Vesper

Dortmund's interest in Hudson-Odoi opens door to Christian Pulisic deal https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/columnist/dortmunds-interest-in-hudson-odoi-opens-door-to-christian-pulisic-deal/ Reports are emerging claiming that Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Callum Hudson-Odoi. The success of fellow English youngster Jadon Sancho at Dortmund has convinced the German giants to invest in Hudson-Odoi. Their interest in the 17-year-old could open up a deal from which all parties could gain. It is in Hudson-Odoi’s interests to play regularly and at a high level. Sancho has received ample playing time. Hudson-Odoi would also play a lot of games, most importantly, in the Champions League. Chelsea could send him to Germany on a two year loan or even on a permanent transfer. After Hudson-Odio has developed and Eden Hazard has started to slow down or even leave, the Englishman could return to Chelsea at a reduced price. Of immediate benefit, Chelsea could use Dortmund’s interest in Hudson-Odoi to leverage the Germans into selling right winger Christian Pulisic. Chelsea are interested in signing Pulisic, although a massive price tag is a big stumbling block. A player of the American’s quality would be a great asset for Chelsea. They are in need of an attacking threat from the right who can take the load off Eden Hazard. snip only if he renews OR a buyback clause inserted plus I am not 100% sold on Pulisic yet

I have to admit, I see why Sarri rated Vecino. He has taken it up to another level this year so far. He is finally showing himself to be a great passer and seems far more dangerous going forward this year versus last year. Here is a taste of his passing atm (his cross for the game winning 92nd minute goal by Icardi in the Milano derby 3 days ago) what a cross! and that is after he has put in 12 kilometres at pace over 92 minutes will be very interesting to see him tonight v Barca

Swiss Court Lifts Lid on Abramovich's Aborted Residency Bid https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-court-lifts-lid-on-abramovich-s-aborted-residency-bid/44493502 (Bloomberg) -- Switzerland’s top court lifted reporting restrictions on the reasons for Roman Abramovich’s failed bid for residency in the Alpine nation, rejecting the Russian billionaire’s claims that disclosure would damage his reputation. The Supreme Court judges cited concerns raised by Swiss police that Abramovich was “suspected of money laundering” and had “presumed contacts with criminal organizations,” according to the text of the Sept. 21 decision released Tuesday. The owner of London’s Chelsea Football Club was seeking to keep the comments out of the public. These would make his residency in the country “a threat for public safety” and also “a reputational risk for Switzerland,” according to the document. Abramovich, through his lawyer, denies allegations of money laundering and ties to criminal organizations made by the Swiss authorities. Abramovich built his fortune from the sale of privatized assets acquired from the former Soviet Union, including Sibneft and Aeroflot. He’s worth an estimated $14.8 billion, based in part on his ownership in steelmaker Evraz and Norilsk Nickel, and is known for his close relations to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite his enormous wealth, Abramovich hasn’t been seen in London since the U.K. government failed to renew his visa in the spring, amid a sharp deterioration in relations between London and Moscow. snip Has Anyone Seen Roman Abramovich? The Last Days of Londongrad The Russian billionaire has avoided Britain for months and is preparing his finances to skirt the threat of American sanctions. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-09-25/has-anyone-seen-roman-abramovich-the-last-days-of-londongrad In late August, as supporters of Chelsea Football Club assembled at Stamford Bridge stadium to watch their team beat London rival Arsenal, a group in the upper deck unfurled a 40-foot blue-and-red banner. “The Roman Empire,” it shouted, beside an image of the team’s owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Just below, another banner trumpeted “15 Years, 15 Trophies.” Abramovich didn’t attend the game that day. In fact, he hasn’t been seen in London since the U.K. government failed to renew his visa in the spring, not long after it accused Russia of using a deadly nerve agent on British soil and relations between London and Moscow plunged into crisis. Abramovich bought Chelsea out of near-bankruptcy in 2003 for £140 million (about $223 million at the time) and has since loaned the club more than £1.1 billion. Until he came along, Chelsea hadn’t won the top domestic trophy, the Premier League title, since 1955. His big spending changed all that and set off a kind of arms race in English football. In some ways, it was similar to the U.S. model: Buy talent, buy titles, and sell merchandise and media rights. But unlike owners of American sports teams, Abramovich didn’t seem bothered by racking up huge losses. (And he didn’t have to contend with caps on spending, until new rules came into force in 2010.) At the Arsenal game, Chelsea supporters taunted their rivals with the chant “We’ve won it all!” to which Arsenal fans sang in response, “You’ve bought it all!” Chelsea fans still love their high-rolling owner, even as the U.K. government hits back at the Kremlin. Now Abramovich is mulling a sale of Chelsea, frustrated by his British visa problems and concerned about the potential fallout should the U.S. expand sanctions against wealthy Russians and target him. He’s already rejected bids for the club in excess of $2.3 billion—which would be a world-record price for a sports team—according to people familiar with the talks. Earlier this year, Abramovich hired Raine Group LLC, a merchant bank in New York, to advise on the possibility of a full or partial sale of the club. A person familiar with the discussions says Abramovich wants £3 billion. Abramovich’s representatives declined multiple requests for comment for this story and insisted all communication go through his lawyers, who also declined to comment. With a $14.7 billion fortune derived from oil and metals, Abramovich holds his enormous wealth at the pleasure of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a status that’s put him in the crossfire of the Cold War 2.0 that’s been brewing. It’s not only his visa that’s been effectively stonewalled: In seeking ways to punish Putin, British officials appear to be slow-walking most Russian visa applications, according to immigration lawyers in London. At the same time, the government is scrutinizing the wealth of Russians using London as their base, and lawmakers have begun calling the influx of Russian cash a national security issue. snip

Jesus fucking christ. We are so fucked. Next will be the Willian and Luiz extensions. Can't wait to hear the status quo/settle crew comments full of praise on those. My stance will be proven to be correct. That is not cockiness, that is not playa hating, it is reality. A non top 4 finish this year basically destroys the club on terms of WC footie for multiple years (Hazard will surely leave as well) unless we are sold to an owner who puts real football people in charge, not Sibneft mafia draw-downers. Just shocked that more do not see this lipstick-on-a-pig modus operandi.

Lolol (and crying, especially when adding in my other extreme Sarriball want fullback, RB Cancelo) 3 years plus of trying for Sandro, 3 years of Italian ass fucking to show for it. Not even a box of chocolates for conciliation.

If this is a January move, I fear it might take £80m plus AND Morata. This all could have been avoided. See my crazy number of previous posts on the subject. I have been on the Icardi/Dybala train since Sampdoria/Palermo days.

Sidibe has regressed the last season and a half, unfortunately. I would be much more open to a 2 for 1 swap: Benjamin Henrichs and Pietro Pellegri. Toss in £10-15m to grease the deal. I think we need to use our buyback option on Åke. He is a truly rock solid EPL CB, and we will never spend the cash on the CB we SHOULD buy, de Ligt.

Manure v Juve HD Streams http://rvnistelrooy.blogspot.com/p/page-4.html http://rvnistelrooy.blogspot.com/p/page-2.html https://www.vipleague.bz/manchester-united-vs-juventus-streaming-link-1

Not at all, he was great in league games too. RM's only issue over last 5 years is that they were competing with Barca in same league, and that is going to be hard if you are going deeper into CL than they are usually. Those extra games take a toll at razor thin margins. Plus... Messi over a full season is a better player than CR7. CR7 is better player in monster games. That last part is just my opinion, but seems to be born out over the last 10, 12 years. Ronaldo has a major trophy at international level, Messi does not. Messi's lack of a major trophy for country is the only reason I can never rate him the GOAT. Maradona took a shit Argie team to the 1986 WC, and a shit Napoli team to a euro championship in 1989.

Monaco emerge as favourites to snap up Chelsea misfit https://www.teamtalk.com/news/monaco-emerge-as-favourites-to-snap-up-chelsea-misfit French giants Monaco have emerged as the favourites to sign Chelsea central defender Andreas Christensen in the new year. The Denmark international was a regular starter under Antonio Conte last season but has been largely overlooked by Maurizio Sarri since the Italian’s arrival at Stamford Bridge. The 22-year-old has made just three appearances for the Blues this term and has been kept out of the side by the improving partnership of David Luiz and Antonio Rüdiger. Christensen has already revealed that he is looking to play regular football at this point in his career, although a return to Borussia Mönchengladbach – where he spent two years on loan from 2015 – has been ruled out. And now, according to Foot Mercato, struggling Monaco are keen on landing the defender. They sacked boss Leonardo Jardim recently after a woeful start to the season and have now turned to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry to revive their fortunes. A loan deal looks the most likely, although the report goes to add that there will probably be an option to buy included. snip

I still am gobsmacked that RM and their cuntish fans slagged off Keylor Navas for years. He was a superb keeper, I still rate him very high. He fucking made huge saves, almost never choked under immense pressure. He fucking won 3 in a row Champions Leagues and was great at international level ffs. Btw, FUCK Courtois.

Main issue with that is that Sarri will not change his system for shit. He is very stubborn that way. We either believe in him and it, and buy him players who fit in it or we start to prepare for the inevitable sacking when/if the wheels come off due injuries (probably caused by poor rotation/tired players), too many square pegs/round holes (Kante perhaps, plus Alonso, etc) big players/young prospects leaving (Hazard, CHO, RLC, AC, etc) and/or too many shit players/refusal to sell donkies (Morata, Drinkwater, Willian, Bakayoko, Moses etc etc etc). I deal with medium to long term even horizons, not a game at a time. Game at a time thinking will quickly get us in serious trouble and also cashier our future.

CHELSEA TARGET ICARDI CONFIRMS HE WILL CONSIDER OFFERS TO LEAVE INTER https://readchelsea.com/2018/10/23/chelsea-target-icardi-confirms-he-will-consider-offers-to-leave-inter/ Inter striker Mauro Icardi has confirmed that he will consider any offers that come in for him, amid interest from Real Madrid and Chelsea. Speaking about his future to Radio Onda Cero, as cited on Calciomercato, Icardi admitted that he is happy at the San Siro, but refused to rule out a future move away. The Argentinian striker has been perennially linked with moves away from the Italian giants in recent years, but the club captain has always remained a key fixture at the San Siro. Real Madrid have been long-term admirers of Icardi and could move for him as a potential replacement for Karim Benzema, who has seen his future in Spain questioned this season. Icardi is said to be one of two strikers shortlisted by Maurizio Sarri in preparation for the January transfer window. The Italian head coach wants to add to his forward line and has been linked with moves for Icardi and Genoa’s Krzysztof Piatek. snip INTER STRUGGLING TO CONVINCE CHELSEA TARGET ICARDI TO PEN NEW DEAL https://readchelsea.com/2018/10/23/inter-struggling-to-convince-chelsea-target-icardi-to-pen-new-deal/

To be fair, Kepa, Rudiger, Jorginho, Kovavcic, and part-timers Barkley and Pedro have been pretty good, especially the first 3. Kante and Azpi have dropped off from last 3-4 years levels (although in Kante's case it is due to his struggling with a new role). The rest, absolutely I agree are either just not good enough or are playing poorly, or are simply too old. It is a massive issue, papered over by a really good start (we have been really lucky in a number of games where teams have missed multiple sitters). We desperately need to go after Icardi (it is going to come down to us and RM), Dybala or maybe Piatek at striker, and also a truly impactful RW, with Bailey, Bernardeschi, Malcom (who is not all happy at Barca, as predicted), Christian Pulisic, Hirving Lozano, Suso, and David Neres being the best options, in that order.

Fixed link https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/oct/23/david-squires-on-jose-mourinho-big-day-back-at-chelsea-manchester-united-football-cartoon And yes!! Wicked cool!!!

Alonso is almost 28. His contract now runs until 2021. In world football, there are only TWO world class LB's who are older than 28. Marcelo and Jordi Alaba. This extension is more evidence the board is literally running the club into the ground. The only way this could possibly be of ANY good is IF we are going to sell Alonso in summer 2020 (when he will be months away from 30 and thus worth much less than he would have been this summer or January) so we have a bit of leverage. BUT that also means 2 more years of Alonso as starting LB, and likely more, as we apparently have lost all will to sell deadwood and subpar players.

Over the last 3 years, in terms of £30m plus transfer deals in the EPL, I think we have the top 3 worst in Morata, Bakayoko, and Drinkwater. Wages, yes, Manure is the worst, just look at Alexis.

Not me. He needs to be sold whilst we can still get good money for him. He simply isn't good enough. Same for Willian, Morata, Cahill, Luiz, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Moses, Zappacosta, and probably Emerson (he has done nothing to convince me he isnt permanently damaged goods). All those are doing nothing but going down in value each year. We need to see what Baba Rahman can do at LB and Bats can do at striker and sell them too if they are not going to work out. I am willing to keep Cesc and Giroud on for one more year, unless we get crazy money offers. It is madness to build a team around Alonso, Willian, Luiz, and Morata. That is EXACTLY what the fucking board is trying to do by renewing the first 3 and refusing to get a new striker to replace the 4th.

No speed at all. We called this before a game was kicked off, as soon as Sarri was announced. The teams weaknesses were hardly state secrets. Strikers were shit, I mean SHIT are shit, will be shit RW is shit, as Pedro is not an everyday player at this point in his career (he never really was, as he is very slight of build and takes a beating) and Willian is a joke, a £65m loss of a great sale joke LB is shit, Alonso clearly is not a back 4 acceptable level fullback Luiz is shit, for all his passing, he makes mental errors at far too great a rate, he always has All of that remains Luiz just looks a little better because AC has fallen down a large notch, Cahill is a fossil, and Ampadu is hurt. Add to that Azpi's downturn in play and now Kante's struggles to adapt Hazard, Rudiger, Kepa, Jorginho, Kovavcic, and occasionally Barkley (lately has come on really well) and Pedro (earlier, now is hurt) are carrying the team 4 outfield regulars a GK and 2 part-timers Azpi and Kante have been oki, nothing more usually, other than the occasional really good game, NOTHING like they have been for last 3,4 years the rest have been poor or basically non existent in any meaningful impact OR (big issue here) not played (RLC, Amps and especially CHO) Its amazing we do not have a loss yet, and all credit to Sarri on that, BUT the long term cost of shit rotation, probable lack of upgrades in January (its HARD to do business then and our board is SHIT usually even in the summer windows) and then no youngsters getting more than a whiff will burn us bad, especially if injuries occur

4th place is going to be a massive slog if Arse and spuds keep playing like they are Aubameyang is on fire 12 goals in last 13 league home games

Leicester totally got fucked on that Holding handball. Should have been a pen and his 2nd yellow red card.

Fucking Özil, grrrr

Morata did score 20 goals once. The year before we bought him, he bagged 20 for RM.. But that was in all comps and most were against utterly shit teams in garbage time. His CL goals (and that Juve year) are what inflated his price to an insane £70m quid. Even his little purple patch with us in fall 2017 was a mirage, as so many of them were headers from superb crosses with him not being marked well. Teams quickly learned to defend that by muscling up on the weak cunt. He is not even an accurate shooter. Compare his efficiency to a truly gifted sniper like Icardi. Galaxies apart. Higuain (who I do not even like) is also a deadly shooter, or was when he set the alltime single season goal scoring record in Serie A under Sarri. Morata is worse than Torres. That is saying something, something truly bad. Almost zero chance we finish top 4 with Morata leading the line. Almost zero with Giroud if we don't add a WC RW in January. Hazard cannot carry the team on his shoulders. Pedro is very slight of build and ageing, which leads to many injuries. Willian is not the answer, never was. He is a squad player level. Sarri will probably give CHO 3, 4, 5 partial games max, and he will chose to not renew and leave in the summer, or on a free the next. Wouldn't shock me to see him go to another team and become a truly flat-out WC winger, another mini version of the De Bruyne debacle, made even worse because he is so young (almost 10 years younger than KDB).

Unbelievably BAD business by Marina and the board. We could have had him for only £10m more (£80m release clause) in summer 2017 (and January 2018) than we splashed out for the inept, gutless plonker Morata. THEN, in 2018 the bollocksing continued as we could have sold Morata to Milan for £60-65m or so this past summer and purchased Icardi for £98m in July (between July 1st and July 15th, during his 2 week contractually-mandated window). Instead Marina tried to cash grab for £70 to £75m for the wanker Morata, thus Milan ended up making a deal with Juve for Higuain AND Caldara, with the ageing Bonucci going the other way. THAT not only fucked us on selling Morata but also fucked us on buying Rugani from Juve, as there was ZERO chance Juve would also sell their other young, Italian CB as well. We wasted our entire window chasing Italian chiaroscuro and phantoms. This was the 3rd summer in a row we got FUCKED by Italian clubs running out the window on us with multiple players. It is shamefully amateurish, and if she and the other bean counters worked at my hedge fund, they would have been sacked for the half decade or so record of failure. Inter will never sell Icardi in January unless we toss them Hazard PLUS cash, and Hazard doesnt want to go there anyway. Icardi's new contract (still unsigned) has a 150m (£133m) euro release clause. Given that we will more than likely take a monstrous bath on the Morata sale (at least a £35m or so loss when all fees are balanced, plus salary counted, and insurance factored in) there is almost no chance we end up dropping the combined £165m plus (counting the Morata loss) Icardi will cost this coming summer IF he renews. Even if he doesnt, his July 2019 window RC goes up to 125m euros (£110m or so). We will be lucky to recoup £50m now for Morata, so that is a new gap of £60m additional EVEN if Icardi doesn't renew. Combine that with the £40m plus we lost on Courtois deal, that's 100 MILLION QUID or so in losses/extra spend needed to keep the club at anything remotely acceptable level. That is just ONE position too. It gets even worse when you factor in the Willian fiasco (I estimate that instead of an on par £65m sale to Barca and a £65m buy of Bailey, we will NOW be staring down at least a £30m gap (£45-50m MAX for Willian, IF we even sell him, and £75-80m or so Bailey.) Romagnoli at CB (Sarri's new target) will be at lease £20m more than Rugani would have cost IF we had just sold fucking Morata for a more than fair £60-65m, and thus locked up Rugani before Milan did the Bonucci/Higs swap/buy. We are now at £150m WASTED. Count in the massive losses (either real and/or in terms of lost valuation) we will also take on Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta, Alonso (maybe, and surely IF we do not sell him this summer) Cahill, and Moses, you are talking WELL over £250m in fiduciary malpractice, counting salaries paid to the dead-weight and also increased transfer costs for their replacements. Cherry on the cake will be the bloodbath we will incur on Hazard if he doesn't renew. That will push the total to over 325 MILLION QUID or so in total losses and forced upgrades/redo's cost. That also assumes we even try and upgrade or replace. I honestly have to believe at this point that we are going to simply extend until 34yo or so dregs like Willian, Luiz, Alonso, etc. Would not even shock me if we renew Moses, Cahill, Fabregas. INEPT IS TOO NICE A WORD. The club is being run into the ground.