MoroccanBlue

And yet no uproar on Arsenal spending nearly 200m on Timbers, Havertz, and Rice.

Hadn't thought about that. Still, the talking point from these reports are Saudi clubs over spending on these Chelsea players when they aren't even breaking even.

Telegraph is saying we are looking at roughly £50m from Koulibaly, Aubameyang, Ziyech, and Mendy. The remaining book value for all 4 is £55m. There is no profit. We are either taking a loss or having a neutral balance for this years FFP, so again, why is there this idea Saudi clubs are saving us from FFP?

I swear do these reporters even stop and think? How are these Saudi clubs saving us for FFP when Mendy, Ziyech, Koulibaly and Aubameyang will likely have us suffer a profit loss on each considering the quoted prices? We are not breaking even on any of them.

Sample test says he doesn't.

Need a new kit + sponsor before we unveil Nkunku. He going to wear last years kits?

He covered the Enzo story extensively. Was the first to report there was a verbal agreement and was the first to report of its collapse. He specifically mentioned verbal agreement back in early January, and when the deal collapsed people called him a fraud, only when we found out the club went back on their word regarding the terms of Enzo's fee which pissed off Costa/Benfica. Personally I think he's more than proved to have some close sources at the club. Covered the Ugarte ordeal pretty well too.

He explained it pretty thoroughly. There was a verbal agreement but we went back on our word to negotiate better terms which pissed off Benfica.

He's pretty reliable tbh as he's proved to have sources inside the club.

Doesn't want to leave Sevilla.

I view Caicedo in the same manner as Essien. I think there are other ways midfielders can contribute to the attack without getting goals or assists. As mentioned, Caicedo ranks high in expected threats, which is mostly down to his passing ability. It's no coincidence that a player with as much responsibility as he does in the defensive actions rank low in assists but high in xT. I am in agreement with you that Enzo + Caicedo isn't it. There needs to be another defensive minded midfielder.

Think you are being overly critical, which is ironic given your constant defence and praise for Kai Havertz. Caicedo ranks among the top 10 midfielders in terms of interceptions, passing accuracy, progressive passes, successful long passes, successful short passes, and Expected Threat (xT) from passes (IE the pass before a big chance is created). He's completed 83%of his long passes which puts him in the top four percentile of midfielders. He may not be the goal scoring midfielder/Cesc Fabregas esq chance creator yet but his metrics do show him as very well rounded midfielder.

Morocco just made it to the World Cup semi final, which is a result of the King investing more money into football academies in the country back in 2008. Funding and investment is severely lacking.

What other areas? Midfield is a priority, or do you really intend to head into matchweek 1 against Liverpool with Santos and Carney partnering Enzo? Give me Caicedo, a strong DM, and a ST and we are good to go. Enzo Caicedo New DM Santos Carney

It's fucking stupid. Just saw an England training video with Grealish. The lad was plastered a few days ago. Or that one time Pedri played in the Euros and then the olympics straight after, and this was after completing 60+ games for Barcelona. I can't stand this international congested schedule.

I think we play a midfield three under Poch. A DM partnered with Caicedo and Enzo. Nkunku as an inside forward. Neither of them are ready. City manage to have sustained success because they know when to inject the team with quality so that it remains hungry. Injecting Santos, Casadei, Paez, that Benfica lad and all of our other young signings in the future will keep the team competitive.

Box to Box. He's honestly more comparable to Essien than Kante imo. Think the next midfielder we get will be a CDM.

Won't be 120m or anywhere near I reckon. Brighton had a verbal agreement with Caicedo to allow him a move this summer and an easy transition. Charging 120m for him isn't an easy transition.

Given Brighton's style of play under De Zerbi I can't imagine why they'd want Gallagher.

He's a complete midfielder dominating the most difficult league in the world based on his attributes which aren't relied on a system. Given how Enzo turned out and Casadei+Santos developing at a rapid rate, I trust the new recruitment team on their analysis of midfielders.

Yes.

When does the team leave for the states?

We are favorites and front runners for Caicedo. We have been negotiating for weeks. Arsenal pull out as they prioritise Rice and Havertz. - Fabrizio Romano.

Honestly astonished. Seems the club were right in having the confidence of other suitors getting involved. There must be a lot we don't know.

You're arguing semantics when it was made pretty clear they were grouped together simply as underperformers.