Vesper

We are pikers compared to some of the Italian clubs. Look at Parma, 2014-15 403 total arrivals/outbounds https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-parma/transfers/verein/130/saison_id/2014 TRANSFER ACTIVITY 14/15 Earnings/expenditures Arrivals/Departures Fee Total results +£5.16m Income 190 £11.52m Expenditures 213 £6.36m

The family feeling the political environment (the yank/UK Russssssssia!! hysteria bollocks) is so unstable and not wanting the risk is what I meant.

Premier League footballer charged with raping schoolgirl in France https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/09/12/premier-league-footballer-charged-raping-schoolgirl-france/?li_source=LI&li_medium=li-recommendation-widget A Premier League footballer has been charged with raping a schoolgirl in France after allegedly lying to police about having sex with the 15-year-old because "he did not want to upset his girlfriend". The 23-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is currently on bail awaiting trial along with his cousin, who is now 25, over the alleged attack in the southern city of Nimes, a court heard. Both men, who could face jail terms of up to 15 years, deny charges of raping the unidentified victim, who was found "in tears and deep shock" by school friends after the attack in July 2012, according to legal sources. There are no immediate restrictions on his playing career, although he is constant touch with detectives and lawyers in France. She was 15 at the time – the minimum of age of consent in France – and claims she was forced into sex by her assailants, who were then 17 and 19. Neither is French, but they were on holiday together at a campsite in Aigues-Mortes, which is 30 miles south of Nimes, and close to the Mediterranean coast. snip

Leave it to Drinkwater to fuck it up, SMDH

We should go for either regardless as Cesc, Drinkwater and Bakayoko need to go go go. Between the Hazard situ (if he fails to renew), the Kovacic situ, the Roman political situ, and a rapidly ageing and/or team loaded with deadwood, next summer is going to a shitstorm, even moreso if we dont qualify for the CL.

It's not, really. Unless Hazard renews, we are fucked. This was the window to sell him, hey turns 28 in 3 and a half months (so whoever buys him only gets an under 30 Eden for a season and a half), and with only one year left on contract, we either will be forced to sell him at cut-rate price (like Courtois) or lose him on a free in June, 2020. Price wise, I think it will be a miracle if we get £125m for him, we probably will settle for £100-110m. Why would a club pay more if they can get him for free 10 months later? Zidane has at least of 50/50 shot at being Manure's manager, and that further fucks us (not just on Eden) but then I highly doubt Rashford or Martial will leave. It would be anthoer miracle if we can play the Mancs v Real and come out with a swap Eden plus Willian for Martial and Rashford (maybe Luke Saw tossed in, or even better, Diogo Dalot, but now I AM dreaming) <<<<<<<<<<< this is a catch 22, as to get Martial and Rashford (and Mo is the Willian driver, not ZZ), we need Mo to stay, but ZZ is the driver on the Hazard deal with the Mancs or Eden plus Alonso for Kovacic on a perm plus Vinícius Júnior and RB Álvaro Odriozola (and maybe some cash tossed in by us as well, say £10-20m, as those 3 RM players are worth around £150-160m en toto) <<<< THIS I would take in a flash The Hazard situ (if he refuses to renew) can REALLY fuck up the club partially, IF we bollocks it up, which I would say is a deffo possibility, given our boards outright SHIT performance the last few years.

José Gayá was an absolute terror at LB versus Croatia. Far better than Alonso was in the last game, I hate to say.

They have many similarities. Both play/played for RB Salzburg, they arr from neighbouring counties (Mali and Guinea). Haidara is almost exactly 3 years younger, and a wee bit (4xms) taller, but not as muscular as Keita. Keita is a little better shooter, Haidara a little better passer (at similar stage). Keita is more offense minded at this stage, and a more rounded player, but Haidara has the potential to become the same.

Barkley is a good enough pure athlete (maybe the best we have except for Kante, who is inhuman) that he should, in theory, be able to play almost any position on the field, as long as he stays healthy. He also has a good deal of technical skills too. Sarri, whilst appearing atm to be quite rigid about rotation, nor into positing truly expansive thinking, certainly has, deep down, the innovative mind and a bit of gambler streak in him needed to eventually start to think outside the box. I fully believe this to be the case. I think he is intelligent to the point that he has a master plan all shaped out, and wants to have a solid baseline (in terms of both results and player performance improvement on a steady upward slope) to springboard slowly off of in a controlled fashion and manner as he starts to hit the meat of our fixtures.

If that happens, abject panic will start to ooze in, especially if followed up by a second poor performance (away in the EL at PAOK Thessaloniki). I have seen this script before. That said, I see almost zero chance of us dumping the 3 points, unless Bobby Reid, Josh Murphy, and Junior Hoilett all have MONSTER games. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is out injured (knee) so I expected Hoilett to maybe start as an inverted RW, and he is pacey, so might give Alonso a bit of a go, but Reid has to deal with our MF, so should be in for a right proper bollocksing. Azpi can surely take out Murphy most of the time. They have the worst strikers in the league, and their CB's are for shit too.

You know what I going to say, lol SELL the deadwood, and ffs, try Barkley at RW I absolutely also believe that we can play Kante, Kova, Jorginho, and Barkley in any 3 out of 4 player combinations Against shit n sit flat back 10 like Newcastle tried, pull either Kova or Kante, and release the hounds with Barkley and one of the other 2 pounding forward, with Jorginho playing deep pivot DMF Or, hell, try Barks at striker ffs, he might just surprise. I weeks ago posted an old article where he claimed that was a position he could well play. I am not a huge believer in a player needing one position and one position only as their ticket to on the field match play. Back before Mo went mental the 2nd time, Zouma coming in as a DMF DESTROYER later on in games always warmed my heart.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek must leave Chelsea as he's fighting losing battle for regular football https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/ruben-loftuscheek-must-leave-chelsea-as-hes-fighting-losing-battle-for-regular-football-a3933656.html This season should prompt Ruben Loftus-Cheek into making the biggest decision of his career — and that is to leave Chelsea for good. The midfielder is almost certain to be offered a new contract before the end of the campaign because he will have just two years remaining on his current deal next summer and Chelsea will want to protect the valuation of their star academy product. But the England international needs to move on, and what has taken place during 2018 should be regarded as the final straw. The alarm bells must have begun ringing when Chelsea bought Ross Barkley for £15million in January. Barkley plays in a similar position to Loftus-Cheek, is an England player and, at 24, is just two years older than his team-mate. Barkley started Chelsea’s first three games this season, while Loftus-Cheek, who joined the Chelsea academy at the age of eight, made one brief cameo in that time from the bench. snip

John Terry confirms he has turned down Spartak Moscow move https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/john-terry-confirms-he-has-turned-down-spartak-moscow-move-a3934451.html Former Chelsea defender John Terry has turned down a move to Russian Super League outfit Spartak Moscow. The 37-year-old is currently a free agent after leaving Aston Villa at the end of last season where he started 32 Championship matches after being handed the captain’s armband by manager Steve Bruce. The ex-England international was expected to sign a one-year contract - believed to be worth £3 million-a-year - with the Russian club after undergoing a medical in Rome. However, in an Instagram post, Terry confirmed the deal was off and revealed family reasons were behind his decision to snub the move to Moscow. snip I think the political situation got to him

Poyet One of my first favourite Chelsea players (I was 5 when he signed, lolol). My father loved him! Can we find a clone, please? (Vecino, just because they both are Uruguayans, is NOT one) Sorry about yer wager loss, mate.

My favourite young CMF target we should be going after (along with making Kovacic permanent) after we sell off deadwood. We can still get him for a fair price, but so many clubs are circling Red Bull Salzburg, especially after his monster run in the Europa League last year. Massive upgrade IMHO from Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Cesc (too old, sorry), Marco van Ginkel. He has Naby Keita Jr. written all over him. Amadou Haidara Date of Birth (Age): Jan 31, 1998 (20) Place of Birth: Bamako, Mali Nationality: Malian Height: 1,75 m Position: Central Midfield Agent: Relatives Current international: Mail AMADOU HAIDARA COMPILATION Bonus, the first video has a Malian singer, with probably the most INSANE tribute song to a player EVER!! It's fucking EPIC!!!!

I cannot, for the life of me, understand how people rate WILLIAN over Bailey, even now. Bailey just turned 21, Willian is at his last peak year (I would argue he is already on the downside) and 100 times out of 100 I would take Bailey. He has a GREAT shooting touch, is direct as fuck, and is one of fastest wingers in Europe. He also seems like a model citizen, you never hear a whiff of scandal or dressing room drama about him. We NEED TO GET THIS DONE BEFORE BREXIT. I am really worried about a possible Tory cunt block on EEA/EU players signed by FA teams, and a higher quota on homegrown. I think he qualifies, due to Jamaican citizenship, not sure.

Torino Provide Injury Update On Aina & It's Not What Rohr Wants To Hear https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=29235 Italian Serie A club Torino have provided an injury update on Nigeria international Ola Aina ahead of their visit to Udinese for a game that corresponds to the fourth round of matches in the topflight. The Maroons trained on Tuesday afternoon with an open door training session on the secondary field and manager coach Mazzarri directed a session equally divided between athletic and tactical work. Aina did not take part in training as he is still receiving treatment after sustaining a muscular problem to the biceps femoris of the left thigh against SPAL in the last game before the international break. The information from Turin will certainly be bad news for Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr who is planning to name the Chelsea loanee on the roster for next month's double header against Libya. With the squad list set to be announced by Rohr at the end of this month, Aina has less than three weeks to convince the German that his injury problems are behind him. The versatile fullback has figured in all the matches played by Torino in the Serie A in the new season.

You would think Sarri, given his great record with MFers, could finally get him to play up to his potential and physical skillset. If we go Ballack in as technical director, maybe he could take a few times a month and worth with RLC too. I gotta be honest, given his size, technical ability and stamina, he SHOULD be up there within seeing distance of Saúl Ñíguez, SMS, Pogba by now. Or at least on a legitimate path to get there.

Bundesliga Star Leon Bailey Sets His Sights on Securing January Transfer to Chelsea https://www.90min.com/posts/6168504-bundesliga-star-leon-bailey-sets-his-sights-on-securing-january-transfer-to-chelsea Bayern Leverkusen star Leon Bailey has been lined up as a long-term replacement for Chelsea talisman Eden Hazard and the Jamaican could move to Stamford Bridge as early as January, according to reports in Germany. The 21-year-old has been at the forefront of attention for European football's biggest clubs following his first full season in the Bundesliga, and Bailey was often linked with a move away from the BayArena throughout the summer transfer window. The forward eventually stayed with Die Werkself but a dismal start to the campaign, which sees Leverkusen sitting joint bottom of the league table, could persuade Bailey to force a move away from Germany when the transfer window reopens. Although there has been much speculation over Bailey's future destination, a report in Kicker (via TEAMtalk) claims that the youngster has his heart set on a move to Chelsea and will snub interest from Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool. Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich were also believed to be monitoring Bailey's future in Leverkusen, and it is understood that the former Genk winger will cost upwards of €60m. Bailey was involved in 18 goals across all competitions last season. The Jamaican earned a reputation amongst Bundesliga fans for his ability to cut inside on his left foot and find the far corner of the net - similar to Arjen Robben. snip

Agree with all you said. RLC is such an enigma. I still think he was crazy to not take the Schalke loan. CL football, a great team environment and he would be probably starting most games.

Pogba needs to take his ass back to Juve

Bailey has often been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge and his scintillating performances for Bayer Leverkusen this season haven’t gone unnoticed by Chelsea. But an old tweet from Bailey has resurfaced on social media picturing Bailey in a Chelsea shirt with Blues supporters urging the club to push through a deal now. One user posted: “We are linked with this player!!! It’s great when the player is a secret @ChelseaFC fan!!!!” look remember, he is left footed

“There’s concrete interest” – Budding Bundesliga star confirms firm interest from Chelsea this summer https://www.chelsea-news.co/2018/09/theres-concrete-interest-budding-bundesliga-star-confirms-firm-interest-chelsea-summer/ According to Fussball Transfers in Germany, via Football London, Bayern Munich’s £53 million bid did not convince the winger to sign a deal this summer, because he is focused on joining Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea. Bailey is quoted to have said, he leaves his future in the hands of Bayer, who certainly may have been told of his London wishes. “There’s concrete interest. What I can say is that my full focus is on developing myself as a young player, and that’s what I’ll focus on. If a club wants me, my management and Bayer will take care of it.” Leon Bailey, Football London

These were only wingers, I listed Talisca and Kai Havertz and Carlos Soler (my top 3 AMF targets) in another reply in another thread.