Transfer Talk Topic

[martin1905]

9 minutes ago, exiledblue said:

Yes but if we can get him but offload some of the wasters we will have upgraded. Ziyech is always uninterested and Pulisic is always injured. Sterling and Havertz also promise a lot but dont deliver enough. We need quality not quantity.

Sterling's stats were phenomenal before he came here. Top 5 forward players in the league over 5 seasons.

He's definitely not a problem just another victim of Potter.

 

[Bert19]

 

1 hour ago, exiledblue said:

Yes but if we can get him but offload some of the wasters we will have upgraded. Ziyech is always uninterested and Pulisic is always injured. Sterling and Havertz also promise a lot but dont deliver enough. We need quality not quantity.

My point is that he's not an upgrade unless he's a lot more consistent than the others though - which so far (and judging by his overall numbers) he isn't. 

Sterling clearly was before we signed him (and was looking like he'd chip in with his share of goals before his injury). 

Totally agree on Pulisic/Havertz/Ziyech - 3 of the players i'd be looking to get out of the door first come the summer. 

1 hour ago, martin1905 said:

Sterling's stats were phenomenal before he came here. Top 5 forward players in the league over 5 seasons.

He's definitely not a problem just another victim of Potter.

 

I agree. I think he has a fair amount to offer in a team that is set up properly.  

[FrankLampard8]

Rumours Alvarez wants out of City. Pep and City have shown themselves to be willing to let go of anyone who is unhappy in the past. For me, he is a no-brainer and the ideal solution for our number 9 vacancy - I had been thinking about him for a while but never considered that it was remotely possible.

[My Blood Is Blue]

1 hour ago, FrankLampard8 said:

Rumours Alvarez wants out of City. Pep and City have shown themselves to be willing to let go of anyone who is unhappy in the past. For me, he is a no-brainer and the ideal solution for our number 9 vacancy - I had been thinking about him for a while but never considered that it was remotely possible.

Completely agree, would be very happy with this. International team mate of Enzo as well.

[Bob Singleton]

A month on from having spent an eye-watering amount of money on new players, bringing our combined summer/winter spend to around £600m, you'd think there wouldn't be that many rumours regarding the summer. But you'd be wrong!

I've changed the format a touch to include the name of the journalist/publication where I first saw the transfer rumour (since the last window closed with regard to long-term links), along with the date. As always a * indicates a player to whom we have previously been linked in at least one of the last two windows. I've also added transfers out, as well as managerial rumours (given our current predicament)

Usual caveat applies... this is just for fun

GOALKEEPERS

Robert Sanchez * (Brighton & Hove Albion) - 1^st Feb, Simon Philips (Twitter)
David Raya * (Brentford) - 1^st Feb, Daily Express
Jordan Pickford * (Everton) - 5^th Feb, Ben Jacobs (Twitter)
Diogo Costa * (Porto) - 6^th Feb, Simon Philips (Twitter)
Yassine Bonou (Seville) - 13^th Feb, Football Insider

DEFENDERS

Denzel Dumfries * (Inter Milan) - 9^th Feb, TuttoSport
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, on loan at Bayern Munich) - 13^th Feb, 90min


 

MIDFIELDERS

Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina) - 1^st Feb, Sport Bible
Declan Rice * (West Ham United) - 1^st Feb, Adam Newson (Twitter) + various others
Romeo Lavia * (Southampton) - 1^st Feb, Daily Mail; 16^th Feb, Simon Philips (Twitter)
Moises Caicedo * (Brighton & Hove Albion) - 9^th Feb, Ben Jacobs (Twitter)
Jude Bellingham * (Borussia Dortmund) - 15^th Feb, Daily Telegraph
Kendry Paez, (Independiente del Valle ECU) [15 years old] - 15^th Feb, 90min; 24^th Feb, Fabrizio Romano (Twitter)
James Maddison * (Leicester City) - 16^th Feb, Ekrem Konur (Twitter)
Giannis Konstantelias (PAOK Salonika) - 20^th Feb, Inside Futbol
Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan) - 26^th Feb, Gazzetta dello Sport



ATTACKERS

Victor Osimhen * (Napoli) - 4^th Feb, Daily Mirror
Rafael Leao * (AC Milan) - 4^th Feb, La Stampa; 20^th Feb, Fichajes
Dusan Vlahovic * (Juventus) - 10^th Feb, Ben Jacobs (Twitter)
Joao Felix * (Atletico Madrid on loan to Chelsea) Permanent move - 10^th Feb, various via AS
Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica) - 10^th Feb, Sporting Life; 22^nd Feb, Correio da Manha
Marcus Thuram * (Borussia Monchengladbach – Out of Contract 30 June 2023) - 10^th Feb, Daily Mail
Vitor Roque (Athletico Paranaese) [18 end of Feb] - 10^th Feb, Goal
Abde Ezzalzouli (Barcelona) - 12^th Feb, Mundo Deportivo
Neymar (PSG) - 15^th Feb, Le Parisien
Ivan Toney * (Brentford) - 17^th Feb, Dean Jones (Twitter)
Evan Ferguson (Brighton & Hove Albion U-18) - 20^th Feb, The Sun
Tammy Abraham * (Roma) - 28^th Feb, Football Insider

MANAGER

Jose Mourinho (Roma) - 4^th Feb, Daily Mirror
Hansi Flick (German NT) - 5^th Feb, Daily Mirror; 11^th Feb, Christian Falk (Twitter)
Luis Enrique (unemployed) - 6^th Feb, Fichajes
Ruben Amorin * (Sporting Lisbon) - 20^th Feb, Simon Philips (Substack)
Mauricio Pochettino * (unemployed) - 21^st Feb, Graeme Bailey (Twitter)
Zinedine Zidane * (unemployed) - 21^st Feb, Fichajes
Luciano Spalletti (Napoli) - 22^nd Feb, Calciomercatoweb




CHELSEA PLAYERS OUT?


Italics = Currently on loan

Arrizabalaga -
Baxter -
Bettinelli -
Cumming -
Mendy - Manchester United, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard
          - Tottenham Hotspur, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard
          - Atletico Madrid, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard
Slonina -


Ampadu -
Azpilicueta -
Badiashile -
Castillo -
Chalobah – AS Roma, 20^th Feb, Calciomercatoweb
Chilwell - Manchester City, 1^st Feb, Goal.com; 2^nd Feb, The Times
Colwill -
Cucurella -
Fofana, W -
Gusto -
Hall -
Humphreys -
James -
Koulibaly - Inter Milan, 2^nd Feb, Simon Philips (Twitter)
Lawrence -
Maatsen – Burnley * (currently on loan at Burnley), 1^st Feb, Football League World
Saar –
Silva -
Sterling, D -


Anjorin -
Bakayoko -
Chukwuemeka -
Elliott -
Gallagher - Newcastle United * 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard;
               - Crystal Palace * 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard;
               - Everton * 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard;
Hutchinson –
Kante - Liverpool, 4^th Feb, Fichajes; 28^th Feb, Football Insider;
         - Barcelona, 4^th Feb, Fichajes;
         - Real Madrid, 4^th Feb, Fichajes
         - Atletico Madrid, 5^th Feb, Mundo Deportivo
         - Juventus, 9^th Feb, Tuttomercatoweb
Kovacic - Juventus (swop deal with Zakaria), 5^th Feb, Calciomercatoweb;
            - Manchester City, 28^th Feb, Daily Telegraph
Loftus-Cheek –
Madueke -
Mount - Liverpool * 1^st Feb, Daily Mail; 16^th Feb, Daily Star; 16^th Feb, Daily Mirror
          - Manchester United, 16^th Feb, Daily Star; 16^th Feb, Daily Mirror
          - Manchester City, 16^th Feb, Daily Star; 16^th Feb, Daily Mirror
Mudryk -
Pulisic - Atletico Madrid, 14^th Feb, Fichajes;
          - Real Madrid, 23^rd Feb, DefensaCentral
          - Newcastle United *, 28^th Feb, 90min, Transfer Insider, The Boot Room and others
Santos - Vasco de Gama (loan), 25^th Feb, Fabrizio Romano (Twitter)
Vale -


Aubameyang - Barcelona, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard; 4^th Feb, Daily Mail
                    - Atletico Madrid, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard; 5^th Feb, Daily Mail
                    - AC Milan, 5^th Feb, Daily Mail
                    - Los Angeles FC (Loan), 9^th Feb, Daily Mirror
Broja -
Burstow –
Fofana, D –
Havertz –
Hudson-Odoi – Arsenal *, 1^st Feb, Daily Mirror; 2^nd Feb, The Guardian; 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard;
Lukaku - Inter Milan * (on loan to Inter Milan) Further loan - 4^th Feb, di Marzio; 9^th Feb, Gazzetta dello Sport
           - Chelsea (return to club) - 28^th Feb, Sky Sports Italia
Sterling, R – Arsenal, 27^th Feb, Daily Mirror
Ziyech - Manchester United, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard;
          - AC Milan, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard;
          - Roma, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard;
          - Tottenham Hotspur, 4^th Feb, Dean Jones (via GiveMeSport)

 

 

[Max Fowler]

 

 

[Mark Kelly]

2 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

 

 

C'mon Graham, the happy clappy isn't working. 

Clap harder. 

[chara]

18 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

C'mon Graham, the happy clappy isn't working. 

Clap harder. 

Hey Mark,,typos on your pc?...L getting mixed up with R occasionally ?

[martin1905]

25 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

 

 

I doubt there is a single player, old or new that is happy right now so a very easy story to make up. You don't join Chelsea to be in a relegation fight, if any of our players were happy at the moment and not considering leaving I would question their mentality.

Edited February 28, 2023 by martin1905

[Max Fowler]

9 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I doubt there is a single player, old or new that is happy right now so a very easy story to make up. You don't join Chelsea to be in a relegation fight, if any of our players were happy at the moment and not considering leaving I would question their mentality.

I think Sterling joined for Tuchel and was the one who told Kieran Dyer Potter wasn't up to scratch.

[FrankLampard8]

13 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

I think Sterling joined for Tuchel and was the one who told Kieran Dyer Potter wasn't up to scratch.

Hopefully there is some merit in the story. I've never liked the bloke and find it very hard to root for him even now.

[ROTG]

1 minute ago, FrankLampard8 said:

Hopefully there is some merit in the story. I've never liked the bloke and find it very hard to root for him even now.

I think you better start rooting for him because he is one of the players who can get us out the is hole dug by Team GP

[FrankLampard8]

2 minutes ago, ROTG said:

I think you better start rooting for him because he is one of the players who can get us out the is hole dug by Team GP

Don't get me wrong, I hope he scores 30 goals a season and wins PFA player of the year as long as he plays for Chelsea. However, I just can't take to him as a bloke, do you know what I mean? I certainly believe he is far more likely to give us some attacking output than any other option we have currently. 

[FrankLampard8]

Bit of a random brain dump because I don't have anywhere else to put this out there and this topic felt the best fit... but i've been reading a really interesting piece in the Athletic about Xavi's tactics at Barcelona and the description of the roles and the players felt strikingly similar to what we have and I would love to see how it played out here. So I mapped our team and some prospective signings on to the system and I think it could work in theory. 

The main problem I see here is Cucurella or a new signing would have to be left back as whoever plays there effectively needs to slot in as a third centre half at times. Obviously Cucurella hasn't been great and we lose out on some attacking thrust from Chilwell who I really like. I'm unsure how well Badiashile fits in to the system which is harsh as i've been very impressed since he came in. I also think we need an upgrade at striker but that remains true no matter how we play.

The pros are Reece James is our best player when fit and firing and this gets him up the pitch and involved in the final third. Nkunku (or Felix if we keep him) drops in to the half spaces and links with the striker leaving space for Mount to get forward and in to the channels where he was so effective under Tuchel during our Champions League run. It also makes use of Mount energy giving him licence to run that left hand side. Mudryk stays wide and uses his pace and dribbling and basically has the run of that left hand side but very little defensive responsibility. 

Anyway, I apologise if this isn't the right place for this kind of post. I just had fun looking at how we would set up in a similar way and this team with a new striker up top would make me excited for the new season.

(4-3-3)

Kepa

James - Fofana - Silva - Cucurella

Enzo - Rice - Mount

Nkunku - Havertz - Mudryk

 

(transition to 3-2-2-3 when attacking)

Kepa

Fofana - Silva - Cucurella

Enzo - Rice

Nkunku - Mount

James - Havertz - Mudryk

Edited March 1, 2023 by FrankLampard8

[Bob Singleton]

Just read that Athletic article @FrankLampard8, thanks.

We, of course, would need to play the mirror image of what Barca do, given our most effective attacking full-back is Reece James and our most effective wingers (Sterling, and hopefully - once up to speed - Mudryk) prefer the left, but need to be free of defensive duties to be truly effective. I think a central defensive partnership of W Fofana (R) and Badiashile (L) will be more than fine for such a system. Ahead of them, as you say, either Nkunku or Felix dropping into the half spaces with Mount (and Enzo Fernandes) attacking from deeper positions. Striker and DM are the positions that we need to get absolutely right in the summer.

[McCreadie]

1 hour ago, Bob Singleton said:

Striker and DM are the positions that we need to get absolutely right in the summer.

I'm interested to know who everyone would buy for those 2 positions if they were making the decision? 

They have to be the next 2, but (realistically) who?

[Bob Singleton]

1 hour ago, McCreadie said:

I'm interested to know who everyone would buy for those 2 positions if they were making the decision? 

They have to be the next 2, but (realistically) who?

Firstly I'm going to ignore the word 'realistically'. Nobody could have 'realistically' expected us to buy the number of players that we did in January, nor the cumulative cost of those players. So 'realistically' isn't a word in the current Chelsea lexicon.

Without putting too much thought into it, as I'm waiting for my oven timer to tell me my dinner is ready, my two would be Rice and Osimhen.

Rice because, to use a Droyism, he stands in the right places. He'd be an almost perfect foil for Enzo Fernandes. He'd sit back and let Enzo do what Enzo does best, safe in the knowledge that Rice's reading of the game and his reasonable speed would shut down most attacks. Rice is also decent when it comes to driving out of defence, so when he does break down an attack, he doesn't always have to then search someone to pass to. He has the strength, power, etc to break himself. His passing is more than decent and he has the height to help defend corners/free kicks or cause problems at attacking set pieces. Is he perfect? No. Does he have flaws? Yes. But I think he - or someone similar - would be a very good fit.

Osimhen because he is one of the few genuine young "Number Nines" in the game today. We need someone who can play with their back to the goal. We need someone whose natural instinct is to be in the six-yard box sniffing out and putting away half chances. He's shown that he's a natural finisher.

I'm sure others here will have other ideas. If I sat down and really thought and researched deeper, I could probably come up with several alternatives for both (and we may very well end up with two totally different players come the summer), but as an instant response... Rice and Osimhen.

[Rob B]

Definitely Declan Rice for the DM / no.4 position.  Agree with Bob, he’s literally perfect for Enzo.  What’s the bets we get embroiled in the Bellingham chase though, lose out to Madrid or Man City, whilst Rice goes to Arsenal!! 

Not sure on attackers and I haven’t seen that Osimhen play. Pretty sure someone mentioned Alvarez from City possibly being available - we could do a lot worse.  Swap with Kovacic?  Outside of those two, there seems to be a real dearth of world class number 9’s.  For this reason, I wouldn’t be adverse to someone like Benzema giving us a couple of years on astronomical wages.  I know it goes against the model, but top finisher, experienced, leader etc.  He wouldn’t come to play for GP I can’t imagine though.  But if you got a high profile manager like a Zidane, Hansi Flick or Luis Enrique you never know… 

I also think we’ll sign a keeper in the summer.  I think Mendy will go and someone like Raya, who has turned down two contract offers from Brentford, will battle it out with Kepa (and ultimately win) for the number 1 spot next season.  Diogo Costa from Porto is another one whose name seems to come up frequently.

[Bert19]

Agreed we need a DM (possibly another CM too) and a striker, but i think a new goalie is a real necessity unless Mendy can come back in. Kepa is not good enough.

[Michael Tucker]

1 minute ago, Bert19 said:

Kepa is not good enough.

Seriously? He seems to be doing ok from what I've seen of him, and he's certainly more agile than Mendy.

[Rob B]

11 minutes ago, Michael Tucker said:

Seriously? He seems to be doing ok from what I've seen of him, and he's certainly more agile than Mendy.

Ok is not good enough though.

He was at fault for the Skipp goal on Sunday (it was straight at him) and I can think of at least 3-4 other clangers this season where he has cost us, and we still have 14 odd games to go. 

[Michael Tucker]

Just now, Rob B said:

Ok is not good enough though.

He's not my long term choice, but surely we have other areas that need improving before GK?

[kev61]

15 hours ago, FrankLampard8 said:

Hopefully there is some merit in the story. I've never liked the bloke and find it very hard to root for him even now.

Never liked him either.He made it obvious he wanted away from Liverpool when things weren't going his way.

He would be in the 'get rid of' section of what to do with current players imo.

He really needs things to go his way otherwise he contributes very little - not a future Chelsea player.

[xceleryx]

6 hours ago, Bob Singleton said:

Firstly I'm going to ignore the word 'realistically'. Nobody could have 'realistically' expected us to buy the number of players that we did in January, nor the cumulative cost of those players. So 'realistically' isn't a word in the current Chelsea lexicon.

Without putting too much thought into it, as I'm waiting for my oven timer to tell me my dinner is ready, my two would be Rice and Osimhen.

Rice because, to use a Droyism, he stands in the right places. He'd be an almost perfect foil for Enzo Fernandes. He'd sit back and let Enzo do what Enzo does best, safe in the knowledge that Rice's reading of the game and his reasonable speed would shut down most attacks. Rice is also decent when it comes to driving out of defence, so when he does break down an attack, he doesn't always have to then search someone to pass to. He has the strength, power, etc to break himself. His passing is more than decent and he has the height to help defend corners/free kicks or cause problems at attacking set pieces. Is he perfect? No. Does he have flaws? Yes. But I think he - or someone similar - would be a very good fit.

Osimhen because he is one of the few genuine young "Number Nines" in the game today. We need someone who can play with their back to the goal. We need someone whose natural instinct is to be in the six-yard box sniffing out and putting away half chances. He's shown that he's a natural finisher.

I'm sure others here will have other ideas. If I sat down and really thought and researched deeper, I could probably come up with several alternatives for both (and we may very well end up with two totally different players come the summer), but as an instant response... Rice and Osimhen.

Re Rice: I agree with much of this, his ability to also drop back into defence when needed to collect the ball or to cover is also an added bonus to consider. The other big plus he has is his leadership abilities. In a side that's sorely lacking in leadership, especially in the middle of the pitch, having someone like Rice that's vocal and with experience of leading a Premier League side shouldn't go under the radar either. 

Re Osimehn: I think some may find him less appealing because he contributes very little towards general play. If people had an issue with how uninvolved Lukaku was here, Osimehn is quite similar in that regard. He's not going to drop into spaces to collect the ball or create for others, he's literally going to perch himself high up the pitch and be heavily reliant on his team mates providing the necessary service for him. I do wonder just how well he'd do in the Premier League with the quicker pace of play and the lack of space compared to Serie A. Throw in the sort of price ADL would command, he'd be quite the risk. 

[xceleryx]

4 hours ago, Bert19 said:

Agreed we need a DM (possibly another CM too) and a striker, but i think a new goalie is a real necessity unless Mendy can come back in. Kepa is not good enough.

Mendy needs to be sold, he's awful at ground level and with the emphasis we have regarding playing out from the back he's an absolute liability - as we've seen several times already. 

Kepa has been fine and no real reason to get rid of at present. He may get replaced eventually but for now he's shown enough this season to retain his place.