Vesper

2019-20 UEFA Europa League, Final Sevilla FC v Internazionale http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/sev-vs-int-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/internazionale/

Inter 3 2 love both teams, so not upset at all if Sevilla win

he is not in my top 10 I say pass unless he is literally the only stopgap option left

Rice, Silva and Dunk: Chelsea struggling to solve issues at centre-back https://theathletic.com/2010751/2020/08/21/thiago-silva-chelsea-lewis-dunk-centre-back-sign-transfer/ Chelsea’s transfer window is going well. The early signings of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner ensured that Marina Granovskaia went into this shortest of off-seasons with impressive momentum, and there is a confidence around Stamford Bridge that Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell will be added to the list of recruits sooner rather than later. But in other areas, the picture is far less clear. The questions of what to do about Kepa Arrizabalaga and who to replace him with are yet to be answered and at centre-back — arguably the position of most urgent need — Frank Lampard is finding that the transfer market holds no easy solutions. He really wants Declan Rice, as much for his personality as his talent. Players with the natural authority to captain a Premier League side at the age of 21 are very rare but such has been the speed of Rice’s growth at West Ham that it wasn’t surprising to see him handed the armband in Mark Noble’s absence for the 3-2 win over Chelsea last month. Rice has a presence on the pitch beyond his years and no one familiar with his journey through Chelsea’s academy up to the age of 14 has any doubt that he could shift easily from the heart of midfield to the centre of defence. He has a physicality in the air and on the floor that Lampard’s current centre-backs lack and his passing range would suit being a defender in a possession team. If he were to stay at West Ham for the long term, Rice has been assured of his importance. “I think Declan is the future captain of West Ham going forward,” David Moyes said last month. “When Mark Noble comes to an end, I think it will be Declan Rice. We have no intention of letting him go but if it does come, it will need to be ‘Bank of England’ money.” Therein lies the problem. West Ham’s owners David Gold and David Sullivan are not only aware of how valuable Rice is — they are also mindful of how unpopular a decision it would be to sell him to Chelsea and to Lampard, the man who burned his bridges forever in that part of east London when he made the same move in 2001. Glen Johnson and Joe Cole followed in his footsteps two years later, and no player has made the journey since. Chelsea would be hard-pressed to pay in the region of £80 million for Rice without significant income from player sales, given that Havertz is the top priority and Chilwell will not come cheap. There is also the concern that paying Virgil van Dijk money for a 21-year-old could generate unfair expectations on him to single-handedly fix a defence that too often looked shambolic in 2019-20. The list of potential centre-back signings stretches beyond Rice, of course, and Chelsea like to keep their options open during transfer windows. Sources have told The Athletic that talks have been held with Brighton over captain Lewis Dunk, a powerful defender who has matured into a reliable Premier League performer and earned England recognition over the last three years. Dunk, like Rice, is a natural leader who would help address Chelsea’s glaring weaknesses defending crosses and set-pieces. In terms of profile, there is a reasonable comparison to be made with Gary Cahill, who arrived at Stamford Bridge from Bolton Wanderers in January 2012 to little fanfare but went on to be a consistent presence in teams that won every major domestic and European trophy. The difference is that Cahill cost Chelsea around £7 million. Sources have told The Athletic that Dunk believes he has an understanding with Brighton that means he can leave if an acceptable offer is received from one of the Premier League’s “big six” but what that offer needs to be is less clear. If it is in the region of £50 million, his appeal as an alternative target is greatly reduced. Chelsea’s talks with Brighton should, at this stage, be regarded as market research — nothing more. Those close to the situation currently rate the chances of a deal actually happening as low. Dunk’s highly-rated team-mate Ben White, subject of a third and final offer of £25 million-plus performance-based bonuses from Leeds United, would likely be cheaper but the 22-year-old is totally unproven in the Premier League. At the other end of the experience scale is Paris Saint-Germain’s outgoing captain Thiago Silva, who could well enter the free agent market as a newly-crowned Champions League winner. Reports that he has been offered to Chelsea are accurate, though his time working under Carlo Ancelotti at AC Milan and in the French capital means a close eye should be kept on Everton in any battle that develops to sign him. Silva turns 36 in September but he still harbours an ambition to play in the Premier League and would back himself to rise to the challenge of one of the fastest, most intense competitions in Europe despite being in the twilight of his career. If he does succeed in leading PSG to a maiden Champions League crown on Sunday, keeping Bayern Munich’s rampant attack at bay in the process, it will become harder to argue against him. It would be a surprising deal for Chelsea to do and not simply because Silva would be the oldest outfield signing of the Roman Abramovich era. His lack of speed at this stage of his career makes him ill-suited to playing the high defensive line required for Lampard’s intense pressing game; Unai Emery blamed him for dropping too deep in PSG’s infamous 6-1 defeat against Barcelona out of fear that his athletic limitations would be exposed. That was three years ago. Perhaps he could help guide Chelsea’s younger defenders. On the surface, his leadership credentials are unassailable: he is PSG’s most successful-ever captain and also wore the armband for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup. But he was not a paragon of inspiration there, bursting into tears after a last-16 penalty shootout win over Chile and picking up a silly booking against Colombia that ruled him out of his team’s 7-1 thrashing against Germany in the semi-finals. His club captaincy is also punctuated by a litany of embarrassing Champions League failures. Chelsea know they need a centre-back. They will keep pushing for Rice and, if that fails, turn their attentions elsewhere. But if they are forced to go further down their list of targets, they will do so mindful of the fact that none are without their risks.

Transfer news tracker: Chelsea in advanced talks with PSG captain Thiago Silva https://theathletic.com/1959808/2020/08/21/transfer-news-tracker-chelsea-thiago-silva/ The transfer window is open and between now and October, The Athletic team will keep you informed of all the significant developments they hear. Not a subscriber to The Athletic? You can give our award-winning journalism a trial by clicking here. We won’t bring you gossip or rumours, just what is really happening and why. Our team around the country will provide in-depth analysis of the big moves and all the detail — including the Premier League’s value for money table and how it works and David Ornstein’s insight in his weekly column. August 21, 2020 Chelsea might have settled on a surprising solution to their need for centre-back reinforcement – 35-year-old outgoing Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva, reports Liam Twomey. It is understood that Silva, who is set to make his final appearance for PSG in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on Sunday, has been in advanced talks with Chelsea about a free transfer to Stamford Bridge for several days. The deal is not regarded as close yet as there are several issues to iron out – chief among them contract length. Silva turns 36 in September, and Chelsea have followed a policy for much of the last decade of only offering one-year deals to players over the age of 30. They did, however, make an exception by giving David Luiz a two-year extension before selling him to Arsenal last summer, and offered Willian the same before he also chose to join Arsenal. Silva has harboured an ambition to play in the Premier League for many years and would still back himself to perform at a high level despite being in the twilight of his career. He felt he still had plenty to offer PSG and it was the club’s decision not to offer him a new deal. Keeping a rampant Bayern attack at bay at the Estadio da Luz on Sunday to help his club lift the Champions League for the first time in its history would strengthen his case, and there is even a suggestion that PSG might be prepared to change course and make an offer to keep him if they win the trophy they covet most. He could only be regarded as a short-term fix for a Chelsea defence that conceded 54 goals in the Premier League last season, the most of any club in the top half of the table. Declan Rice is Frank Lampard’s top centre-back target, but David Moyes last month made it clear that “Bank of England money” would be required to convince West Ham United to sell their prized asset and Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell are higher-priority targets. Chelsea have also held preliminary talks with Brighton & Hove Albion over their captain Lewis Dunk. Sources have told The Athletic that the 28-year-old believes he has an understanding with the club that would allow him to leave if a ‘big-six’ club were to make an acceptable offer, but the reported asking price of £50 million is steep. Those close to the situation regard the likelihood of a deal happening as low. Another centre-back staying at Brighton — for now at least — is Ben White, with Leeds United failing in a third bid for the 22-year-old. As a result, the club will step up their interest in Freiburg defender Robin Koch, reports Phil Hay. Leeds will attempt to push forward a deal for Koch in the next 48 hours with their interest in White at a standstill and Brighton refusing to bend in negotiations. White was a major target at Elland Road after shining in Leeds’ Championship-winning season but Leeds have seen three offers rejected, including a bid of around £25 million made on Wednesday. Koch, a 24-year-old Germany international, has been monitored by Leeds and their director of football, Victor Orta, for many months and was on the list of alternatives if a deal for White failed to materialise. His contract at Freiburg expires next summer and The Athletic has been told that negotiations over his future will intensify over the weekend with the start of the Premier League season just three weeks away. Leeds, who are still to secure a senior signing since their promotion from the Championship, are also considering whether to return with a second offer for Rangers midfielder Ryan Kent. An initial bid for Kent — believed to be worth up to £10 million — has been turned down, with Rangers manager Steven Gerrard warning that Leeds “need to think really hard if they want to come in again”. Leeds came close to signing Kent from Liverpool last summer before loaning striker Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal. Kent later moved to Rangers in a £7 million deal. The agreement with Liverpool included a sell-on clause. On top of a player in Kent’s position, Leeds are also in the market for a centre-forward. As revealed last month, the club are interested in Brentford’s Ollie Watkins. snip

he is still a cunt boo hoo

Friday August 21 2020 Football Nerd Are Bayern Munich and PSG the two most dominant Champions League finalists? By Daniel Zeqiri Bayern Munich and PSG have the highest combined goal difference of any pair of Champions League finalists from the past 10 years, and Sunday's showpiece game will surely bring goals. There are worrying questions to be asked about the growing predictability of top-level European football caused by financial inequality, exemplified by Bayern and PSG's dominance of their domestic leagues. That dominance has now carried into the Champions League too, with Bayern winning all 10 matches in the competition this season and averaging a scarcely believable four goals per game. There is so much talent concentrated in these two sides that they swat away most opposition with ease, but that also should mean Sunday's final delivers entertainment value. Here, I analyse how Bayern and PSG compare to previous Champions League finalists. If you enjoy Football Nerd, you should sign up to our Sport Briefing newsletter, showcasing the most important stories, plus highlights from our features, analysis and interviews weekdays.

what an Argie bellend I hope he is stuck at Barca and those Catalan cunts collapse around him

Jeff Bezos Ends Wednesday, August 19th With An All-Time High Net Worth Of $201.84 Billion https://playback.fm/jeff-bezos-net-worth

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I can tell you about Koeman from my personal experience. He provided me absolutely nothing” – another happy customer from Big Ron’s time at Everton, in the form of Gerard Deulofeu.

even at bargain basement cut rate deals there is FAR more than £350m on this list Andreas Christensen (he has GOT to go and be upgraded upon, I would prefer both he and Zouma be sold, but that is probably not happening in one window unless we get 2 incredible buy deals tossed into our laps, which is so unlikely) I just do not see what Lamps sees in our 4 main CB's, they (and Kepa) make my tummy churn every game. Even Alonso has not done that for ages (I have been happy with his pay overall, except for that West Ham choke, arrrrffff). Ross Barkley (if we can get say £30m, even 35m (he is English and is only 26 and is in his prime) for him, he will never be worth more (well COVID maybe lowers that a bit, but not much) Tiemoué Bakayoko Emerson Michy Batshuayi Davide Zappacosta Danny Drinkwater (SMDH) Jorginho (so hoping Roma buys him) Abdul Rahman Baba Victor Moses Kenedy Marco van Ginkel Juan Familia-Castillo (as Ajax did not exercise their option to buy, or keep him and see if he can ever be a decent LB, which looks doubtful atm, based off my watching him in Holland) Nathan (sold for almost £3m) Charly Musonda Jr. Danilo Pantic (transferred on a free, BUT we get a cut of his next sale) Matt Miazga Lewis Baker Jamal Blackman Lucas Piazón Jake Clarke-Salter Izzy Brown bloody loaned him out AGAIN Josh Grant (released) Richard Nartey (released) Luke McCormick Jacob Maddox We could sell Kepa (not likely, especially due to crazy wages for the next 5 years and his £72m transfer fee, ie. how much are we willing to lose of that overall) Zouma (iAC first, then Zouma I would think/hope) Marcos Alonso (only if we buy two LB's which is not likely this window, I am oki with him as a the backup as he is curve ball option in certain types of games) N'Golo Kanté (only way I see him being sold is if we get Rice and a really HIGH offer comes in. Here is a reality check either way: he is injured far too often and his value has already plummeted and truly will plummet after this summer. It is complicated, and made further complicated by the fact he is NOWHERE near WC as an RMF in a 3 man MF, he simply is not that great there, other than an odd game here and there, Lampard jacked up the team forcing him back in too early) plus when Boga is sold, we get nice sell on fee

he seems to be really low-key and polite, like Timo it is why I think it is madness (and not just for this) to sell Rudiger he will be like the attack guard dog plus Rudiger has 30 caps for Die Mannschaft, including a World Cup finals start (the 2-1 win versus Sweden where Boateng got a 2 yellows red card and Rudiger had to hold the line together, the last 15 minutes as they had used all their subs by then), so they both respect that and him

Been trying to spread the word on this potential beast for months

Fiorentina interested in Chelsea's Zappacosta https://gianlucadimarzio.com/en/en-fiorentina-interested-in-chelseas-zappacosta-the-latest

if we loaned Anjorin to a Pulis-run team, he would use him as a CB in a flat back 9

loan for sure I would think Vitesse would be the first choice, as he is Dutch, but maybe he might go to a Championship side Brentford maybe, as then he would still be in the London area and can adapt faster.

I cannot find any examples of him speaking English, but he speaks fluent Portuguese (obviously) French, Italian, and Spanish, so would not shock me is he can speak a bit of English, he is very much a euro-loving Brasilian, not a 'omg, I miss the motherland' type

Old is Gold? Chelsea offered veteran South American defensive stalwart https://astamfordbridgetoofar.com/2020/08/21/old-is-gold-chelsea-offered-veteran-south-american-defensive-stalwart/ Chelsea consider signing Brazilian defender Thiago Silva According to The Telegraph, Chelsea have been offered PSG defender Thiago Silva ahead of their Champions League final against Bayern Munich. The 35-year-old is set to leave Paris Saint-Germain after the showpiece event against the German powerhouses. This will bring an end to his eight years of distinguished service to the French champions. The Brazilian has attracted attention from the Serie A with AC Milan and Fiorentina both interested. However, he is keen to fulfill his dream of playing in the Premier League. So much so that he is willing to take a pay cut to make it happen. (h/t The Telegraph)

Kai Havertz 'wants to come to Chelsea more than Chelsea want him' Chelsea transfer target Kai Havertz is seemingly desperate to join the Blues. https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1325456/Chelsea-transfer-news-Kai-Havertz-Sky-Sports

TRANSFER NEWS: MANCHESTER UNITED PLOT PLAYER PLUS CASH DEAL TO SIGN JACK GREALISH http://www.thehardtackle.com/news/2020/08/21/transfer-news-manchester-united-plot-player-plus-cash-deal-to-sign-jack-grealish/ Manchester United are willing to offer Sergio Romero in a player plus cash deal to secure the services of Aston Villa ace Jack Grealish this summer. According to Daily Mail, Manchester United have come up with a plan to sign Jack Grealish. They are plotting a player plus cash deal to sign the Aston Villa midfielder, with Sergio Romero likely to be used as a sweetener. The Red Devils are keen on offloading the Argentine goalkeeper this summer, following the return of Dean Henderson, who will compete with David de Gea for the number one spot next season. The Villans had expressed the desire to sign Henderson on loan, in an attempt to provide more competition to Tom Heaton in between the sticks. But instead, Manchester United are willing to offer them the chance to sign Romero as well as make a considerable amount of cash, with the hope of getting Grealish, who is valued around £70 million, in return. Desperate for a move away from Old Trafford, Romero has been linked with a quite a few clubs already, including Chelsea and newly promoted Leeds United. But, a move to Aston Villa might make sense as he seeks to become a first-choice ‘keeper in the Premier League next season. For Manchester United, Grealish could be an important signing as the Englishman fits the criteria of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s footballing identity, with the Red Devils revolving their game around talented British players.

REPORT: CLUB WANT TO SELL £27M ARSENAL TARGET TO FUND DEAL FOR CHELSEA’S JORGINHO https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/08/20/report-club-want-to-sell-27m-arsenal-target-to-fund-deal-for-chelseas-jorginho/ Roma are planning to sell Arsenal target Amadou Diawara in order to fund a deal for Chelsea’s Jorginho, according to Tuttomercatoweb. Frank Lampard’s loss could be Mikel Arteta’s gain this summer. While Jorginho has slipped down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge thanks to the sudden emergence of teen sensation Billy Gilmour, an experienced Italian international remains a key part of the Chelsea plans going forward.

Loan to Rennes please Agent Tomori helping with Eduardo!

https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/fi-ita classic Tuscan villa strada statale Stia-Londa Dicomano, Florence, Italy or Via Dei Massoni Firenze, Florence, Italy or modern flat Via Dei Della Robbia Firenze, Florence, Italy

Dennis Rofe ironically being another Leicester fullback, lololol wayyyy before my time (he signed 12 plus years before I was even born), but he apparently was shit here when he finally came, and was let go on a free in 1982