Vesper

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

counterpoint (although this agent linkage does not begin until summer 2020): Chelsea handed transfer boost as Wilfried Zaha 'links up with super agent' Zaha has reportedly signed up with agent Pini Zahavi, who has close links with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and others at the club https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/chelsea-handed-transfer-boost-wilfried-21210636 Zaha served notice of his intention to split with his long-term agent Will Salthouse last September after failing to secure a move away from Palace, despite bids from both Arsenal and Everton . And the 27-year-old has now linked up with Israeli agent Zahavi, according to the Daily Mail - which should put Chelsea in the driving seat to sign him. Zahavi is believed to still be close to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, after helping the Russian close the deal to buy the club from Ken Bates 17 years ago. He is also believed to have good relationships with many other people at Chelsea. snip

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard pulls plug on Wilfried Zaha transfer over dressing room concern https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1223726/Chelsea-transfer-news-Wilfried-Zaha-deal-snub-Frank-Lampard-dressing-room-gossip-update Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has pulled the plug on a transfer for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha. The Blues manager has cooled on the Ivory Coast international because of his extortionate wage demands. Zaha is said to want a whopping £200,000-a-week to move to Stamford Bridge but there are concerns at how that would go down in the dressing room. Only two players currently in the first-team at Chelsea earn sums in that region – something Lampard is keen not to disrupt. Transfer expert Ian McGarry also believes it could impact ongoing contract negotiations with the likes of Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount if Zaha was paid the huge wages. He told Reach PLC’s Transfer Window Podcast: “They also had an interest in Crystal Palace’s left-sided attacking midfielder Wilfried Zaha, similar kind of player but 28. “I’m told that the wages Zaha is asking for Chelsea believe would upset their dressing room. “He wants in excess of £200,000-a-week. Currently there are only two players on that money at Chelsea which you may find surprising. snip

Barcelona set Ousmane Dembele transfer price as Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd circle The Catalan giants are prepared to let Dembele leave if they receive a bid of £85m, despite that representing a loss on the sum that they paid for him https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/barcelona-set-ousmane-dembele-transfer-21210012

Grimaldo is 60m euros (£51m) and is 10cms shorter than Telles and nowhere near as good as passer yes he is 2 years 9 months younger, but he is almost 20m quid more we should have purchased Telles years ago, as soon as Juve triple fucked us on Alex Sandro. He is a massive upgrade over Alonso and Emerson, 50 assists in last 3 and a half years, including CL, almost double what Grimaldo has had If not Chilwell or Telles (and we can do BOTH if we sell Alonso and Emerson and stop fucking about with their prices, especially in regards to Marina and Roman being butthurt towards Inter due to Conte) for around 40m to 50m net total spend by summer. We are in real danger of missing out on Chilwell in the summer, as if Pep stays at Shitty, Chilwell has already said he would love to play for him, and Pep is (what a cunt, as he has spent a total of over 200m fucking quid there just since summer of 2017!) unhappy with all his fullbacks except for Walker finally there is ZERO chance we drop £200m (120m for Sancho, 80m for Zaha) on just 2 wingers in the next 8 months it isnt happening in fact if Chilwell goes for 80m, and not 60 or 70m, I can so see us taking a pass my nightmare is a combination of things resulting in us going forward until at least 2021 or 2022 with Emerson and Alonso at LB, with the madness of Azpi there at random times just for shits and giggles Werner is only in the conversation at CF because of his RC being crazy low we are so not going to drop 100m or so on him or Lautaro or Dybala the club lost almost 100m net last year all those shit buys, crazy salaries, idiotic loans, horrid contractual management, and poor sales (plus a run down, small, out of date stadium) and missing out on CL multiple times are coming home to roost the days of huge spends are well done and gone atm I became aware of this a couple months ago, via my father's sources (I posted on this at the time) the club is in loss containment and then back to wealth extraction mode they truly need to liquidate the dregs and are failing at that, and stubbornly once gain bollocksing up sales as well it is criminal what we have done over the years with just Alonso and Willian, who I can see us taking a total loss of £100-110m on (no joke, if Willian walks on a free and if Alonso is sold in his 30's (he is 30 in less than a year) for peanuts) in failed sales revenue combined

Thorstvedt is a CMF/AMF type unlike Berge, who is a deep holding DMF. He is much more of a goal scorer than Berge as well, he had (in 4000 total minutes) 22 goals and 7 assists all comps for Viking, 13 and 3 of them last year which was at the highest Norwegian level, in around 2400 minutes total play. He is a big lad, 1.89m and strong, and also is left footed. I am not terribly familiar with Norwegian football (I know much more about Swedish and Danish) but Thorstvedt did win the young player of the year in the Eliteserien. It will be interesting to see how he copes at Genk, which is a fairly large step-up in class. Another young Norwegian to watch is 17yo CMF Joshua Kitolano from Odds BK, the youngest of the 3 Kitalano brothers. John, the middle one, is a 20yo LB on Wolves now.

Chelsea may turn to CSKA Moscow striker Fedor Chalov as Lyon block Moussa Dembele deal https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/chelsea-transfer-news-fedor-chalov-cska-moscow-lyon-moussa-dembele-a4325636.html

Manchester United 'lower Paul Pogba asking price' https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/man-utd/transfer-talk/news/manchester-united-lower-paul-pogba-asking-price_384884.html Manchester United have reportedly lowered their asking price for Paul Pogba ahead of next summer's transfer window. The Frenchman is expected to leave Old Trafford in the summer after declaring in June that he wanted a "new challenge" elsewhere. Real Madrid expressed keen interest in securing Pogba's services, only for United to hold firm on their £160m valuation of the player. However, according to The Sun, the Red Devils are now open to offers of around £100m ahead of the summer window. Pogba has 18 months left on his existing contract and is not expected to pen a new deal at Old Trafford amid interest from both Madrid and Juventus. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently confirmed that Pogba, impeded by injury since late August, will miss up to another month of action after undergoing surgery.

Gianluca Vialli shows off ripped torso and posts hopeful message after Chelsea legend underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7844863/Gianluca-Vialli-shows-ripped-torso-posts-hopeful-message-underwent-cancer-treatment.html

they need to fucking BUY one of them flip a coin

oh fuck, I did not know that, ffs we are so so mismanaged staggering ineptitude when it comes to talent, negotiations of sales and buys, and contractual management we are in the Big Six of the worst-run top 25 clubs strictly speaking of those departments only Chels, Manure, Arse, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Barca Manure and Real and Barca are so huge they can afford to fuck up for years on end we are not and it is catching up to us finally and it is destroying Arse even more atm (maybe, it is close as we have so much more deadwood on the books) and has already destroyed AC Milan

get this assclown off our books!!!!! the shit board decisions since 2014 (with a few exceptions, albeit big ones) are just multi-year nightmares plus hundreds of millions in quid flushed down the loo

Danny Drinkwater will return to Chelsea in days – but could have a new home already https://www.chelsea-news.co/2020/01/danny-drinkwater-will-return-chelsea-days-new-home-already/

Arsenal and Chelsea in list of sides who want Brazilian – Club willing to negotiate in January http://sportwitness.co.uk/arsenal-chelsea-list-sides-want-brazilian-club-willing-negotiate-january/ Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense are about to start the season with a huge doubt about the future of their biggest star. Midfielder Bruno Guimarães could be leaving the club in January, even though it’s still hard to guess who he will be signing for. Website Globo Esporte brings a story about it this week, listing the possible destinations as Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Chelsea and Flamengo. And although it’s claimed that Athletico Paranense would favour a January move, the interesting thing is that the report brings a negative point for each one of these clubs, except for the Premier League sides. Atletico Madrid have the priority due to an agreement from the transfer of Renan Lodi last year, and could pay €30m for Bruno Guimarães. But the Spanish side’s wage bill has been too big, and even if they make a January signing, they would prefer a striker rather than a midfielder. Something similar happens to Benfica, who have just spent €20m on the signing of Julian Weigl and are unlikely to sign another midfielder in January. And Flamengo aren’t a very strong option, since Bruno Guimarães’ staff and Athletico would favour a move to Europe. Globo Esporte doesn’t say a lot about Arsenal and Chelsea, except claiming that the interest from the Blues has been there for a while, and since they had been banned from making signings, this is the first transfer window they could make an attempt for him. So the two London sides seem to be the clubs who don’t have anything blocking them from trying to get the Brazilian this month. snip

yes, just read that spoilt cunts all round £60m dropped and out the door already perhaps I do not understand fullbacks today there are so so few great ones, or at least ones that can fit into any team Cancelo was an absolute monster last year now he is at a club tailor made for his skillset at least part of the time and he wants out Pep is partly to blame Walker can play CB and play it better than the horrid Otamendi and soon 35yo DMF Fernandinho, I have seen him play CB many times and that opens up RB for Cancelo but nope Pep refuses to do it for the most part he is too fucking stubborn Klopp would never be that stubborn lets ALL hope he leaves in the summer so Chilwell doesn't go there (he just said he wants to play for Pep at some point) watch Pep leave and grab Chilwell for Barca!!!!!

Plymouth Argyle set to complete permanent signing of Josh Grant from Chelsea The 21-year-old has been on loan to the Pilgrims for the first half of this season https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/plymouth-argyle-josh-grant-chelsea-3696045

Werner deal is off until summer Probably the same for Sancho Not exactly a shock but there it is

have not given up at all but I have been worried since it happened (the original injury) I think we brought him back too soon really frustrating for him, the club, all of us hopefully it works out and next comes the same thing (worse? as the injury was worse) with RLC devastating if both are bollocksed up for years worse yet if we wait 2 or 3 years to realise this, IF that is indeed the case those 2 lad's injures (and the fallout at all levels), plus LB and CF (the only 2 positions that MUST have immediate action or else we are fucked we simply cannot, cannot go forward with what we have now without disastrous outcomes galore, especially if Tammy, dog forbid, is injured), then finally what to do with Kante are the big, BIG five main questions for me we need to resolve I am profoundly disappointed with Emerson (no clue why he has somehow become worse that fucking Alonso!, it is maddening), Alonso (unless he plays as a wingback, then he is still actually a weapon, which is why Conte wants him badly), Azpi (as a LB he is worse than the other two, somehow and as a RB is only good about one out of 4 games now) Barkley (waste of flesh, at a pure prime age and is a joke, even in personal life), Pedro, Bats (shit that we all, or most of us all knew was shit, at least here at Chels, he just doesn't fit in well here at all, another shit-shit Marina and board buy), and Giroud. Starting to get that way with Mount, but because he is young, (unlike all the dregs I just listed) I will cut him slack,. Finally, Kante's play has bloody well went into the bin lately, which is probably the biggest disappointment as well, as he was supposed to be our best player by miles and miles and most of us knew the rest listed were going to be shit (some just due to age and wear and tear, like Pedro and Azpi).