Transfer Talk Topic

[chiswickblue]

On 15/03/2023 at 14:48, 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.

If I was trying to negotiate a lower loan fee for next season, I would also say that I don't want to keep him.

[Rick1977]

If Gavi is available on a free as it seems he will soon become, hopefully we try to sign him. If nothing else it would upset Barcelona 

[Michael Tucker]

I wouldn't want us to sign anyone simply because it would upset Barca! I want us (for a change!) to sign players that we want, and actually have a plan for.

[Willian Dollar Baby]

On 23/03/2023 at 00:34, Michael Tucker said:

I wouldn't want us to sign anyone simply because it would upset Barca! I want us (for a change!) to sign players that we want, and actually have a plan for.

Agreed. With the previous management it seemed our strategy was to sign good players when they were available rather than clear squad building. The summer we bought Ziyech, Werner & Havertz was really exciting (they certainly all seemed like great purchases at the time) however they never really fit together in a system. Werner relied on a counter attacking style with space to play, Ziyech only ever really fit a 433 and Havertz didn't really have a clear position. 

With Clearlake in charge so far it seems like we are going down a similar route. Since we revamped the recruitment team it has looked a little better however signing Felix permanently would ring alarm bells. He may look like a great player on paper but he doesn't plug a gap in our squad and will cost a lot of money!

 

[chiswickblue]

18 hours ago, Willian Dollar Baby said:

Agreed. With the previous management it seemed our strategy was to sign good players when they were available rather than clear squad building. The summer we bought Ziyech, Werner & Havertz was really exciting (they certainly all seemed like great purchases at the time) however they never really fit together in a system. Werner relied on a counter attacking style with space to play, Ziyech only ever really fit a 433 and Havertz didn't really have a clear position. 

With Clearlake in charge so far it seems like we are going down a similar route. Since we revamped the recruitment team it has looked a little better however signing Felix permanently would ring alarm bells. He may look like a great player on paper but he doesn't plug a gap in our squad and will cost a lot of money!

 

I hope Felix is a short-term signing and nothing more, given the potential cost and how we would need to build our team to accommodate him. He was available and we were in a hike with injuries. If we go out of the CL to Real I would expect his minutes to be very limited thereafter as we look to integrate the players that will actually play next season.

[thevelourfog]

On 25/03/2023 at 05:05, chiswickblue said:

I hope Felix is a short-term signing and nothing more, given the potential cost and how we would need to build our team to accommodate him. He was available and we were in a hike with injuries. If we go out of the CL to Real I would expect his minutes to be very limited thereafter as we look to integrate the players that will actually play next season.

Ziyech's appearances since the end of January suggest next season isn't a significant contributory factor to team selections. I'd not expect any change in how Felix is used. If anything, I'd see the argument for getting the most bang for your buck on him.

[chiswickblue]

On 27/03/2023 at 18:49, thevelourfog said:

Ziyech's appearances since the end of January suggest next season isn't a significant contributory factor to team selections. I'd not expect any change in how Felix is used. If anything, I'd see the argument for getting the most bang for your buck on him.

Ziyech did surprisingly play a few games when we were short of bodies, especially people to play on the right. Now that we have options, he seems to be an outcast again. I still think that Felix was signed to help us in the CL, and there's no point in playing him if we're trying to scrape a EL place and form a core group for next season.

[Bob Singleton]

As it's the start of a new month, an overview of the gossip so far. As always this is just a bit of fun.

Anything in red is either a new rumour or a change in circumstances (such as new contract signed) since the last update.  In most cases I've only noted the first rumour seen, but where a story changes (ie one claims a swap deal where no swap was in the original story) this has also been included.

 

* Linked in Summer 2022 or January 2023

GOALKEEPERS

Robert Sanchez * (Brighton & Hove Albion) - 1^st Feb, Simon Philips (Twitter)
David Raya * (Brentford) - 1^st Feb, Daily Express; 8^th March, Fabrizio Romano (Twitter)
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
Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund) - 2^nd March, Blick
Andre Onana (Inter Milan) [possible Mendy + cash swap] - 18^th March, Inter Live & Fichajes
Ilan Meslier * (Leeds United) - 18^th March, Football Insider
Jan Oblak * (Atletico Madrid) - 21^st March, Football Insider
Dean Henderson (Manchester United) - 27^th March, The Hard Tackle

DEFENDERS

Denzel Dumfries * (Inter Milan) - 9^th Feb, TuttoSport
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, on loan at Bayern Munich) - 13^th Feb, 90min
Merih Demiral (Atalanta) - 1^st March, Fotomac
Josko Gvardiol * (RB Leipzig) - 2^nd March, The Times
Alessandro Bastoni * (Inter Milan) - 29^th March, Gazzetta dello Sport
Alejandro Balde (Barcelona) - 31^st March, Sport.es


 

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) [New Contract until 2027 +1 year Announced by club 2^nd March]
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
Yunus Musah (Valencia) - 1^st March, Metro
Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Leipzig) - 3^rd March, TuttoMercatoWeb
Manu Koné (Borussia Monchengladbach) - 5^th March, Christian Falk (Twitter and BILD)
Frenkie de Jong * (Barcelona) - 7^th March, Fichajes
Daichi Kamada (Borussia Dortmund) - 8^th March, Daily Mail
Bruno Guimaraes * (Newcastle United) - 10^th March, Newcastle World
Joao Palhinha (Fulham) - 13^th March, The Sun
Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) [15 years old] - 14^th March, Daily Telegraph
Edson Alvarez * (Ajax Amsterdam) - 14^th March, De Telegraaf
Ibrahim Sangaré * (PSV Eindhoven) - 16^th March, Twente Insite
Alexis Mac Allister * (Brighton & Hove Albion) - 25^th March, ESPN




ATTACKERS

Victor Osimhen * (SSC Napoli) - 4^th Feb, Daily Mirror; 19^th March [Swap deal – Pulisic] Calciomercatoweb
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; 1^st March, SiamoLaRoma
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia * (SSC Napoli) - 1^st March, Gazzetta dello Sport
Wilfred Zaha * (Crystal Palace) - 4^th March, Daily Mail
Hirving Lozano (SSC Napoli) - 8^th March, Raffaele Auriemma (Radio CRC)
Trevan Sanusi (Birmingham City - 16 in April) - 10^th March, Transfer Tavern
Raphinha * (Barcelona) - 13^th March, Daily Mail
Dujan Richards (Phoenix All Stars Academy, JAM) - 13^th March Pre-contract signed, Various
Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid) - 19^th March, Sunday Mirror
Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds United) - 21^st March, Gazzetta dello Sport
Harry Kane * (Tottenham Hotspur) - 21^st March, The Metro; [Lukaku + cash swap] 24^th March, Fichajes
Filip Kostic (Juventus) - 21^st March, Calciomercatoweb
Samuel Iling-Junior (Juventus) - 23^rd March, 90min, Evening Standard & others
Federico Chiesa * (Juventus) - 24^th March, Calciomercatoweb
Alex Matos (Norwich City) - 25^th March, Fabrizio Romano (Twitter); 28^th March, Deal in Principle agreed
Mason Melia (St Patrick’s Athletic, RoI) [15 years old] - 26^th March, 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; 2^nd March, Sport.es
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; 2^nd March, Sport.es
Luciano Spalletti (Napoli) - 22^nd Feb, Calciomercatoweb
Roberto de Zerbi (Brighton & Hove Albion) - 1^st March, Football Insider
Julian Nagelsmann (unemployed) - 28^th March, Daily Mail & others





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
          - Bayern Munich, 24^th March, Matthew Debono (Twitter)
Slonina -


Ampadu -
Azpilicueta – Real Madrid, 10^th March, Fichajes
Badiashile -
Castillo -
Chalobah – AS Roma, 20^th Feb, Calciomercatoweb
Chilwell - Manchester City, 1^st Feb, Goal.com; 2^nd Feb, The Times
            -  Real Madrid, 14^th March, Defensa Central
Colwill - Liverpool, 1^st March, Goal;
           - Manchester City, 6^th March, 90min;
           - Arsenal, 6^th March, Goal;
Cucurella -
Fofana, W -
Gusto -
Hall -
Humphreys -
James - Real Madrid, 29^th March, Daily Mail via AS
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;
         - Barcelona, 4^th Feb, Fichajes;
         - Real Madrid, 4^th Feb, Fichajes
         - Atletico Madrid, 5^th Feb, Mundo Deportivo
         - Juventus, 9^th Feb, Tuttomercatoweb
         - Manchester United, 14^th March, Daily Express
Kovacic - Juventus (swop deal with Zakaria), 5^th Feb, Calciomercatoweb;
           - Manchester City, 28^th Feb, Daily Telegraph
           - AC Milan, 14^th March, Pianeta Milan
           - Bayern Munich, 24^th March, Calciomercatoweb; Matthew Debono (Twitter)
Loftus-Cheek - AC Milan, 5^th March, Calciomercatoweb
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; 9^th March, The Guardian
          - Manchester City, 16^th Feb, Daily Star; 16^th Feb, Daily Mirror
          -  Newcastle United, 7^th March, Daily Mail
          - Bayern Munich, 28^th March, Daily Mail & elsewhere
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
               -  Leeds United, 2^nd March, Daily Express
          - SSC Napoli (swap + cash for Osimhen), 18^th March, Calciomercatoweb
          - Manchester United, 21^st March, Givemesport
Santos - Vasco de Gama (loan), 25^th Feb, Fabrizio Romano (Twitter) – loan confirmed 2^nd March
Simons - Hull City (currently on loan at Hull City), 1^st March, Fabrizio Romano (Twitter)
            - Hull City confirm permanent deal, 16^th March
Vale -


Aubameyang - Barcelona, 2^nd Feb, Evening Standard; 4^th Feb, Daily Mail;
                   - Barcelona (on a 'free transfer') 21^st March, 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
                   - Inter Milan, 25^th March, Barca Universal
Broja -
Burstow –
Fofana, D –
Havertz - Real Madrid, 10^th March, Defensa Central
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; 14^th March Giuseppe Marotta, Inter Milan's CEO
           - Real Madrid (loan?) - 18^th March, Fichajes
           - Aston Villa - 20^th March, Fichajes
           - Bayern Munich - 24^th March, Fichajes
           - Tottenham Hotspur (player + cash swap for Harry Kane) - 24^th March, Fichajes
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)

 

Our Potential Main Targets Linked to Other Clubs:


Josko Gvardiol – Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur

Declan Rice – Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United

Moses Caceido – Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United

Jude Bellingham – Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid

Victor Osimhen – Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Manchester United, PSG

 

 

[Miguelito07]

I would rather  we start thinking about a new manager than reading about what players we are linked with 

[Blue Orca]

On 01/04/2023 at 13:26, Miguelito07 said:

I would rather  we start thinking about a new manager than reading about what players we are linked with 

Well i hope they do it properly after rubbish sacking of one of Europe's best and having Potter as his replacement; 

[Bones]

[Bison]

Atletico really thought they found an easy solution to their problems. Hopefully we aren't that stupid. 

[chrisb]

32 minutes ago, Bison said:

Atletico really thought they found an easy solution to their problems. Hopefully we aren't that stupid. 

If the decisions this lot have made so far are anything to go by I’m worried they’ll offer Athletico Reece James and £100 million.

[thevelourfog]

36 minutes ago, Bison said:

Atletico really thought they found an easy solution to their problems. Hopefully we aren't that stupid. 

I imagine we just genuinely don't have the money tbh, or at least the wriggle-room in the books. I'd send him back tomorrow, absolutely no interest in keeping him here or seeing him in blue ever again, but I'd not be hugely surprised at him staying on loan with an obligation. 

[paulw66]

12 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

I imagine we just genuinely don't have the money tbh, or at least the wriggle-room in the books. I'd send him back tomorrow, absolutely no interest in keeping him here or seeing him in blue ever again, but I'd not be hugely surprised at him staying on loan with an obligation. 

If we are not going to keep him next season, there is no reason for him to appear again. 

[chiswickblue]

59 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

If we are not going to keep him next season, there is no reason for him to appear again. 

This is the one positive of our plight - planning for next season starts now. Leave the players that definitely won't be here then in the stands, and play those with something to prove - including a few development squad players. Also players carring injuries should get a good rest.

[thevelourfog]

1 hour ago, paulw66 said:

If we are not going to keep him next season, there is no reason for him to appear again. 

I agree. But the person deciding who appears isn't going to be here next season, either. So I'm not expecting to see any evidence of that kind of thinking.

[Bison]

46 minutes ago, chiswickblue said:

This is the one positive of our plight - planning for next season starts now. Leave the players that definitely won't be here then in the stands, and play those with something to prove - including a few development squad players. Also players carring injuries should get a good rest.

In theory that is exactly what we should be doing but I suspect Lampard will be more concerned with trying to salvage his reputation. He needs results so expect to see the 'strongest' team with very little care for who will be here beyond the end of the season.

14 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

I imagine we just genuinely don't have the money tbh, or at least the wriggle-room in the books. I'd send him back tomorrow, absolutely no interest in keeping him here or seeing him in blue ever again, but I'd not be hugely surprised at him staying on loan with an obligation. 

If Nkunku is a done deal as we're led to believe I don't see how he can stay. Felix isn't very good and shouldn't play another minute for us. 

[Mark Kelly]

29 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

I agree. But the person deciding who appears isn't going to be here next season, either. So I'm not expecting to see any evidence of that kind of thinking.

And he's saying that he wants to keep the performance levels high so we do as well as we can until the end of the season , so another seven wasted weeks to come.

[ROTG]

48 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

2 hours ago, paulw66 said:

 

I agree. But the person deciding who appears isn't going to be here next season, either. So I'm not expecting to see any evidence of that kind of thinking.

Agreed - You would expect the person in the seat wanting to do the best they can to give them a chance of getting  a job elsewhere in the summer.  

[chrisb]

We need to sign more players like Mount or James, not for their footballing abilities but to make it easier for us to spell their names on here when they play like idiots. What were they thinking signing Mudryk, Madueke, Joao Felix, Badishile etc? Bloody American owners.

[asvaberg]

I'm watching Sporting Lisbon-Juventus and the player Ugarte (Uruguayan) on Sporting is a DM we definitely should look into. He reminds me of Makelele in his playing style.

[My Blood Is Blue]

Apparently we’re signing Diego Moriera on a free from Benfica and he’ll go straight into U21s. I know nothing about him but apparently he’s a highly rated youngster that’s many clubs wanted.

[Bert19]

On 20/04/2023 at 10:28, Mark Kelly said:

And he's saying that he wants to keep the performance levels high so we do as well as we can until the end of the season , so another seven wasted weeks to come.

I'll be really disappointed if he doesn't start giving younger players more minutes from here to be honest.  Aside from planning for the future, there are obvious immediate benefits in doing something like playing Badiashile over Koulibaly.  

[paulw66]

On 22/04/2023 at 18:57, My Blood Is Blue said:

Apparently we’re signing Diego Moriera on a free from Benfica and he’ll go straight into U21s. I know nothing about him but apparently he’s a highly rated youngster that’s many clubs wanted.

Interesting one. Know nothing about him.