Non-Chelsea Transfer Pub

[Rekin 835]

6 minutes ago, manpe said:

I like your positive thinking. We got rid of some players that needed to be get rid of for good money, but it means nothing if we fail to replace them. We failed to replace anybody in January, so we must now replace them + summer departees in one window to be competitive. Not going well so far, but only what we have on our books by 2nd september (or whenever the window closes) is what matters. We must survive August meanwhile.

Yeah, that is the challenge. I expect us to get two signings before deadline day, and then 1-2 more during it. Matt Law who is quite reliable has been reporting for months that Chelsea is looking for a CF, LWB, RWB, RW, CM, backup GK and CB. We have solved three of those, and seem very close to closing CF as well. That leaves us with LWB, RWB and RW. If Matic leaves, I expect us to look at another CM too.
If we count Morata as done (I know it isnt, but Di Marzio and Law are both reporting that it is very close), then we have almost 1,5 months to close 3-4 signings. That is roughly 1,5 weeks per signing. I think it is doable but hope that it doesnt lead the board to compromise on the quality. Still, Rudiger, Bakayoko and Morata are all skilled players yet to hit their peak. 

[manpe 10,855]

3 minutes ago, Rekin said:

Yeah, that is the challenge. I expect us to get two signings before deadline day, and then 1-2 more during it. Matt Law who is quite reliable has been reporting for months that Chelsea is looking for a CF, LWB, RWB, RW, CM, backup GK and CB. We have solved three of those, and seem very close to closing CF as well. That leaves us with LWB, RWB and RW. If Matic leaves, I expect us to look at another CM too.
If we count Morata as done (I know it isnt, but Di Marzio and Law are both reporting that it is very close), then we have almost 1,5 months to close 3-4 signings. That is roughly 1,5 weeks per signing. I think it is doable but hope that it doesnt lead the board to compromise on the quality. Still, Rudiger, Bakayoko and Morata are all skilled players yet to hit their peak. 

If we don't sign another CM and Matic leaves, do you think we can manage the whole season with 3 senior midfielders and 2 strikers?

[Barbara 15,149]

I know that people are freaking out over the size of our squad, and while I believe that there is truth in it, I also believe that a silent clean-up of the team is taking place since Conte joined. 

Let us look at the team at the start of last season (senior players):

CF: Bats, Costa
Wingers: Willian, Pedro, Hazard, Oscar
CM: Kante, Matic, Mikel, Fabregas
WB/FB: Ivanovic, Alonso, Azpilicueta, Moses
CB: Terry, Cahill, Luiz, Zouma
GK: Courtois, Begovic, Eduardo

There are some amazing players in there but also quite a few who are either well past their peak (Terry and Ivanovic) or been mediocre for the team for some time (Mikel and Oscar). These players were sitting on big salaries while contributing very little (excluding JT's leadership) and they have all since been removed from the club to put it bluntly.
Begovic wished to play more, and Zouma needed game time to see whether he is still good enough for the team so both of them have been allowed to do so. 
We then have Matic and Costa where the latter has had discipline problems for some time, and there were rumours that the same applied to a lesser degree to Matic (dont know if it is true) so it would make sense to get rid of them in order to improve squad harmony on and off the field. It also seems to be what is happening right now. 

In other words, we have over the span of three transfer windows with Conte gotten rid of (or at least in the process) the old, the mediocre and the troublesome while retaining the stars and the above average supporting players. 
I believe that the board saw what happened to the team when the old core (Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cole among others) got in the 30+ range, and how that made CFC's performances drop forcing us to have some dog years (masked by the CL win) and is now trying to avoid it. Furthermore, our team has been well known for having a very vocal dressing room which coaches has lost more than once. Bringing in a charismatic disciplinarian like Conte, who also just got an extension to show that the board stands behind him, while removing the potential sources of discontent is a way for the club to build for the future in a different way that it has in the future. The danger lies in having a squad that is too thin, but there is still plenty of time in the window, so if we can solve that problem the future looks bright. 

Amazing post [emoji122] [emoji122] [emoji122]
We finally started getting rid of mediocrity and deadwood and started strengthening the squad. Kante and Luiz made us much stronger.
And when we couldn't improve in quality, we got useful players in Moses and Alonso that unlike Oscar, Iva and Mikel, were consistent and raised our level, even if they were no marvel.
One of the few things I totally agree with Mourinho in his last time here (I supported him and the winning that came from his tactics when they worked, but not many of his assessments) is that a team of Azpilicuetas could win you UCL.
Sometimes a player doesn't need to be all that amazing. He just needs to be focused, dedicated, serious and have good football skills and the right attitude.
I feel like Matic is the name in the starting lineup we needed more improvement on and he clearly isn't in our plans.
Ofc we can get Moses and Alonso improvements, but they didn't compromise. I also feel we can do better than Willian and Pedro, but we don't need to be Milan right now and build a new team, we need to improve and adjust. We will continue to improve, get rid of the sub par players and when we can't get the talents, we'll at least get the players that can make a job.
I feel we are going in the right direction and if we can continue to mix the Azpilicueta, Costa, Fabregas, Kante deals where we had bargains or paid fair fees with one or other statement signings, not only I'll feel happy, but will continue to brag about our smart deals while others spend hundreds of millions with little to no payoff.
Now the one thing I worry about is the thinness of the squad. Unless we decide to use regularly a couple of youngsters, we'll need rotation more than we did last season. We had only two competitions in 2017. We could be in four when 2018 is here. We cannot play only 12 players like we did last year.
We need a Matic replacement, we need depth for the wings and ofc we need at least two more strikers, one to lead the way and a third one if we move to 352.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I'm surprised that Zlatan's name hasn't come up much in the paper talk.

[Rekin 835]

9 minutes ago, manpe said:

If we don't sign another CM and Matic leaves, do you think we can manage the whole season with 3 senior midfielders and 2 strikers?

I might be completely wrong, but I think there is a reason that Matic hasnt been sold yet even though Inter, Arsenal, Juventus and United has been after him for a while. The club is likely checking whether they can find a replacement before they allow him to leave (or checking if he can be used as a bargaining tool for Sandro). 
It would just be very incompetent of the board otherwise, three senior CM's with one currently injured is just asking for so much trouble. When you then consider that Fabregas is the third one, it becomes even more of a scary thought (not because he is bad, but because he is nothing like Baka/Kante).

[Rekin 835]

Rudiger? Done.
Bakyoko? Done.
Conte? Done.
Morata? Done.
Time left? 43 days

Fuck Marina and fuck Emanelo. Incompetent fuckers for getting a striker Conte wanted for £20m less than Lukaku. Fuck them for doing a good job. 

[jernej93 565]

2 minutes ago, Rekin said:

Rudiger? Done.
Bakyoko? Done.
Conte? Done.
Morata? Done.
Time left? 43 days

Fuck Marina and fuck Emanelo. Incompetent fuckers for getting a striker Conte wanted for £20m less than Lukaku. Fuck them for doing a good job. 

That's what I am talking about!! This forum is full of pessimism ... if we can somehow sign Alex Sandro and another decent RWB this would be a world class TEAM. It doesn't mean that we have 11 world class players but we have squad full of players that our manager wants and they fit his system!!!  

Costa -> Morata
Matić -> Bakayoko
RLC -> Musonda
Chalobah -> Pašalić, Baker
Zouma -> Rudiger
Terry -> Christiansen

Also very good loans for Zouma, Abraham, Palmer, Aina and RLC  

[AlesJuve 264]

16 minutes ago, Rekin said:

Rudiger? Done.
Bakyoko? Done.
Conte? Done.
Morata? Done.
Time left? 43 days

Fuck Marina and fuck Emanelo. Incompetent fuckers for getting a striker Conte wanted for £20m less than Lukaku. Fuck them for doing a good job. 

You reminded me this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7HmhrgTuQ

[Rekin 835]

4 minutes ago, jernej93 said:

That's what I am talking about!! This forum is full of pessimism ... if we can somehow sign Alex Sandro and another decent RWB this would be a world class TEAM. It doesn't mean that we have 11 world class players but we have squad full of players that our manager wants and they fit his system!!!  

Costa -> Morata
Matić -> Bakayoko
RLC -> Musonda
Chalobah -> Pašalić, Baker
Zouma -> Rudiger
Terry -> Christiansen

Also very good loans for Zouma, Abraham, Palmer, Aina and RLC  

Honestly I think the problem lies in a lot of people either being underage and not understanding business that well, or spoiled from where Chelsea were the kings of transfer windows. 
I mean, it looks right now like the Morata deal made absolute fools out of United, and the person behind it is the same person being called bitch and cunt on this forum several times.

Since the window opened we are signing players at a rate of over one per week. It is also not some random players we are talking about, but some very exciting young ones that have showed that they can perform in the later stages of CL and on the international stage.
This is a time to be happy about supporting the club, and yet people on this forum are making it sound like its a huge sacrifice to do so.

[jernej93 565]

8 minutes ago, Rekin said:

Honestly I think the problem lies in a lot of people either being underage and not understanding business that well, or spoiled from where Chelsea were the kings of transfer windows. 
I mean, it looks right now like the Morata deal made absolute fools out of United, and the person behind it is the same person being called bitch and cunt on this forum several times.

Since the window opened we are signing players at a rate of over one per week. It is also not some random players we are talking about, but some very exciting young ones that have showed that they can perform in the later stages of CL and on the international stage.
This is a time to be happy about supporting the club, and yet people on this forum are making it sound like its a huge sacrifice to do so.

The same people brought us Kante and Bakayoko for combined fee of 65M and sold Oscar for 50M  

[Special Juan 27,099]

City had a 44.5M bid for Mendy knocked back, Monaco value him higher than Kyle Walker apparently.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Funny how I have wrote in Aubameyang thread that this summer would remind me of our 2013 summer. Now it seems very much resemble our 2014 summer.

We do the deal quick, and we did strengthening our weakest spot.

GK Caballero

CM Bakayoko

DF Rudiger

ST Morata

LB ?

another ST ?

 

[manpe 10,855]

15 minutes ago, RoyalBlues said:

Funny how I have wrote in Aubameyang thread that this summer would remind me of our 2013 summer. Now it seems very much resemble our 2014 summer.

We do the deal quick, and we did strengthening our weakest spot.

GK Caballero

CM Bakayoko

DF Rudiger

ST Morata

LB ?

another ST ?

 

Filipe Luis for 15,8m, the one that got away.   We still need minimum 1 more senior CM if Matic leaves, 1 striker and 2 wing-backs. 4 more signings and we're done. Or we can ditch signing a RWB and chuck Azpi in there with Moses, 3 signings in this case. 

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

2 minutes ago, manpe said:

Filipe Luis for 15,8m, the one that got away.   We still need minimum 1 more senior CM if Matic leaves, 1 striker and 2 wing-backs. 4 more signings and we're done. Or we can ditch signing a RWB and chuck Azpi in there with Moses, 3 signings in this case. 

4 more signing sounds too good to happen? 2 or 3 might still possible though. Another striker will be like Drogba second signing, maybe Llorente.

[manpe 10,855]

9 minutes ago, RoyalBlues said:

4 more signing sounds too good to happen? 2 or 3 might still possible though. Another striker will be like Drogba second signing, maybe Llorente.

It might be "too good", but it's necessary for us to compete. 3 is the bare minimum. It's the club's fault they have got themselves in this situation, so they better rectify it.

[LAM09 6,547]

Liverpool have signed Andy Robertson for around £10m. A steal IMO

[manpe 10,855]

1 hour ago, LAM09 said:

Liverpool have signed Andy Robertson for around £10m. A steal IMO

Why Liverpool are vastly improving their chances of winning the league by signing Andrew Robertson

[...]

And while Robertson's arrival will provide the Reds with a quick, attack-minded full-back, it will also give them something else that has proven crucial to their successes down the years.

Scottishness.

 

 That's really all there is to it, he will win them the title.

[LAM09 6,547]

1 hour ago, manpe said:

Why Liverpool are vastly improving their chances of winning the league by signing Andrew Robertson

[...]

And while Robertson's arrival will provide the Reds with a quick, attack-minded full-back, it will also give them something else that has proven crucial to their successes down the years.

Scottishness.

 

 That's really all there is to it, he will win them the title.

 

It was what make them a force many years ago. 

He ain't that good. Just a bargain when the likes of Walker are going for 5x the amount.