Vesper

2022-23 German Bundesliga RB Leipzig Bayern Munich https://www.sportnews.to/sports/2023/bundesliga-rb-leipzig-vs-bayern-munchen-s1/ https://www.vipleague.st/rb-leipzig-vs-bayern-munich-1-live-streaming

I will rage for years IF that happens I still am hateful AF about Tchouameni and getting there so much about Enzo Arsen is such a unique player, as are those other two and the overall state of CBs on the planet atm pushed Gvardiol into that level as well as CB levels of world class players are hallway to the insanely small group of fullbacks (12 if you REALLY stretch it, and only 6 are full-stop WC beyond argument ) currently who are WC (and one isn't even a fullback anymore) RB - Reece James RB - Joshua Kimmich (no longer a RB, now a DMF) LB - Alphonso Davies RB - Achraf Hakimi LB - Nuno Mendes LB - Andrew Robertson RB - Trent Alexander-Arnold (but so shit defensively) LB - Theo Hernández (defence lately is shit, not as bad as TAA, but not nearly good enough) RB - Denzel Dumfries (climbing, I am becoming sold on him as a WC fullback/wingback) LB - Ben Chilwell (when he is fully fit) LB - José Gayà RB - João Cancelo (but seems to play better as an inverted LB) He is struggling atm, may come off here closing in on WC IMHO RB - Diogo Dalot RB - Jeremie Frimpong Saka would be way up there IF he went full-time fullback (LB I would think) instead of a winger or RMFer

🚨Here we go! Arsenal have completed the signing of Jakub Kiwior https://caughtoffside.substack.com/p/here-we-go-arsenal-have-completed Jakub Kiwior to Arsenal - here we go! Arsenal have completed the signing of Spezia centre-back Kiwior. Contracts are now being signed with the Italian club with the fee in excess of €20m with add-ons. Kiwior has agreed personal terms on a five-year deal and his medical will be completed within the next 48 hours. Kiwior is a left-footed central defender who has established himself as a key player for both club and country at the age of 22. Arsenal have acted fast since missing out on Mykhaylo Mudryk, with Leandro Trossard also on his way to the club. Both deals are completed and we now await official confirmation. Here we go!

Rob Ford is what would happen if and had a test tube baby

Rob Ford FTW

and Noni is Homegrown, which, as I detailed before, along with his other qualities (youth, big motor, left footedness, can play wingback, etc) made him an obvious target, IF you can get around (we obviously did) his injury record

If Depay does well, then absolutely.

in his first 46 league games for Bayern, he only scored 7 goals

those are not were the waste is/was at all. It is the 5 disastrous summer 2022 buys those fucked us on BOTH Enzo and Gvardiol those 2 are 2 of the 10 actually available (so I cannot put Bruno Guimarães or Nicolò Barella on this list in fairness) to any degree AND potentially team systemic changer-level players out there they are 2 or the top 4 in fact, the 4 that are leaps beyond the other atm we have 2 of the 10 now (Felix and Nkunku) and 2 of the top 12 (adding in Mudryk) Bellingham Enzo Gvardiol Osimhen Vlahovic Leão (no longer a target for us I am sure as both he and Mudryk play the exact same position) Skriniar Oblak Nkunku João Félix Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Mudryk there are two young players I rate(d) there too (to a teen degree of potential) Arsen (fucking killing me we cannot buy him atm, GRRRRR, he is as close (as a teen) to a POTENTIAL version of de Bruyne as I have seen in the last 5 years or so) Moukoko (BUT he might have been massively lying about his age, so until that is solved, he can sod off) then the ones not at that level but still huge money needed (not including the still injured or too close to just coming back to buy players like Wirtz, Chiesa, and Oyarzabal) Caicedo Moussa Diaby Bernardo Silva Leroy Sané Rice Sergej Milinković-Savić Matheus Nunes Alexis Mac Allister Mikel Merino Marcos Llorente Lautaro Martínez Jonathan David Ivan Toney Aleksandar Mitrović Giorgi Mamardashvili

🚨 Christian Falk's Fact Files - Klopp's internal Bellingham talks, Arsenal have £100m Mudryk alternative, Newcastle's salary pitch to Dortmund star, and more https://caughtoffside.substack.com/p/christian-falks-fact-files-klopps Today's exclusive transfer round-up from Bundesliga insider Christian Falk, featuring Kai Havertz, Moussa Diaby, Piero Hincapié, Thomas Tuchel and more. Christian Falk 1 hr ago Today’s top stories: Chelsea already know Graham Potter’s potential replacement if he should get the axe Jurgen Klopp’s major Jude Bellingham admission And plenty more on Marco Reus, Jesper Lindstrøm and Youssoufa Moukoko Arsenal We know that Arsenal already had contact with Moussa Diaby for last summer, so he’s still on the list, just not for the winter. We heard Leverkusen don’t want to sell him. Perhaps if Arsenal have a lot of money somewhere, maybe £100m, Leverkusen would then have a discussion but I don’t think Arsenal can spend that, as we’ve seen from the amount they were prepared to pay for Mykhaylo Mudryk. [Moussa Diaby has 12 goal contributions in 22 games - (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)] But they knocked on the door last summer, so I’m sure they’ll knock again next summer. He’s still a hot topic at Newcastle but even they weren’t able to spend more than €70m. He’s really expensive and Leverkusen will keep hold of him if a crazy offer doesn’t arise. I don’t see an offer coming about at this moment. Perhaps Liverpool will join the poker table at some point because he’s perfect for this team. But, for now, I don’t think there will be any movement on this front during the winter window. Click here to get Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive insight into Arsenal’s plans around Wilfried Zaha amid transfer links with the Crystal Palace star. Bayern Munich It was a really interesting bit of poker between Bayern and Gladbach for the signing of Yann Sommer. At the weekend, there was an offer on the table from Bayern worth €4m plus €2m in add-ons; on Sunday it was €5m with €3m in add-ons; Monday a new offer of €6m with €2m in add-ons but Gladbach didn’t want to sell because they wanted to set up a transfer for Jonas Omlin. There was then another call from Bayern Munich on Monday evening where they offered €8m plus €1m in add-ons. Overnight there was movement in terms of Gladbach’s pursuit of Omlin, culminating with an agreement arranged on Wednesday that saw them pay €8m and €1.5m in add-ons. So, the roulette was running: Sommer to Munich and Omlin from Montpellier to Gladbach. There were rumours at one point linking Guglielmo Vicario with Bayern Munich - I can say he was not in the conversation at any time. It’s not true. Will Julian Nagelsmann bring in any further signings? I think it was very expensive for Bayern Munich because Manuel Neuer is one of the best earners in the league. They still have to pay his salary and that of Yann Sommer’s, who will earn about €5m a year, not forgetting either his contract lasting until 2025. There’s the transfer fee to consider too, so Bayern Munich won’t have money to buy a new player. 📰 Bayern Munich are showing interest in signing Chelsea’s Kai Havertz (FCB Inside, via CaughtOffside) Borussia Dortmund Youssoufa Moukoko has decided to extend his stay with Borussia Dortmund, signing a contract that will keep him with the club until 2026. The player will earn €6m per year on top of a €10m signing fee (with his agent, Patrick Williams, receiving a €5m fee), with the package totalling €33m. It’s rumoured that Newcastle did offer to pay a €30m signing fee, plus a €10m salary to try and prise the player away from Dortmund. Anthony Elanga is a serious option for Dortmund, he’s on the list, but they don’t have the money to buy him, so it would be a loan deal. The sporting director, Sebastian Kehl, can try to sell some players (like Thorgan Hazard) in the next six months to help fund a potential permanent deal for Elanga. I heard there aren’t any talks yet, but the idea is there in Dortmund. [Anthony Elanga in action for Manchester United - (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)] Chelsea I think Todd Boehly will try to hold on to Graham Potter for as long as he can given how dissatisfied fans were with the decision to axe Thomas Tuchel. If Potter doesn’t improve Chelsea’s form in the league, however, Boehly may be forced to look at alternative managerial options anyway. We heard that already in the summer Chelsea knocked on Oliver Glasner’s door to see if there was any interest in joining the project in London as manager. It wasn’t so concrete and, in the end, they went with Potter. That being said, Boehly will have been very impressed with how Glasner won the Europa League with Frankfurt. If he has to get rid of Potter, Glasner could be a viable option. It’s worth remembering that Chelsea’s technical director, Christopher Vivell, did originate from RB Leipzig. When you’re coming from Red Bull’s coaching programme - everyone who graduates holds a special philosophy - as Glasner has, you tend to share a similar view to current and former employees of a Red Bull club. So, you see, Vivell and Glasner have the same view on football, which is one good reason as to why he could be a hot topic at Chelsea if Potter gets sacked. There were many reports in England that Kai Havertz should be on the list of players that should be sold but the club and player know they have to find a solution together as he has a contract until 2025. They don’t want to get rid of him. Chelsea are thinking of either giving him a new contract or selling him in the summer. Bayern Munich was considered a possible destination before they bought Sadio Mané. There were talks between the agents of Havertz and the club but back then he didn’t want to leave. If he’s on the market, Bayern Munich will be on the table, but also Real Madrid who were always interested. He always thought of a potential move to Barcelona, though I’m not sure if they have the money to afford him. Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive CaughtOffside update: “In terms of summer moves for previous targets like Declan Rice or Enzo Fernandez, we have to wait and see...” READ FABRIZIO ROMANO'S FULL COLUMN Germany Fredi Bobic was considered as an option to take up the vacant sporting director role but the German FA couldn’t pay him. Rudi Völler, the former Germany head coach (2000-2004), officially took up the position in question yesterday evening. Liverpool In Frankfurt, they haven’t received any offers yet for Jesper Lindstrøm. We know that Arsenal have been watching him. Liverpool would be a new player on the table (I’m not sure if they need a player like him in his position at the moment) but he’s an interesting player for Premier League clubs. He has a contract until 2026, so everyone has to see how they want to spend their money in the summer. It’s good for Liverpool if the talks for Jude Bellingham will take time. There aren’t any offers on the table for Dortmund at the moment, so Liverpool have time to find a solution. [Jude Bellingham in attendance of Birmingham City’s clash with Reading - (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)] I heard that Jürgen Klopp internally said he wants the player but he knows that if Bellingham moves for money Liverpool have no chance. If he bases his decision on the football philosophy, he sees a chance. The club ultimately has to help him with a transfer fee and Liverpool has to make a decision if they want to stump up the money. If they can’t pay that, they’re out. Real Madrid aren’t doing so well in the league and have to do something and it’s worth remembering that they have more money. I think Klopp will find a solution with the player about money but Liverpool has to find a solution with Dortmund about the money. 💬 Who should Liverpool sign instead of Jude Bellingham if they fail to land the Borussia Dortmund star? Let me know in the comments! Manchester City For İlkay Gündoğan, it’s very important that he continues to work with Pep Guardiola. So if the manager commits to several more years at Manchester City, he could certainly see himself staying put. Otherwise, interest from Barcelona is an option for him as their footballing philosophy is considered a sound fit. I’ve also heard about interest from Juventus, which I don’t think will be the leading option, though an option nonetheless. Manchester United Manchester United is an option for Marco Reus. I heard there was a meeting between his agent, Dirk Hebel, and Erik ten Hag; they talked about Reus and Erik seemed to be interested. They have to see what happens in the summer but he’s an option as a potential free agent. Erik is familiar with Marco’s quality, so this will be serious. No decision yet, of course. I heard also that Hebel had talks with Manchester City - these weren’t particularly concrete, as City feel the player is too old. Secondly, Hebel then travelled to London, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of any links in future between Reus and clubs based in the English capital. 📰 Manchester United are in advanced talks to offload Facundo Pellistri to Flamengo this month on a loan deal until the end of the season (O Jogo, via CaughtOffside) Real Valladolid There are some clubs that tried to get Rafael Borré on loan this winter. His former club River Plate and Tigres UANL were interested. Frankfurt don’t want a loan deal but they would be prepared to sell him. They’re talking about €10m but there hasn’t been an offer on the table for such an amount. Frankurt were a little surprised because there’s another agent they never heard of - Martin Araoz - who said that Borré is disappointed and wants to change clubs. But nobody knows him and nobody knows why he’s said he’s the player’s agent. It’s all a bit strange. Schalke I heard it’s concrete and there’s already an agreement between Schalke and Antwerp for Michael Frey. But Schalke doesn’t have a lot of money, so they’ve had to discuss a loan deal with an option to buy. They have a bit of money because they sold Florent Mollet to Nantes for €1.5m, plus add-ons. They can’t afford more than a loan deal at the moment but they’re in a position because there is an agreement between player and club. Thomas Tuchel He’s very calm at the moment and is just seeing how things develop around him. I think Tottenham would be an interesting club for Thomas Tuchel but I’ve heard that Antonio Conte wants to stay another year. [Happier times for Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, lifting the Champions League trophy in 2021 - (Photo by SUSANA VERA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)] Atletico Madrid is on the table for Tuchel but he’s also keeping an eye on what happens with Barcelona and Juventus. Every big club is going to think about serious managerial changes in the summer and there’s already plenty of interest in Tuchel from Europe. 💬 Would you like your club to hire Thomas Tuchel as manager? Let us know below! Tottenham Tottenham would be looking at a summer deal for Piero Hincapié. They did knock on Bayer Leverkusen’s door in the prior summer window but they want a lot of money for him. I heard that even a €40m offer last summer wasn’t enough. I’m hearing that Tottenham will try again but that Chelsea and Arsenal are also keeping an eye on the player. Click here to get Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive update on Tottenham’s pursuit of Pedro Porro! READ FABRIZIO ROMANO'S FULL COLUMN Thoughts on the Bundesliga I think everybody has to watch how Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala develops - he could be the next big thing, which is why they’re trying to get him on a new contract as soon as possible (his current contract keeps him at Bayern until 2026). Florian Wirtz is a player no Bundesliga club, other than Bayern, can afford because of his asking price. But Bayern have a lot of players already in his position so I think he could be very interesting for the Premier League.

I am ALL in for selling Trevoh and KK (that fucking wage for 4 years is a bitch to overcome though, what a disastrous summer 2021 window! 5 HORRID buys (CuCu (and for 62m fucking quid!), KK (and paying him £62m quid in salary over the course of FOUR years) Sterling (can still perhaps come good), Wes 'The Broken Boy' Fofana, and shitstick bad additude, aged-out Auba), it all ENRAGES me, has for 6 months or so now) and buying Gvardiol and getting Skriniar on a free all 3 of our left-footed CBs (so talking Colwill IF he sticks, Gvardiol, and Badiashile) at that point can play (and have played) in a centre of back 3, and also have played on the RCB spot in a back 4 as well Thiago is here 2 more years MAX (likely 1 more if that) and I do not have much confidence in Wes Fofana atm (subject to change) every recovering to pre Leicester catastrophic injury levels (when he WAS on verge of being world class, but now looks a pale shadow of that player)

should never have purchased KK (nor Wesley Fofana) and instead went all out for Skriniar and Gvardiol I have been advocating buying Skriniar for for years these are the only right footed CBs I arte enough to buy (many are not available) I leave multiple big names off this list as I am NOT convinced on them anymore or never were, especially for the money it would take Rúben Dias (has had a tough year so far between injuries and a not airtight Citeh defence, with Rodri slumping as well and their fullbacks unsettled) Matthijs de Ligt Marquinhos (we tried hard multiple season, he si not leaving PSG until he is post 30yo I wager) Ronald Araújo (gutted when we failed on him, I rate him as equal to Skriniar, with potentially a bigger upside and is 4 years younger) Milan Skriniar William Saliba Jurrien Timber Bremer José María Giménez (not in bold due to bad injury record) Robin Le Normand Mohamed Simakan (can play RB too, we fucked up, as he has now renewed, we would have RB fixed now if we had bought him, ffs) Merih Demiral Giorgio Scalvini teen Italian Ilya Zabarnyi 20yo Ukrainian António Silva Benfica teen, superb talent Stefan de Vrij (31yo now in two weeks, so only on a free) Zeno Debast Belgian teen Maxence Lacroix Armel Bella-Kotchap left footers are far rare and we have two I rate (Badiashile and Colwill, and when Colwill turns 20 in a month, there are NO left-footed CBs who are teens that I know of who are worth buying other than strictly young, young youth prospects, none of whom are remotely a sure thing, players like 16yos Matai Akinmboni (a 1.88m yank, from Washington DC, was only 15yo a few months back, and already is playing in MLS), and the Belgian Ethan Butera of Anderlecht youth) Josko Gvardiol Alessandro Bastoni (not leaving for sure) Presnel Kimpembe (turned us down, after thsi summer too old to be worth buying) Nico Schlotterbeck Evan Ndicka (Arse wants him on a free badly, he will be a menace there, ffs, Saliba and him a as a young, tall, athletic partnership for 7 or 8 years is not something that makes me happy) Piero Hincapié Gonçalo Inácio Micky van de Ven

SKRINIAR TELLS INTER HE WILL NOT SIGN NEW CONTRACT https://football-italia.net/skriniar-tells-inter-he-will-not-sign-new-contract/ According to Sky Sport Italia, Milan Skriniar has now informed Inter he will not sign the new contract proposal, so is open to evaluate all the other options. The decision had been in the air considering the €6m plus add-ons proposal was on the table for several weeks with no response. That does not mean that Skriniar is certainly leaving as a free agent when his current deal expires on June 30, however. He has informed the club that at this moment he will not be signing the new contract proposal from Inter and will take some time to consider all the other options from different clubs. Paris Saint-Germain have already offered significantly more, practically doubling the salary that Inter can stretch to, while Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and more are also interested in his future. Skriniar will now listen to the proposals and see what is out there before deciding what to do. It is nonetheless a huge blow for Inter, who turned down offers from PSG reaching over €60m in the summer, as they were confident Skriniar would sign a new contract. The club has made it clear this salary is the maximum they can offer and the contract will not be improved.

decent player, but not a Chels level buy IMHO

Here are the only CBs I can say are atm world class in play (or near it) Thiago Silva plus Rúben Dias Josko Gvardiol Marquinhos Milan Skriniar Ronald Araújo Matthijs de Ligt Virgil van Dijk David Alaba Presnel Kimpembe José María Giménez (when fully fit, which is hardly ever, lol) potentially Alessandro Bastoni plus William Saliba Nico Schlotterbeck Evan Ndicka Cristian Romero Jurrien Timber Benoît Badiashile Wesley Fofana (massive IF, that being IF he ever fully recovers back to pre injury form) Mohamed Simakan Piero Hincapié Gonçalo Inácio fallen off Raphaël Varane Antonio Rüdiger Aymeric Laporte Kalidou Koulibaly Leonardo Bonucci

Revealed: Mason Mount’s HORRIFIC form in last three months https://www.footballtransfers.com/en/transfer-news/uk-premier-league/2023/01/mason-mounts-Chelsea-stats-form-contract Mason Mount’s contract at Chelsea expires at the end of next season and talks over a renewal have been put on hold until after the January transfer window. The feeling is that Mount wants to stay at Chelsea and that Chelsea want him to stay. However, there are two major problems right now when it comes to an extension - both of them connected. The first is that Mount is asking for a lot of money - there are even reports that he is requesting €300,000 per week. Secondly, Mount’s form in recent months has been nothing short of disastrous. What has happened to Mason Mount? In the last three months for club and country - since October 19 - Mount has scored just one goal and delivered zero assists in 17 matches, 13 of these starts. His only goal contribution was a 90th minute strike on December 27 to clinch a 2-0 Chelsea win over Bournemouth. He has been one of Chelsea’s worst performers under new manager Graham Potter, which has led to the Blues plummeting to 10th place in the Premier League, 10 points off the top four and out of both domestic cups. Mount has been in terrible form in recent months For the second major international tournament in a row, Mount was also dismal for England. He made no attacking contributions in his four games in Qatar, so much so that he was dropped from the starting XI after the second group game versus the United States. Having previously been the darling of the Chelsea fans, Mount has now become hugely unpopular with large sections of the fanbase. Some of it is unfair. He was previously two-time Chelsea Player of the Year and it is clear that virtually every Chelsea player is underperforming this campaign amidst all the chaos off the pitch and in the transfer market. But it is also true that an attacking midfielder with one goal contribution from 17 games cannot walk into contract negotiations and expect a huge contract. This is the big problem Chelsea and Mount have right now. And the only solution to the problem is for the Englishman to start performing again.

Inside Chelsea’s Mudryk deal: A red-eye flight, Potter’s promise and £97,000 a week https://theathletic.com/4093504/2023/01/18/inside-mudryk-deal-Chelsea-arsenal/ Mykhailo Mudryk was supposed to be the key mid-season addition to propel Arsenal to the title — a long-coveted forward who would add greater depth to Mikel Arteta’s options and fuel belief that a 19-year wait to be Premier League champions again is about to come to an end. Instead, at half-time at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the Ukraine international forward was paraded as a Chelsea player after signing a contract that could extend to 2031 and, far from breaking the bank, is worth £97,000 a week. Here, The Athletic tells how Chelsea secured one of European football’s brightest young attacking talents from under the noses of their rivals across the capital, with details including: Mudryk might have joined Bayer Leverkusen last summer for as little as €20million Mikel Arteta, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Edu all spoke to Mudryk to try to get him to Arsenal Shakhtar Donetsk’s director of football attended Chelsea’s recent league loss to Manchester City The player’s relatively low Chelsea salary is part of a long-term strategy to bring down their overall wage bill Chelsea may still wallow in mid-table going into Saturday’s game at fellow underachieving heavyweights Liverpool, but their collective mood has been lifted after pulling off one of the most spectacular coups of recent transfer windows. Just let this sink in for a second: Chelsea are paying Mudryk lower wages than Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Admittedly, the salary the Ukrainian will pick up at Stamford Bridge is bigger than that proposed by Arsenal, but not astronomically so. That may surprise those who assume the only reason Chelsea beat Arsenal to the signature of one of the most exciting young talents in Europe is they offered a significantly larger financial package. How else could a player who was posting pictures of himself on social media accounts watching Arsenal games in recent weeks instead end up moving to one of their biggest London rivals — a club who currently sit nine places and 19 points below them in the table? Chelsea’s transfer business has come under plenty of scrutiny since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium completed their takeover at the end of last May. Should all the respective add-ons in their various deals be triggered, the total sum to which they have committed will exceed £400million ($490m). But the acquisition of Mudryk for an initial €70million (£61.6m, $75.5m), with a further €30m potentially due in performance-related add-ons, is not about the size of the transfer fee. For starters, Arsenal offered the same amounts and split as Chelsea, albeit the speed at which the various instalments would be paid was markedly different on their bid. Neither does it boil down to his salary. Mudryk will be earning around £97,000 a week at Chelsea. Arsenal had been speaking to him since October, according to Shakhtar’s chief executive Sergei Palkin, and their contract offer was within £10,000 per week of that eventually accepted across town. Such a relatively small disparity is hardly a deal breaker. Earning over £5million a year until at least 2030 — the Ukraine international signed a seven-and-a-half-year contract with an option for another 12 months — is still a tidy sum and represents significantly more than he would have been making if he’d stayed at Shakhtar, and marginally more than at Arsenal. But, in the context of the salaries commanded by other members of Chelsea’s senior squad, it is relatively low on the scale. Raheem Sterling, admittedly an experienced international, is on over three times that figure. Academy graduates Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi are not regulars in the team — the latter is currently on a season-long loan at Bayer Leverkusen — yet receive around £150,000 and £120,000 per week respectively. They are talented players, but the previous Chelsea regime sanctioned those vast sums when they had only a few first-team appearances under their belts. What the Mudryk deal demonstrates is the new Chelsea co-owners’ long-term plan to try to transform the payroll — to bring in talent on wages deemed more reasonable by current Premier League standards, and not those lavished out during the previous Roman Abramovich era. Eyebrows have been raised at the length of the contracts the Boehly-Clearlake consortium is handing out to players, and the one signed by Mudryk is the longest yet. But there is a logic to such a policy when it comes to the overall business. The books will carry the transfer fee over the length of the player’s contract. There is sense, too, in having a young player committed over his peak years at £5million a year rather than having to bring in an older free agent who demands double that amount. The policy does not preclude footballers from returning to the negotiating table seeking a pay rise after delivering a number of good seasons. Others will point to the fact it was the new regime who handed Sterling, who turned 28 last month, his hefty salary back in July, or who gave the green light to Reece James’ pay leaping massively to around £250,000 a week when he signed a contract extension two months later. But, despite the caveats, the overall intention is established. The hope is the club’s wage bill will go down over time. A reasonable payroll will then give Chelsea more wriggle room on transfer fees. Chelsea also see another upside to this. One of the problems they have always confronted has been the ability to shift underperforming players whose wages make them so much harder to sell on. Should the worst-case scenario play out and Mudryk find life difficult at his new employers, the salary to which he will have grown accustomed would not price him out of the market. Naturally, there is optimism at Chelsea that this will not be the case. There is also great satisfaction to be had in beating Arsenal to his signature having already signed another of the Premier League leaders’ transfer targets — Joao Felix — on loan from Atletico Madrid this month. The jubilant mood at their Cobham headquarters was exposed by posts on the club’s social media accounts over the weekend, before and after the deal was confirmed. They are still celebrating the fact Mudryk headed to west London rather than its northern districts. Rewind a few weeks and few would have thought that likely. Chelsea spotted an opportunity. Just a fortnight ago, the sense within the game was that Arsenal were on the verge of formalising a long-mooted deal with Shakhtar to sign Mudryk as a mid-season fillip for their ongoing title challenge. When former Shakhtar, Chelsea and Arsenal winger Willian went out for dinner with the Ukrainian club’s director of football Darijo Srna and ex-Arsenal and Shakhtar forward Eduardo da Silva in London that week, the conversation lingered for a while on Mudryk and how eager the league leaders were to secure the now 22-year-old. And yet, just 24 hours later, Srna was pictured in a VIP box high up in the west stand at Chelsea’s home game against Manchester City on what happened to be Mudryk’s birthday. The Shakhtar official was in attendance as a guest of the host club but, earlier in the day, the future of the Ukrainians’ star player had been discussed with members of the Boehly-Clearlake ownership. Those present crunched some numbers, for all that nothing formal was proposed. Chelsea’s opening offer, when it came, did not come close to that made by Arsenal, who remained the front runners to sign the player. Darijo Srna was at Chelsea vs Manchester City two weeks ago Mudryk had been a target for Arsenal since the summer, when they identified the need to bring in a wide forward after sanctioning Nicolas Pepe’s season-long loan to French club Nice. Their first choice had been Raphinha, and at one stage they had actually found themselves competing with Chelsea for the Leeds player, only for the Brazilian ultimately to prefer Barcelona. They then turned their attention to Pedro Neto of Wolves, but that interest was eventually dropped after they deemed their fellow Premier League club’s valuation too high. Heading into the final few days of the summer window, Mudryk figured prominently in Arsenal’s thoughts, but injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny made them pivot towards trying to sign a central midfielder instead. Ultimately that, too, came to nothing. At that time, the fee being suggested for Mudryk was significantly lower. Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga thought they had an agreement in place with Shakhtar and the player to sign him for as little as €20million. The goalposts only shifted once it became clear that there were other suitors in the market. Brentford made a club-record offer of around €30million at the end of the summer window and, briefly, believed a deal was close. Everton and Newcastle were also showing significant interest. One fact that may raise some alarm bells for Chelsea fans is that a rival Premier League club made some background calls about Mudryk and did not receive rave assessments of his character. As it transpired, Mudryk was thrust more into the spotlight as FIFA, world football’s governing body, ruled that overseas players could unilaterally suspend their contracts with clubs in war-torn Ukraine, thereby effectively denying Shakhtar not only the services of the 14 foreigners on their books but also the opportunity to sell them. They opted instead to develop a strategy to market homegrown winger Mudryk as their most valuable asset. That task was made easier as he shone initially in the Champions League group stage, scoring as RB Leipzig were thumped 4-1 in Germany and then in home and away 1-1 draws with Scottish champions Celtic. He also impressed at home against reigning European champions Real Madrid in a 1-1 draw. His work ethic off the field improved as well — he would regularly stay on after training for further practice, polishing his skill set. His band of suitors took note. Arsenal were increasingly convinced he would be the perfect January acquisition for them — someone who could make an immediate impact to bolster this season’s surprise title push, perhaps as a match-winner off the bench, but also a figure who would become a key part of the project for years to come. They felt adding him to Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus would give them one of the most exciting groups of attackers in Europe. The club’s recruitment team, including sporting director Edu, stepped up their efforts to make a deal happen. As Palkin told The Athletic: “Arsenal contacted the player almost one and a half months before they contacted us. Can you imagine, for example, to have (the manager) Mikel Arteta, (Arsenal’s Ukrainian player) Oleksandr Zinchenko and the sporting director calling you, to have Arsenal calling you almost every day, every two days, every three days? You can want or not want the move, but you follow this kind of reception and contacts.” The Ukrainian club’s asking price had been established as €100million, but Arsenal were still confident a compromise could be struck for a lower fee. Palkin confirmed he met Arsenal on more occasions than he did Chelsea. Arsenal made three offers in all, the final one coming last Thursday, which reached the €70million-plus-€30million threshold. But Shakhtar were unhappy with the schedule of the payments, and the achievements that would trigger the add-ons, proposed by Edu. The negotiations became tense, the talks increasingly challenging. No agreement was struck. In essence, Arsenal had given Chelsea something to beat and, crucially, the current world champions then took matters into their own hands. Last Friday night, co-owner Behdad Eghbali and recently appointed director of global talent and transfers Paul Winstanley boarded a red-eye flight to Antalya in Turkey, where Shakhtar were holding a training camp during the Ukrainian season’s winter break. They arrived on Saturday morning with Shakhtar agreeing to a meeting at a hotel near their base in the seaside town of Belek. Those face-to-face discussions were attended by Palkin, Srna, and also by Mudryk and his representatives. It should be acknowledged that prior to those talks in Turkey, having spoken to both Arteta and the Chelsea head coach Graham Potter, Mudryk’s own priority had been securing a move to Arsenal. Yet, with Arsenal having since made clear how much they were prepared to pay and when, an offer Shakhtar had effectively knocked back, the player was now confronting a straight choice between staying at the Ukrainian club until the summer or joining Chelsea. Step forward Egbhali and Winstanley to deliver their own sales pitch. Over eight to 10 hours of presentations and talks, they put forward Chelsea’s case. It was stressed to Mudryk that Chelsea would provide him with a platform to excel. He would have a major role to play in the club’s new project as a key player in coach Potter’s team. Despite the squad at Stamford Bridge already having several players who operate in Mudryk’s favoured position off the left, Eghbali and Winstanley stressed how he would arguably face stiffer competition for game-time from 21-year-old Brazil international Martinelli if he chose to join Arsenal. As well as their footballing arguments, Shakhtar were also impressed by Chelsea’s pastoral plan to bed in a player who has spent the past year playing against the backdrop of war in his homeland. Palkin admits what Eghbali and Winstanley said made a huge impression on everyone in the room. “When they explain to you the whole story and you look for the next two, three, four, five years, then you see they have a serious project,” Palkin added. “I believe they will build one of the best clubs in the world because I am telling you, they are very serious in all directions: sports science, the stadium side, the commercial side, on all things. For us, they looked very ambitious.” Chelsea duly met Shakhtar’s €70million-plus-€30million demands too, with the Ukrainian club happier regarding the speed at which the instalments would be delivered. Those add-ons depend on Chelsea winning the Premier League and Champions League during Mudryk’s time at the club. Crucially, even with the team currently 10th in the table and 10 points outside the top four, Shakhtar felt this was a more realistic goal than what would be needed to trigger those in Arsenal’s package. The club’s owner, Rinat Akhmetov, was not present in Turkey but he spoke to Chelsea’s representatives by telephone once a deal had been struck in principle. If there had been an opportunity for Arsenal to make a counter-offer, it was passed up. They had indicated the structure of the deal they were prepared to strike and, for all that the talks had become strained, believed the ball still to be in Shakhtar’s court. Fundamentally, what seems to have made the biggest difference was Chelsea’s more proactive approach. A source privy to the situation, who asked not to be named to protect their position, explained why they beat Arsenal to the signing: “Who was out there (in Turkey) and who was not out there?” A pre-agreement was in place, and some initial paperwork got signed. Eghbali, Winstanley, Mudryk and Srna then flew, all on the same plane, to London to complete the formalities, with the player undertaking his medical on Sunday. Everything was finalised in time for Mudryk to attend the match at home to Crystal Palace that afternoon and be presented to the fans at half-time. A very content Potter, who The Athletic revealed had pushed for the signing to be made and spoke to Mudryk as part of the process, detailed what he believes the player will bring to his side in the aftermath of that 1-0 victory. He will make him integral to his team. “He’s a player with a big future,” he said. “He’s exciting one versus one, he’s very direct, he attacks the back line, can go into wide areas but also affects the goal; a really exciting player and I think our supporters will really like him. “We want to do better. We want to play better, to get more points and wins. You need a squad that is balanced, that has the right amount of competition, and I think he brings that.” The prospect of Mudryk making his debut against Liverpool in Saturday’s lunchtime game is enticing, but some level of realism is still required. Until his breakthrough this season, he had scored just twice in 47 appearances for three different clubs in his homeland — including, ironically, a loan spell at Arsenal Kyiv in 2019 — and he has just eight senior caps with only four starts. Expectations need to reflect the reality that he is a player of great potential, but one who is far from the finished article. He has also not played in a competitive match since November 23, due to the winter break in his homeland, and will inevitably be short of match fitness. It will be some ask for him to play the full 90 minutes at Anfield. But, while Arsenal lick their wounds and look elsewhere for targets in the remaining two weeks of the winter window, Chelsea can be optimistic that they have a new talent in their midst to help drive them towards better times over the second half of the season. Additional reporting: David Ornstein and James McNicholas

chalk and cheese at multiple levels I do not care how many times a few people on here try to claim CuCu is a centre back, the little overpriced left back IS NOT a CB also, Guehi and Tomori were sold long before we shit away cash on KK and Wesley Fofana, so the latter are not direct replacements, and barely a few words of whinge were uttered when we did sell them off we got around £55m (counting add-ons) plus sell-on percentages and right of first refusal for Guehi (I don't think we have a sell-on clause for Tomori) IF Guehi is sold for around £40-50m, our total pay-out for both combined, when the books are completely closed, will be close to £65-68m that's a shit tonne better that the combined ZERO we got for AC and Rudiger

Arsenal target Moussa Diaby would be “perfect” for Mikel Arteta’s side, says Christian Falk. https://www.givemesport.com/88105639-arsenal-mykhailo-mudryk-alternative-emirates-transfer-news However, the BILD journalist has told GiveMeSport that he is likely to cost the same amount of money as Mykhailo Mudryk, who recently joined Chelsea. Arsenal transfer news – Moussa Diaby According to Sky Sport, Arsenal are looking at alternatives to Mudryk and have identified Diaby as one. The Gunners missed out on the 22-year-old, who signed for their London rivals Chelsea in an £88.5m deal last Sunday, as reported by Sky Sports. Arteta must now consider other names if he still wants to sign a new winger this month, and Diaby appears to be one the Spaniard currently has in mind. You suspect, though, that Bayer Leverkusen are going to do all they can to keep the Frenchman, who is one of their best players, at the club this winter. What has Christian Falk said about Moussa Diaby and Arsenal? Falk thinks Diaby would be ideal for Arsenal but says Leverkusen would probably ask for €100m (around £88m) for the 23-year-old. Speaking to GMS, the BILD journalist, who also writes for CaughtOffside, said: “If they give Diaby to Arsenal, he would be a perfect player because they didn’t get the other one. But he’s really in the same range, €70m plus €30m, which Chelsea paid for Mudryk. “Arsenal said we couldn’t pay that, so I’m not sure if they get Diaby if that’s the amount they can’t pay.” Will Arsenal sign Moussa Diaby this month? Diaby really does look like a good alternative to Mudryk. Last season, he scored 13 goals and provided 12 assists in 32 Bundesliga appearances, as per Transfermarkt. As for the current campaign, the France international has registered nine goal contributions in the league so far and an average of 1.9 key passes per game, which is the highest in Leverkusen’s squad, according to WhoScored. If Arsenal were unwilling to pay £88m for their primary target Mudryk, though, it is hard to imagine them spending that on an alternative. Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin, however, has told The Athletic that their offer was similar to Chelsea’s but differed when it came to things like bonuses. At that price, the Gunners will probably not be signing Diaby in this transfer window. But if Leverkusen are open to accepting less and their English counterparts end up striking a deal with them, as the above shows, he could bring a lot to the Emirates. It is perhaps one to watch, but getting the former Paris Saint-Germain man out of the BayArena this month looks like an extremely difficult task.

you were thinking of

Oblak or if not him Illan Meslier or maybe Dominik Livakovic or Slonina is a freak of nature becomes teen GKer wonder