Vesper

I highly doubt that, (that is £132m) that is Bellingham (and only by an English club for him, Real will not dump out that much I wager) level cash and Benfica will perhaps try and play their bullshit 'pay the taxes too' games, which will kick it up close to €200m!!! Enzo is not prime Messi or CR7 or current Mbappe also: zero chance Enzo signs that deal sub zero

as I and especially actual Portuguese have pointed out, The Record is a bird cage liner level rag, they literally just make shit up

I do not think we should sell Mount, I think we should come to a salary compromise, something Marina should have long ago done, but once again cocked up her legacy is extremely problematic for me, we won those trophies despite her for the most part, not because of her, I believe that to the theoretical depths of my non-existent (I am an atheist after all) soul I own my bias against her, it is not against her as a person, I am sure she can be lovely, BUT I think she and our scouts and the board left us in shambles (along with Roman being denied his UK visa renewal post-Skripal poisoning and then pulling the plug on the new stadium, all of which I predicted beforehand) I know that opinion make me hated here by some (most probably), but I own it to the bone

I am not wading into the Gallagher argument (I am biased, I say sell him) BUT culture, environment and training definitely plays a role in technical ability it is NOT just something you are born with or not look at tiny football-obsessed nations like Uruguay, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Croatia who put out very technical players all the time and compared them to the rough beast in the West: America and its 334 million people, millions of whom are extremely athletic, yet no footie culture like those small football factory nations The USA has the biggest pool of super athletes ever in 5 plus million years of human/hominid history, they have the best tech, the most disposable resources, yet their football and footballers are SHIT becuase the culture from birth is not there

Malo Gusto has completed a permanent move to Chelsea from Lyon. The exciting 19-year-old right-back has signed a contract at Stamford Bridge to summer 2030 and heads back to France for the remainder of the current campaign to continue with Lyon in Ligue 1, where he has made 15 league appearances. Gusto, who has been capped at Under-21 level by France, progressed through the youth ranks at Lyon and made his senior debut in January 2021. The following season was a breakthrough for the attack-minded full-back, becoming a regular for Lyon both domestically and in Europe. He registered four assists in 30 Ligue 1 appearances, while also helping his side reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League. That fine form has continued this campaign under the stewardship of Laurent Blanc, with Gusto a key part of the OL backline as they sit in 8th place in the French top flight. The defender will now continue his impressive progress on loan at the Groupama Stadium before joining up with the Blues in the summer ahead of the new campaign. Chelsea would like to thank Lyon for enabling Malo to take up this new opportunity. Welcome to Stamford Bridge, Malo!

Mount is a homegrown English Sr National team starter, so 10-15m easy in 'English tax' you are saying all we can get, minus that 'English tax' (extra cost to clubs for English players, we pay it all the time, all clubs do, people who try and deny it exists are not operating in good faith) is £20m to £25m, 30m or so in the pure transfer fee part???? laughable you have long had a massive agenda against Mount (I invite all to go look at the Mount thread, up and down it, you slagged him off even when he was at our multiple POTY level), so your opinion is extremely biased and tainted anyway

Selling Mount for £35-40m is probably the worst post I have seen in the last 2 to 3 months. Utter madness. SMDH

Number 1, we need to do WHATEVER it takes and pull Enzo, either wrap him up now and loan him back, or nail him in the summer. Number 2, If Mount leaves us, we will not pull Rice over Arse, and IF Arse (and they will be able to afford it) makes a 2-fer bid for both, they just might pull it off. Number 3, we have basically no realistic shot at Bellingham, so I am 100% hoping Real Madrid pulls him (or PSG), rather than Pool or Citeh or Manure. Number 4, Gvardiol is not moving in the summer of 2023 unless someone dumps INSANE (like 130-150m euros) cash on RB, as he has a 2024 110m euro (£96.4m) release clause, so we have a year to get CL IF we want to go for Gvardiol (who I predict also ends up at Real). I think by 2025 Real's starters well could be Thibaut Courtois Gvardiol Éder Militão (and I can see them making a move for one of: Rúben Dias or Matthijs de Ligt or Ronald Araújo or William Saliba) Alphonso Davies (or Nuno Mendes) Achraf Hakimi (or Reece, grrrrr) Aurélien Tchouameni Jude Bellingham Federico Valverde Vinicius Junior Endrick Mbappe eventually Håland even maybe in the mix, who knows (if not Håland, then Osimhen perhaps) plus some of their bench being (some will be ageing fast and some now there will be gone) David Alaba ageing Antonio Rüdiger ageing Eduardo Camavinga Toni Kroos likely gone Luka Modric likely gone Rodrygo Karim Benzema maybe retired by then, who knows plus they will be sniffing around Jamal Musiala Bukayo Saka Phil Foden Rafael Leão Dusan Vlahovic Christopher Nkunku Florian Wirtz Nicolò Barella Bruno Guimarães Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Theo Hernández Martin Ødegaard Enzo Fernández

bullet dodged

Hazard to Real, Coutinho to Barca, Lukaku to Chels next tier down is Griezmann to Barca, Higuain to Juve, Kepa to Chels, Fernando Torres to Chels, Pepe to Arse maybe maybe (he is hardly a best was just insanely expensive) Dembele to Barca Grealish to Citeh, Anthony to Manure, Sancho to Manure, and Wesley Fofana to Chels have potential

Yes, fuck that cunt, if no one takes him let him rot in reserves He is a shitty human being who trashed our club after we shit away an initial £190m ( gross fees, add-ons, salary) on his soon to be 30yo, fat lazy whingey arse I detest him

I don't trust him with all these young players at all. He fucked us with De Bruyne and Salah. Nope, pass. He plays boring football now anyway.

unless Kante all of a sudden gets a new 22yo body health rate, he is rinsed he is always injured now, it is KILLING us Jorginho and Gallagher are pants

BOOM

you are conflating currencies £65m for Caicedo is what you reacted to, that is in pounds 120m is Enzo's RC in EUROS Enzo's release clause in pounds is £105.6m

Chelsea’s youth cup exit means men’s trophy hunt is over before January ends https://theathletic.com/4129388/2023/01/27/Chelsea-cups-youth-team/ You have to go back to the 1989-90 season for the last time Chelsea found themselves in such a predicament. For more than 30 years, at least one of the male senior or under-18s teams have made it through to February in the FA Cup, League Cup or FA Youth Cup. But when referee Abigail Byrne blew the final whistle at Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium on Thursday night, that streak was over. Shock and despair. That was the clear emotion Chelsea Under-18s felt as the FA Youth Cup tie came to an end. Some of the players collapsed to the turf, others made their way towards the tunnel with stunned looks on their faces. They had no idea about the club losing such a record, it was bad enough for them to be going out of the competition. The FA Youth Cup was Chelsea’s last hope of lifting a trophy in one of the three male domestic cup competitions this season. Graham Potter’s senior side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup at the first hurdle, both by Manchester City, in November and on January 8 respectively. Neither defeat came as much of a surprise because both matches came at the home of the back-to-back Premier League champions and Chelsea went into each one in poor form. But losing to Cambridge in the FA Youth Cup fourth round? Not many saw this coming, including the 1,051 people packed into the main stand of the Abbey Stadium. Cambridge’s first team are in a battle to avoid relegation from League One, the third tier of English football. The club’s academy setup is rated Category 3 — which is some achievement for a club of their size, and the finances and coaching resources available are dwarfed by those of visitors Chelsea, who are Category 1 and have a rich history in the tournament. Chelsea have won the FA Youth Cup on nine occasions, including seven times since 2010 and a run of five in a row starting in 2014. They have not claimed it for five successive years now but did reach the final in 2020 and the semis last year. There was hope, rather than expectation, among the Cambridge contingent before kick-off last night. The home side had set a club record by getting to the fifth round — the last 16, only losing to eventual runners-up Nottingham Forest on penalties — last season, but emulating that feat by defeating Chelsea? Surely too much to ask. Sitting in the stand was former Cambridge goalkeeper Chris Bryant, who played against Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup twice in the early 1960s. He proudly brought out a copy of the matchday programme from the time he was on the receiving end of a 3-0 loss against the west Londoners in 1962. In the Chelsea side that day were two lads named Ron Harris and John Hollins. The former went on to set the record for most appearances in the Chelsea senior team (795), while the latter represented Chelsea 592 times over two spells lasting a combined 13 years and then was manager between 1985-88. Both were in the Chelsea sides that won the League Cup (1965), FA Cup (1970) and European Cup Winners’ Cup (1971). “It’s really special to be here to see this,” Bryant told The Athletic. “It brings back memories for me. I’ve kept this programme all these years. We couldn’t get near Chelsea when we played them. They were too good. It’s a different story tonight, though!” And he walked off with a satisfied look on his face. No doubt Bryant would have approved at seeing Cambridge goalkeeper Tom Finch tipping a Tudor Mendel-Idowu shot wide inside the first minute of action. Chelsea started confidently, ignoring the cheeky chanting sung by a group of players from Cambridge’s younger age groups in the left corner of the stand. “Who are ya?!”, they jeered every time a pass from the visitors went astray. Chelsea’s under-18s coach Ed Brand looked tense on the sidelines as his players struggled to keep possession. There were five 16-year-olds in his line-up and as the pressure mounted, they looked raw. The more experienced Lewis Hall, who has started the past three Premier League games for Potter but at 18 is eligible for this competition, wasn’t included because he is now considered to be a first-team player. He would have made a difference, but obviously, Chelsea prefer for him to carry on his development at the highest level as they look to produce another talent for the future. One of those is their captain for the night, Leo Castledine. A chance to give Chelsea the lead came his way after Finch palmed out a dangerous cross by Donnell McNeilly, but he shot wide. Cambridge grew in self-belief the longer it stayed goalless and in the 32nd minute, they took the lead. Their captain, Jaydyn Lott, climbed superbly at a corner to power a header home. Ronan Ismaili was then denied a second by the post. The second half brought more frustration for the visitors. One of Brand’s assistants is Chelsea academy graduate Jimmy Smith, and at one point he shouted at skipper Castledine in anguish. Finch made a couple of fine stops and was relieved when Castledine and Mendel-Idowu got in each other’s way when a cross found both of them unmarked in the area. Tottenham great and former Chelsea and England player and manager Glenn Hoddle was in the crowd, proudly watching nephew George making life difficult for Chelsea’s youngsters. Arsenal Under-18s coach Jack Wilshere was here, too, ahead of their trip to Cobham next month. Brand was more concerned with what was going on out on the pitch rather than who was sitting in the stand behind him. As the clock wound down and he saw a pass go straight out of play, he put a hand to his head in disbelief, then quickly applauded some encouragement. The sign for six minutes of added time was greeted with predictable groans from the Cambridge contingent, but they did not need to worry. Chelsea failed to test Finch again and the home celebrations began. Bryant headed for home with a big, satisfied smile on his face and one veteran steward was heard saying: “This is the best Cambridge United academy team I’ve seen in all my years watching them.” As for Chelsea, they still have hopes the Under-21s can bring some silverware by staying top of Premier League 2. Yet they have to now wrestle with the reality that their participation in the three most respected domestic male cup competitions is over before the January transfer window has shut. It will now be left to Emma Hayes’ team to deliver senior success — they are second in the Women’s Super League as they look to win the title for a fourth successive season, and are still in three cup competitions at home and abroad.

if only he had the directors in before he did those 5 fucked up crazy expensive buys KK, Wesley Fofana, Auba, CuCu, and Sterling I think NONE of those would have happened, especially at the mad as ass fees and salaries we paid

Manure was the club I wager

lol, he has a HUGE head, like Bellerin

been around for ages and HELL NO, hard pass

2022-23 English FA Cup, Fourth Round Manchester City Arsenal https://www.mysocceraustralia.com/sports/2023/fa-cup-manchester-city-vs-arsenal-s1/

we should look into signing RB Sime Vrsaljko (he is a free agent) on a 6 month contract he only just turned 31 two weeks ago and he used to be a bomber of a RB

If I had the wings of a sparrow, If I had the arse of a crow, I’d fly over Tottenham tomorrow, and shit on those bastards below