Transfer Talk Topic

[Proud-Blue]

I'm fine with selling Sterling, and any judgement that is made my club and manager that deems him as not required. I don't think he's been that good for us bar a handful of performances, and his wage are too high. He also cost us some points last season with his selfishness. We signed him when he was past his best, unfortunately.

I'm also not happy about the statement that went out before the City game, and there should be some consequence for that (maybe this is actually partly a response to that...? Speculation of course).

My frustration I think we've gone a bit too far taking his squad number away while he's still here. Having him train at home as well (if that's true) also seems a little bit extreme. So I'm really hoping this gets resolved quickly so everyone can move on. Some reports tonight that there were constructive discussions, so hopefully that's true.

By all accounts, Sterling is pretty well liked. So I hope this isn't upsetting the squad dynamic too much.

 

 

 

[Sleeping Dave]

1 hour ago, east lower said:

Something’s happened to change the narrative, real question should be, what that is and why’s Maresca going along with it?

Well. I think it is fairly well documented that the Omorodion deal fell through and we needed to buy someone off A Madrid to be able to shift Gallagher to them. So the next player in line was Felix. Once it became clear we needed to buy Felix we simultaneously needed to get rid of a winger. That Sterling is the one who needs to be moved is probably a combination of astronomical wages (that the current ownership sanctioned) and pretty bad performance in the context of that salary. 

I really don’t think there is much else to be seen here. The sudden change of heart tells its own story imo. 

Regarding Chilwell I called it early. In this system there is no place for him. He is also another high-earner. Sell. 

 

[chrisb]

Shock new photo of Emperor Bohely giving his verdict on Sterling…

 

[Bones]

Nice to see we have adjusted our transfer strategy accordingly 😂

 

[Sleeping Dave]

Just wow. They surely are spinning this every way they can. Imagine how lowly they must think of the fans and their intelligence? 

[paulw66]

5 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Just wow. They surely are spinning this every way they can. Imagine how lowly they must think of the fans and their intelligence? 

What's the beef here ?

 

The club are supposed to put out an announcement saying we reluctantly have deicded to buy Felix.

[Ham]

33 minutes ago, chrisb said:

Shock new photo of Emperor Bohely giving his verdict on Sterling…

 

It's well documented that Eghbali has been running the shop for the past year and he looks a lot more like Juaquin.  

[Bob Singleton]

While we may have never seen it quite on this scale before, what Maresca is doing regarding shaping his squad isn't unprecedented.   People seem shocked that players deemed surplus to requirements are training away from the first team squad.  Good. They shouldn't be anywhere near the main facilities, let alone training with or even close to the main group. It would be a distraction for the squad who will go forward this season, and from a tactical point of view, you don't want players  who in a week or so may be at other clubs, learning the routines being practised for, for example, defensive and attacking corners!

As I recall, Jose Mourinho - who many on this forum still revere - frequently admitted that he didn't even talk to players IN THE SQUAD if they were injured. And if he had 30 odd players, don't you think he'd do exactly the same as Maresca; create a group of 20 or so outfield players to be the squad, and to hell with the rest. If he didn't fancy a player, they were out.

Potter had a bloated squad and tried to make everyone happy. That didn't work.

Pochettino must have lied to get the job, because it was clear the owners and the DoFs wanted to play tactical possession football and we ended up playing anything but. We were clearly uncoached, tactically all over the place and getting into Europe happened more by accident than design.

Some might want to call Maresca a "stooge".  I don't see it that way. I see a club where the head coach, Directors of Football and the owners are all, for want of a better phrase, singing from the same hymn sheet.  The media are doing their best to make it seem a mess, because clickbait is called clickbait for a reason! The reality, as Maresca so clearly pointed out today, is that he's working with his core squad of 21 outfield players, and that's it! His job is to coach those 21 to play, successfully, as  a team, week in, week out.

I can see maybe one or two of the current 21 maybe going on loan somewhere (I'm thinking specifically of Kellyman and/or Guiu), especially if we get a striker in of the calibre of Toney or Osimhen. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over players deemed surplus to requirement, many of whom earn more in a week than I used to make in a year, being allowed to keep up their fitness levels away from players we intend to rely on. 

My one concern is that this window we seem to be getting rid of quite a few "home grown" players (mix of academy and what UEFA call "association trained" players)  with only Dewsbury-Hall coming in.

 

[Original 21]

We now have alternatives to Sterling on the wing in Neto and Felix who are younger, have a higher ceiling and on lower wages. The issue with Sterling is his low return on high wages. Meanwhile we are looking to bring in a centre forward, maybe Osimhen, who is going to demand high wages. By pushing Sterling out if we could get Osimhen then that seems like good business to me. 

[Max Fowler]

3 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Was injured. And is 5 years younger.

5 years younger matters though Paul.

We need to sign players who are ready now - Guehi is ready now, Colwill has a lot of learning to do.

[Max Fowler]

4 hours ago, martin1905 said:

But we already have Disasi, Tosin and Badiashille.

No one knows how any of them, or anyone is this squad will fare, playing under the new manager.

I doubt anyone has seen enough of Tosin to really make a judgement. Interesting that Newcastle wanted him. Now they want Guehi, would they have wanted both? Badiashille, no doubt has been disastrous since his injury which is a real shame as he showed a lot of promise. Disasi was nowhere near as bad as people have made out. I remember one game where everyone was raving about him, saying he had Rudiger vibes. I've certainly not written him off.

We were appalling for large parts of last season,  especially defensively, so really hard to pass too much judgement. 

You could say that about any part of the pitch, Martin. We already have Nkunku, Giu, and Jackson up top. We already have Mudryk, Sterling, and Madueke on the wings.

IMO At some point we need to be able to debate who we want to add to the team without saying - "we don't know what would happen if we signed player X", or "we need to wait before judging whether we need player Y!"

But if you're really happy with the centre-back options then fair enough, and if you're happy to trust the board and back their incomings then also fair enough I suppose 🫡  That's what I am taking from your current position.

[Max Fowler]

49 minutes ago, Original 21 said:

We now have alternatives to Sterling on the wing in Neto and Felix who are younger, have a higher ceiling and on lower wages. The issue with Sterling is his low return on high wages. Meanwhile we are looking to bring in a centre forward, maybe Osimhen, who is going to demand high wages. By pushing Sterling out if we could get Osimhen then that seems like good business to me. 

I absolutely don't think Felix has a higher ceiling than Sterling in the Premier League.

But I agree, even though I'm not convinced we'll get Osimhen over the line though or we ever even intended to.

Personally suspect the rumours are there just to keep the fans excited 🤷‍♂️

[Original 21]

Don’t know if there’s any substance to this, but Barcelona could be thinking of selling Andreas Christensen:

https://www.football-espana.net/2024/08/21/surprise-name-emerges-as-possible-contender-to-be-sold-by-barcelona?utm_source=rsn&utm_medium=rsn&utm_campaign=gac0105

Edited August 22 by Original 21

[xceleryx]

12 hours ago, Thiago97 said:

All sounds great and makes sense in isolation.......but it doesn't address problems now. 

We are highly likely to finish this season at least 12-15pts behind whoever wins the league. How does any of this address reduce that gap ? Sure, players will improve again, but we will still need additions to reduce that gap. So we just start this process again with another influx of value proposition gambles, rather than go and add potential gamechangers who will make a difference.

None of what we are doing is difficult to understand, it's not that difficult to accept either, if carried out in a much reduce manner of players in/out.

It will always be jam tomorrow. It's like 5-10 year sales plan for what the future will look like, but ignoring the massive sales gap that is present now!

We were also finishing further behind with a team full of senior "stars" before the ownership change.

I've not suggested we don't sign good players, but it's being mindful that they can't just be good in isolation. They have to be good while also possessing the qualities we're either in need of, or fit within the general framework of how we're trying to play. 

The scale in which we're operating at is naturally a lot to digest in such a short span of time, but being aggressive in obtaining as much young talent as possibly shouldn't necessarily be frowned upon either. Of course, that's providing we're still looking and are investing in the first team - which we are. 

[xceleryx]

12 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

Sorry my friend, but this is (IMHO) well-articulated nonsense. 

Every team that does well and has done well in recent seasons signs players that improve the first-team XI and has a core of players who are vital each and every week.

Take our CBs - We don't have a Van Dijk, we don't have a Stones or Dias, we don't have a Gabriel or Saliba. We don't have a first-choice centre back who can clearly lead the rest of the team - that is our biggest problem.

Same is true for our GK, ST and even CM - and frankly all over the pitch bar a couple of notable exceptions.

Of course we can buy squad players who fit the system but if we really want to improve we needed to focus on improving the core of players which is frankly non-existent in this current squad.

No successful team has two cores of players with the right attributes who you can just switch in and out without massively impacting the team. Frankly, we do. And at that point it means we don't have a core of key players at all.

I was thinking of using AI to waffle for me but opted for the old manual approach. As a fellow waffler Max, thanks for noticing me.

There's also plenty of teams that sign players to improve their first-team XI and go on to underperform - we've ironically been one of those in the past. 

Sure, we need a CB that is a leader and I've said as much myself. That doesn't mean we have to go out and get a star CB however, we can get players that have the attributes and qualities to grow into that role and become those players - or are already on the cusp of doing so.

Again, I think you've confused yourself here with what I've said. I'm not suggesting we don't sign good players, but theres's variations of good players. You've got good ones that have qualities that both fit or don't fit into the football we're trying to deploy- we need the latter.

A very rough and basic example would be signing world class striker that's 5ft 5 and thrives getting in behind, only to throw him into the role of being a lone striker, with the expectation that they play with their back to goal, occupy two defenders and link play for those around him. 

[xceleryx]

11 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

I'll put my name in for Guehi. I am not sure he is the next Van Dijk, but he walks into our first-team and improves it.

He really isn't that good for one.

More importantly though, he doesn't excel in key areas that are important to both our system and the position he'll occupy. Very average on the ball, a limited passer with virtually no progressive abilities, undersized and awful aerially. 

What and where is the upside exactly that makes him 1) the solution, and 2) worth £65m+?

[xceleryx]

10 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

He was absolutely excellent at the Euros and has been a PL stalwart for Palace - that's where the clamor is coming from.

If Colwill was better than Guehi he would have started ahead of him for England, but he's not!

Maguire has also been excellent for England, should we have signed him?

[xceleryx]

7 hours ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Isn’t Thiago Motta also doing a similar thing at Juventus at the moment as well?

Yep, both Motta and new Sporting Director Giuntoli have been putting the broom through the club. Which, might I add, also includes fan favourite Chiesa. Both because he doesn't fit Motta's football, and also because he wants way too much money to extend given his injury history and meh performances. 

[Sleeping Dave]

8 hours ago, paulw66 said:

What's the beef here ?

 

The club are supposed to put out an announcement saying we reluctantly have deicded to buy Felix.

Come on Paul, you are smarter than this. I get that you are trying everything you can to defend the clubs decisions, but deep down I know that you know exactly what I mean.

Compare it to the other signings we’ve made this season. This communication is OTT. Felix has come “home”? Is this more his home than what it is for Conor? Stamford Bridge isn’t Felix home, it may be in the future. But he’s years away from having some sort of legendary status here. Or perhaps just a sign of how lowly we’ve declined? 

The whole tone in the message reeks of trying to justify dumping one of our best players last season to mask their ludicrous overspending on other players. This is also a signing that quite clearly, and beyond doubt, was never planned for. Despite us knowing for years he was available. 
 

[ChelseaJambo]

12 hours ago, paulw66 said:

Was injured. And is 5 years younger.

Who's 5 years younger than who?

[Mark Kelly]

Poor Raheem , we're going to miss him, obviously not as much as he missed for us but...

 

 

 

[thevelourfog]

11 hours ago, Miguelito07 said:

i know two wrongs dont make a right, but.....

Thing is, all clubs do this. It has to happen. Fair to criticise the press when they're hypocritical in how they deal with it. But as supporters, I think we should expect our club to manage these decisions a certain way, irrespective of how other clubs manage it. Why would I, for example, give a shit about how Barca treat their players? They mean nothing to me. It's Chelsea I care about.

10 hours ago, martin1905 said:

I don't see how any of that reflects, in any way, on how we are being run.

With respect, though, that's because you left out the relevant details.

Football is cut throat. Players get sold, left out, it happens. Sterling is not a player, in a football sense at least, we are going to miss at all. But I think you and I both know what the symbolism of taking away a shirt number and giving it to another player, especially once the season has started already, and when that player took a different number a few weeks ago. It's a minor, insignificant detail in the grand scheme but will carry more weight with the players themselves.

This isn't taking a player to the side and explaining they aren't in the plans and that we'll want to move them on and will help them do that, which happens multiple times at every club in the world each window (and if we believe Sterling, pretty much the opposite to this happened). This is being about as hostile as you can be within the remit of a contract, and all in public. In fact, it being in public is the exact point of it.

[Chelsea_Matt]

26 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Poor Raheem , we're going to miss him, obviously not as much as he missed for us but...

 

 

 

I’m not entirely sure these type of videos, taken out of context, are entirely fair. Raheem has imo been more of a “moments” player, absolutely, and even as a fan of his I would say he’s generally been a bit disappointing, but I don’t think he deserves to be pilloried. A lot of players do stuff like this imo. Saying that I’m fine with him leaving. I’m not happy about Chilly B being cast aside, though. I know his injury record is terrible but again personally I rate him. Anyway. We are where we are. 💯💀🫠👀

[Bison]

31 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Poor Raheem , we're going to miss him, obviously not as much as he missed for us but...

 

 

 

For every Sterling clip like this there are 10 clips of Mudryk running the ball out for a goal kick or one of his shots hitting the corner flag.

Why don't you have the same energy for that waste of space?

[paulw66]

1 minute ago, Bison said:

 

Why don't you have the same energy for that waste of space?

because he isn't the one in discussion? he isn't the one people have spent two years attacking and now in a strange paradox are all upset about being moved on