Transfer Talk Topic

[Max Fowler]

30 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I thought you said we were going under? 

Unlike you Mark my knowledge is ever growing! 😅

[Mark Kelly]

23 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Unlike you Mark my knowledge is ever growing! 😅

Flip flopping is the technical term I believe.😊

[Max Fowler]

2 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Flip flopping is the technical term I believe.😊

😃 I think you and @Dwmh can’t believe that I can navigate the media landscape with such aplomb. Not all of us are sucked into taking sides so easily!

[Max Fowler]

 

 

[Mark Kelly]

11 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

 

 

That's the problem with an arbitrary wage limit of X amount , other clubs may value the player more . Give him Sterling's wage and sell Sterling.

[Max Fowler]

40 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

That's the problem with an arbitrary wage limit of X amount , other clubs may value the player more . Give him Sterling's wage and sell Sterling.

Also if we are unprepared to pay high wages off the bat IMO we will never make the step up to where we need to get to.

[Max Fowler]

If this is true, it makes me respect Poch more.

 

 

[Sciatika]

Sounds like they're negotiating. Maybe he should adopt the Fifth Element approach:

 

[boratsbrother]

17 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

Desperately resisting making a comment about Caicedo and Enzo...

I was clearly talking about the top class strikers being able to perform no matter what. Those who need everything to be set up for them are very clearly not top class or even the kevel below that imho. Should Oshimen  he come here he'd be facing lots of packed defences and he simply doesn't have the technical ability to deal with that, so it's insane to even think about  pay mega money for such a  limited  forward. 

 

[martin1905]

I'm glad people are coming round to how limited and overrated Osimhen is.

I said a little while ago that I wouldn't go anywhere near him and much prefer we go for Toney, got laughed at by most so pleased people are realising,  I'm assuming after watching him at the AFCON.

If we have the financial means to go that big on a single transfer the last place I'd be looking is SerieA.

He would be Lukaku MK2 and the final nail in our coffin.

[thevelourfog]

I've seen about 10 minutes of Osimhen so wouldn't comment on him as a footballer. My worry is much more than I do not think we are in a position to commit a huge fee (God knows where the immediate capital comes from, and then there's it sitting on already very crowded books for 5 years) or huge wages. We're carrying a lot of big liability risks already, it might be a different story if it was only Osimhen. I also question what bang for our buck we get with a megastar-type signing. I'm not convinced just an "elite" striker is all we need to get top 4 and get CL money, so not convinced the potential gains from committing that money tally with the potential risks. 

[Bert19]

26 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

I'm glad people are coming round to how limited and overrated Osimhen is.

I said a little while ago that I wouldn't go anywhere near him and much prefer we go for Toney, got laughed at by most so pleased people are realising,  I'm assuming after watching him at the AFCON.

If we have the financial means to go that big on a single transfer the last place I'd be looking is SerieA.

He would be Lukaku MK2 and the final nail in our coffin.

I'd be avoiding Ivan Toney at all costs tbh.  I think there's going to be more baggage coming with him. 

13 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

I've seen about 10 minutes of Osimhen so wouldn't comment on him as a footballer. My worry is much more than I do not think we are in a position to commit a huge fee (God knows where the immediate capital comes from, and then there's it sitting on already very crowded books for 5 years) or huge wages. We're carrying a lot of big liability risks already, it might be a different story if it was only Osimhen. I also question what bang for our buck we get with a megastar-type signing. I'm not convinced just an "elite" striker is all we need to get top 4 and get CL money, so not convinced the potential gains from committing that money tally with the potential risks. 

I think everyone has got caught up on this "Chelsea need a proper no.9" narrative.  Yes, we do need another striker or even two, but we also need what we've started to see this season - the rest of the team (particularly our midfielders and AMs) stepping up and chipping in with more goals.  

All of our best sides have had goals from the CFs, wingers and midfield.  Plus a back four that chipped in with anywhere between 12-25 goals each year between them.  In my opinion, relying on one player as our one real source of goals would be a dumb idea.  A striker that gets 15-20 goals and the rest of the squad producing 60-70 a year more would be a much healthier position to be in. 

As an example, Ancelotti's team had a prolific Drogba season when we won the double, but Lamps scored like 27 that year, Anelka 15, Malouda 15, Kalou 10-12 goals etc etc.  A team where everyone wants to chip in will be better for us and leave us less exposed to a massive dip if one player gets injured.

[Max Fowler]

To me the bigger issue is the reported wage cap on new signings. My previous understanding was that we would be reluctant to pay 200k+/week for any new players (which Osimhen would demand), the latest report suggesting the cut-off is as low as 150k. 

Whatever it is, I am pretty convinced that even if Poch collapses and gets the boot, we will not be signing (a) higher wage players in summer or (b) higher age players in summer (28+ or even 26+?). Oftentimes (a) and (b) overlap as older players demand more.

Some will say this is good business but I believe we are hellbent on making this model work and, as mentioned, it is as much about turning players into profitable assets as much as success on the pitch at all costs (or even "normal" costs incurred by our rivals).

Then you (or we) as fans, have to ask ourselves - what do we expect next season? Do we demand to finish in the top four or like @xceleryx are you happy to be patient with the project even if we keep finishing mid-table for the next couple of seasons?

We do need a proper striker but we also need experience and characters all over the pitch. Losing Silva and potentially Gallagher will only hasten that need and I fear we assume we can replace those two with young talent rather than leaders who really care.

[paulw66]

15 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

 

We do need a proper striker but we also need experience and characters all over the pitch. Losing Silva and potentially Gallagher will only hasten that need and I fear we assume we can replace those two with young talent rather than leaders who really care.

We desperately need a striker with a physical presence, who can help us against the low block, and or, hold it up when we're under pressure in certain games.

I think the strategy will continue with signing younger players though, even if I / we don't entirely agree with it.

[Ham]

I know people cite Drogba and Costa as our last elite strikers but we've never had a Kane, Shearer or Haaland.  Never. 

We've had great players but we haven't had a great goalscorer since Kerry Dixon IMO.  

They're few and far between and Osimhen does not come into that category. I don't know what the answer is apart from discovering our own.  

[Dwmh]

3 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

If this is true, it makes me respect Poch more.

 

 

Respect his PR advisor cetainly.  If he was genuinely in a conflict with the board over Gallagher we would never hear of it.  This is just someone trying to position themselves ahead of good or bad newsflow.
Both in respect of fans and in respect of players (who I guess are even more concerned about the clubs wage controls than the fans)

[boratsbrother]

25 minutes ago, Ham said:

I know people cite Drogba and Costa as our last elite strikers but we've never had a Kane, Shearer or Haaland.  Never. 

We've had great players but we haven't had a great goalscorer since Kerry Dixon IMO.  

They're few and far between and Osimhen does not come into that category. I don't know what the answer is apart from discovering our own.  

Agree!

If not "elite" Drogba and Costa were class strikers who were of the level needed to win the title. That's what we need, rather than an elite one, which as you rightly say are few and far between. 

 

I have to say I do have some sympathy for our scouts. Plenty of good players around the same level but very few serious game changers which elevate teams to a higher level or two like VVD and Allison did for Liverpool.  The continental leagues have become much weaker over the last 10 to 20 years.  The German and Italian leagues are a shadow of what they once were. The French  has one decent team and they're not that good. The Dutch and Belgian leagues no longer produce teams of the quality they used to do. Nothing at all in Eastern Europe. 

😟

[Max Fowler]

30 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

Agree!

If not "elite" Drogba and Costa were class strikers who were of the level needed to win the title. That's what we need, rather than an elite one, which as you rightly say are few and far between. 

Drogba was not elite? Come on.

Okay he didn't hit quite the numbers of Kane or Haaland but his overall performance levels were insane.

[jasonb]

Drogba hit more than 20 goals in just two seasons out of 9 nine seasons.

In one of these 2006, he had Arjen Robben, Joe Cole and Salomon Kalou as other attacking players.

In 2009, he had Florent Malouda, Anelka and Kalou as other attacking players. 

What made him special for me was the nature of his goals scoring the type of goal no-one else could through his technical ability and strength. 

As others have said the defenders then and Lampard were regularly contributing goals too.

 

[Max Fowler]

2 minutes ago, jasonb said:

Drogba hit more than 20 goals in just two seasons out of 9 nine seasons.

In one of these 2006, he had Arjen Robben, Joe Cole and Salomon Kalou as other attacking players.

In 2009, he had Florent Malouda, Anelka and Kalou as other attacking players. 

What made him special for me was the nature of his goals scoring the type of goal no-one else could through his technical ability and strength. 

As others have said the defenders then and Lampard were regularly contributing goals too.

He was also perhaps the biggest "big game player" - much more so than Haaland and Kane.

[paulw66]

16 minutes ago, jasonb said:

Drogba hit more than 20 goals in just two seasons out of 9 nine seasons.

In one of these 2006, he had Arjen Robben, Joe Cole and Salomon Kalou as other attacking players.

In 2009, he had Florent Malouda, Anelka and Kalou as other attacking players. 

What made him special for me was the nature of his goals scoring the type of goal no-one else could through his technical ability and strength. 

As others have said the defenders then and Lampard were regularly contributing goals too.

 

I believe our current forwards and midfielders would score more if there was a prime Drogba in attack (for various reasons)

I agree, his goals output was just one measure of how good he was. 

[My Blood Is Blue]

In my opinion, Drogba was elite. I'd have him over Kane or Haaland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbTYkT1YnyE

[Mark Kelly]

1 minute ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

In my opinion, Drogba was elite. I'd have him over Kane or Haaland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbTYkT1YnyE

Me too , he was a leader , scored vital goals and was the scourge of Arsenal , that's good enough for legend status to me 

[Bert19]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

I know people cite Drogba and Costa as our last elite strikers but we've never had a Kane, Shearer or Haaland.  Never. 

We've had great players but we haven't had a great goalscorer since Kerry Dixon IMO.  

They're few and far between and Osimhen does not come into that category. I don't know what the answer is apart from discovering our own.  

Maybe JFH? He was probably the most consistent goalscorer we've had in PL era for sure. If fit, we knew he'd more than likely get 20+ a season. 

31 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

I believe our current forwards and midfielders would score more if there was a prime Drogba in attack (for various reasons)

I agree, his goals output was just one measure of how good he was. 

One of the few players that could win you a game purely by being present in the Tunnel before kick off

Edited February 14 by Bert19

[thevelourfog]

23 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Me too , he was a leader , scored vital goals and was the scourge of Arsenal , that's good enough for legend status to me 

Yeah, he wasn't an elite goalscorer in the way a Shearer was or Kane is, not someone who you know is getting 25 goals at least in an average season. But as an all round player ... I can't see there's an argument. There's a reason Drogba won what he did.