Vesper

Bernardo Silva (25yo) is streets ahead of Zaha (and is left-footed so a perfect RWer for us, and can play AMF too) you also forget a healthy Sane (24yo in a week) Martial (24yo) too (and he can play CF as well) Richarlison (22yo) too (another one who can play CF) is another (being 5 years younger than Zaha as well is a big positive difference as well) I rate Zaha 9th after those 8 (your 4 plus my 4) My issues are age and price and a career-long lack of production (plenty of players produce decent numbers on shit teams) plus his wage demands will be super high, we all know this, so a potential changing-room point of trouble with some of our lads in the middle of contractual negotiations I think all in all he is worth around £50m or so, especially due to age, as we only get 2 full sub 30yo seasons out of him, and as I have tirelessly documented dozens of times, there are so few over 30yo wingers n the EPL (and globally so few who are decent), and almost all in the EPL are shit) There are NO EPL LWers over 27yo except for one, the just turned 30yo dregs that is Junior Stanislas. Let that sink in. At RW, there are only 4 over 30yo (we have 2 and one is soon gone) Aaron Lennon, Pedro (soon gone) Willian and Robert Snodgrass (not a pure winger either), plus two 30yo olds, Theo Walcott and the just turned 30 Andrii Yarmolenko (who plays MF as well). £80m plus around £52m in salary (£200K PW for 5 years, £41.6m if a 4 year contract) is madness for a 28yo at 3 months into next season Zaha. His production at top flight is weak 38 goals in 219 games for top flight teams basically a goal every 6 games so 6 or 7 a year is that worth £132m? especially as he will be basically worthless at the end of his contract £3.5m PER GOAL based on his cumulative top-flight career production (granted he should score a bit more with us but still you get the point)

I agree overall but there are 2 no brainers 1. CB Ake whose buyback expires after January (who can play LB as well so surely we can dump BOTH Alonso and Emerson because of no-brainer #2) 2. LB Alex Telles, a steal at his £32m release clause. Those 2 combined net cost is only £12 to say £17m total in fees if we dump just Alonso and Emerson to Inter and Juve. Lampard is demanding a CF NOW. Seeing as Demebele looks surely not to be sold in January by Lyon, a £20m or so punt on Chalov or Gabigol is reasonable. We can get £5m for Giroud. Combined net spend for those 3 is a pisspot £27m to £32m, which goes to ZERO if we also dump the in-demand Bats. THAT would be smart business at basically no fee cost.

hell no but the dippers are 2nd worst to have this happen the 2 teams I hate the most on the planet

Harry Maguire is staggeringly overrated the best CB's on the planet atm IMHO (this does not mean they are available as of now or that we should try and buy them, for example, Koulibaly is too old for the monet Napoli want, it is madness to pay £100m for one full season under 30yo) 1 VVD 2 Raphaël Varane 3 Kalidou Koulibaly 4 Aymeric Laporte (when healthy) 5 Milan Skriniar 6 José Giménez 7 Marquinhos 8 Alessio Romagnoli 9 Ibrahima Konaté (when healthy) 10 Matthijs de Ligt (has fallen off a bit, I expect him to rise again as some age off) 11 Lucas Hernández 12 Rúben Dias 13 Clément Lenglet 14 Dayot Upamecano 15 Antonio Rüdiger 16 Caglar Söyüncü 17 Stefan de Vrij 18 Harry Maguire 19 Diego Carlos 20 Éder Militão 21 Gerard Piqué (age) 22 Niklas Süle 23 Benjamin Pavard 24 Iñigo Martínez 25 Diego Godin (age) 26 Joel Matip 27 Yeray Álvarez 28 Nico Elvedi 29 Samuel Umtiti (when healthy) 30 Konstantinos Manolas

might be, I guess we see what happens in the summer unless we end up buying Zaha (if we do that will mean dozens of articles were talking a different line of bullshit) and even then, someone will buy him, so we find out that way

his lone goal for us (in his debut)

the actual transfer fee is fair but if the agent really wants bloody £42m that's a deal killer

he just said this too https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1223788/Jadon-Sancho-Chelsea-transfer-decision-made-Frank-Lampard-Dortmund-latest-news-gossip Transfer expert Ian McGarry claims Dortmund demanded £103million for Sancho. And he believes there would be an additional £42.6m which would go to the winger’s agent making it a huge outlay for Chelsea. Sancho has also been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United in recent weeks with his Dortmund career seemingly coming to an end. snip IF true zero chance we dump out £145m (and if the pound goes down versus the euro it could quickly move to over £150m) for him, hell no fucking criminal cunt agents Emeka Obasi <<<< his agent (Elite Project Group LTD)

delete dupe

Real Madrid: "The problem with Jovic is Jovic" Ljubisa Tumbakovic, manager of the Serbian national team, has spoken out about what he feels are the issues with Los Blancos' €60-million striker. https://en.as.com/en/2020/01/02/football/1577995644_124753.html

what we truly need is to learn when to cut bait and ditch shit for far too long we cling onto dregs or ex good players who anyone with a brain could see would soon be dregs now we are doing it all again playing cunty-cunt with selling to Inter or Juve so we will fuck about, lose out on Chilwell, never make a move for Telles, claim the rest are too expensive and say 'DAMN, looks like Alonso and Emerson and Emergency-Azpi are it after all once again, relax it will be FINE' (pro-tip, no, no it will NOT) now we are reportedly renewing Zouma until he is over 30 (thus no way we are selling) Lamps not wanting to pull trigger on Ake because he thinks AC will come good (and thus Ake is gone for good, as the buyback clause expires) dithering about over Kante (his role and also potentially cashing in as his role now is NOT working out at all) <<<< BIG ONE all the piss-poor buys and loanee dregs who we cannot sell hopes and prayers for CHO and RLC to recover from what could be career-wrecking injures the INSANE lack of movement on strikers (not talking Werner as that is out of our control, we just need to buy some lower-priced upgrade for now and get Bats and Giroud the fuck off the books)<<< thsi soon changes I think, so yay! Bats now is supposedly staying <<< THIS NEEDS TO NOT HAPPEN, it is madness to think year after year that he is ever going to be Chels material Pedro and Willian are TOO OLD, especially IF we renew Willian I understand Sancho is out there, but ffs, we might get Chilwell'd there too and end up with FUCKALL other than some dice roll hope and prayer or (HELL NO) an 80m Zaha calamitous buy Mount, well I have no clue but if we toss ALL our AMF eggs into his and the super injured RLC baskets we are again courting disaster, hopefully our academy kids come good like Anjorin and Gallagher (wo is not an AMF anyway) UTTER LACK OF CREATIVITY overall Azpi is the perfect summation, along with Willian, AC, Pedro, Bats and Alonso of failing to sell players OFF when you know they are not good enough or are spent and too bloody old, worn-out I really think Lamps is obsessed with Moussa Dembele, and I actually think he would take him over Werner or maybe even Lautaro Martinez if Dembele turns into yet another French BUST (they are legion) we are SOOOOO fucked if we miss out on Chilwell and refuse to buy Telles and claim Gaya and Grimaldo are too expensive (they are, especially Gaya, and I just do not rate Grimaldo that much, despite the argy-bargy this draws from his fan club) we are fucked unless there is some miracle LB rabbit/hat-pull I am missing Same goes for Sancho, IF we do not buy smart IF we miss out on him (hint, £80m Zaha in, me OUT...of my mind) we get those 3 massive areas wrong, and the CB's don't do what Lamps is convinced they will do, PLUS we cock-up on Kante overall we are going to drive into big old Arsenal or worse style ditch bad bad bad overarching methodology and zeitgeist here from the board on down really in a mood this morning, eeeek just sick of reading articles that re-enforce the assclown level

Reus's problems were always injuries, he is an insane talent, crazy good player

If you want to know why Victimpool is IMHO the best team in the world all you have to do is look at my all world best XI at this exact instant in time GK Alisson (Oblak 2) CB Van Dijk 1 (Koulibaly 3) CB Varane 2 (Laporte 4, when healthy, if not then Skriniar) LB Robertson (Alaba 2,and of the rest of top 5, other than Chilwell, 2 more are ALSO on Bayern, in Lucas Hernandez (who is injured and plays at CB now mostly) and then the teenage explosion, Davies) RB Alexander-Arnold (Kimmich 2 and then the biggest drop off at any position, it is truly crazy the difference between 2 and 3) DMF Casemiro (only because Kante is no longer used there, but IF he was Kante would be number 1) (Fabinho 2, and arguably 1) CMF Frenkie de Jong (Saúl Ñíguez 2, de Jong has been immense for Barca, unlike de Ligt for Juve) Kante as a CMF is not even close, sorry AMF De Bruyne (then the biggest gap between 1 and 2 with Kai Havertz probably holding on to 2, but barely, he desperately needs to get off that fucked up Bayer Leverkusen team, Bernardo Silva is close, but is played more at RW atm) LW Mane (Neymar 2, JUST nosing out Sterling) RW Messi (Salah 2) CF Mbappe (Lewandowski 2) Bindippers have 5 number 1's and two number 2's Barca 2 number 1's Real Madrid 2 number 1's Shitty 1 number 1, and a number 2 PSG 1 number 1 and a number 2 Bayern 3 number 2's Atletico Madrid 2 number 2's Napoli 1 number 2 Bayer Leverkusen 1 number 2 put that together, add in Klopp, and it is not a shock at all that they are doing what they are doing The truly terrifying thing is that I really think Klopp make make a move for Saul (who can play LB if needed too, but might be gone elsewhere, who knows and has had his RC lowered to 85m), Havertz (who is German and is not having the greatest year so a bit lower in cost) and Werner in the summer, all 3 will cost around 200m and he has spent shit so far for the past 2 windows and has insane revenue coming in, especially if they win the CL again (they basically have the EPL wrapped up and you know they will be a monster in the FA Cup) I do NOT see them making a move for Sancho, too expensive for what they need they already have a RW backup coming back from loan, in 22yo Harry Wilson who is know worth well over 30m they also might make a move for CB Diego Carlos from Sevilla to replace Lovren, especially if they do not land some or even miss out on all 3 above

Chelsea missing out on Timo Werner January transfer could be good news for Frank Lampard Chelsea look unlikely to sign Timo Werner from RB Leipzig this month, but that could be a good thing for Frank Lampard. https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1223633/Chelsea-transfer-news-Timo-Werner-January-RB-Leipzig-Frank-Lampard-gossip-rumours Chelsea missing out on Timo Werner in the January transfer window could actually pan out as a positive for Frank Lampard. Express Sport understands the Blues are keen on the RB Leipzig forward as they seek to strengthen this month after their FIFA transfer embargo was halved. Lyon’s Moussa Dembele and Fyodor Chalov of CSKA Moscow are also on Lampard’s wishlist and Werner would seemingly be the most expensive option of the trio. Chelsea have made enquiries about the Germany international but Leipzig, sat top of the Bundesliga and into the last 16 of the Champions League, do not want to sell their leading striker. Instead, it looks as though Chelsea will seek a £20million move for Chalov before returning to either Dembele and Werner in the summer. Lampard is looking for better back up to top goalscorer Tammy Abraham, who has provided 14 goals across all competitions this term - at least eight more than any other Chelsea player. And according to Goal, that may be a strategy that suits Chelsea and Lampard well. They report that Werner has a clause in his Leipzig contract that means he is available for a cheaper fee in the summer than he would be this month. Leipzig may be more willing to do business then and it would likely take a massive offer to prise him away from the Red Bull Arena midseason. Werner has produced 23 goals and 10 assists in 25 matches, including an incredible 18 goals in 17 league games, putting him only behind Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski across Europe’s top five leagues. snip

I do not really follow american football (NFL I mean) much but Victimpool reminds me (or is starting to) of a team, the New England Patriots who for ages (20 years now, back when I was a wee kid) have went out and purchased very specific players that fit exactly what their coach and management wanted and put them into a system they have a few mega stars (some amongst the best to ever play at that position, like Tom Brady who is still world class into his 40's ffs, he is the American Maldini, lolol) but then they take other far less talented players and raise them up to an integrated team that is just a monster year after year their coach, Bill Belichick, is a fucking genius, as yank football has such a short player career span for 80% or so of the players, the turnover is crazy high due to the utter brutality of the game https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/tom-brady-and-the-patriots-appear-vulnerable-do-you-want-to-bet-against-them/2020/01/03/9cdf156c-2e38-11ea-bcd4-24597950008f_story.html snip People go to ashrams and consult sages for that kind of ­be-here-nowness. The thing is, the Patriots actually practice it. If they have shown one quality over the past 20 years, it’s concentration in the face of threat. That unwaveringness is hard to properly appreciate; the numbers boggle. They have reached 40 percent of the Super Bowls played since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994. They have had one losing season since Belichick was hired in 2000. During Belichick’s tenure, there have been 192 coaching changes around the rest of the NFL. Their 125 wins over the past 10 regular seasons is more than any other team — by 22. Over that span they played through two royal weddings, the death of Bin Laden, the abdication of Pope Benedict, Lady Gaga’s meat dress, legalization of same-sex marriage, volcanic eruptions, ice bucket challenges, Pokémon Go, data breaches, cyberattacks, multiple Netflix binge-watches, the Kaepernick protests and the #MeToo movement.

also, I would not be shocked at all if Klopp turns Minamino into a bit of a baller, there is obviously something there that really caught their eyes, as Salzburg have other players I rate over him, especially Dominik Szoboszlai, who I can so see becoming a fucking monster under Klopp and eventually (he is only 19yo) solving their AMF issue (the only semi-weakpoint other than overall depth that they have)

Please tell him he's joking' - Some Chelsea fans react to player's apparent wish Chelsea: Fans react to Michy Batshuayi transfer update Chelsea forward Michy Batshuayi is ‘highly unlikely’ to leave Stamford Bridge in the January transfer window, according to Sky Sports. https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league/chelsea/chelsea-fans-react-to-michy-batshuayi-transfer-update/

not that this needs saying but... NO, we are NOT buying the 29yo-in-June Kalidou Koulibaly for £100m, not now, not in the summer, not ever, that ship sailed long ago it is madness how many articles are saying this https://madaboutepl.net/2020/01/chelsea-kalidou-koulibaly-100million-transfer-news/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/10664405/chelsea-tottenham-kalidou-koulibaly-napoli-transfer/ https://www.90min.com/posts/6529579-spurs-chelsea-in-talks-with-kalidou-koulibaly-s-agent-over-huge-100m-deal https://www.futaa.com/za/article/199668/chelsea-in-talks-to-sign-kalidou-koulibaly-for-100million etc etc etc

Report: Chelsea are in contract talks with defender Kurt Zouma https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/club-news/report-chelsea-are-in-contact-talks-with-defender-kurt-zouma/ he is already signed until 2023 so looks like zero chance we are selling him if we are going to renew him until 2025 or so (he turns 30 in October 2024 btw to put a future-forward look onto this) if the reports are true about Lampard balking at buying Ake due to his belief in AC then expect no moves for CB's until 2021 at the earliest as we will keep the 4 main ones we have, plus we have Guehi and Ampadu waiting in the wings (although I sorta expect Guehi to be loaned out for 2020/21) I have no idea what Ampadu's best position is or if he is even good enough for us he seems to have really taken a step backwards (he supposedly has really bad growing pain issues as well) we cocked up (what else is new for the board, they have a profound lack of football sense far too often) by loaning him to the wrong Bundesliga team, as RB Leipzig are loaded at their back 4 are are now the title favourites so will not have a lot of games they will risk playing him at

he is basically a dice roll Russian league players are so hard to rate as it is often against shit lower in the table teams, although if you are into ultra violence as a punter, then it is the top league on the planet, lololo the one RPL CF out there (deffo short term due to his age, he turned 31 at the end of August) that I feel could come into the EPL and do well is the 1.96m tank Artem Dzyuba of Zenit, who is also a great passer

Manchester United offered Arsenal target Adrien Rabiot as Juventus prepare new bid for Paul Pogba https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/04/manchester-united-offered-arsenal-target-adrien-rabiot-juventus-prepare-new-bid-paul-pogba-11999502/ Juventus are prepared to offer Adrien Rabiot to Manchester United as part of their bid to sign Paul Pogba, according to reports. United re-signed Pogba from Juventus for £89 million in 2016 but the France international now wants to leave Old Trafford. Juventus are in the running to sign Pogba for a second time and the Serie A champions are reportedly confident that an agreement can be reached with United. According to The Sun, Juve believe United would accept a deal worth around £85 million to sell Pogba in the January transfer window. The report claims that Juve value Rabiot, who was signed on a free transfer last summer, at £25m and are ready to offer an additional £60m cash. snip Rabiot is easily worth £35-40m IMHO, so £60m cash plus him is right on or near the £100m asking price that Manure want now for PP. IF Juve offered us Rabiot for only £25m, I would bite their hand off. He is only 24yo still and is streets ahead of Barkley for instance. I watched a lot of him at PSG, and he can be a force at times. I can see Juve maybe upping the cash to £70m or so just to get it over the line. Rabiot destroyed Messi and Barca in early 2017

Gabigol drops farewell hint to Flamengo after Chelsea and West Ham make approach https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/04/gabigol-drops-farewell-hint-flamengo-chelsea-west-ham-make-approach-11999617/?ito=newsnow-feed Gabriel Barbosa has appeared to have bid farewell to Flamengo supporters after reports in Brazil claimed that Chelsea and West Ham have both made an approach for the striker. The 23-year-old has spent the last year on loan at Flamengo and scored 43 goals in 59 games for the Brazilian club. The striker, who is known as ‘Gabigol’, scored two late goals in the Copa Libertadores final against River Plate in November and ended as the tournament’s top scorer. Gabigol also played against Liverpool during Flamengo’s defeat in the Club World Cup final last month. Flamengo have been keen to sign the Brazilian forward on a permanent deal from Inter, but reports in Brazil are now claiming that he has two offers from the Premier League. snip

Bayern Munich willing to let Jerome Boateng join Arsenal for no transfer fee https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/03/bayern-munich-willing-let-jerome-boateng-join-arsenal-no-transfer-fee-11998380/?ito=newsnow-feed

Varane reflects in depth on his life and career in football The defender spoke with French outlet Onze Mondial https://www.managingmadrid.com/2020/1/4/21049083/varane-reflects-in-depth-on-his-life-and-career-in-football-real-madrid-2020 interesting article