Vesper

agree other than Marcelo he turns 33yo in 9 months and has been relative shit for well over a year now he will probably go cash in in the USA either this year or next so maybe Sergio sees that as his opportunity, although I think he will be sold to Sevilla on a perm basis at the the of the day I am 1000000% all in for Theo, but I am unfortunately starting to think it will not happen, the more I read, the more I see is at his number one club of choice in the world (for now) Hopefully I am dead wrong. Telles for me after Theo, I give up on predicting CB's, as every one I put forward as an option gets chopped down (Konate has been slated for his injury and thus uncertainty) for some reason or another I mean every one too. Literally. AC is probably the one most agree needs to go from our end.

I have listed him as a LB many times I have zero clue what we are going to do anywhere atm, especially LB (and the way the teams who want Emerson are apparently spending on other players makes me leery of being able to sell him for a fair price) CB as well GK as well DMF as well hell, even winger, IF the Havertz deal falls though and Willian bounces out on a free we can still cockup the window badly, despite Ziyech and Werner coming in but I am nowhere near that level of paranoia yet

I also get a bad feeling that they will use their huge and corrupt influence to indirectly come after us again, as they know another charge and conviction of us will result in catastrophic bans and punishment and remove us a a challenger to them for years the entire system is out of control

I am fixated on this, SHITTY MUST BE PUNISHED!!! FUCK I swear this is football (as run under a UEFA superstructure) in the bloody balance I am really going mental here, sorry Der Spiegel claims new Manchester City emails cast doubt on CAS verdict https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/30/der-spiegel-claims-new-manchester-city-emails-cast-doubt-on-cas-verdict New ‘leaked’ emails relate to City’s sponsorship by Etihad Club refuse to comment on emails but have denied wrongdoing The German magazine Der Spiegel has published new “leaked” emails relating to Manchester City’s past sponsorships by Abu Dhabi state companies, which it claims cast doubt on the court of arbitration for sport judgment that overturned City’s ban by Uefa. In one of the emails, a City director, Simon Pearce, who was also a senior executive in an Abu Dhabi government authority, set out that he was “forwarding” the airline £91m of £99m that Etihad owed to the club for its sponsorship, with Etihad providing only £8m. City refused to comment on the substance of the new emails, maintaining as the club has since the first “leaks” in November 2018 that their emails were “criminally obtained”. Spiegel’s source, Rui Pinto, who is charged with computer hacking in his native Portugal, which he denies, has denied that he obtained the emails by criminal means. City have vehemently denied that the Etihad sponsorship was subsidised by the club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, or any other Abu Dhabi entity, since Spiegel first published the emails, and throughout the subsequent investigation and ultimate guilty finding by Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) adjudicatory chamber (AC). Pearce and senior Etihad executives gave evidence at the Cas hearing, categorically denying the finding, largely based on the published emails, that the airline did not pay the sponsorships in full. The emails considered by the CFCB and Cas included three from City’s then financial officers to Pearce, a City board member and senior adviser on the Executive Affairs Authority (EAA), a strategic Abu Dhabi government authority. The finance officers set out that in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16 Etihad paid only £8m of sponsorship deals City stated to be £35m, £65m and £67.5m respectively. The rest, they wrote, was being paid by Mansour’s company ownership vehicle, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). City had refused requests from the CFCB for Pearce and other senior people to give evidence, and Cas severely criticised the club and imposed a €10m (£9m) fine for their failure to cooperate and obstruction of the investigation. Pearce did appear before Cas, as did James Hogan, the former Etihad chief executive, and other senior figures, and based largely on their evidence, the Cas panel overturned by a 2-1 majority the CFCB conclusion that Mansour “disguised” his own funding as Etihad sponsorship. Spiegel published the new emails two days after Cas released the full 93-page judgment that detailed its reasons. One of the new emails was sent by Pearce in December 2013, from his Executive Affairs Authority address to Peter Baumgartner, then Etihad’s chief commercial officer, with the subject “payments”. Pearce set out that under its sponsorship agreement Etihad had owed City £31.5m for the 2012-13 season, and £67.5m for the £2013-14 season, a total of £99m. “So we should be receiving a total of £99m – of which you will provide £8m,” he wrote to Baumgartner. ”I therefore should have forwarded £91m and instead have sent you only £88.5m. I effectively owe you £2.5m.” Pearce offered Baumgartner two options to reconcile the missing £2.5m. The first was for Etihad to pay only £65m of the £67.5m sponsorship for 2013-14 and pay the £2.5m the following year. The second option, Pearce wrote, was: “You pay the £65m now and I will forward the £2.5m in a couple of months – at which point you can forward it on.” Pearce apologised to Baumgartner for the missing £2.5m he had not sent, writing: “As I am sure you knew, embarrassingly it would seem that rather than overpaying you I have underpaid you!” The figure of £88.5m Pearce apparently sent to Etihad for forwarding to City tallies with the same figure, £88.5m, set out to Pearce in one of the previously published emails. That was sent five days earlier by Jorge Chumillas, City’s then chief financial officer, who said the breakdown of Etihad’s sponsorship of City was £88.5m from ADUG, while Etihad was paying £8m. Pearce’s evidence to Cas about the City’s finance officers writing in their emails that only £8m was coming from Etihad, was that the arrangements had caused “some confusion among individuals at the club” and “a misunderstanding that ADUG was making funds available to Etihad”.

summer 2017 to winter 2018/19 was a disastrous 18 month, 4 window nightmare on almost ever level to do with transfers, sales, buys, botched buys, refused sales, and contractual management shameful, damn near club wrecking if not for the fact Roman was there to bail us out (and also our youth came good or soon will)

oh, I agree it is a two way street and IF Drinkwater had been a decent MFer, then not so much an issue with paying a bit over the going price for a decent CMF (which he was not, and we were fools) btw, if you look at transfer fees on TransferMarkt, they adjust for inflation and they use current FOREX rates when the price is listed in whatever currency you pick they also update the price as bonuses are met and paid (see Hazard's price for example, which keeps rising)

madness and when you convert Chilwell and Rice to euros (from £155m) the difference is almost 100m euros (172m v 75m) the English tax is killing teams, and we are near the front of the line, but far from the only victims more teams and players need to be punished like Palace and Zaha (I put some blame on him as he was the fool who renewed) will end up being smashed for their pure greed BHO demanding £50m for Dunk is a perfect example

the difference between 1. us with another GK (but one better than what we have now) other than Oblak plus us WITH Havertz versus 2. Oblak and NO Havertz, plus Havertz ending up at Manure or Liverpool or Shitty (EPL and CL threats) or Bayern or RM or Barca or PSG or Juve or even Inter (CL threats) is massive No.1 is clearly the better position to be in, as a another good keeper and still having Havertz blocks our main competitors far more and improves us on balance far more also, Oblak's wages are insane, so his total cost is probably £70+m over 5 years versus Havertz's total amortised cost when fees + wages are tallied up (plus Havertz will end up on a direct or indirect rival)

Newcastle takeover: Saudi Arabian-backed consortium pulls out of bid https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/53598846

actually I am shocked as the loan fee is €10m and the buy fee next year is only €25m €35m is the total cost, £32m https://sempreinter.com/2020/07/31/inter-closing-in-on-signing-of-brescias-sandro-tonali-player-will-be-in-milan-on-monday/ that whole thing stinks so often there are hyper dodgy low-ball priced deal between Italian teams for Italian players it is literally the opposite of the EPL, where English teams RAPE each other over English players it makes zero sense for Brescia to sell their best young academy-developed player of the past multiple decades for such a low price other than they got relegated so I have to assume that played a large part but it still faces up as highly suspicious especially as Cellino was saying this last fall.... Man City, PSG and Atleti interested in Tonali, says Brescia owner Cellino https://www.fotmob.com/news/1tizhtgrf0fwo1x0x7kgyvjk4d-man-city,-psg-and-atleti-interested-in-tonali,-says-brescia-owner-cellino Brescia owner Massimo Cellino says it would take an offer of €300million for the club to part with prized asset Sandro Tonali. Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid are among a host of major clubs interested in signing Brescia midfielder Sandro Tonali, according to the club's owner and president Massimo Cellino. Tonali, 19, is one of Italy's brightest prospects, having broken into Brescia's first-team picture at the age of 17. A technically gifted deep-lying playmaker who is often likened to Azzurri great Andrea Pirlo, Tonali made his first appearance for Italy in the Euro 2020 qualifying win over Liechtenstein on October 15. He played 34 league games last season as Brescia were crowned Serie B champions and earned promotion back to the top flight, with many expecting the midfielder to be snapped up by a bigger club. Brescia have managed to hold onto him, though, with Cellino suggesting it would take an eye-watering €300million for the club to part with him. Asked by La Gazzetta dello Sport who was interested in Tonali, Cellino said: "All the big Italian clubs. Abroad there's Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, but in my view, he'd be better off remaining a key player with Brescia. "His agent and his parents were telling me about this €50million evaluation. I replied that for me he is worth €300million, which means I don't want to sell. "I have a dream. If Sandro accepts, I am ready to make a big financial sacrifice to extend his contract. It's up to him to decide. He can stay here and enjoy his football or go to a big club and risk being left on the bench."

KOVACIC ON THE BEAUTY OF PLAYING FINALS AND ENDING THE SEASON WITH A TROPHY https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/07/31/mateo-kovacic-on-the-beauty-of-playing-finals-and-ending-the-sea?cardIndex=0-3 Mateo Kovacic believes the progress made this season at Stamford Bridge is justification for the work put in by Frank Lampard and his players and indicates an exciting future ahead, though he insists only trophies will be the true barometer of success at a club like Chelsea. That is why tomorrow’s Heads Up FA Cup final represents such an important opportunity for the Croatian to add domestic silverware to the Europa League title he won while on loan from Real Madrid last term. ‘It’s heading somewhere but we need to show it on the pitch in the end,’ Kovacic says about the foundations that have been laid over the past 12 months in west London. ‘We need to win titles because if you don’t win titles then it’s not so good. Chelsea are doing great things, making great signings and showing great faith in our coach, which is really important for him and for us as well.’ Kovacic is no stranger to being among the end-of-season honours, having won eight major trophies in the Spanish capital and five more back in his homeland with Dinamo Zagreb. The 26-year-old relishes performing on the big stage and is eager to return to Wembley to add another medal to his growing personal collection. ‘It will be really nice to be in another final,’ he continues. ‘The most beautiful thing in football is to play finals and then to win them. ‘Chelsea is used to winning titles so we will do everything we can to play a good match in the FA Cup final and then let’s see what happens.’ Only five outfielders have played more Premier League minutes than Kovacic this season, highlighting his importance to the team in midfield, where he has been a key cog in harnessing the progressive football at the heart of Lampard’s style of play. While he admits he wants to add more goals and assists to his game, our number 17 has been pleased with his contribution in SW6 in his first campaign as a permanent Chelsea player. ‘I’m happy with my performances,’ he adds. ‘I think I’ve had a good season and I’ve settled well in my second year. Obviously I’m missing the statistics, which is the thing lacking in my game at the moment, but I’m improving on that as well. ‘I feel great here, so happy and honoured to be at this great club. Now I need to pay it back on the pitch, to be better and better every season, and hopefully next season is even better for us than this one.’ The more immediate focus is on Arsenal, the same opponents we defeated in Baku last May to claim silverware. Kovacic will be hoping for more of the same on the north side of the capital tomorrow evening as the Blues look to end this drawn-out campaign with Cup glory.

What is the loan cost? That has to be figured in. Your article says it is an expensive loan. You cannot just take the obligated buy fee from next year and claim that as the total price.

agreed

Friday July 31 2020 Football Nerd The striking gap in Chelsea and Arsenal's squad demographics that brings inconsistency By Daniel Zeqiri The Premier League table and the two teams' underlying metrics tell us Chelsea are a better team than Arsenal going into Saturday's FA Cup final, but just how much better? Chelsea and Manchester United are very difficult to pin down. On either's best day they look comfortably the third-best team in the country and the closest to Manchester City or Liverpool. At their worst, they can look every bit as ordinary as the teams who scrapped for Europa League football in the season's closing games. Arsenal are similarly inconsistent which makes for an unpredictable final at Wembley. One reason for Chelsea and Arsenal's unreliable form is the demographics of their squads: several exciting youngsters, a continued reliance on senior professionals entering the autumn of their careers but few spinal players in their mid-20s. While champions Liverpool had just two players aged 23 or younger make more than 20 appearances in all competitions last season, Chelsea had six and Arsenal seven. Both London clubs have few regular starters in their prime years. I analyse that problem here and look for clues as to how Frank Lampard and Mikel Arteta will build in the next transfer window.

I am sure some team will pay that for him

the drivel is all on yours you have not proven anything I think you need to look up the difference be subjective and objective you are still LUDICROUSLY accusing me of literally saying that Ake will never even be a starter, when it is CRYSTAL clear that I said he will never be all-EPL first teamer (as I was comparing him to Cahill, whom YOU brought up) you are a bad faith poster since you came here just 3 weeks ago all you have is faulty logic via multiple fallacies and ad hominem attacks argumentum ab auctoritate cheap appeals to authority like that betray the utter lack of sophistication and nuance that you bring to the debate table you are literally trying to force your OPINION onto me, when I am not, nor have not done so, to you nor others you are literally trying to invalidate me, take away my voice done with you you have been here only 3 weeks and you face up as a classic troll

oh please, Mount was massive for us all season only 6 or 7 of our players had good (or better seasons) and some of them (like Giroud and Tammy) were only half a season at that level César Azpilicueta Mateo Kovacic Mason Mount Christian Pulisic Willian Tammy Abraham (1st half) Olivier Giroud (2nd half) Alonso, Reece, and even Barkley had some good games, but in now way were really good all year I need to see if there is overlap on the Mount haters and the Ake fanboys/girls here both groups seem too have some sort of religious fervour going on

Cakir or Predrag either one I am happy with if that is the route we are going (and not some older stopgap)

it was clear what I meant don't try and play games by trying to insinuate that I was saying he would never be a starter, that is ludicrous pure bollocks m8 I was saying he will never be all epl first team and so what that Cahill became all epl after we bought him Ake will never be a first team all EPLer at centre back he is simply not that good of a CB book it as for his height (which again, I am calling bullshit on his being listed at 1.80m as well, unless they are adding in his locks), I am not going to play ludicrous games and start comparing Ake to two of the greatest CB's in the past 25 years in global football also CB's from two different leagues as well, including La Lia, which is far shorter league than the EPl, and then the ultra tactical Serie A their heights are also the exception to the rule in modern football look at Ake's aerial duel %, it is poor he is not good enough in the air for what we need we need a commanding presence in the air and all the gas-lighting in the world will not change the fact he is not that if we do sign him by matching Shitty's offer I am going on record that it is a large mistake unless we are going to try and play him at DMF, which is where he started off Chelsea cool interest in £40m Nathan Ake after scouting report raises concerns https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-nathan-ake-concerns-transfer-news-a4333856.html Chelsea are reassessing their defensive transfer targets after cooling their interest in Bournemouth centre-back Nathan Ake. The Blues have been heavily linked with a move to re-sign the 24-year-old after inserting a £40million buy-back clause in the deal which took him to the south coast in 2017. They also have first refusal on Ake with head coach Frank Lampard in the market for a centre-back this month following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to reduce their Fifa transfer ban on appeal. Lampard was at Chelsea as a player when Ake came through the ranks following his arrival from Feyenoord as a teenager in 2011 and has had the Dutchman extensively scouted since the season started. Standard Sport understands those reports have raised concerns about Ake’s suitability for the Blues with Lampard harbouring doubts over whether he is the right fit for the higher defensive line he prefers to play with. Although Bournemouth beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month, they have lost nine of their last 11 Premier League matches and have slipped into the relegation zone. Ake started six of those matches including Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Watford. It remains possible Chelsea could yet pursue a deal for Ake given the simplicity of doing so in a typically fraught January market but the fact they are actively exploring other options is further evidence of their uncertainty over his ability. Chelsea are keen to strengthen at the back, however, with other candidates under consideration including Albanian teenager Marash Kumbulla. The 19-year-old, who plays for Hellas Verona in Italy, is attracting interest from several European clubs and is thought to be available for less than £20m, although a potential bidding war could drive that price up.

arrrf, this just reminds me of May 21, 2008 3rd worst night of my life

if, huge IF, we had a buyback option on De Bruyne we surely would have used it Ake is not remotely in Carvalho's class, that is just silly, and Carvalho is 3 to 5 cm taller than Ake anyway so so much fanboying over Ake here IF we rate him, we will or would have bought him back I have watched the hell out of Ake for years and just do not see this wonderback some on here see Pep's buying him has some all hot n sweaty Pep's record of defensive buys at Shitty is certainly not the gold standard John Stones £50m Benjamin Mendy £52m and (although he still may come good) João Cancelo (£58.5m) plus Shitty (2 years before Pep came) spent £41m on dregs Eliaquim Mangala and 1 year before Pep came they spent £40m on Nicolás Otamendi (one of the most overrated CB's in the last 20 years of the EPL) 5 backs, almost a quarter of a billion quid, and unless Cancelo comes good, 5 backs I would not want on our roster, especially with prices they paid. Shitty won despite Otamendi, not because of him He hit gold with Laporte, but that was hardly rocket science, Laporte was already near WC when he came, 6 feet 3, pacy, great passer, left footed, great tackler, superb start to his career at Bilbao, 5 year starter there since he was 18/19yo.

some are impossible, and some are too young these the best 1.92m and up left footedleft footedtall, but not rock-likeleft footedleft footedambipedal left footedleft footed

this is disingenuous as I clearly said PFA all EPL first team (about Cahill) simply being a starter is no big deal and I never commented about anyone simply being a starter, you tried to interject that this is what I said it is clear what I said I was NOT (obviously) saying Ake was never going to be a starter, he is a starter his entire time at Bournemouth to try and claim that I did not know that is LAUGHABLE I was saying he will never be a first team all EPLer (like Cahill was 3 times) nice try to move the goalposts, but still a fail if we rated Ake as much as you do, why did we sell him, and then why, with multiple chances to do so, have we not bought him back (or at least made attempts at it)?

especially if they buy Sancho