Vesper

this may sound strange, but one of the things I never liked about Fofana is how utter narrow his body is (look at now narrow his shoulders are), and his very awkward looking knock-kneed, pigeon-toed gait he just always looked like he was an injury waiting to happen

the difference is that Fofana never should have been purchased, and especially not for £75m

I warned! If little amateur me can clearly see these things I REALLY have to wonder WTF is going on although this buy was before we had a fully assembled management team

pretty much agree pretty comprehensive list of right footed CBs (I did not list former Chels) Ronald Araújo (hard as hell pull) Min-jae Kim Bayern (almost done) Milan Skriniar PSG António Silva Jurrien Timber Arse Giorgio Scalvini Bremer Robin Le Normand José María Giménez (last summer on any of my lists as he turns 30 in 18 months, plus he has a poor injury history) Jean-Clair Todibo Pierre Kalulu Mohamed Simakan Taylor Harwood-Bellis (IF Citeh sells him) Edmond Tapsoba Roger Ibañez Axel Disasi Perr Schuurs Nicolò Casale Ilya Zabarnyi Malick Thiaw Anel Ahmedhodzic Merih Demiral Josip Sutalo Danilho Doekhi Armel Bella-Kotchap (not quite sold on him atm, he started great but then reverted a bit) Odilon Kossounou Maxence Lacroix Zeno Debast Ousmane Diomande Leny Yoro (17 yo) Luka Vuskovic (16 yo)

oh, for sure my list of left footed CBs was only IF we (stupidly) sold Colwill

FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

I warned on buying him. I rated the hell out of him before his massive injury, but one of my fundamental beliefs is that you you never buy a player after a massive injury until they have a least two or so healthy seasons after that, seasons where they are at least back to the level they were before the massive injury.

FUCK by far the biggest fail in terms of management hiring we had he will take Bayern back up to monster level, the bloke is a genius

Valid point, and it really sucks that the natural alternative to Caicedo (Barella) is also Inter plus the next two, below them, Schlotterbeck (Dortmund) and Botman (NUFC) are hardly easy pulls either left footed, top class CBs are like hen's teeth

After Gvardiol and Bastoni (Alaba, who is too old to buy and would never come here is the only other truly proven WC left footed CB besides those two atm), the only other left footed CBs of high enough quality who are remotely availlabe and who would be ready to go and start some games are, IMHO (and the last 3 of these are dice rolls). The market is tight AF The best options by far after Gvard and Basti: Sven Botman Nico Schlotterbeck Then Presnel Kimpembe (last summer to buy him, as he will be 29yo a little over a year from now, on August 13, 2024. He has probably 4 max top seasons left NOW) then dice rolls, all with huge potential Micky van de Ven (Pool want him badly, he could easily end up the best of these 6, but tgat is not a lock) Piero Hincapié Gonçalo Inácio

Greedy cunts. £80m is more than fair.

Agree

We are insane if we sell Colwill unless (and this is simply not happening from all I can see) we have Gvardiol on the books. Only other left footed CB who is at a truly acceptable level as Levi's potential AND is remotely available is Bastoni.

Think we do not not need a CB? https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/Chelsea-take-29-man-squad-to-the-usa Wesley Fofana has also not travelled due to a knee injury, which is currently being assessed. Marcus Bettinelli, Benoit Badiashile and Armando Broja will too remain at Cobham as they continue their respective recoveries from injury.

Chelsea duo Omari Hutchinson and Harvey Vale miss pre-season tour to concentrate on loan deals https://theathletic.com/4694613/2023/07/16/Chelsea-hutchinson-vale-tour-loan/ Chelsea duo Omari Hutchinson and Harvey Vale have both been left out of the traveling squad for the U.S. pre-season tour next week to allow them to concentrate on securing loan moves away from the club. Hutchinson, 19, joined the club from London rivals Arsenal last summer, while Vale, 19, has progressed through the youth academy and spent six months last season on loan at Championship club Hull City. Both players are looking to secure loan deals to get regular first-team football this season and continue their development. In his first season since moving to Chelsea from Arsenal, Hutchinson, featured predominantly for the club’s under-21 side, making 25 appearances in total, scoring eight goals and providing 10 assists. He also made two first appearances. Hutchinson also became a Jamaica international this season, making his senior international debut in March. Vale has also made five first-team appearances, three coming in the FA Cup and two in the League Cup. During his loan spell at Hull, Vale made three appearances for the club, before the loan was cut short in January. Chelsea’s development squad are set to face Boreham Wood at Meadow Park on Tuesday, where both players could be involved.

Leeds United agree deal to sign Ethan Ampadu from Chelsea https://theathletic.com/4695931/2023/07/17/ethan-ampadu-leeds-Chelsea-transfer/ Leeds United have agreed a deal to Chelsea defender Ethan Ampadu. The Championship club will pay £7million ($9.1m), plus additional add-ons, in a permanent deal for the 22-year-old centre-back, who can also play in defensive midfield. A medical will follow in due course. Ampadu has had four loan spells from Chelsea since joining the club from Exeter in 2017. He spent last season at Spezia — making 31 Serie A appearances for the relegated side — after previous temporary spells with RB Leipzig, Sheffield United and Venezia. But the Wales international, who has made just 12 senior appearances for Chelsea, is now set to leave Stamford Bridge on a permanent basis this summer. Leeds are undergoing a summer reshuffle under new boss Daniel Farke following their relegation to the Championship last season. GO DEEPER Farke: Trials, tactics and how he landed as Leeds United manager (without a horse) USMNT international Brenden Aaronson has made a loan move to Union Berlin, Diego Llorente has re-joined Roma for the 2023-24 campaign, and will be joined on loan by Rasmus Kristensen, Robin Koch has temporarily signed for Eintracht Frankfurt and Marc Roca has sealed a loan switch to Real Betis. Forward Rodrigo, meanwhile, has completed a permanent transfer to Qatari side Al Rayyan.

Crazy Romelu Lukaku situation https://caughtoffside.substack.com/i/134994005/crazy-romelu-lukaku-situation It’s important to clarify the shocking situation regarding Romelu Lukaku. The deal between Inter and Lukaku is 100% off - this is the situation at the moment, with Inter now exploring different options. Lukaku shocked Inter and left them furious when they found out that the people close to him were also negotiating with Juventus. Inter did their best for Lukaku in a difficult moment in his career, re-signing him from Chelsea for a big loan fee and paying his big salary, and doing their best to support him when he was injured. Inter were on the verge of reaching an agreement with Chelsea for Lukaku - it was an agreement worth €35m plus add-ons, it was almost imminent with Inter ready to submit their final bid and Chelsea ready to accept. Then Inter found out about the Juventus talks and decided to leave the negotiations. Folarin Balogun is one player Inter appreciate - they want to understand Arsenal’s price tag. It’s nothing concrete yet, and Inter have other names on their list, but he’s a player they appreciate and so they want to know what Arsenal’s fee will be. The discussion will take place and sources expect it will be around €40m. Lukaku is now expected to return to training with Chelsea, but not to go on their pre-season tour. Mauricio Pochettino has not yet spoken to him, and the desire remains very clear on Chelsea’s side - they want him out. Chelsea have no other intention but to sell the player - they are not happy with him and they want him to leave. The two options for Lukaku are Saudi, with clubs there still insisting, and Juventus. Lukaku has said no to Saudi so far, while he’s spoken with Juventus and they have also sent a verbal proposal to Chelsea for €35m plus €2.5m add-ons. Juve are big candidates to sign Lukaku, but only if they sell Dusan Vlahovic. This makes it a complicated ‘domino’ situation, but I can say that, despite many rumours about Chelsea and Vlahovic, they are not negotiating for the Serbian striker - some members of the board appreciate him, but there is no concrete interest. The same with Lautaro Martinez - there are no talks, he will not be going to Chelsea. PSG, however, ARE considering a move for Vlahovic and the player is keen on the move. The two clubs have also had direct contacts, so next week PSG will decide internally about their top striker targets, as they’ve also considered Randal Kolo Muani and Rasmus Hojlund.

we actually need a right-footed CB (badly if Trevoh is sold, which looks likely) if Colwill leaves (I will lose my mind) we will also need a left footed CB (and likely zero chance we get Gvardiol) Wesley Fofana right footed Benoît Badiashile left footed Levi Colwill left footed Thiago Silva right footed and soon 39 years old left footed top CBs Josko Gvardiol Citeh bound more than likely Alessandro Bastoni (crazy hard pull) Pau Torres Villa Sven Botman Lucas Hernández PSG Nico Schlotterbeck Piero Hincapié Micky van de Ven Gonçalo Inácio Evan Ndicka Roma on a free (steal for them) Presnel Kimpembe (Last summer he is on my lists, as he turns 28 years old in 26 days) and then 5 dice rolls Castello Lukeba David Hancko David Carmo Attila Szalai Morato I do not think Aymeric Laporte is a good buy, he turns 30 at the end of thsi season and he never really recovered from his bad knee injury top right footed CBs Ronald Araújo (hard as hell pull) Min-jae Kim Bayern Milan Skriniar PSG António Silva Jurrien Timber Arse Giorgio Scalvini Bremer Robin Le Normand José María Giménez (last summer on any of my lists as he turns 30 in 18 months) Jean-Clair Todibo Pierre Kalulu Mohamed Simakan Perr Schuurs Nicolò Casale Ilya Zabarnyi Malick Thiaw Anel Ahmedhodzic Merih Demiral Josip Sutalo Danilho Doekhi Leny Yoro (17 yo)

fuck that fuck

If we buy slabhead I am done with the club until he leaves absolute deal breaker the line gets drawn here

he was one of the very few spuds I never hated very smooth and classy MFer

insane pace

and shits in the woods

don't sleep on the lad

I like it a lot