Vesper

Drinkwater was/is the 2017 version of Jiri Jarosik. Ridiculous price paid for a marginal player as well. NO clue why we bought him, other than he once played with Kante. Then again so did MF's Julien Féret, Andy King, Laurent Agouazi, Nicolas Seube, Fayçal Fajr, and Jordan Adéoti (over 200 games total between them with Kante) and you could get the lot of 'em for less than 6,7 million quid total spend (the ones who are not out of football)

Monaco Russian owner stepped in and put the hard/soft grandmotherly love (Russian expression) squeeze on.

I do not think PSG will sell Rabiot, Barca got rebuffed multiple times (granted Barca and PSG hate each other after Neymar and the Verratti shite), and he (Rabiot) is immensely popular in Paris. Pjanic sale is to fund Pogba buy from Man U so the Mancs can go after Milinkovic-Savic. Mourinho didnt even mention Pogba in potential captains,and went with Valencia.

Link please. I am at a point where I can actually see us doing this. 19 days till window for inbound slams shut. Donnarumma is probably off the board now as CAS reversed AC Milan Euro ban. That leaves Thomas Strakosha as only truly world class keeper who is remotely available. Of course its another Italian game-playing team (Lazio). Only good news (if true) is Barca came back with 3rd bid for Willian at around £55m. He gave interview today and deffo wants out and I would much rather he go to Barca than Man U and £55m is great price.

IF this http://astamfordbridgetoofar.com/2018/07/21/bad-news-for-chelsea-fans-as-blues-agree-170million-double-deal-to-send-two-stars-to-real-madrid-report/ is true, I am going to lose my fecking mind!! Only £170 for BOTH Hazard AND Courtois! Thats £65m less or so than what we should get at minimum (and £120m less than a Courtois with 2, 3 years left on contract double deal would cost!) If you subtract out Courtois £35m Real is getting Hazard for £135m or basically the same as what Barca paid for semi bust Dembele and £15m less than they paid for Coutinho! Please talk me down from the rope and chair. WTF is going on with our board for last 4 years????????? Arguably best GK, certainly top 3 in world we will sell him soon for a third of his value Have 2nd or 3rd best RB in world may sell him Best DMF in world by far, may lose him Had the current best attacking MF in world on club sold him for shit May lose 1st or second best LW in world soon Had now current 2nd best RW in world, Sold him for shit Had now current top 6 or 7 striker in world, sold him for shit And another top 10 or so striker and our manager fucked him off n' out Grrrrrrrrrrrr

Unless we sell Hazard, I don't see any of the huge moves dropping, as I am NOT seeing us sell all those I listed in that link above. The cash just isnt there right now (in terms of Roman dropping insane quid). Bit of a jumpaway from this linear flow, BUT I would MUCH rather get Lucas Paquetá from Flamengo than Golovin, even if he costs say 15 to £20m more. He is crazy explosive, and will soon be (2 to 3 years max) household name for Brasil AMF's

Juve are shopping Pjanic becuase they are ALL in to buy back Pogba. Mourinho just completely snubbed him for captain. Man U wants Milinkovic-Savic and will sell Pogba to get him https://www.ilbianconero.com/a/mourinho-sgarbo-a-pogba-tra-il-barca-e-le-chat-con-la-juve-il-pu-13423 Jose Mourinho decided to confirm Antonio Valencia as United captain as there is tension between the Portuguese coach and Pogba. This is what Mourinho previously said on the matter: "If Valencia plays then he is the captain. If not, it could be Smalling, Young, Herrera or Mata". He didn't even mention Pogba as the tension grows between the pair. According to Spanish reports, United should watch out for Barcelona as Mundo Deportivo said that the blaugrana want to sign a top midfielder and Pogba is surely on their wish-list. Time will tell as we will have to see if Mourinho's words will influence Pogba's decision.... I see no path to MS unless we sell sell Hazard (I think he is gone soon, sob) or Kante (HELL NO!!!) IF Hazard goes this is the best possible scenario With Strakosha swapped out for the already gone Alisson (Strakosha would be less expensive too, so my numbers REALLY work then)

We only have (top quality) Christensen, Rudiger, and then a 17 year old Ampadu. Azpi is going to be the full time RB I am sure, unless we also splurge and get one of the following RB's (IN NO ORDER): (all this also assumes we are going to also sell Zappacosta back to an Italian club and TBH, every player I list from here on is better than Zappacosta and better than Moses) 1 and 2. Sergi Roberto or Nélson Semedo of Barca (only way one would come (and I prefer Roberto) is if we sold Azpi to Barca and demanded one plus cash (or straight swap). Roberto doesn't like playing fullback (even though he is SUPERB at it, only behind Kimmich IMHO), and he is promised a MF role again, so no way he wants to come here anyway. 3. Elseid Hysaj (no way Napoli lets him go and we have a no-raid agreement with De Laurentiis due to Sarri signing 4. Sime Vrsaljko THIS I could go for, i watched him a lot at Atletico Madrid, and he excelled in the WC too. Bomber on right and great at track-backs as well. 5. Djibril Sidibé formed dipped last year from previous seasons, and he was hurt, so lost his place on French team to Pavard (a natural CB who played great at RB in the WC). Iam jittery about anymore defensive players from Monaco after Bakayoko nightmare. 6 Benjamin Pavard (a clone of Azpi in that he can swing from CB to to RB with ease, plus is 6 years younger than Azpi. would be the best overall signing on my list, all in all (assuming no Roberto, and probably even then, as we need a swing CB/RB FAR more than a MF/RB swing player if we lose Azpi) 7 Benjamin Henrichs (if Azpi stays we should sell Moses (we will never get more for him) and buy this 21 year old. He has tremendous upside, and needs a change of scenery Bayer, his team just dropped a tonne (for them) on new RB too, Mitchell Weiser from Hertha Berlin, so Heinrichs should not be that hard to prise away. Wild card Hugo Mallo of Celta Vigo, GREAT RB, their captain, clutch player, great leader, 27 (just turned), BUT I truly do not think he would leave his almost hometown team (he is Galician, born and raised near Vigo) He is one of those unknown outside of Spain superb players who gets lost in the Big 3 glow. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, all that said YES we need another CB for sure, absolutely, especially if Azpi is sold to Barca (they would deffo prefer him to Semedo, of that I am sure). Cahill and Luiz are shit at this point sell them both ASAP!

Serie A has by far the best players for us of any outside league not saying we can remotely get all these but imagine a Chelsea with these (I am not listing every single position) these are all Serie A players GK Alisson (too late now,grrr) so Strakosha or Donnarumma CB Kalidou Koulibaly (rotate with Christensen and Rudiger) RB Elseid Hysaj (assuming we sold Azpi to Barca, which we should NOT do) (only one outside of Serie A who i would take over him and who WAS available at one time is Sergi Roberto or maybe, maybe 2 others, Sime Vrsaljko or Sidibe, but proably not) LB Alex Sandro (best available LB in world) Deep Holding MF (Jorginho, got him now, SUPERB player and signing) CMF Milinković-Savić (only way we could afford him is if Hazard is sold and also a tonne of deadweight) creative MF Miralem Pjanic (or a non serie A..... Thiago from Bayern) RW Federico Chiesa or Suso (as I think my number one available, Malcom, ends up... LOLOL, in Italy at Inter) finally the big two Icardi (who we are insane not to get) and then Dybala there are just more players in Serie A who are world class and fit our needs than elsewhere It is also the hardest league to deal with, so we end up get shivved

Leon Bailey is my number one winger target for us!! We desperately need him!

100000000000000% agree! Boateng is a shambolic mess at this stage. I fear we are looking at another Alex Sandro Juve nightmare, with them raising the price over and over. At least in Alex Sandro's case you could make argument he was a top 3 or 4 on planet LB after or mixed in with Alaba (clear number one RB and number one FB period) Jordi Alba (30 this coming season though),and Marcelo (already 30). Rugani is not worth 50m euros IMHO, and certainly looks like bad value considering a month or so ago we submitted a bid that equalled Juve's AT THE TIME valuation of 30m euros. 40m euros, yes, not 50. No way has he improved 67% in a month! I would rather we go after one of these Kalidou Koulibaly (3 year pipe dream, Napoli want £80m for him, and he is now 27, not 23, 24, which if he were 4 years younger, £80m MIGHT make sense. Also, he is NOT a 1.95m tall giant (Napoli lied on their website - quelle surprise!) as people keep saying. He is 1.87, all you have to do is look at the photo with Pogba holding his shoulder outside a training room. Pogba towers over him. Transfermarkt finally fixed this btw. that leaves these 10 Matthijs de Ligt Ajax (Juve will probably get him with the goddamn Rugani money!! he is only 18 and already close to world class, we are so stupid to not snatch him up) Benjamin Pavard VfB Stuttgart (WC has blown his value up to crazy levels, so maybe wait on him, but Spurs seem hellbent to get him) Alessio Romagnoli AC Milan (Not sure if he will want to leave AC Milan, but he is better value for the money than Rugani, IMHO) Stefan Savic Atlético Madrid (27 and rock solid, not sure if he is a player for Sarri ball though) Konstantinos Manolas Roma (27 as well, rate him over Savic) Dayot Upamecano RB Leipzig only 19 HUGE upside Rúben Dias SL Benfica 21, realllly good young Portuguese with loads of upside, good size (1.87) and pacy Manuel Akanji Borussia Dortmund just turned 23 today fast, young, looked really good in WC and the Bundesliga games I saw him in Jonathan Tah Bayer Leverkusen 22 HUGE (1.94m legit) and fast for his size, not sure if he is ideal for Sarri ball Panagiotis Retsos Bayer Leverkusen 19 huge upside, in a few years he could be a susperstar, but maybe we need instant help now, still.........

That lineup is a shambolic mess. Cahill???????? Alsonso at left FULLBACK? Kante as a wide MF'er with Jorginho in back of him????? Pedro????????? Higuain I am so not enthused about! ICARDI PLEASE!! IF THAT is what we end up with, expect Sarri to be sacked by Valentines Day IF Real do offer the rumoured £200m for Hazard take it and do the following We can swap with Man U Willian for Martial Buy Leon Bailey for around £60m Scupper Spurs and Fulham for Malcom for £40m or so And have £100m left over Take that £100m, toss in Fabregas and get Milinkovic-Savic. That meets their 120 to 130 million euro (not pounds) valuation Absolutely neutral in new money spent And we would have THREE world class wingers Bailey 20 years old Malcom 21 years old Martial 22 years old AND one of the best young central midfielders in the world Milinković-Savić 23 years old Insanely good business THEN KEEP KANTE!!!! we KEEP Azpilicueta, make NO sense to sell him, he is more than capable of play right fullback in a back 4, and is a great crosser Keep Ross Barkley Keep Bats (MAYBE loan him out) Keep RLC Keep Giroud (its not like we would get a tonne anyway andhe is a GREAT backupor game changers in 60th, 70th minute) Loan out Zouma We then sell Courtois £35m (we may only get that from Real, especial if they just dumped 200m on Hazard) Drinkwater £25m Luiz £20m to PSG or another place Alonso £35m to Barca Morata £55m to Juve Pedro £15m (try for £20m but not holding breath) Victor Moses £25m Cahill £15m Bakayoko £35m back to Monaco Zappacosta £20m (multiple teams in Italy want him) £10m from assorted other minor sales that's £290m to the bank (those sell prices are TOTALLY realistic, even if we take a loss on some versus what we paid, but that the way the biscuit breaks) Roman said a max NET spend of £100m when all is balanced out we spent £50m on Jorginho so that leaves £50m from that pot add that to the £290m generated from sales £340m pot take that and buy Mauro Icardi £125m should get it done Alex Sandro £65m is what Juve demands, pay it (keep Emerson for backup) Rugani £35m Alisson £60m Benjamin Henrichs £25m (RB at Bayer Levekusen, only 21, massive upside) (backup/rotation for Azpi as we sold Zappacosta) Golovin £30m grand total £340m DEAD spot on the £100m net spend This is NOT fantasy-land, it just will be tough as hell to do with the trans window slamming shut in 24 days. yes we lose Hazrd and Courtois, but we clean all deadweight and LOOOOOOOK at that team!!!! So young (but experienced as well) Under my plan, we have brought in Alisson GK (top 5 in world GK, should not be hardly any drop off v Courtois) Rugani CB (great young (23) big (1.90m), fast, ball player Italian classic CB) Loads of upside, and fucking MILES better than Cahill or Luiz are now, Sarri si a HUGE fan Alex Sandro LB (2nd best LB in world, after Alaba, insane upgrade over Alonso, especially for a back 4) Benjamin Henrichs RB (super upside, 21 yo, massively physically gift and can learn from Azpi et all) Jorginho DMF/DHMF combo 2nd best combo playmaking DMF/deep holding MF after Busquets in the world, and is 4 years younger (26 v 30) Milinković-Savić CMF (2nd best 23 and under CMF on the planet after Saul Niguez, and has much higher upside, is just a huge physical specimen, like Pogba with a motor) Golovin AMF (super young explosive ATM and can play wing too, he has all the tools, is the best Russian (I know I know, lolol) player in ages) Bailey RW/LW Maybe the biggest upside out all 11 newbies, I can see him playing a wee bit like Hazard, not as much a dribbler, but has a potentially better outside shot Malcom RW Superb young explosive RW, huge upgrade from Pedro/Willian, at least offensively, he will have to go a bit to be as good defensively as Willan was at times, but he has all the tools Martial LW (still only 22, and will THRIVE under Sarri, explosive upside still, he was used so wrongly at Man U by Mourinho (theres a shock, NOT!!) Mauro Icardi CF Best (or 2nd after Kane) Pure striker in the world ATM for only £100m net spend and also have (Christensen/Rudiger, Azpi, KANTE, RLC, included as starters or rotation in RLC case)

Sarri likes a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1, so in that formation, I assume our starting midfield would be Kante (DMF) Jorginio (deep to mid holding) RLC (same as Jorginho, with both floating) Golovin (advanced attacking role,like Fabregas on steroids) Backups Bakayoko (maybe I am delusional but I still think he can come good, especially under Sarri) Barkley would be a backup for Golovin or used more as a winger in a different formation Moses, although I would sell him, he is at peak value after WC (Azpi would be the starting RB and we need move for RB Benjamin Henrichs (back up or rotation). IF Barca somehow prises Azpi away, we need, absolutely need to demand RB Nelson Semedo is in the deal(or really splash the cash and go for Djibril Sidibe) SELL Drinkwater, Fàbregas, and IF absolutely needed for funding, Bakayoko, and then Moses (as listed already) Loan out Musonda (another one I think can be really good) Thoughts?

I think we all assumed it was a done deal becuase of the Russian connection, and that is the way the press spun it too. Huge miss-out if he goes Juve, BUT maybe that will make a grab for Miralem Pjanić a little easier (not that I see us splashing Pjanić level cash as Juve wants £74m for him).Golovin is also 6 years younger ad well, and far less expensive, so frees up £40m to 45m .to help go after RW Leon Bailey and/or a LB like Jose Gaya or Alex Telles (I highly doubt we get Alex Sandro) to rotate with Emerson (the LB rant assumes we sell Alonso to Barca)

I am at wit's end. We cannot even get our managerial situ sorted. The transfer window slams shut for incoming in exactly one month, and the EPL season kicks off in 33 days. BEST case scenario is we have Sarri and all signings done and dusted in 2 to 3 weeks. That gives him ONE OR TWO WEEKS to install a completely different system vis-a-vis Conte's. The only outcome that can likely occur from that is probably shambolic chaos for at least a month plus, which scuppers any real shot at the title (that is a pipe dream anyway) and certainly puts a top 4 finish in jeopardy as well. Roman just doesn't give a shite anymore, I fear. Hard to blame him when the cocked up government is blocking him from coming into the UK, and this after he has pumped in billions over the last 15 years.

You honestly say that Icardi is not a target man? He is a textbook number 9. Dybala is also a textbook secondary striker, the only one in the world you might argue who is better at that position is Roberto Firmino from LPool, due to his amazing trackback play. Surely a creative, expansive coach could find a way to have Messi, Dybala and Icardi work together as a lethal unit. I am not saying you are wrong at all, just positing that a system could be put into place where all three could flourish. I simply do not believe it couldn't. Argentina went out, and played poorly overall, IMHO, mainly due to a horrific back four and goalkeepers. Otamendi is (with strong competition from a year plus plummeting Jerome Boateng) arguably the most overrated centre back in major world football. Gabriel Mercado, Nicolás Tagliafico, Cristian Ansaldi, Federico Fazio, Marcos Acuña, Marcos Rojo were and are also hardly the quality upon which World Cup's are won.

In a perfect world those would be either Thiago from Bayern or Pjanic from Juve for PMCMF, and for RW Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen or Malcom from Bordeaux. I am not holding my breath.

I would be more than happy with Thomas Strakosha from Lazio or even Alex Meret from Udinese.

Thank you!!!!!

It's all on Messi, He hates Icardi (arguably the best pure striker, maybe second after Kane, in the world today), so Icardi doesn't even make the squad. Messi also has said before that Dybala and and himself play exact same way/position (bollocks) so again, blocked. I detest Ronaldo, but at least he performs on the big stages with regularity. CR7 has even worse surrounding teammates too, although Argentina's back 4 are truly a joke. Otamendi is most overrated centre back on the planet with possible exception of the Jérôme Boateng of last 2 years (was a BEAST before that, Otamendi always was shit). John Stones for 3rd. Pep needs to get help back there if they want to win the CL. I am shocked he has not splashed the cash on Marquinhos and/or my favourite for us, Koulibaly (as City WOULD pay the £80 or 90m it will take to prise him away from De Laurentiis, and we never will ).

If we loan him out AGAIN I am going to bloody fucking lose my mind!!!

I agree on most I would sell Courtois £40-50m (as he will leave on a free next summer if we dont sell now) to Real (AFTER we sign Alisson or Donnarumma or Strakosha, the first 2 being a net £10m to £30m spend, Strakosha being a net gain of around 10m) David Luiz (£20m) Tomás Kalas £5m Cahill (lucky if we can get 20m, probably get 15m max, maybe less, should have sold him last year, huge mistake) Alonso to Barca (£40m) and buy José Gayà (around £40m so a wash) or Alex Telles (30 to 35m so net gain of 5 to 10m) Kenedy £20m Davide Zappacosta (trade him plus £10 to £15m to Inter for Vecino) Danny Drinkwater (£25m) he is English, so can get that extra 5m (still want to know why the feck we wasted cash on him!) Cesc Fàbregas (£15 to 20m) time to sell! Pedro £15 to 20m Lucas Piazón £5m Bakayoko £35m (Monaco wants him back) Pašalić £10m Willian £50m Morata £55m that would yield (counting the buys/swaps plus cash listed above, PLUS adding in the £60m from Abro) around £290m to spend ( and remember I have already added a goalkeeper (I picked most costly option, Alisson, to be fair) a new LB (again I picked most costly option, Gaya) and a new creative CMF (Vecino) I also did not sell MVG, I think he REALLY deserves a shot at main club so now the pure needs.based buys (after those above) BUY RB Elseid Hysaj or Sime Vrsaljko who would be 40m and around 30m respectively CB Kostas Manolas (£35m or so activates his release clause) or Rugani (same price roughly) CHMF Jean Michaël Seri (£40m) RW Leon Bailey (£65m) CF Mauro icardi (£110m) £280-290m <<<<<<<<<<<<< Total cost for those five so yes we can DO THIS for a £60m NET spend

I so hope this is just idle chatter, but I fear it is not. I see us sliding down into a realm between the big 5 and the rest of the flotsam. Maybe it is time for Roman to sell to someone willing to spend what it takes in today's hyper-inflated market.

Would rather we have a go at signing Carlos Soler (21 yo) of Valencia or Trigueros's teammate, Pablo Fornals (22 yo) especially Soler, what a talent!