Transfer Talk Topic

[exiledblue]

2 hours ago, martin1905 said:

Klopp leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.

Wow.

Please let it be slippy g

[exiledblue]

I like the idea of Wilson for 18 months, just dont want to waste shed loads on benzema

[Miguelito07]

1 minute ago, exiledblue said:

I like the idea of Wilson for 18 months, just dont want to waste shed loads on benzema

He is very injury prone - and yes, should fit right in

[johnnybozo]

2 hours ago, exiledblue said:

I like the idea of Wilson for 18 months, just dont want to waste shed loads on benzema

Benzema at Chelsea would, even at his age, slot right in behind Haaland as the best striker in the Prem. Just a class player who's never relied on pace. He'd be fine as an 18 month stop gap to help Jackson be less of a donkey and we desperately need experience and leadership at the top of the pitch (no Pigeon Man is not a leader).

[chrisb]

I think his wages could be a major stumbling block to a deal with any team outside of Saudi Arabia.

[My Blood Is Blue]

48 minutes ago, chrisb said:

I think his wages could be a major stumbling block to a deal with any team outside of Saudi Arabia.

He'd also want to wear the number 9 shirt and we all know what happens when anyone does that!

[xceleryx]

10 hours ago, johnnybozo said:

Benzema at Chelsea would, even at his age, slot right in behind Haaland as the best striker in the Prem. Just a class player who's never relied on pace. He'd be fine as an 18 month stop gap to help Jackson be less of a donkey and we desperately need experience and leadership at the top of the pitch (no Pigeon Man is not a leader).

He'd slot in as someone that can finish chances but there would be issues in terms of his ability to press, something that like it or not is kinda a must from CF's these days. He'd have to do a lot more off the ball work than he did at Real Madrid with a stronger supporting cast in a slower less demanding league. 

[thevelourfog]

I don't think we're signing anyone, and it probably is for the best at this point given the dizzying turnover over the last 18 months. A brilliant, even just good, striker would make a difference, but not enough of a difference alone for it to be something you make huge compromises (on price and choice) on, and that is all January will offer.

If we're 6th or 7th, have picked up the kind of results so far that make you think we're only a few results from CL money, you take the risk. We're nowhere near that. 

[Ham]

51 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

I don't think we're signing anyone, and it probably is for the best at this point given the dizzying turnover over the last 18 months. A brilliant, even just good, striker would make a difference, but not enough of a difference alone for it to be something you make huge compromises (on price and choice) on, and that is all January will offer.

If we're 6th or 7th, have picked up the kind of results so far that make you think we're only a few results from CL money, you take the risk. We're nowhere near that. 

9pts off 5th with 17 games left isn't insurmountable. 

[thevelourfog]

9 minutes ago, Ham said:

9pts off 5th with 17 games left isn't insurmountable. 

In theory, no. But then we aren't the only team who could say we're 9 points or less off, there's at least 3 other teams looking to edge into CL qualification. All above us, so ergo have all been better than us so far. Do we make up that difference while none of those teams do, or enough of the current top 4 drop their level enough for multiple chasers to make it?

It's not impossible. But it's not likely. Not a bet you put big money (which is what any striker we could get now would be) on.

Incidentally, I've lost track, will 5th get CL qualification? I know it's coefficient dependent, and it feels like English teams haven't done very well so far this season.

Edited January 27 by thevelourfog

[Ham]

1 hour ago, thevelourfog said:

In theory, no. But then we aren't the only team who could say we're 9 points or less off, there's at least 3 other teams looking to edge into CL qualification. All above us, so ergo have all been better than us so far. Do we make up that difference while none of those teams do, or enough of the current top 4 drop their level enough for multiple chasers to make it?

It's not impossible. But it's not likely. Not a bet you put big money (which is what any striker we could get now would be) on.

Incidentally, I've lost track, will 5th get CL qualification? I know it's coefficient dependent, and it feels like English teams haven't done very well so far this season.

As of the end of the group stages but that could change if English clubs go deep and City win it (not entertaining another English team). 

[Sleeping Dave]

On 26/01/2024 at 11:44, martin1905 said:

Surely we should be putting in a cheeky bid for Isak?

He would be my number one choice, without a doubt. Would anyone really prefer Osimhen?

We should have bought Isak years ago but as he wasn’t “proven” it wasn’t to be.

To be honest I’ve given up on strikers. 1/10 is a good fit for us. We need battlers up there and anyone who doesn’t for the bill isn’t for me. Drogba, Costa, Vialli and Zola and that’s the sum of successful forward choices we as a club has mustered is 30-odd years. Appalling record. 

[east lower]

57 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

We should have bought Isak years ago but as he wasn’t “proven” it wasn’t to be.

To be honest I’ve given up on strikers. 1/10 is a good fit for us. We need battlers up there and anyone who doesn’t for the bill isn’t for me. Drogba, Costa, Vialli and Zola and that’s the sum of successful forward choices we as a club has mustered is 30-odd years. Appalling record. 

Always thought Anelka was a great buy and one to add to that list, Crespo could have been had it not been for his family’s issues.

[Sleeping Dave]

13 minutes ago, east lower said:

Always thought Anelka was a great buy and one to add to that list, Crespo could have been had it not been for his family’s issues.

Well said, Anelka was an unlikely success I’ll happily admit. I just forgot him!

[chara]

13 minutes ago, east lower said:

Always thought Anelka was a great buy and one to add to that list, Crespo could have been had it not been for his family’s issues.

100% agree regarding both players...Anelka certainly taught me not to make assumptions about a player after reading so called media experts.

Crespo ?...a player to drool over,,,certainly an "If Only"

And..while I'm here Thanks for the "Vocal" topic reply...greatly appreciated.

[martin1905]

Got to add Hasselbaink and Eidur, who is one of my all time favourite players, to that list, although I agree it's a very short and pretty embarrassing list.

 

[Floyd25]

4 hours ago, martin1905 said:

Got to add Hasselbaink and Eidur, who is one of my all time favourite players, to that list, although I agree it's a very short and pretty embarrassing list.

 

Yea absolutely, two of the best we’ve had in the prem years. Actually, there’s quite a few more you could add in reality, Spencer, Hughes and Flo, all pretty good buys at the time. 

[Michael Tucker]

3 hours ago, Floyd25 said:

Yea absolutely, two of the best we’ve had in the prem years. Actually, there’s quite a few more you could add in reality, Spencer, Hughes and Flo, all pretty good buys at the time. 

All outstanding buys imo, and not just 'at the time'!

[xceleryx]

You go back and read some of the names mention and then look at the striker market now and it really underlines just how far the standard has dropped. 

Now days you have to pay 7x the transfer fee for a quarter of the quality. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

15 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

You go back and read some of the names mention and then look at the striker market now and it really underlines just how far the standard has dropped. 

Now days you have to pay 7x the transfer fee for a quarter of the quality. 

Yep, I remember saying that a while back. Huge lack of real top, elite talent throughout football nowadays, but in particular amongst strikers and I mean out and out strikers, who can guarantee you goals, not wide players who also get you some goals.

It’s hard to justify any value with the way money is spent in football nowadays, but I think you would find it near impossible to find value for money in the striker market at the moment. The only real elite strikers I can think of at the moment are Kane, Haaland  and Mbappe. Then below that you have a handful of good strikers, but because of how few are even in that bracket, they’d cost you £80million minimum. 

Our only hope of getting an elite striker is if City get relegated, but even then I imagine he’ll be off to Madrid I expect. So we then have to try and shop in that next tier which is going to be overpriced and not a guaranteed success.

[My Blood Is Blue]

Unless I’ve completely missed things, this window is one of the quietest for a long time isn’t it? I don’t just mean Chelsea, I mean football as a whole. I know January is normally a fairly quiet window, but this seems quiet even by those standards.

[Chelsea_Matt]

12 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

We should have bought Isak years ago but as he wasn’t “proven” it wasn’t to be.

To be honest I’ve given up on strikers. 1/10 is a good fit for us. We need battlers up there and anyone who doesn’t for the bill isn’t for me. Drogba, Costa, Vialli and Zola and that’s the sum of successful forward choices we as a club has mustered is 30-odd years. Appalling record. 

If you are including the Zola era then you must include Jimmy and Eidur. And Mark Hughes. 💙

Edited January 28 by Chelsea_Matt

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Yep, I remember saying that a while back. Huge lack of real top, elite talent throughout football nowadays, but in particular amongst strikers and I mean out and out strikers, who can guarantee you goals, not wide players who also get you some goals.

It’s hard to justify any value with the way money is spent in football nowadays, but I think you would find it near impossible to find value for money in the striker market at the moment. The only real elite strikers I can think of at the moment are Kane, Haaland  and Mbappe. Then below that you have a handful of good strikers, but because of how few are even in that bracket, they’d cost you £80million minimum. 

Our only hope of getting an elite striker is if City get relegated, but even then I imagine he’ll be off to Madrid I expect. So we then have to try and shop in that next tier which is going to be overpriced and not a guaranteed success.

And then all of this gets amplified because any striker that does show promise, or has a fruitful period scoring goals,  sees their value/asking price quadruple with immediate effect. Again, not necessarily a striker only problem but one across all positions. 

I know many aren't found of the manner ownership has taken with respects to recruitment but in ways it's the way forward due to football inflation. Either you get in early on those the do show promise which may still mean paying more than maybe initially worth,  or pay completely out the arse later on if they go on to have a good season, providing you're even able to battle off other possibly interested teams. 

If Man City were to get relegated then Alvarez is probably the better shout to be looking at.

[My Blood Is Blue]

4 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

And then all of this gets amplified because any striker that does show promise, or has a fruitful period scoring goals,  sees their value/asking price quadruple with immediate effect. Again, not necessarily a striker only problem but one across all positions. 

I know many aren't found of the manner ownership has taken with respects to recruitment but in ways it's the way forward due to football inflation. Either you get in early on those the do show promise which may still mean paying more than maybe initially worth,  or pay completely out the arse later on if they go on to have a good season, providing you're even able to battle off other possibly interested teams. 

If Man City were to get relegated then Alvarez is probably the better shout to be looking at.

Yep, very good point. A good 6 months is apparently enough now to make others throw silly money at you. 

Yeah, I like Alvarez a lot, it annoys me he’s there behind Haaland, as he’s be number 1 striker for every other team in the PL.

[Sabrina F.]

The chatter is that Osimhen is pretty much done for the summer - or at least he "picked" us. In that sense, I'd rather wait than splash the money on a short term answer (wages or fee or whatever) that has little upside for our current season, that you'll want to get rid of by June.

Just 2 weeks at most before Jackson is back, and maybe eventually ... surely Nkunku is back fit. We're not in a race where every point counts frankly, so we can survive.

Edited January 28 by Sabrina F.