OhForAGreavsie

Is it confirmed that Kounde will join Barca? If so, it won't surprise any of us I think. Barcelona are, and probably always will be, a far bigger club than Chelsea. If they genuinely want a player also targeted by us, that player will virtually always choose them. Nothing even slightly humiliating about it. Just a fact of the football world. There is nothing new about this either. We wanted Ronaldinho, they took him. We scouted and wooed Neymar for a long time. As soon as Barca came in he lost all interest in us. Not that he was overly keen anyway after Pele told him to avoid us like the plague. Barca have in fact been very clever and have used their power very well. They have allowed us to be the stalking horse in negotiations with clubs and players then, once we'd established the acceptable figures, they've come along and tried to use the fact that the player is 100% committed to them over us to negotiate down from the numbers we'd agreed. It's just good business. Leeds could see what they were doing and were having none of it but good work Barca for trying.

Amid the doom and gloom maybe it's time to say thank --- for the women. Champions in four of the last five seasons, double winners in each of the last two and having a good summer. They've signed; a top player, a very good player, a good player and a supposedly bright young prospect (I know nothing about her) who will head out on loan. When you reach the point when your soul urgently needs to see a Chelsea team win, the girls are your go to option.

Yes, looks a really good player to me. I also think the lad West Ham just bought looks decent. The consolation in that second case is that, if reports are true, West Ham preferred Mando.

It's a bit like people speculating that RLC was finally getting it together last season when the reality was as I and others said, if Ruben is good enough to get in our team then that is not a good sign. Well, if Michey is good enough to make our squad, we won't need signs. It's game over

Didn't he just move or am I misremembering this?

Not just since Antonio. Never have been, never will be. 🙂

Leoa looks bad to me. Don't want him at all.

Our second XI should handle these comfortably.

How did Ethan do?

This is not an isolated situation either. It happens all the time and over a lot of years. It is a contributor to our unpopularity with big players. Which quality player watching a performance like the one you described (I didn't see it) would want to play for that club? A lot of work needs to be done.

Reports suggest that Milan might have a legal obligation regarding Bakayoko but for the others, if there are no clubs willing to cost share on their contracts over the next season, pay them off and allow them to become free agents.

I didn't express my point well enough. I meant personal, i.e. one person, decision making., not personal interactions. I agree with what you say here.

Didn't see it but your point is spot on.

Two or three seasons ago we might have said he was shop-windowing some players. Nowadays that can't be the case because everyone knows everything about them. It seems to me more likely that TT is showing these players to the new management. This is only an attempt to put a plausible construction on the facts mind you because management should simply be prepared to take TT's word for things. Maybe they're going with trust but verify.

So glad I fell asleep long before the game started but it sounds like I would have soon after kickoff anyway.

TT could very well be thinking like this but he shouldn't be. He has video, all kinds of video, and that should be that.

I think the overall driver of our approach over the last twenty years was Roman's desire to be me! If I had had the wealth to buy Chelsea I would have been making every single transfer decision myself. Roman wasn't as me, me, me as I would have been but he did play Football manager for real. This is why I know that claims of Marina making football decisions are nonsense. No way on Earth would I have have spent my billions so someone else could have the fun. I'd have employed people to do the boring stuff while I got on with the bits that were fun. Like Roman, I'd have employed a Marina. Roman's method's led to fun and chaos. They filled up the trophy cabinet but restricted the growth of the club's status. I hated what was done to Roman and would still like to punch Chris Bryant and Nigel Huddleston in the face but change was necessary and can benefit CFC. I've liked the look of Todd Boehly since I watched a video someone linked here and another linked at the end of that one. I think there will be a more business like, less personal, approach now and that's a positive.

I'm probably one of the few here who didn't know that. Good info. Thank you.

I think one of the many tasks facing the new board is to train the market to understand that there is more discipline at Chelsea now about the way money is spent. That necessarily has to start with there actually being more discipline in our spending. If that means walking away from deals because the ask is too high then I'm all for it even if, as is the case with Gavridol, the player concerned is one I would love to see join Chelsea. Cost of the deal is not the cause my doubts this deal will happen however. Gavridol's stock is high currently and I expect that, for now at least, Chelsea isn't on his list of preferred destinations.

I'd be pleased if this happens, not least because he also looks capable of performing at LWB. Can't see it but would definitely be pleased with this one.

Well, despite the reservations of many here it looks like Kounde might happen. One massive consolation for the doubters is that for the first time in twenty years we can have high confidence that the players being targeted have been selected by the manager. Given that almost all of us have confidence in the manager that consolation means a lot. As a doubter myself it certainly means something to me.

In the eyes of Gavridol, and of his people, he's 'above' Chelsea level as he sees that level. I'd bet a lot of money that he already has his heart set on moving somewhere else. He certainly isn't going to commit to a 2023 move to Chelsea at this stage. If he doesn't feel he's done enough yet to catch the eye of one of his preferred destinations, he'll wait and aim to do that by Jan/June next year. The only way we get him is if, in twelve months time, none of his preferred teams make an offer. Of course, in that situation, we need to consider carefully if we should.

We won't be able to get such a deal in place.

I'd be deliriously happy with just numbers 1 & 3.

If Nkunku repeats last season's output in 22/23 our chances of getting him will be virtually non existent. We'd have to do something spectacular like win the Champions League to even put ourselves in the frame. The usual suspects will all be in for him and one of them will get him.