LAM09

If you have dual nationality, it's rather common to support a team that was local to you when you were younger or more mainstream in your country. I doubt Chelsea were that renowned two decades ago overseas. People who randomly wake up in their thirties with half-and-half scarves is when you ought to start questioning things.

Just take a look at African WC qualifying, for starters, and you'll see most of the best nations have a hard time reaching a WC, let alone performing on the biggest stages. Also, if there are other people with the same train of thought as you who are seemingly profiling people from the Africa as being inept in one way or another, you can see why it's an uphill battle for them to even be treated fairly. There's a reason Weah is still the only African to win the Ballon d'Or, and it has nothing to do with the talent of those who have followed him.

Onana seems to have some disciplinary issues (he fell out with Song during the WC too), so that wouldn't surprise me. However, his drug ban might have contributed to his issues with Ten Hag while they were in Ajax. I think you might have to get used to Kepa for at least another 12 months, unless he gets injured. If we do end up missing out on Onana, I wouldn't be too worried, tbh. His performances at last year's AFCON summed him up quite well. Maignan is the only keeper we're interested in that ticks the boxes. However, I don't think he's keen to join, if rumours are to be believed. I wouldn't say he's massively overrated, but the hype and supposed eagerness to sign him are a bit much, IMO. We should put a sizeable offer in and, were it to be rejected, move on before it costs us dearly.

There are mixed reports about him on a daily basis, from going to Saudi Arabia to signing an extension at United. He's always liable to make notable blunders multiple times a season, so finally replacing him would be the smart move despite his heroics in seasons gone by.

He made mistakes in important matches (against Sevilla, IIRC, and the FA Cup final, to name two). It's widely reported they want a new number one, & if the Onana news is true, it would make sense due to his Ajax connections.

There certainly is. It's not worth replying most of the time.

You originally said shit managers, so you're moving goal posts now. Havertz was just as bad for Germany at times, which is why a second-tier CF was favoured over him to lead the line. A style of play doesn't force players to miss chances on a frequent basis. It's that time again. 🙄 Neither of those players was given a proper chance, while Havertz has played 139 games thus far. Pinning your hopes on potential won't get us anywhere.

I have to wonder what the rationale behind that is. KK, Silva, & Chalobah could be leaving. Oh, you can't mention those three in the same breath because Chalobah is dreadful in comparison. I'm actually flabbergasted at how we've ended up here based on that original post.

Tuchel & Flick are shit managers now? I don't know what to say. He just mentioned a player that's also linked with a move away rather than alluding to them all being of equal ability. I'd be happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, though. Edit - You have your answer in the post above.

You said good. Either way, I wholeheartedly disagree. Both players are living on potential. We should move them on if the price is right.

It isn't. There's a reason we're willing to let them go to begin with. Quality players drop 8 out of 10's most week.

Fair enough. I'm going after that figure rather than the farcical numbers that have been floating around. One plus point of having Marina around is that she drove a hard bargain when other clubs started sniffing around. He specifically stated "quality players". None of the three players have fallen under that bracket for me, and I'd imagine a large number of the fan base as well. We don't need "good players" for two months in a full season; we need them for most of the season, if not all of it.

£75m for Kai wouldn't appease you? If Arsenal are willing to drop that sort of money, we should be more than pleased. Did you miss most of last season? He'll turn up for the odd game before missing sitters for months. There's talent there, but we can't afford to wait longer if a serious offer comes our way, regardless of who it's from.

Most of them don't even have their own stadiums either, so they lose out on a large amount of ticket revenue as well. The issue I have is that it's a constant, regardless of who it is. Just read up on Roma's interest in Scamacca, someone who was seemingly close to joining PSG less than 12 months ago. All deals with Italian sides should include an obligation to buy, so we aren't stuck with players like Baka & Lukaku bouncing around in Serie A.

I see Roma have signed another solid player on a free transfer (N'Dicka), someone you were keen on @Vesper

This could be said about all Italian teams. They constantly want players on loan or to buy them at a massive discount.

First European player to win both awards as well.

Mount had a solid spell in Holland before joining Derby, so he had a decent amount of experience behind him prior to his first-team berth. I'd say not yet. We also have to remember that Casadei joined Reading in Jan rather than last summer, so their finishing position shouldn't have much relevance to this discussion. I think one of our three young CMs will stay put this summer (Carney being the least likely) should our clear-out go as expected. If he isn't the one, we need to make sure the right loan move is lined up, as we've sent too many players out on loan over the years that have just sat on someone else's bench; have a look at CHO, for example. They bought Ayari in Jan who will most likely fill in the void left by either player.

James didn't have much trouble adjusting. I'd like to see him given a chance during preseason before making a final decision.

Aouar joins Roma. They've signed some decent players on frees recently.

My mistake in referring to him as a CF as he clearly doesn't view himself as one. It will be interesting to see if he follows a similar path to CR7 and goes more central once his career progresses.

Milito was in the stands yesterday; he would have won the tie for him. I believe Inter had the better chances prior to conceding (Ederson had a dreadful first half, which will probably be forgotten) and only have themselves to blame rather than be content with the notion that the better side wn.

It might seem farfetched right now, but I could see Mbappe possibly joining Liverpool (should a takeover happen), which might involve Salah going the other way considering Khelafi's desire to have a star in the Arab world represented in their side. However, Mbappe will probably end up at RM during his late 20s (when attackers supposedly peak). RM have tried to make a place for him upfront despite that. One surprise from RM is Perez's ability to hold the chequebook out for a change until this summer. That's the first thing that came to mind as well. After all the shit that's been going on recently, we shouldn't be doing business with them unless it's to our advantage.

Lukaku in a nutshell. He's been instrumental in Belgium's & Inter's failures. With regards to City, it's weird that they've won the treble and hardly anyone cares.