Transfer Talk Topic

[Chelsea_Matt]

1 hour ago, Max Fowler said:

Technically brilliant. Runs a ton and superb at winning the ball back. Progresses the ball through midfield with his driving runs and passes with the discipline to execute tactics to a tee (positioning, distribution) - under Tuchel and hence why Guardiola wants him. Importantly, the right character and gives absolutely everything for the team: 

Tuchel: "I could wake the guy at 3 at night and he will be at Cobham at 3.15 ready to give everything."

‘He looks like a wonderkid in training in some exercises. 

‘A lovely guy, a humble guy, he's so happy to train and deliver for the team. It's a true pleasure.

‘Even at Real Madrid, I was aware of his talent, and I felt there was a next step coming,’ he added. ‘I'm very happy that he's my player and plays a lot this season. He is crucial to us on the pitch and off the pitch in the way he behaves.'

I don’t care how good he looks in training. Give me evidence where he really dominated matches.

[Max Fowler]

20 minutes ago, Ham said:

I've said it before but replacing our entire senior midfield of Mount, Jorginho, Kante, Kova and RLC in a matter of months is crazy risky, particularly when our main targets of Rice and Caicedo have much better options out there right now. 

The only thing I'm clinging to is that the recruitment team in place MUST have some kind of assurances from some players and some kind of plan otherwise we're royally screwed.

Bang on Ham. Absolutely bang on.

Only other thing to question is why so many of our seniors want to leave / are ok with leaving and haven’t been made to feel more at home or like staying.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Max Fowler

[ROTG]

39 minutes ago, Ham said:

The only thing I'm clinging to is that the recruitment team in place MUST have some kind of assurances from some players and some kind of plan otherwise we're royally screwed.

I doubt any of the senior playing staff gave those clowns any assurances after their game of FIFA manager in January 🤡

[Miguelito07]

Seems like Kante has failed his medical - no surprise there.

Also, what do you guys think of Casadei? He's having a great U20 WC. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Miguelito07

[martin1905]

43 minutes ago, Ham said:

I've said it before but replacing our entire senior midfield of Mount, Jorginho, Kante, Kova and RLC in a matter of months is crazy risky, particularly when our main targets of Rice and Caicedo have much better options out there right now. 

The only thing I'm clinging to is that the recruitment team in place MUST have some kind of assurances from some players and some kind of plan otherwise we're royally screwed.

I look it it like this.

Enzo is nailed on first choice. 

We will go big on Caicedo. Rice will go to Arsenal, no way they buy both, Liverpool already have Mac Allister and won't be able to afford him too, United will get Mount so Caicedo's options are pretty limited.

Gallagher, I think will be kept because he is so versatile, Pochettino will love him and although he may not be the best technically  there is a lot to work with. I think he will be used as one of the two in the pivot, as back up to Caicedo/Enzo.

We then have Casadei, Santos and possibly Lavia. I assume one will be kept, most likely Lavia and the other two sent out on loan.

Because of the system Pochettino plays 4 CM's is probably enough but if we need an extra body he won't be scared to use someone like Chalobah there, much like he did with Eric Dier.

Nkunku is a direct replacement for Mount and I think that deal being agreed a while ago, allegedly, is a big reason as to why we haven't pushed harder in trying to get Mount to sign a new contract. Statistically he is one of the most productive attacking midfielders in Europe. Yes he plays in a farmers league but his numbers are absurd over the last couple of seasons. He has 58 goals and 32 assists in 77 starts. It's mind blowing.

RLC, personally I would keep, much like Gallagher he is very versatile and has been a model professional being happy to fill in multiple roles and whilst he may not have lived up to the early hype he could still be a useful squad option under Pochettino.

So, whilst it is a big overhaul and very risky it's the right time to do it. The direction we have gone under the new owners, bringing in young players, is very shit or bust, it's understandable why they have done it. We were, even with Tuchel, miles and miles away from competing with City, we may never have done it even by adding to the old squad.

What we are doing is taking a huge gamble on buying, massively over paying, the most highly rated young players in Europe. Some will work out, some won't. We've bought in arguably the perfect manager for the job, someone with a track record of building and molding a squad of young players in preparation for competing in a few years time.

The entire strategy seems to try and be one step ahead of our rivals, in a few years time, acknowledging the fact that City are a beast that can't be tamed and no matter what we did we wouldn't compete with them in the immediate future. The gamble is that once their cycle ends, and it will, we are the best placed team to take over and become the next dominant force in the league. 

Its as worrying as it is exciting so I suppose all we can do is sit back, strap ourselves in and enjoy the ride.

 

 

[Bison]

11 hours ago, Original 21 said:

Kovacic update. Does this count to our FFP?

Lovely.

Of all the terrible things that happened this season, players like Kovacic and Kepa wearing the captains armband was up there. 

[paulw66]

12 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

When is too early to get worried about our business?

Well, now. 

Season hasn't even finished yet.

10 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

Tbh, I couldn't care less. It's not a great bit of business imo - it weakens us, and strengthens them (and they don't need any strengthening!).

9 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

He's an excellent player when injury free. He has a year left on his contract - we don't need to buy him. I'm not talking about giving him a new contract, although City don't seem to mind..

Well, it's all interlinked.

If we don't give him a new contract, we lose him for free in 12 months. That definitely is not great business. 

If we can get a good fee for him, that more sense than keeping him for one year, and losing him for nought. We need to shed players, as we have no Europe, and a massive squad (even with Europe).

Maybe the performances of Santos and Casadei at the current U20 world cup are having an influence in the club's thinking. 

[east lower]

1 minute ago, paulw66 said:

 

Maybe the performances of Santos and Casadei at the current U20 world cup are having an influence in the club's thinking. 

I have read a few comments, certainly not from club based sources that MP has been in contact with both Santos and Casadei to inform them they'll get their chances in pre-season to impress and become part of the first-team squad with some game time.

Casadei in particular seems to be ripping it up, last time I looked he had 7 goals (?) and was top-scorer in the tournament. I think the final is an Italy v Uruguay clash, well worth watching, if anyone  can suggest a way of doing so.

[Miguelito07]

32 minutes ago, east lower said:

, if anyone  can suggest a way of doing so.

Matches are streamed live on the FIFA website

[Max Fowler]

46 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

We were, even with Tuchel, miles and miles away from competing with City, we may never have done it even by adding to the old squad.

We've bought in arguably the perfect manager for the job, someone with a track record of building and molding a squad of young players in preparation for competing in a few years time.

The gamble is that once their cycle ends, and it will, we are the best placed team to take over and become the next dominant force in the league. 

Its as worrying as it is exciting so I suppose all we can do is sit back, strap ourselves in and enjoy the ride.

 

There's a reason no other top club is employing this strategy though Martin - it's destined to fail.
Unless we have some experienced players who stay for a number of years - Poch is absolutely doomed.
We weren't a million miles away from competing with City on the day as the Champions League showed.

We built a culture of winning that was engrained in our DNA and successive managers kept that going.
Of course we needed more strategic transfer planning to really compete at the top of the league again.
14 of City's 23 man squad that played against us are still there - with two of them retiring altogether.

How many of our Champions League-winning squad will be left standing come the end of the summer?
If we don't breed a culture of winning the kids will never make progress to compete at the very top.
Foden has made the step up because he has grown into a side who already knows how to win consistently.

I just hope Poch is clever and strong enough to demand more senior pros joining the squad if others leave.
The expectation of our fans is not to be a playground for a bunch of youngsters to develop for five years.
We have seen rivals enter the long wilderness of not winning and we are heading firmly in that direction.

As Tuchel said:

"My experience in Chelsea, Paris, Dortmund and Mainz, it is about the results," 

"You can overcome one loss, a short period… but it cannot be too long otherwise nobody trusts the process".

[boratsbrother]

I do wish some of our fans would stop panicking about us moving on experienced players and replacing them with young players. Apart from Kante and Azpi, none of those being sold have helped us get anywhere near a title challenge and it's these very players who are mostly responsible for us being miles off the pace at the top.  

We can be critical of the owners signing too many players too quickly, but the mass clearout is long overdue! Their plan is a pretty clear one now and we should all be patient and start getting behind the owners and the new team which is emerging. This isn't a team for next season and probably not the season after that too, but one which has the potential to mature into a top quality one in a few years time. I'm much more excited about that prospect than more years of the same old, same old taking us nowhere in the league year after year.

 

[Max Fowler]

2 minutes ago, boratsbrother said:

I do wish some of our fans would stop panicking about us moving on experienced players and replacing them with young players. Apart from Kante and Azpi, none of those being sold have helped us get anywhere near a title challenge and it's these very players who are mostly responsible for us being miles off the pace at the top.  

We can be critical of the owners signing too many players too quickly, but the mass clearout is long overdue! Their plan is a pretty clear one now and we should all be patient and start getting behind the owners and the new team which is emerging. This isn't a team for next season and probably not the season after that too, but one which has the potential to mature into a top quality one in a few years time. I'm much more excited about that prospect than more years of the same old, same old taking us nowhere in the league year after year.

Amazing how many fans forget that 2 years ago these players won us the Champions League for only the 2nd time. 
One of the best nights of the entire Roman era and our squad were absolutely brilliant on that run.
We were told to be patient with the owners last season and trust the process. Look where that ended up!

So Kovacic, Jorginho, Sterling are the players who are responsible for us doing so badly last season?
Not the same owners that sacked Tuchel, brought in Potter and then shafted him with a squad of 35 players he didn't want.

I am willing to trust the process but we simply need a mixed approach - it's not black or white: 

• Continue signing the best youngsters to compete over the long-term
• Supplement with top class, experienced signings (like Nkunku) who can deliver for us in the here and now

It's early in the transfer window and let's give the owners time to deliver - although it's hard to have much confidence.
The idea that they have moved us closer to being a "top quality team" so far though is a stone cold joke.
We are banking that the owners have learned quickly from their countless mistakes and can recalibrate moving forward

Rightly or wrongly - our fans expect to win and compete right here right now and that is not going to change soon.
The fans won't be patient with Poch building a team over a number of years if we are miles away from winning.

We need to minimum be competing in and around the top four each season and right now we are lightyears away.

[Mark Kelly]

3 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Not the same owners that sacked Tuchel, brought in Potter and then shafted him with a squad of 35 players he didn't want.

 

No wonder he failed if he had 35 players he didn't want.

[ROTG]

50 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

 

We need to minimum be competing in and around the top four each season and right now we are lightyears away.

On the positive side the ladies team have done all there transfer business, One hopes TBSD continues to keep their distant form that set up

[Max Fowler]

Not convinced about Martinez and if Real Madrid want him they'll probably get him.
But these are the kind of links I want to see. Some players over 21 years of age.

 

 

[Backbiter]

3 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

Bang on Ham. Absolutely bang on.

Only other thing to question is why so many of our seniors want to leave / are ok with leaving and haven’t been made to feel more at home or like staying.

Yes, but it's not hard to work out the reasons.

[Max Fowler]

9 minutes ago, Backbiter said:

Yes, but it's not hard to work out the reasons.

It's embarrassing to say that the likes of Kovacic is a major reason we have been doing so badly lately.
After a huge contribution to our recent CL-winning season.

Lukaku on the other hand - there's a senior pro who genuinely did let our club down. 

[Mark Kelly]

 

Kante’s Saudi move hits medical snag, confirms club source

Kante, 32, has a history of injuries and missed six months of Chelsea’s Premier League season with a hamstring problem.

Published : Jun 09, 2023 11:21 IST , Riyadh - 1 MIN READ

AFP

FILE PHOTO: Chelsea’s French midfielder N’Golo Kante in action. | Photo Credit: AFP

World Cup-winning France midfielder N’Golo Kante’s planned move to Saudi side Al-Ittihad is being stalled by medical issues, a club source told  AFP on Thursday.

Kante, 32, has a history of injuries and missed six months of Chelsea’s Premier League season with a hamstring problem.

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The Al-Ittihad source said Kante had signed a binding agreement but the club were examining the results of medical tests before agreeing a final deal.

On Tuesday, the Jeddah-based club officially unveiled 35-year-old French Ballon d’Or-winner Karim Benzema as the biggest signing in their history.

“Kante signed a binding agreement, not a final contract,” the source said.

“We still review the medical checkup result. He has a long injury history and we want to be careful before signing a huge contract.”

Edited June 9, 2023 by Mark Kelly

[exiledblue]

13 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

Tbh, I couldn't care less. It's not a great bit of business imo - it weakens us, and strengthens them (and they don't need any strengthening!).

Instead of 2 top internationals in eah position Pep is going for 3. Must be easy to coach buy manage train your way to success in each team you create. I would love a job like that, expensive, intelligent players out of the box and ready to go.

[Chelsea_Matt]

I hope Conor stays. Love him as a player and I think Poch will really improve him.

[Bob Singleton]

1 minute ago, Mark Kelly said:

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/ngolo-kante-chelsea-saudi-pro-league-al-ittihad-stalled-medical-issues-club-sources-news/article66949418.ece/amp/

I've noticed that the only media covering this are from the Far East (India, Malaysia etc) and the "snag" isn't a potential failed medical (as the headlines are attempting to hint at) but merely Al Ittihad being ultra cautious and checking every detail of the results of his medical before signing off on the deal.  Nothing but clickbait, really.

[Mark Kelly]

6 minutes ago, Bob Singleton said:

I've noticed that the only media covering this are from the Far East (India, Malaysia etc) and the "snag" isn't a potential failed medical (as the headlines are attempting to hint at) but merely Al Ittihad being ultra cautious and checking every detail of the results of his medical before signing off on the deal.  Nothing but clickbait, really.

Yeah it does read like that , I only posted it because Ham had mentioned there were rumblings and I presume this was the source , I don't think the Saudis realise that having a hamstring injury is mandatory at Chelsea , if your  hamstrings haven't popped you're not trying hard enough.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Mark Kelly

[Bob Singleton]

11 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Yeah it does read like that , I only posted it because Ham had mentioned there were rumblings and I presume this was the source , I don't think the Saudis realise that having a hamstring injury is mandatory at Chelsea , if your  hamstrings haven't popped you're not trying hard enough.

🤣 🤣

[Max Fowler]

 

 

[Holymoly]

5 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

Bang on Ham. Absolutely bang on.

Only other thing to question is why so many of our seniors want to leave / are ok with leaving and haven’t been made to feel more at home or like staying.

You say bang on but the truth is every single one of those players was the object of criticism over the last two years:

Kante - "Ticking time bomb, never fit for more than one game at a time then injured again"

Jorginho - "Slows the attack, can't defend, never scores"

RLC - "How many chances are we going to give this guy"

Kovacic - "Never directs a game, always passing sideways, never scores"

Mount - The poor guy was the subject of permanent criticism over the last 18 months from certain people on this forum.

Given the level of support they were given by the supporters when they played you've got to suppose that the decisions to move them on will have been greeted with joy in many quarters. Disposing of all of them may smack of throwing the baby out with the bathwater to some but I doubt we would be able to agree on which to keep hold of.

Personally I would like to see a midfield that shores up the defense, contributes goals and isnt as injury prone as Kante. I think Mount would come good but if he's set on leaving too then I'm not going to plead with him.