Transfer Talk Topic

[FrankLampard8]

1 minute ago, xceleryx said:

Good luck.

ADL will basically price him out of any move while he has years remaining on his contract, much like he's done with virtually every other good player they've had. So it'll either be pay up, like Juve had to do with Higuian, or wait until they're in the final year of their deal and getting a cut price deal. 

Also we'd have to improve tenfold in the supporting areas if Osimhen is to be a success, otherwise he'll end up isolated and looking like a cross between Tammy and Lukaku contributing little to general play. 

Yeah I think he has another year in Napoli personally unless us or United (if their takeover happens) put crazy money on the table and then it really does feel risky. You only have to look at our very own Koulibaly for an example of how Napoli keep hold of their players. After that, I think he will have 1 year left on his contract and we may have a chance however we really need to have found a solution before then.

[xceleryx]

7 minutes ago, FrankLampard8 said:

Yeah I think he has another year in Napoli personally unless us or United (if their takeover happens) put crazy money on the table and then it really does feel risky. You only have to look at our very own Koulibaly for an example of how Napoli keep hold of their players. After that, I think he will have 1 year left on his contract and we may have a chance however we really need to have found a solution before then.

Even if he was obtainable for a reasonable amount I'm not sure he's ideal for us anyway. He offers minimal within general play in terms of passing, link-up, etc. He's also technically cumbersome at times. He is however strong, quick, and a good goalscorer be it with feet or head. This is why the supporting cast around him crucial, as is making sure the team plays to his strengths - a big issue of ours in recent years. 

[Ham]

4 hours ago, CarefreeMuratcan said:

I admittedly looked it up after but didn't bother to change it. It's my new merged expression of 2 expressions 🙂

A whole new kettle of ball games.

Six dozen of one and half of the other.

 

[Bert19]

Rumours abound that City are interested in Chilwell for the summer.  I think i'd be distraught if we sold him tbh. 

[paulw66]

9 minutes ago, Bert19 said:

Rumours abound that City are interested in Chilwell for the summer.  I think i'd be distraught if we sold him tbh. 

Ditto.

you may as well wave the white flag if we started selling them our best players 

[Mark Kelly]

I read that article about Chilwell to City and it was a tenuous as it's possible to be , bordering on lying for clicks .

Chilwell is quite good , City would like a quite good player 

The end.

[paulw66]

4 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I read that article about Chilwell to City and it was a tenuous as it's possible to be , bordering on lying for clicks .

Chilwell is quite good , City would like a quite good player 

The end.

when can you start?

[Mark Kelly]

What does anyone think of a bid for Fulham's Andreas Pereira ? 

I thought he was fantastic when they played us and I would expect him to be a great foil for Enzo too.

[Bert19]

1 hour ago, Mark Kelly said:

What does anyone think of a bid for Fulham's Andreas Pereira ? 

I thought he was fantastic when they played us and I would expect him to be a great foil for Enzo too.

There are a few decent-looking young CMs/DMs around the Prem at the moment.  Lavia at Southampton looks like he could be a great addition for somebody and I like the look of Onana at Everton.  With better players around him, I think he could take great strides forwards from being an already very handy player.  

 

[xceleryx]

7 hours ago, Bert19 said:

There are a few decent-looking young CMs/DMs around the Prem at the moment.  Lavia at Southampton looks like he could be a great addition for somebody and I like the look of Onana at Everton.  With better players around him, I think he could take great strides forwards from being an already very handy player.  

 

I think we've got to be quite specific with who we target moving forward. 

If it was me I'd be laying out the side as we intend to operate, taking on board the roles being asked of each player to perform and their skillsets. From there we target the positions of need. If we're looking for a starting calibre of player then we target someone that fits the mould of what we're needing in that vacant role. For those backup positions then we sort of what to target players that carry a similar likeliness to those starting, that way when we do make changes it creates a more seamless transition and we can still operate as intended. 

Obviously we're not going to get like-for-like replacements or additions, and it's important to carry variety in certain areas of the pitch, but for say our midfield for example we ideally get a backup for Enzo that can work in a very similar manner. While if we sign a holding type of midfielder to start, then  getting someone else in who can also backup that position in a similar fashion is also important. 

Over the years we've been caught out having players that aren't necessarily being used as effectively as they could be because we've had to try and balance thing and compromise has been needed. If we can build a more cohesive team it'll create far less disruption when certain players miss games for whatever reason. 

[Michael Tucker]

I think that reducing the size of our squad before we go buying anyone  else would be smart. 

[Rob B]

On 13/03/2023 at 15:24, Mark Kelly said:

What does anyone think of a bid for Fulham's Andreas Pereira ? 

I thought he was fantastic when they played us and I would expect him to be a great foil for Enzo too.

Joao Palhinha’s the player I’d be looking at from Fulham.   Although judging by your comments about Enzo perhaps that’s who you meant?

He’s a top player if so…

[xceleryx]

2 hours ago, Rob B said:

Joao Palhinha’s the player I’d be looking at from Fulham.   Although judging by your comments about Enzo perhaps that’s who you meant?

He’s a top player if so…

He's 28 in July and Fulham would no doubt ask for a mammoth fee. Good player but I'm not sure if he fits the demographics of what we're trying to do. 

[chiswickblue]

7 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

I think that reducing the size of our squad before we go buying anyone  else would be smart. 

At a minimum you'd expect that Aubameyang, Ziyech, Felix, Zakaria, Pulisic and possibly Azpi will leave. Maybe RLC if we can find a buyer. That would bring us down to a more reasonable 24 first team players, space for a defensive midfielder and a striker.

[My Blood Is Blue]

1 hour ago, chiswickblue said:

At a minimum you'd expect that Aubameyang, Ziyech, Felix, Zakaria, Pulisic and possibly Azpi will leave. Maybe RLC if we can find a buyer. That would bring us down to a more reasonable 24 first team players, space for a defensive midfielder and a striker.

A squad of 26 is still quite big, especially if we end up with no European football.

I would expect Broja and DD Fofana to go out on loan as well.

[My Blood Is Blue]

From what the Inter president has said, it sounds a lot like Lukaku is going to be coming back to Chelsea in the summer, not because we want him back, but because they don’t want to keep him. So what now? Do we give him another try? We may not have a choice as I can’t see anyone else taking him off our hands.

He’s started 8 games for Inter this season, scoring 5 goals.

[paulw66]

13 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

From what the Inter president has said, it sounds a lot like Lukaku is going to be coming back to Chelsea in the summer, not because we want him back, but because they don’t want to keep him. So what now? Do we give him another try? We may not have a choice as I can’t see anyone else taking him off our hands.

He’s started 8 games for Inter this season, scoring 5 goals.

We may be stuck with him. In which case, we may as well try and make the best of it.

That said, I think we will use him in a trade, possibly for Felix. 

[martin1905]

5 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

We may be stuck with him. In which case, we may as well try and make the best of it.

That said, I think we will use him in a trade, possibly for Felix. 

Posted elsewhere that I've heard murmurs that Simeone wants Lukaku and the reason we don't have an option to purchase Felix permanently is because any deal will be a swap involving Lukaku plus cash their way.

Looks like Simeone is staying at Athletico so no suprise the Lukaku/Felix rumours are staring to surface now.  

Could be nonsense but it's plausible if nothing else

[Bert19]

13 hours ago, xceleryx said:

He's 28 in July and Fulham would no doubt ask for a mammoth fee. Good player but I'm not sure if he fits the demographics of what we're trying to do. 

We might need a couple of more experienced heads in the squad next season though.  Got an awful lot of youth at the moment. 

5 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

Posted elsewhere that I've heard murmurs that Simeone wants Lukaku and the reason we don't have an option to purchase Felix permanently is because any deal will be a swap involving Lukaku plus cash their way.

Looks like Simeone is staying at Athletico so no suprise the Lukaku/Felix rumours are staring to surface now.  

Could be nonsense but it's plausible if nothing else

As you say, it's definitely plausible.  We can only live in hope. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

8 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

Posted elsewhere that I've heard murmurs that Simeone wants Lukaku and the reason we don't have an option to purchase Felix permanently is because any deal will be a swap involving Lukaku plus cash their way.

Looks like Simeone is staying at Athletico so no suprise the Lukaku/Felix rumours are staring to surface now.  

Could be nonsense but it's plausible if nothing else

I'd be happy with this. I like what I've seen from Felix, but I would be reluctant to spend TOO much to bring him in permanently, so a swap deal for Lukaku would be decent business IMO. I'd be interested to see what money would also be involved, hopefully minimal after the loa fee we paid already.

[ROTG]

17 hours ago, paulw66 said:

We may be stuck with him. In which case, we may as well try and make the best of it.

I am sure the data and cost analysts are looking at the best option.

IMO is to bring him back, tell him a few home truths and utilise him next season. 

[McCreadie]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

I am sure the data and cost analysts are looking at the best option.

IMO is to bring him back, tell him a few home truths and utilise him next season. 

In terms of ££ maybe, but I’m not sure you can put a price on the damage he can do to dressing room moral. Total conjecture on my part, but I would be surprised if Lukaku and his commitment:remuneration ratio did not at some point manifest caustically in Rudiger and Mount’s contract decisions.

 

In other words, he’s a nob.

[martin1905]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

I am sure the data and cost analysts are looking at the best option.

IMO is to bring him back, tell him a few home truths and utilise him next season. 

The best option would be to sell him for the highest possible fee but it's not the most likely as not many, if any, will go anywhere near him  considering how much the whole package would cost.

We do seem to be data driven though, in terms of our recruitment and we need goals, are probably looking at the striker area and I could see the analyst's looking at Lukaku and telling the bosses that he is an elite striker that should be bought back and used.

One thing I think we can pretty much guarantee is that this isn't a decision that will be made by one person. It will be various departments coming together and making a decision that is best for the club, both in terms of the financial and sporting implications.

[Bert19]

1 minute ago, McCreadie said:

In terms of ££ maybe, but I’m not sure you can put a price on the damage he can do to dressing room moral. Total conjecture on my part, but I would be surprised if Lukaku and his commitment:remuneration ratio did not at some point manifest caustically in Rudiger and Mount’s contract decisions.

 

In other words, he’s a nob.

Spot on.  

In normal circumstances, I think i'd be willing to at least give him a go at ROTG suggested.  But with him, you just know that he won't act like a grown up and go "Don't worry, i'll prove everyone wrong" and will instead sulk and put his head in a KFC bucket.  

I'm still 99% sure that it went sour when he did that interview and expected the dressing room to back him over Tuchel - instead he got a shock when the senior players decided he needed to be dropped (a rare case of that group actually doing the right thing)

[xceleryx]

3 hours ago, martin1905 said:

The best option would be to sell him for the highest possible fee but it's not the most likely as not many, if any, will go anywhere near him  considering how much the whole package would cost.

This would also take Lukaku agreeing to move, especially if it's outside of Inter Milan and Italy. I could just as easily see him turn down moves to say Germany or France for example. It's a hard position for the club to be in because of not only the cost, but his desire on where he wants to be. Even if he may not want to be here, he probably doesn't want to be in those countries either.

Maybe we can work some sort of swap with Inter for Barella (wishful thinking, I know), otherwise remaining in Italy is hard to see with Inter's financial situation unless we swallow our losses and sell for peanuts just to cut ties.