer to us have been so bad that he has topped Bogarde by some way for me. At least Bogarde dug his heels in, Lukaku never really left Milan let alone being a Chelsea player; for me Lukaku signed for us once when he was a kid, and got some free money from us (well...robbed us, it's like Inter sent him to rob us of millions to save their own backside) the second time.

[martin1905]

34 minutes ago, Gurj SS said:

The contract wasn't good enough at £200,000 per week, and we'll find ourselves in the same position if we go on to win silverware with the new set of players; if they win a CL or PL and on international duty find themselves earning £100,00+ less than others who haven't won the same then they'll come back and demand more. By that logic James should be on £100,000 per week but he's not, he's on £250,000; mercenery indeed 😉

Reality is if we're to put ourselves in the top bracket of European clubs then everything must match the other teams, we can't have every single thing from club staff, training facilities, silverware, talent, and status, all the same, but not wages; they must also be the same and look after your own first; Sterling on £350,000 per week? That's what upset the apple cart, either set a wage structure and stick to it, get rid of those above the desired wage structure and then set one and stick to it, or except that players will ask for what they deserve, Sterling has done nothing at all for us but Mount helped win us a CL so he deserved his £250,00 per week.

I won't pretend to know the financial details of the contracts offered, just know he wouldn't sign them and pushed for a move to one of our most hated rivals.

Reece James negotiated a contract that he felt he was worth and so did the club. Again no idea the financial details so can't comment if it was more than Mount but seeing how easy that was to get done it must make you wonder, surely?

Sterling was proven to be one of the top 5 attacking players in the 5 years before he joined us, can only imagine how the negotiations would have gone if we had started with, 'well you've done nothing for us so will offer you less than our kids'. 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by martin1905

[thevelourfog]

Interesting that there's no noise about a contract for Maatsen given how much he's been used in pre-season and the attention he's getting from the official coverage. I assume something must be brewing in the background, but it isn't outwardly tallying with our recent M.O.

[Gurj SS]

3 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I won't pretend to know the financial details of the contracts offered, just know he wouldn't sign them and pushed for a move to one of our most hated rivals.

Reece James negotiated a contract that he felt he was worth and so did the club. Again no idea the financial details so can't comment if it was more than Mount but seeing how easy that was to get done it must make you wonder, surely?

Sterling was proven to be one of the top 5 attacking players in the 5 years before he joined us, can only imagine how the negotiations would have gone of we had started with, 'well you've done nothing for us so will offer you less than our kids'. 

 

Fair enough, and yes he pushed for a move to Man Utd but he wanted to stay in England and they were the club who offered him the best deal, should he have gone to a mid-table team? We all know that would never happen, I don't think for a second we can't replace him, but it'll cost us more than £50,000 per week extra we could have just given him; if we stick to a 4231 system we seem to be using the most in pre-season then we really need a new number 10 because we don't actually have a natural number 10 in our squad right now.

James is on £250,000, it's been reported and backed widely. You're right, it was solved very quickly but it was also agreed well in advance but just not signed; it was reportedly agreed while RA was still at the club, I think Mount was talking to a whole new set of people with different ideas.

Sterling signed for us and was instantly earning about £150,000 more than Hazard ever earned for us, Sterling was never and will never be anywhere near as good as Hazard. By buying Sterling it really did bring us to a whole new level of how to agree contracts with current players who have acheived with us what Sterling hadn't with City.

[Sciatika]

36 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

Interesting that there's no noise about a contract for Maatsen given how much he's been used in pre-season and the attention he's getting from the official coverage. I assume something must be brewing in the background, but it isn't outwardly tallying with our recent M.O.

His contract is not up for renewal until 2024. I imagine they will wait until the window is over and see where we are.

[Bert19]

38 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

Interesting that there's no noise about a contract for Maatsen given how much he's been used in pre-season and the attention he's getting from the official coverage. I assume something must be brewing in the background, but it isn't outwardly tallying with our recent M.O.

Hopefully lessons about being subtle and conducting business quietly are starting to be learned eh? 

Can't say i've been a fan of hearing so much of our business in the public domain over the last year.  Would be nice if things went back to the methods Roman's team often employed. 

[Blue Kratos]

1 hour ago, Gurj SS said:

Fair enough, and yes he pushed for a move to Man Utd but he wanted to stay in England and they were the club who offered him the best deal, should he have gone to a mid-table team? We all know that would never happen, I don't think for a second we can't replace him, but it'll cost us more than £50,000 per week extra we could have just given him; if we stick to a 4231 system we seem to be using the most in pre-season then we really need a new number 10 because we don't actually have a natural number 10 in our squad right now.

James is on £250,000, it's been reported and backed widely. You're right, it was solved very quickly but it was also agreed well in advance but just not signed; it was reportedly agreed while RA was still at the club, I think Mount was talking to a whole new set of people with different ideas.

Sterling signed for us and was instantly earning about £150,000 more than Hazard ever earned for us, Sterling was never and will never be anywhere near as good as Hazard. By buying Sterling it really did bring us to a whole new level of how to agree contracts with current players who have acheived with us what Sterling hadn't with City.

As far as I'm concerned Sterling isn't as good as Marin.

There I said it.

[bertles86]

Serious question, if we can't get shot of Luka and Ziyech etc why not ship them off to Strasbourg? We have to pay their wages anyway, but if they go and win the farmers league it could help balance the books with their wages...

[Blue Moon]

25 minutes ago, Blue Kratos said:

As far as I'm concerned Sterling isn't as good as Marin.

There I said it.

Agreed. He’s better than a slap on the belly with a wet fish, but that’s about it

[Blue Kratos]

3 hours ago, Blue Moon said:

Agreed. He’s better than a slap on the belly with a wet fish, but that’s about it

Difference being Marin was never a legend in his own mind.

The guy knew he wasn't good enough.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Blue Kratos

[Chelsea_Matt]

Fabrizio reporting Brighton have rejected £80m for Caicedo. Make of that what you will…

[Sciatika]

Put in a bid for Lavia at Saints. Let's see how it works for Brighton having a player who doesn't want to be there.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Sciatika

[Floyd25]

10 hours ago, asvaberg said:

Are you sure, Mark?

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/remember-when-chelsea-selected-first-all-foreign-team-

Yep, this is definitely what I remember.

[Floyd25]

8 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Fabrizio reporting Brighton have rejected £80m for Caicedo. Make of that what you will…

Forget it and move on, we’re wasting time on a deal that won’t happen when there’s other positions to fill.  

[Sleeping Dave]

7 hours ago, Original 21 said:

So Maatsen is one who’s going to avoid the cull by the looks of it…

If he is indeed staying on, Poch is very much in my good corner. That is exactly how the club should treat academy players who are coming back from a great loan. This is how we always should be doing things. Instead of selling the academy player we should quite obviously sell the player who’s blocking his path to be around the squad rotation. 

6 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

Interesting that there's no noise about a contract for Maatsen given how much he's been used in pre-season and the attention he's getting from the official coverage. I assume something must be brewing in the background, but it isn't outwardly tallying with our recent M.O.

 

6 hours ago, Sciatika said:

His contract is not up for renewal until 2024. I imagine they will wait until the window is over and see where we are.

I think you may be right here Sciatika. Maatsen is a player who’s flying a bit under the radar with the press. So I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the club and Maatsen come to an agreement before Christmas. If he indeed stays and plays a part in our season. 

17 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Fabrizio reporting Brighton have rejected £80m for Caicedo. Make of that what you will…

Feels like they are trying to force us to sell them Colwill. 

[Proud-Blue]

If true, the fact they've rejected £80 million immediately is a bad sign. I can only really see three options. 1) Match the valuation they have which is probably something like £100m, 2) reach 90 million or so with addons, 3) walk away. 

The first two options mean we over-pay. If we walk away, I think we're losing out on one of the best midfielders in the world at a time when we badly need one. 

However, walking away may also improve our negotiating positions for other players in future. If we don't buckle here, it could mean we don't get ripped off by other clubs for future targets.

Tough one... ultimately, we need another midfielder who will also need time with Poch before Liverpool. Clock is ticking...

[Proud-Blue]

Also under no circumstances do we give them Colwill. 

[Original 21]

I missed this quote from Pochettino in which he lays down the law about players who expect to start. I wonder who he’s thinking of…

Pochettino said whichever players remain must accept his decisions about who starts, adding: “Chelsea pay me to choose 11 players, it is better they to talk from now [to leave].

“If I don’t play, I don’t want to be here - perfect. If I am here, I am committed, I am going to accept that you are the coach and are going to choose the players every single game. It is not a threat.

“We need to stop thinking ‘I come here to play’. No, ‘I come here to help the club to achieve what we want and then I need to convince the coaching staff that I deserve to play’.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-fc-transfer-news-gallagher-maatsen-chalobah-b1097050.html

[Miguelito07]

22 minutes ago, Original 21 said:

I missed this quote from Pochettino in which he lays down the law about players who expect to start. I wonder who he’s thinking of…

Pochettino said whichever players remain must accept his decisions about who starts, adding: “Chelsea pay me to choose 11 players, it is better they to talk from now [to leave].

“If I don’t play, I don’t want to be here - perfect. If I am here, I am committed, I am going to accept that you are the coach and are going to choose the players every single game. It is not a threat.

“We need to stop thinking ‘I come here to play’. No, ‘I come here to help the club to achieve what we want and then I need to convince the coaching staff that I deserve to play’.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-fc-transfer-news-gallagher-maatsen-chalobah-b1097050.html

Sterling? 

I mean, all the other players are fairly new

[Bison]

I am a big admirer of Caicedo but enough is enough. Winstanley and Stewart have a lot to answer for. They could have found out a month ago 80m wasn't going to be accepted and lined somebody else up for pre season.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Bison

[Miguelito07]

48 minutes ago, Floyd25 said:

Forget it and move on, we’re wasting time on a deal that won’t happen when there’s other positions to fill.  

100% agreed. So much for having conversations for a month only to find that Brighton wanted £100m from the very beginning. 

 

[Mark Kelly]

2 minutes ago, Bison said:

I am a big admirer of Caicedo but enough is enough. Winstanley and Stewart have a lot to answer for. They could have found out a month ago 80m wasn't going to be accepted and lined somebody else up for pre season.

I wouldn't be surprised if they're stringing Brighton along to make sure Liverpool can't afford him. 

[Bison]

5 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they're stringing Brighton along to make sure Liverpool can't afford him. 

That does nothing for us though. And if reports are to be believed they are signing Lavia any way. 

[thevelourfog]

5 minutes ago, Bison said:

I am a big admirer of Caicedo but enough is enough. Winstanley and Stewart have a lot to answer for. They could have found out a month ago 80m wasn't going to be accepted and lined somebody else up for pre season.

This and this ...

4 minutes ago, Miguelito07 said:

100% agreed. So much for having conversations for a month only to find that Brighton wanted £100m from the very beginning. 

Tbf, it's exactly what we're reported to have done with Fernández, isn't it? Been given a clear selling price and then spent a month testing the resolve to hold out. I think we'll bid £100m at some point (and that this is maybe why rumours of selling home grown players whose departure would look very good on a balance sheet persist). I think we'd also complain if we just instantly paid up what clubs demand all the time, but definitely get the frustration because chicken is a risky game to play. 

We aren't getting players in for enough of pre-season to hit the ground running now anyway, so it makes less and less difference taking it to the wire each day.

[paulw66]

9 hours ago, Gurj SS said:

We do tend to get rid of too many academy players, way too many for a team who prides itself on gloating that they have the best set-up, either they're good enough or at best can help fill the squad while they fight to prove their worth; which means we can use transfer funds for much needed areas.

All this talk of certain players being proper Chels and then Mount not being because he left is way off the mark because it's all until they leave right? Mount was told he wasn't in the club's plans but us fans wanted him to stick around? According to quite a few Chelsea fans on here we've upgraded by bringing in better players; James is crocked and Gallagher is an ok player who either needs to really step up quickly or he will find himself at the age where he isn't seen as a talent any more. What if we cash in on James or he leaves because Gusto goes on to be better purely because he can be consistent and play a whole season without significant injuries? Gallagher is already clutching straws in the squad.

@Sleeping Dave is right in highlighting we have a serious issue in losing our youth players to only go out and spend mega bucks trying to replace them; yes at times you need to spend big but only when required. Probably all of our homegrown players left because they were told they weren't in the club's plans, but then we as fans could clearly see that the players who would play in their place weren't good enough. Just some examples:

Tomori - left and we found ourselves bringing in an aged KK (good player but not at that age), and a crocked Fofana who isn't even as good as Tomori was so it was always a step back regardless of his potential. Tomori partners Silva right now if he's still here. Didn't put a foot wrong really and he has proven selling him was a big mistake with his performances at Milan.

Guehi - We basically got rid of our own potential and signed someone else's (Fofana) for £60m+, I haven't seen Fofana do anything at any point in his career that has looked better than Guehi. The fact that we are linked with him returning is cringe, if he returns it's the end of Fofana unless the club forces the manager to play him. Sarr wasn't anything special to let go of Guehi.

Livremento - Sold a RB/RWB, then used pretty much every squad player as cover in the position, at least use the money if you're going to do that to bring in a Belletti/Geremi; but nah, we're good with doing things the hard way; I'm surprised we didn't see Kepa down the right wing at some point. Such a poor decision and we didn't even make much from the sale so could have held on; is Gusto better? Time will tell, but we only went for Gusto because of the sad state of affairs we experienced due to not having decent RB/RWB cover.

Maatsen - Yes he's still around but no one improves that much in a year that it makes signing Cucurella a good decision, even Hall blazed Cucurella with about 3 apps last season and Maatsen has done more in 1 friendly.

Mount - Carny is really not better and most likely never will be, Mount was told he isn't in the plans but Gallagher is still around; so we've kept the downgrade. If we play 4;2;3;1 then we will need a number 10, one like Mount plays who can go box to box and run his backside off for a whole season.

Tammy - Madness, total madness. I'm not saying he's a world beater by any means but getting rid of a striker who could score goals and then running around in blind panic and just using anyone up top was so bad it was almost as if a Spurs fan made the club's decision for them. We didn't even replace him, we just let his post go vacant and then cried that we had no striker.

There is a lot wrong here. 

Tomori was sold as he wasn't getting a game behind the world class Rudiger. 18 months later we bought Koulibaly after the sanctions helped us lose two centre halves. 

Guehi, Mount and Livramemto were all offered new contracts, but they chose not to sign. Club was left with no choice but to sell (or lose for nothing)