OhForAGreavsie

I think the lad at least has a chance because of his technical excellence. It's not that this automatically qualifies players for Chelsea, it's that players should not be recruited unless they have that quality. It's an entry level requirement. Now we have to find out why Buonanotte struggles for minutes at his parent club. Youth and inexperience, which would be fine, or inability to turn his quality into consistently effective contributions, which would be a deal breaker of course. Even if the move does not work out I might give the sporting directors a pass this time. Buonanotte arrives on a low-cost deal, without built-in future obligations. The lad is basically here on trial and his talent justifies that. If he fails then I think the directors were still right to give it a shot. Only if he succeeds, might I question them for failing to back their judgment and secure him at a lower cost. If we find ourselves negotiating with Brighton after a successful 'trial' they will be demanding their usual fee of an arm and two legs.

No harm trying I suppose. Especially if we are sitting pretty in the Champions League and Liverpool's qualification for the knockout phase isn't certain.

I believe that Marc has told CFC that he is not interested in returning the club.

Guessing they are confident he has chosen them and believe that they can get him for free in next summer's window.

His contract includes an obligation to keep himself football fit and therefore implies a responsibility on CFC to provide him with facilities and opportunities to do that. My reply was carefully worded. Not only that, he will then almost certainly also be entitled to a share in any bonuses earned by the first team squad over the next two seasons. I say 'almost certainly' since specific clauses we can't know about may restrict his eligibility for bonuses. I just doubt that a player in so strong a bargaining position as to command a ridiculously large transfer fee and a monster contract would then fail to negotiate automatic inclusion in any bonus pay outs. In all probability CFC would aim to include a one-off payment in any settlement in leu of future bonus entitlement.

The problem, of course, is that none of this is Sterling's fault. Many of us were furious when he was linked, and apoplectic when he was signed. He should not have been recruited. Not even as a free transfer on a trialist contract. The people, or person, who made the sporting and financial decisions is/are to blame. The bad decisions aren't limited to the ones which were made when Raheem joined from City. No doubt there was some Club who made us an exploitative offer to take the player on loan this summer. Something like no loan fee, and Chelsea cover 80%, or more, of his wages. If it was made such an offer should have been accepted. In the absence of any kind of move for Sterling we are stuck with implied contractual obligations to provide him with top level training facilities and opportunities. This necessarily includes professional grade players to practice with and against. If we made the emotionally satisfying decision to ban him from Cobham we'd run the risk of being sued.

There's no better way to start the season than with a victory against presumed title rivals. Doing so completely deservedly, and without several injured starters, is a nice confidence boost.

JP seems to be a great addition to the squad on and off the pitch.

Can't wait. We want seven. 🙂

Like all of us I'm delighted with the financial lifeline CFC earned by taking part in the CWC. Going into it I had no expectation that we might become world champions. My ambition was that we would maximise our income by reaching the quarter final before being eliminated there by PSG. At no point however did I feel towards the competition what you are now trying to tell me that I did. It is far, far, more valid than its predecessor and, unless damaged in the way I describe below, will only grow in prestige. The biggest threat to the future of the CWC might come from the top players because it would make no sense without them. While the financial incentives for clubs are overwhelming, the players bonuses won't mean as much to already super wealthy footballers. They would, I'm confident, love to continue participating in the CWC but may well request that the overall number of games they play be reduced by shortening or eliminating other competitions. Only if these conflicting interests cannot be resolved do I see a threat to the CWC and its status. I believe that people belittling the CWC are in the same boat as those who poo-pooed the nations World Cup when it was first introduced. That's to say one which is destined to sink without trace.

You know exactly why the club, and therefore its fans, have had to pay attention to making a profit on a section of our transfer activity. I'm sure you watched at least our matches in the CWC so I don't understand the basis for your, "glorified preseason tournament", claim. Teams gave their all in every game, coaches picked their top XIs, none rotated for the sake of it, fans whose tradition is for loud passionate support produced some of the loudest most passionate support imaginable. Not a single team invited to take part, refused. Some fans and ex players of unqualified teams cried and coped by pretending not to care but two of the world's truly great clubs, Barcelona and Liverpool, gave the game away by begging for invitations despite failing to qualify. Your attitude towards the CWC is out of step with its reality.

It's a bit of a stretch describing Levi as a former Brighton player. 🙂

Better yet, let's hope that he already is a solid squad option but that he simply hasn't been able to demonstrate it yet.

I'm going to agree with any attempt to sign Rogers and I'm going to talk about the importance of the squad team this season. I've said all of this before so anyone who has read what I have to say about it before won't miss anything if they dip out here. I see 8 as Rogers optimum position and, given any encouragement by Villa, would certainly attempt to add him to the squad. If signed I would then prefer him over Enzo. For me he matches Enzo's physical attributes and betters our vice captain's technical skills. Even given that Enzo outscored Rogers last season I believe Rogers improves us immediately. Starting with the game at Lincoln, Enso will obviously hope to use the squad team for appropriate domestic cup matches. Beyond that it would make a massive contribution if he can use them against 'pot 4' CL opponents and even, crucially, in some Pl games either side of big CL fixtures. It's been a key help to Pep over the years that he could rotate heavily and still pile up PL points. If we can give Enso that luxury it will be an important step.

Why does anyone need to tell us?

Plus he is technically competent, making him well equipped to play as an 8.

Currency mix up between reports?

It's probably a question of whether we can afford to sell him! Whatever transfer fee we accept for Jackson must work within uefa's equation. If it doesn't, and he is determined to get away, it would be better to find a loan move where we retain control of his future transfer rights. Then we pin our hopes on a successful loan enhancing his future transfer value, If such a loan was not successful then, with the length of his contract as it is, we wouldn't really be in any worse a situation than we are now. It might even be that the pressure from next year's equation changes such that we could even afford sell at a loss if we wish.

This is turning out to be a great day for Barcelona. They woke up to learn from the chattersphere that they wanted €60m for their player. Now they see the same sources want to chuck an extra €40m at them. Nothing for it but to pop back to bed and see how many more nice millions the morning brings them.

The £40m fee paid for Garnacho only becomes close to £50m if he is sold on for close to £100m. If he establishes himself as a player clubs are prepared to pay that kind of fee for, the last thing we would want to do is sell him. 🙂

Great spot. Good omen?

Was hoping for Dortmund from pot-1. Getting Barca and Bayern is as bad as it gets and landing Napoli from pot-3 is brutal. Got my heart set on a rematch with PSG in the final. I may have to tone my hopes down. 🙂

Sadly he won't be facing Chelsea in the 2025/2026 Champions League.

I think the real flaw in the strategy during this transfer window may, and I stress may, have been to over estimate the amounts achievable from the sales of Jackson and Nkunku. I say may because, until the window closes, we can't really know whether or not the club has accomplished what it set out to do. It is possible that, had the club realised it might not achieve the necessary value from those sales it may well have reordered at least one incoming transfer. If the club genuinely saw Gittens as a higher priority than Simons or Garnacho then fair enough. If they miscalculated however, then that error is going to put our squad development back at least 6 months and probably more.

There could be logic in selling Jackson for a lower fee than the club's estimate of his true value if that sale then allowed us to complete the purchase of a priority target. If, however, that deal can only be completed at a fee which does not allow us to complete the purchase of a priority target then what would be the point of proceeding? If all we do is lose money, and value, while still being unable to bring in the players we want, we may as well just hang on to Jackson or any other player in a similar situation.