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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.

I agree with you overall — I think your take is completely fair. Sancho, because it was only a loan, ends up being one of the “less bad” moves in this whole mess. Even if he hasn’t been amazing, at least it wasn’t another £60–70m gamble that collapses. The risk was controlled, which already feels rare under BlueCo. Pedro Neto is also a slightly different case. He’s not a generational talent and he doesn’t have the ceiling of Estevão or Palmer, but you can see he has Premier League quality. He has moments. The problem is that “showing something once in a while” still doesn’t really justify the kind of spending Chelsea have done on wingers.

So, IN THEORY, if Pool one day down the road sells Rio for big money (say £50m to £70m), we could bank, at the end of the day, around £17 to £21m in toto. Downside to all that, Pool are NOT a selling club often, BUT Luis Díaz gives me hope. They got £65.3m from cheap-arse Bayern this summer for a close to 29yo winger in Díaz, who turns 30yo in the middle of this coming season, AND, in 3 and a half seasons there at Pool, only scored 6, then 5, then 13, then 17, in ALL COMPS, only averaging 8.3 EPL goals per season, ie 29 EPL goals total, divided by 3 and a half seasons. 2024/25 was the one season at Pool he was really great overall. He is now killing it at Bayern. 12 goals, 15 assists in only 2369 minutes. Bayern, in Olise and Díaz, have probably, atm, the 2nd best starting pair of wingers on the planet, after only Barca. PSG go 3 deep, but atm, their best TWO (KK and Désiré Doué, then Barcola as the 3rd) are not the equal IMHO. Only 2 wingers on the planet, ATM, that I would take over Olise are Yamal, and IF you play him as a winger, Mbappe. Hopefully Estêvão soon gets there too.

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior says Arsenal showed his side a lack of respect during the warm-up for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday. Rosenior was seen angrily shouting at those from the Gunners side to stay on their half of the pitch and not encroach on Chelsea's area as the teams prepared for the game at Emirates Stadium, with Arsenal winning 1-0 to secure a 4-2 aggregate victory. "It wasn't the players," said Rosenior. "When you warm up, you have your half and the other team have their half. "I've never asked my team or coaches to encroach on the opposition's territory. In that moment, I didn't think it was right where they were operating, they were affecting our warm up. "I asked them, maybe not politely, to make sure they stay in their half. I'm not here to have mind games, it's just what I think is right and respectful. Hopefully, we respect that and other teams do too." He added: "There are certain etiquettes in football. "I don't have an issue with anyone at Arsenal Football Club. [Arsenal manager] Mikel [Arteta] is someone I've got so much respect for. It was just in that moment, I didn't think that respect was shown to my team."

🔵💥Liverpool to pay max £6.8m for signing of Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea. @David_Ornstein states Tribunal rules LFC owe CFC initial £2.8m + £4m in potential bonuses relating to senior appearances, contracts & England honours. Chelsea will also receive 20% of the profit if he is sold.