OhForAGreavsie

Did they catch the bastards who did it?

I'm with you most of the way on this but I'd say that we don't lack investment capital. What we lack is football capital. Established top players, with dreams of the mega clubs, and realistic hopes of achieving those dreams, don't fancy playing for Chelsea. I think that Timo is an example of this. If I remember correctly there was an authoritative report that we paid £47m for him. At that price, or even substantially above it, Liverpool could have afforded him if they wanted to. I believed from the start that their claim to be unable to afford Timo was just a more acceptable thing to say than that they didn't rate him at anything like this amount. At a lower cost they might have been willing to place a 'bet', but at £47m they were out, so we were able to get him. Our lack of football capital can be fixed but it will take time and a lot of astute recruitment of the kind you are talking about.

For once I've been reading this thread forward, rather than backward from the most recent post, so I came across your comment about how highly you rate Nkunku after I had already posted the comment you replied to here. It's encouraging to read an assessment from someone who watches more than just highlight vids.

I have to confess that I'm having a Kai Havertz moment here in that I really liked what I saw of Kai but, as soon as I realised that we might actually get him, I felt certain that I must have been overrating him. (On the basis that if he was as good as I thought one of the usual suspects who take him.) To an extent I feel similarly about Nkunku who I rate a lot, though not as highly as I briefly rated Kai.

No doubt we'd have to agree a 'better than clause' fee to get him in January but perhaps Leipzig would rather just keep him an extra five months. Above and beyond that however I still feel that the only way to make sense of the medical having been done already is that the deal has also already been done.

No way to control it. To do a deal involves many entities; CFC, selling club, player, agent, medical doctor, insurance company, The FA, selling club's FA, two sets of solicitors and fifa, at a minimum. Almost certainly we can add player's sponsor(s) to that list so numerous opportunities for leaks. For example, there are very strong rumours at Kingsmeadow about a major CFCW signing in the January window because someone supposedly involved in the deal attends games and is giving such big hints (including to me personally) that it leaves little room for doubt. That said, I do have my doubts because I find it hard to believe that someone genuinely involved in what would be a new world record transfer fee for a female player, would be quite so carefree with the information. We shall see.

When the actual books are written one of us will have to update our opinion on this. Let's hope it turns out to be you eh? 🙂

Six goals in eight Bundeliga starts. (From stats. I haven't watched him.) P.S. How odd is the Bundesliga? A top five league where they might as well hand out a trophy for finishing second. That's the real race after all.

I don't think we have the full picture about how this medical came about, and what it tells us about the future intentions of the player and the clubs. What I think we can tell however is that a twelve-months old exam isn't going to satisfy the insurers in summer 2023. Another medical would have to be done so I'm not sure what to make of this story. Edit: Unless a deal has actually been completed and all parties have agreed to keep it quiet for whatever reason. Could such a deal get done without leaking? Not sure about that either.

Amid the depression brought on by the rightward shift in politics, along with the downward shift in the intellectual and moral quality of leading politicians, this never occurred to me. You have a good point. A sad one, but a good one.

I didn't see the game today so I can't comment on this specific performance but let's not allow this myth about the prior excellence of Ben Chilwell to go any further. He is the same player he ever was. As often happens when injured players are not convincingly covered for in their absence, Ben became 'better and better' the longer he was out. The myth was never going to survive his return to the team however. I said all along that if we went to the market it must be for an upgrade on Ben, not a backup for him. The price paid suggests that this is what Marc was intended to be. Unfortunately he isn't so, as I said right at the start of the season we are eventually going to have to go to the market again and get ourselves a long-term LB/LWB. We have bigger priorities for the moment however.

That's interesting news. Assuming that it's true then, even if we don't want to bring Tammy back, I expect we'll try to cash out the option. Maybe by exercising it then selling on at a profit or by allowing Roma to buy it out.

It's the hope that kills. 🙂

Together, cricket and baseball form the only even remotely credible evidence for the exitance of any god. That such a being wanted to watch these sports would be a powerful incentive to create the universe(s) that's for sure. P.S. I like cricket and baseball. 🙂

Pointless story. Tell us when he turns up for training at Cobham. Until then there are hundreds of more interesting fairy tales people can read.

I've loved this player since Birmingham but I see ZERO possibility that we sign him. He will go elsewhere when he leaves BVB.

I lobbed the interview in the Watch Later playlist yesterday but I'm saving it for the journey to SB tonight. I don't know if I'll be more enthusiastic when I hear TB describe and support his idea but on the face of it I'm not interested. We already have so many club fixtures plus a surfeit of internationals on top. I can't see this working or capturing my attention. Everybody lost interest in the Pro Bowl years ago and I lost interest in the All Star Game when MLB introduced regular inter league fixtures. Before then I confess it did matter to me that the NL won the game. (You'll guess from this that my team is an NL 'ball club'.)

Has only started two games this season and was subbed at halftime in one of those, though this may have been an injury for all I know.

Let's at least look at Zakaria first. As for this potential move costing silly money, when it's Chelsea the bidding starts at silly or even very silly.🙂

He certainly has the tools to play at LB and, as ludicrous as it is to say £110m later, I don't think we've settled the LB/LWB situation.

Now CHO's deal is considered to be £7.5m (ish) a year? Well I refused to believe the claims when it was reckoned to be £6m a year and I still don't. I simply do not believe even the lower number so I can't accept the possibility of the higher one. I said at the time that if it was costing £120,000 a week to fend off Bayern's interest in Callum we should simply have let him go. As for Reece, he is one of the most important players in the squad and no doubt his agent(s) would have negotiated hard to have that fact reflected in his deal. I'm just glad he's committed.

🙂

Hope we'll revisit this. Problem of course is how difficult, and expensive, it is to sign players under contract.

I'm fully in favour of playing Mando. I'm on record from his academy days as saying I consider him a better prospect than Tammy so, whether I was right or wrong about that, I hope it's clear that I believe he deserves a chance. On the question of WB play however, although I wasn't at the game yesterday, I have the impression that TT is encouraging them to drive the ball low into the box, rather than crossing it. If my impression is right then no doubt this is exactly because of the midgets.

It's a good start.