Vesper

I did preface it with IF it is true. That said, I see ZERO movement at all on GK front. We have known for ages that Courtois was NOT going to resign. It just isn't true that there was ever a decent chance he would, yet we have done shit. The state of reporting on transfers by these so-called journos gets worse each year too. 95% of it is rot. Then we have (again if true) Granny offering an £8m player (Musonda) as makeweight on the SMS deal when the cash part we supposedly offered was 40m euros LESS than Lazio has stated all summer they expect. That is just insane to think they will accept that and it is also (to me it would be) an insult to toss in a player who couldn't even get basically ANY field time in the goddamn Scottish league. It is a rank amateur move. I think all these 'meetings' are bullshit too. I don't believe for a second that we are putting in serious bids, when the players we go after go for lower money to other clubs than the supposed price we we offered.

If true, this type of shit REALLY makes me think Roman is secretly trying to sell the club. This is madness all round. Thibaut Courtois makes decision over Real Madrid interest - Chelsea react https://www.givemesport.com/1364541-thibaut-courtois-makes-decision-over-real-madrid-interest-chelsea-react snip Several members of the Premier League's top six are in desperate need of some new signings. Chelsea have only brought in one player in Jorginho so far this summer, with Maurizio Sarri keen to bring in more players to suit his playing style. However, the bigger concern for Chelsea is the players they could lose in the next week or so. Eden Hazard and Willian have constantly been linked with moves away, while the Blues have had to offer N'Golo Kante a new £290,000-a-week contract to ward off interest from PSG. And then there's Thibaut Courtois, the one star name who looks all but certain to depart Stamford Bridge. The Belgian wants to return to Madrid where his family lives and according to The Sun, he has made his decision. They report that Courtois will not entertain the notion of signing a lucrative new deal and is prepared to leave on a free in 12 months time. Given that, you'd think Chelsea would be prepared to react in a big way, right? Well, no, because the paper also report that the Blues are unwilling to pay more than £20m for a replacement this summer. It seems odd because there was clear interest in former Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who moved to Liverpool for more than triple their supposed budget. The whole situation suggests Chelsea are prepared to lose out on £35m on Courtois this summer, before signing a replacement next summer when he walks away for free. In 2019, you can bet that they'll be spending way more than £35m for a new goalkeeper. Their stubbornness is not exactly helping their financial situation. snip https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/6910231/thibaut-courtois-tells-chelsea-sell-now-quit-free-transfer-contract/? snip But the 26-year-old has informed the Blues he has no intention of penning a new deal and unless they let him leave this month he will see out the remaining 12 months of his contract and walk away for nothing. That leaves Chelsea with nine days to decide whether they are willing to write off £35million by insisting he stays at Stamford Bridge this season. And SunSport understands part of the problem is the club do not want to spend more than £20million on a new keeper – leaving them scraping around the market for a cut price potential replacement for one of the most highly-rated stoppers in the game.

Hard to tell, but he looks fit, just not much end product so far. RLC looked lost tonight (no, not talking about the missed pen) AND, for some fucking reason, he looks depressed, sulky, like fucking Morata (not quite that bad though). Why the fuck that is, I have NO clue. He had a great WC and he could easily claim a starting slot by beating out Barkley. Very disappointing.

I could not care less about the loss in some meaningless preseason game. I do care that our obvious weaknesses are looking worse each game LB, GK (Bulka aside) RW, AMF, and especially Striker. NONE of those are auto-fixed (other than GK with Courtois playing for one last hurrah then out the door on a free) by ANYONE missing (maybe maybe Willian at RW, if he isnt sold)

'Moves like Aguero, finishes like Frimpong' - Morata display in Dublin leaves his critics raging https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/moves-like-aguero-finishes-like-14980305 Emmanuel Yaw Frimpong Years Team Apps (Gls) 2011–2014 Arsenal 6 (0) 2012 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 5 (0) 2012 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 6 (0) 2013 → Fulham (loan) 6 (0) 2014 Barnsley 9 (0) 2014–2016 Ufa 25 (0) 2016–2017 Arsenal Tula 3 (0) 2017 AFC Eskilstuna 10 (0) 2017 Ermis Aradippou 12 (0) Only time he hit the target

Oh yes, agreed. We fucked up massively by not closing out Nainggolan, Koulibaly, Alex Sandro, Lukaku, Corentin Tolisso.

Selling those 3 yields £150m if we are lucky. The 3 to buy will cost around £260 to £275m. Zero chance the board drops £110 to £125m more in net spending.

SELL MORATA PLEASE. that is all

Of course he has to say that for public consumption but I guarantee an extra pack of bifters is getting hoovered tonight.

Conte fucked himself over the Costa shit, INSANELY STUPID!!!!!!!

I sooooooooooo miss

Thats what I am telling myself. LOLOL If ever there was a HUGE opportunity for Bats, NOW IS IT! He surely has to be better than Morata at this point. I hope Sarri can work some magic. RLC poor performance (not talking about the pen) I will chalk off to long post WC layoff. Rudiger looks a rock, AC looked really good too, as did Ampadu. I am not worried about CB much. LB is not so good. Alonso was shambles IMHO. I still cannot (normally do not have trouble at all) rate Emerson. He is so hard to judge. Other than one horrid pass, Jorginho looked fine. Barkely and Pedro were non existent. CHO the star by far. Bakayoko at least made no huge errors. Azpi was low key, didnt do many overlaps. Bulka looked amazing for a 19yo with little experience.

Yes, it was but no end product, which is the bottom line unfortunately. I am going to try and walk myself off the ledge and think positive thoughts. I am already so sick of whinging about Morata my head hurts.

Every game he plays his value goes down £2 to £3m

That is 10000% on granny and the board. They are not giving Sarri the tools to play his style of ball with. I am sure many just think all will come good once the real season kicks off. That to me is delusional thinking.

Wasn't terrific, as Morata is our striker and he was a massive FAIL. Its not like a position were our best (like Hazard) is out on holiday still. Morata has been on footballing holiday since January.

Pedro disappeared this game, that is a tad worrying.

Well we get to see how Bulka handles pens.

Fuckkkkk

Blahhhh delay

Might be worth a shot.

The level of punishment Hazard takes is insane.

Enter the Baka.

Talisca is only in China because Benfica had huge FFP issues and Guangzhou Evergrande paid a huge loan fee. He is a baller.

Oh, if his head was into staying I wouldn't trade Courtois for any other keeper. But he wants out and will leave next summer, or sooner if we sell him.