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He has had 2 coaches already and both of them succesfully managed him before(Man City and Hull), still he seemed out of depth for both. Gittens has sucked so far but I can see the talent in him and believe he can eventually come good, however Delap just seems to lack quality. I said this to other players before like Rudiger or Cucurella, I hope I will be dead wrong again, let's see.

It's not premature, the hard facts are we bought a 30M championship striker that is way off what we need playing with one striker. I cannot judge Delap just on Rosenior's tenure, it has to be from the start, and based on that he has scored one goal in the PL and one in the CL accompanied by a red card. An overall on field performance is he has been shite, not offered anything of note and sort of typifies our middle of the road transfer policy of buying total and utter dross.

A bit premature imo, the new manager has barely been in the door for 5 minutes and Delap may end up important under him. I am not making my mind up on him until at least the end of the season... If Cucurella and Rob Sanchez can turn it around when used right / given time, I am willing to give Delap a chance as well. He may yet have a useful squad role. He is a different profile to anything else we have had in years.

I see no future for Delap at this club, we don't play a 2 together, he cannot play wide and he's a pretty shit back up

JP is going to be our main striker for years, he is a creator type so we need in form world class talent around him who themselves put out big numbers. Mbuemo/Semenyo who score big pl numbers from the wing would be the type to make a real difference for us. Unfortunately these talents disappear into City/Utd and we get priced out in wages / out of club policy. But I’m pretty sure the Mane/Firmino/Salah trio is the type we are trying to build. May also need to upgrade Delap as a backup option but not totally convinced, he needs a bit of time under Liam to be sure.

That list really does epitomize just how rank average some of the signing are and have been It's depressing

Hazard told Como coach Fabregas to return to Chelsea: ‘The time has come’ https://football-italia.net/hazard-told-fabregas-return-Chelsea-time-come/ Former Chelsea star Eden Hazard admits he told his former Chelsea teammate Cesc Fabregas that ‘the time has come’ for him to return to Stamford Bridge, while Ju ventus striker Kenan Yildiz would suit Real Madrid. Ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid star Hazard spent the last few days in Italy, where he presented the wines he produces under the label ‘Wine of the Champions’, a brand created by Italian entrepreneur Fabio Cordella. During his interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Hazard spoke about his former Chelsea teammate Fabregas, now the Como coach, revealing that he hopes to see the Spaniard in charge of the Blues soon. Hazard: Fabregas ‘destined to become one of the best coaches’ “I’ll be honest, in the summer we talked a bit. I told him he was one of the best midfielders in history and that he’s destined to become one of the best coaches as well,” Hazard said. “I explained to him that the time has come for him to return to Chelsea, and he joked about it, but I really believe it. He loves football and knows everything about this spot. I’m a Chelsea fan, and I want the best for the club. That’s why I dream of seeing Cesc on their bench, while I’ll be staying in the stands behind him, enjoying the show.” Fabregas is in his second Serie A season at Como, and the Azzurri are flying in 2025-26, sitting sixth in the standings, just four points below a Champions League spot. Juventus star Kenan Yildiz has also caught Hazard’s attention as the ex-winger believes the 20-year-old Turkey international is destined to play for Real Madrid one day. “My children are crazy about Yildiz. They want lots of his videos and hope to see him in the Premier League,” he said. “As for me, he seems more like a Real Madrid-type player.”

Brighton played him at fullback. Rosenior switched him to MF, where he has come good at a higher level.

Say it.

Ex-City boys: Tosin Lavia Gittens Sancho Palmer Delap Apart from Palmer, all the players are pretty average.

In terms of talent Santos and Sarr have every chance of joining the successful list. The bigger problem is, all the failed wingers and then midfield with the two glass boys in Lavia and Essugo offering nothing. We apparently signed two players to give Caicedo a breather and yet neither of them have been seen for most of the season 😆 At least the new manager knows Santos so he's got a chance to earn a midfield rotation spot!

There's no guarantee that he would succeed in the PL as a midfielder. Brighton tried to get him on the cheap and develop him but that failed and he went to Strasbourg to develop.

Even if Kane wanted to return to England, he wouldn't come here. It would probably be United or City (considering Kompany would be on their shortlist of managers post Pep).

Yes. 🙂 Would you enjoy taking another look or shall I just say?

Sancho was a stupid move as well let’s not get away from that. All jobs/moves for the ex City boys through Joe Shields.

Top goalscorers 25/26 Top 5 leagues + national & international cup competitions (Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1) comparison:

Just watched the highlights for Barco at Strasbourg from today’s game and again I’m super impressed. This kid legit looks like a potential top class midfielder. Completely runs the game pulling the strings whilst also being aggressive as hell without the ball. He may be really small but he’s fearless. At this point I’m starting to be convinced that we shouldn’t even bother getting involved in the battles for those other highly desired midfielders like Anderson, Wharton, etc and should just do the easy move to get this kid. He’ll cost us a fraction of those guys and he knows our manager/system well.

Julian Alvarez has 7 goals in 22 games in a weaker and more open La Liga, but he is the 9 we should be going after?

Ex-Chelsea star announces retirement aged 33 after career ravaged by injuries Chelsea paid £8million to sign Marco van Ginkel in 2013 and ended up having him on their books for nine years, despite him only playing four times for the first-team https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/Chelsea-marco-van-ginkel-retires-36675272 Marco van Ginkel suffered a season-ending injury early in his Chelsea career(Image: AMA/Corbis via Getty Images) Former Chelsea star Marco van Ginkel has announced his retirement at the age of 33. Midfielder Van Ginkel spent nine years under contract at Stamford Bridge but only made four first-team appearances. The Dutchman's time in West London was blighted by injuries, a theme that would continue throughout his career. Van Ginkel joined Chelsea in July 2013 from Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem, who had strong links with the Blues during Roman Abramovich's reign as owner, for around £8million. Van Ginkel had been without a club for seven months and on Thursday, he announced his retirement. "After 16 years, I'm saying goodbye to professional football," the 33-year-old wrote on Instagram. "A journey filled with highs and lows, lessons learned and memories I'll cherish forever. Thanks to everyone who stood by me along the way. Proud of the past. Ready for the next chapter." On just his third appearance for Chelsea under the returning Jose Mourninho, Van Ginkel suffered a serious knee injury which would rule him out for practically the entire 2013-14 season. By the time he was fully fit, the Netherlands international had no place in Mourinho's immediate plans and was loaned out to Serie A giants AC Milan. Two separate ankle injuries stunted his progress in Italy and he was loaned out to Stoke City the following season. In February 2016, Stoke cancelled his season-long loan and he joined PSV Eindhoven until the end of the campaign. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUX697pjHOt/ That loan was extended for the 2017-18 season and despite not being contracted to PSV, he was named captain. In the summer, after lifting the title and playing the last of his eight caps for the Netherlands, Van Ginkel had surgery to reconstruct his ACL and was sidelined for much of the following campaign. After playing a crucial role in PSV's title win, Van Ginkel picked up yet another injury. After making a full recovery towards the end of the 2016, he signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea and returned to PSV for a second spell. Marco van Ginkel's final club was Boavista(Image: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images) Although he didn't feature again until 2020, he was handed a new one-year deal by Chelsea and returned to PSV for a third loan stint which was made permanent the next summer. In January 2023, Van Ginkel returned to boyhood club Vitesse on a permanent basis. After 18 months back in Arnhem before a spell as a free agent, the two-time Eredivisie champion signed for Portuguese side Boavista. Van Ginkel was released amid their financial difficulties at the end of last season, and he's now made the decision to hang up his boots.

20 per cent of £70m is £14m add in the £6.8m (max payout if all bonuses are met) and you arrive at £20.8m, ie £21m if it is rounded up If he is sold for £50m 20 per cent of that is £10m add in the £6.8m (max payout if all bonuses are met) and you arrive at £16.8m, £17m if rounded up That is how I got to those numbers. Did I miss something? I apologise if I did.

We'd be looking at £11.44m if he is sold for £50m but none of the bonuses are triggered, up to £19.44m if he leaves Liverpool for £70m after triggering all bonuses Chelsea can be entitled to. Bearing in mind the lad chose to walk away from our club without ever signing a professional contract, that would not be a bad return.

Shortlist: World Cup U17 2025 In need of new players to add to your scouting lists? Look no further. https://pitchsideanalysis.substack.com/p/shortlist-world-cup-u17-2025 A new, revamped edition of the U17 World Cup took place in Qatar last November, including 48 countries!! That obviously opens up the possibility of getting to know tons of players, but also makes it incredibly hard to keep track of all of them. That’s what I set out to do, watching all but one of the playoff games (unavailable at FIFA’s streaming service) and a few of the group stage ones. Led by the likes of Mauro Furtado, Mateus Mide and Anísio Cabral, European champions Portugal shone once again, cementing their place as one of the most talented under-17 generations, Austria made a surprise run to the final (trashing England in the process) and African countries like Uganda and Burkina Faso took their chance to impress, ahead of powerhouses Mali and Senegal. A preliminary list with more than 100 names led me to a final one with 65 players from 22 different countries. This time, I’ve opted for making shorter descriptions, sometimes just putting some of mine translated raw notes. Let’s dive into it. snip

Just watched another full game with Honest Ahanor. He is a baller, a 17yo (18yo in 18 days) CB prodigy, helped destroy Juve (Atalanta won 3 nil) tonight in the Coppa Italia Whoever gets him is getting a young gem of a CB. Btw, the Wikipedia article on him is incorrect, he is a left-footed CB, NOT a LB as they claim (but can play there, as shown when he was with Genoa). Every game he has played with Atalanta he has played as a CB.

indeed, a really shite track record winger-wise, CF-wise (other than Pedro), and especially CB-wise Sanchez finally stepping up, Penders looking great at Strasbourg make GKer ok

Not just the wide positions. Majority of them. Barring Palmer, Caicedo, Cucurella, Fernandez, Gusto & Estevao (due to his talent) are the only successful signings really. Pedro Neto & Joao Pedro maybe seen as positive signings too but they wouldn’t be starting players in a good Chelsea team. Been a lot of middle of the road players have been signed.