Vesper

together they average 1.79m tall! wtf the only crazier thing would be if we made a move for the 1.75m tall CB Lisandro Martinez as well and also if we roll with the 1.67m LB Maatsen if Chilwell cannot go hell let's just also buy back the 1.64m Lamptey whilst we are at it dwarf city in the back, we get flayed alive in the air the Peruvian and Bolivian national teams probably have taller back 4's ffs 🤬

and the first year with Citeh he only played 993 minutes the last time he played basically a full season worth of minutes was 2018/19 we look the fools if we do this

if we dump £45-50m on Ake I am going to lose my fucking mind wtf also, after this season, he only has one full sub 30 year old season left fucking madness to drop that kind of dosh on him

he is streets ahead of the dwarf

Chelsea are weighing up several defensive targets this summer, so which one is best statistically? Matthijs de Ligt leads the way in the air and Kalidou Koulibaly makes most interventions... but Milan Skriniar is great with the ball at his feet Chelsea are in need of defensive recruits after losing two key men this summer Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have both departed on free transfers Thomas Tuchel needs to replace them before the new season gets underway Matthijs de Ligt, Kalidou Koulibaly and Jules Kounde are all thought to be targets Milan Skriniar and former Chelsea defender Nathan Ake are also on their radar Sportsmail has taken a look at the Blues' top five defensive targets statistically https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10986791/Chelsea-Matthijs-Ligt-Kalidou-Koulibaly-defensive-targets-compare-statistically.html

not a chance anyone pays Juve €107m (£90m) this summer for him

I do not know how much you follow the FOREX markets, but the euro is cratering even more than the pound versus the USD so these prices in euros keep getting lower on a comparative basis for us, and the difference it huge when you start talking 200m quid in total spend

I keep seeing this claim, but Kounde (£60m or so) and KK (around £25-30m) will cost £85-90m or so de Ligt, based off of the 80-90m euros prices I keep seeing as the figure Juve will take at the end of the day is £67.5 to £76m

hell yes take that cash, add £25m (so 90m euros) and buy Osimhen, toss in some makeweight if need be

that is in euros it's £67.5m to 76m in pounds people should always use the currency symbols as this is a UK-based club's board, I wish all would always use GBP to avoid confusion at least almost no one sues USD, lol £90m in US dollars is $108m at current FOREX rates (and if it was just a few years back it would have been around $125m-$130m or so, as the USD was weak v the quid for ages) at least we are not using Swedish krona the krona is quickly approaching being worth HALF what is was (versus the US dollar) 14 years ago 1 United States Dollar equals 10.52 Swedish Krona in spring/summer of 2008 is got as low as only around 5.7 SEK to the US dollar (so very strong for the krona, weal AF for the USD) on some exchanges

oh, you meant Dujon, lol I meant Raheem my bad

Sterling is so not a wingback, he would be a disaster there, he is short AF (listed 1.70m and I say more like 1.68m, so a full 20cm shorter than Alonso, for instance) and not exactly know for his defence, so we would get lit up by opposition LW'ers, AMF's, and CF/SS's and Emerson and Maatsen (Maatsen is even shorter than Sterling at only 1.67m) are NOT acceptable options I have no idea why some want to erect a squad of midgets this is not La Liga (and even they have more vertical/aerial play than say 20 years ago) or a South American league

I have always been torn on him before I go further, I do not believe his listed height of 1.83m is correct, I think he is taller (which is rare, as usually the heights are artificially raised up) I would peg him at 1.85m or even 1.86m he is easily taller than Thiago and Marquinhos now...... on to my opinions One minute he can look all worldie, and the next look a bit clueless (or rash, he has a temper on him, although Rudiger proved a temper , if harnessed, is a great thing at times) Presnel is too inconsistent at times he SHOULD be a top 10 CB, as he has all the tools, but he just doesn't put it all together often enough atm perhaps he can still do so, although he turns 27 on August 13, so not a lot of time left to sort it that said I would do a dance IF he bought either of these three CB combos De Ligt and Kimpembe Škriniar and Kimpembe

there are very few actual (at this very moment) WC CB's, U rate 10 as such (and nope, so not putting the dwarf in here at all atm, not even in the 7 potentials I list after the top 10, as he is far too rash, plus he is a ball watcher far too often, has positional issues, and is too damn short for my tastes as far as the EPL goes) we had 2 (Rudiger (sorry for the haters but he WAS absolutely WC last season) and of course Thiago Silva, but one is now gone (Rudi), and Thiago is soon 38yo) (Bastoni regressed or would be on this list, I have developed real issues with his positional instincts, and José María Giménez is far too often injured) the other 8 of the 10 WC ones all in bold were one I approved of buy attempts Rúben Dias Matthijs de Ligt Marquinhos (was always a pipe dream) Milan Skriniar Virgil van Dijk David Alaba (the only sub 6 footers on this list, he was so dominant at times, often made the 'deffo not WC in my book' Éder Militão look great) Kalidou Koulibaly Aymeric Laporte (rebounded with a great year, this coming year will tell if he remains WC for the next 3, 4 years or not) and the 'on the path' ones Josko Gvardiol Ronald Araújo (missed out when he renewed) Fikayo Tomori Cristian Romero Nico Schlotterbeck (fucking huge miss for us UMHO, time will tell) Bremer Ibrahima Konaté (shocked how much he improved, big year coming to see if it was a fluke, or he pushes on to top 10)

€90m is 'only' £76m £75m is fair value for De Ligt, especially given his young age (he turns only 23yo on August 12th) but also his being so experienced already, so I am not going to quibble over 1m quid (and who knows with the FOREX being so volatile it may end up being £75m on the nose) due to real world (not explosion in transfer prices) inflation, that (£76m) is like paying £63.5m just 5 years ago

thread winner I salute you 🧞‍♀️

100 F temps insane Florida summer humidity insane 'Muricans hundreds like this hard pass!!!!!

this!

our window so far

#TeamSterling&Gnabry

I never was remotely secure that we would buy anyone who is now gone. I did think Dembele was going to be a close run thing but we might pull him. We all knew for weeks that Barca was getting that €267m in levers. That was never in doubt, not even remotely. They are a bigger club and can pull most anyone away from us, even more so for Real. I am super worried (have been for months) that Reece will go to Real next summer. The only way I see them NOT going balls deep to pull him is if they decide to move for a Hakimi return. IF we lose Reece, Hakimi would be a pull that I could more than live with, BUT, I doubt he chooses us over leaving PSG. Those two are the only truly WC RB's either here or remotely available. There are 5 TRULY WC (atm) RB's on the planet atm. It is just a massive drop off atm after those 5. Besides Reece and Hakimi, one of the others doesn't even play RB much at all anymore (Kimmich), another (TAA) is at Pool, and the other is on Citeh, João Cancelo. Walker still can, on occasion, get to that level, but as I have said so many times, he is ageing out (only played half the possible minutes last season) and his offensive game is nothing like those other 5, never was, he was always the defensive jet-powered stopper. If we lose James, and can't pull Hakimi, we likely will go for a return of Livramento, as long as he is filly fit and as long as his play is up to level. Matty Cash is the only other acceptable option for me atm if no Livra, and both of them are such massive drop offs atm from the top 5. RB globally is just fucked in terms of quality once you go past the top 5. It really is crazy. Pedro Porro (Citeh reject), ffs, lol, is ranked in the top 7 most valuable! Juan Foyth (Spuds reject) is 9th.

BARCELONA SET TO SIGN RAPHINHA IN €60 MILLION DEAL http://www.thehardtackle.com/transfer-news/2022/07/02/barcelona-set-to-sign-raphinha-in-e60-million-deal/