King Kante

I would go: Terry - Need the leadership on the pitch Cech - I have no faith whatsoever in Kepa Drogba - Need the goals Hazard - As above Ash - Great player but there are alternative LB's out there that we can get for a reasonable fee and LB is not as important as the other positions above.

Interesting that you mention Grealish. Grealish is 2.5 years older than Mount and this is how there stats compare for the last two years in league games; Mount 18/19 - 39 Games, 3711 minutes, 9 goals, 5 assists. Goal/assist every 265 min. 19/20 - 29 games, 2302 minutes, 6 goals, 5 assists. Goal/assist every 209 min. Grealish 18/19 - 35 games, 3088 minutes, 6 goals, 8 assits. Goal/assist every 221 min. 19/20 - 26 games, 2334 minutes, 7 goals, 6 assits. Goal/assist every 180 min. Further Grealish at the same age as Mount this year had: 16/17 - 31 games, 1876 minutes, 5 goals, 5 assists. Goal/assist every 187 min. However this was in the Championship and not the PL. When looking at those stats, MM's trajectory looks to be higher than Grealish's. Further, MM seems much more professional. Since the lockdown, MM went out to play football with a mate down the park, while Grealish went out to a party and crashed his car.

What is the point of comparing Mount's stats to Puli's? Mount is a CM and Puli is a AM. MM has been playing in a AM position due to injuries not because it is his actual position. Further, Mount's form dropped at the same time as the rest of the team so I wouldn't put it all on him as he is a young player, playing his first season in the league. As Tomo mentioned, MM and the other young players are not walking into the team full of world class players like Utd's Co92. Further, who was he meant to be dropped for? Dross Barkley? From looking at things with the squad from the outside in, I think Mount has kept his place all the time because he doesn't do anything poor or make stupid decisions and he has had no competition. For instance, Tomori overplays and gets caught out of position and Tammy makes the wrong choices when in on goal. Of course some criticism can be levelled that MM's output is not good enough, but again I would not say it is poor. For instance his involvement in 11 goals/assists is similar to the output that we have been getting, on average, from Willian for the past few years. So, when there are people saying he is a golden child or starting loool'ing him when he is classed as having the best season, it is very mystifying to me. In fact it reminds me of what West Ham fans used to say about SFL (not saying he will be as good, just saying it is very similar.) As for all the young players, as I said before, James seems the best and my highlighting of the run around Davies gave him was not to hammer him, but to rather highlight that MM has not had such things happen to him which is one of the key reasons why he has kept his position more than the others. Agree with all of this. CHO is in a very difficult position because he has been hyped beyond anything we can measure and he has been given a big contract after haggling. For me, CHO needs to be given time and he needs to play. My worry with him is if he does not get 10+ goals and 10+ assists next year, people will turn against him big time. As for Mount, I think the creative edge has not moved over because he has changed his position. Previously, in the youth teams he was more of an old school No.10 which does not really exist in the game today and can only really be played in a 4231 and he has instead moved to being more of a No.8. I noticed this with him last year with Derby as initially he started in that position but gradually moved to being an No.8 as Wilson took up more of the forward work. Former watching MM this season, everything he does tells me his best position is No.8, as he played against Spuds. One last thing, and this is not aimed at anyone in particular, what needs to be remembered with this crop of youth players is that not all of the players are going to turn into world class players. Some may do, whilst others will become solid top pros and some may just become squad players (if we are lucky). For instance with the Co92, I would say Scholes was really the only one I would term world class (add young Giggs to this as he dipped off after getting into the 00's). Beckham was close to being world class but was more famous than anything, whilst Nevile was a solid PL starter. After that you had Butt and P.Nevile who where decent squad players and not much more. Thus, when people look at the young boys, they should keep this in mind and not expect all of them to end up being world beaters as it just isn't going to happen and if we get that we should be as grateful as Man Utd fans are for that generation.

Kante is my favourite player in the current squad but even I admit there is a strong arguement for him to be sold. The reasons for this are; A) This Summer is the last one we can sell him for decent money - Covid or no Covid. B ) He doesn't really fit the system SFL likes to play. C) His fee and wages would be a serious amount that could let us invest elsewhere. If he stays then great, he is a fantastic player. However, if he is not sold then he will be a sunk cost and the system will need to change to get the best out of him.

Reading some of these comments about Mount is absolutely shocking. Mason this year has been thrown in the deep end at 20/21 and has had to play all over the shop to plug gaps. For most of the season he hasn't even played in his best position (No.8) and his experience before that was playing in the Championship and the Dutch League. Further, the kid also has a great attitude and seems level headed. I am not saying he is perfect but he has played more games than any of the other young players and he hasn't had a game where he has been dire/made shocking mistakes or been given the complete run around. Personally, I like James the most of the crop but he was destroyed by Davis in the BM game, has only played around half the amount of games Mount has and has been able to play his position when he has played, unlike Mount. As for Tammy, he has had some shocking misses and has done the wrong thing on numerous occasions (not playing in Willian and Mount in the Brighton and Liverpool games) so I am at a complete loss as to why Mount is taking so much flak here.

I hadn't spotted the reply!

Isn't Kicker the most reliable of all the main German sports media outlets?

I hope the shirts have three written on then and not the logo. The 3 logo is just plain awful and would need to me massive.

If the Covid situation means not much money/players not moving then I think Boga and Mertens make sense. In a world were we can go big then I doubt both or either come.

Just been thinking about Athlti's financial situation and the £50m they owe us for Morata (which is water tight - unless Fifa fu*k about with the rules.) If they cannot pay, we may be able to use it as leverage to get Oblak. What does everyone else think?

This is how I have been seeing it. Be interesting to see how Chelsea/Roman go about things.

There are a few things wrong with this article. Firstly, some of those figures are off. For instance our net spend in 2018/19 was more like £85-90m not £150m+. Also, 06-07 isn't right as that was more like +£32m not -£6m. Next, they have a quote direct from a scout saying that there will be less players signed than planned, yet we get an article that hints that we can go all out if Roman fancies it. Also, if the market has fallen how is Granny going to shift the players? Ok, we can probably still sell a Kante but what about players like Drinky (£100k), Baka (£110k) and Baba (on £75k apprantly)? Those players are likely to be knocking around SB next season pulling their over the top wages.

Yeah, I just do not see the need for Sancho to move this Summer. If I were him I would be either staying next season or seeing my contract out.

Interesting read. Personally, I am both happy and slightly amazed that we are so low down as whilst we have recieved a lot of money we have also spent a lot as well. My concerns with all of this however is, if people start defaulting all over the place and FIFA/UEFA have to step in, how much of a haircut are we going to have to take? If across Europe, Utd, Juve, Real, Barca etc, are all the ones with high debts and need saving, you just know FIFA/UEFA will cover their arse.

I am ok with Coutinho on a loan, I think if we can pay a loan fee of around £7m or under then he will be ok business as at the moment it looks like both Peds and Willian are off and we have a real need for some players in the 25-29 year old bracket. That said, I wouldn't be up for a straight out buy and/or a loan with compulsory buy. I say this as whilst a good player he has been overrated since his Dipper days and at 28 in June he is pretty much a sunk cost as by the time he does a couple of seasons he is 30. Further, his wages long term are an issue. Thankfully, as much as I do not like Granny, she isn't know for buy players for serious dosh over the age of 27 with the only exception being Drinky. Another thing going for a Coutinho loan is that I think this Covid situation is going to screw up the market and we may not see as many players move. For instance, I would be very surprised to see Sancho move now and if he does it would only be to someone like Utd as they have the deepest pockets.

Be interesting how this plays out. What about players who do not want to play for their teams anymore and are looking at a move to a bigger club when the season does finish. What happens if they pick up a long term injury?

They can't do that as it is a signed, sealed and delivered type of deal. If they default on that they'll have to explain themselves to the authorities. The only out for them is if UEFA/FIFA allow some sort of leniency.

It also applies to players like Drinkwater, Baka, Moses and Alonso. All those players are on £75,000-£110,000k a week. I cannot see anybody paying serious fees for those players now. After that you then also have people like Baba and Zappa who are on around £50,000 - £60,000 pw. Again, no one will be taking them other than for loan and we have to cover most of the wages.

You mean rich owners like Roman who is exposed to the stock market which has seen an average crash of 30% and all the dividend payments dry up? Or do you think rich people just put the money in the bank and sit on it? With what money? Roman like all Billionaire's is invested, that is why they are Billionaire's, they invest and most of their wealth is tied up in assets i.e. property/stocks/companies etc. They do not just wack the money in the bank. Oil owners may have a lot of liquidity but they have seen an absolute canning of the price of oil due to the Russia/Saudi price war. Currently, they are selling oil for close to the cost of production, I think Saudi Arabia are the only ones turning a small profit and that is because their oil is cheap to extract. Further all Arab states underpin their economies with oil money to keep their populations in check/happy and they come before buying footballers for City or PSG. That is why place such as Dubai/Qatar/Saudi Arabia have zero income tax. Thus if oil is down they have to dip into their reserves to pay for the states expenses. As for the Chelsea's finances, at the very least they are going to around 10% of revenue and that is best case. We may have Hazard money but that will be used to plug gaps in the finances. Lastly, how do clubs who have told their current playing staff they have to take 30-70% wage cuts that they have gone out and spent £50m on a player and are making them the clubs highest earner to boot? Sure that you go down a right treat.....

Anyone who thinks there is going to be serious movement in the transfer market this Summer is deluded or on the crack pipe. Only transfers that will possibly happen are; A) Players out of contract B ) Players sent out on loan C) Players in the last year of their contract and clubs are forced to take something. No way are clubs going out spending serious dollar this Summer. No chance.

This is what is almost definitely going to happen. In my opinion, if we go for Coutinho it will be a loan. No way are we laying out £60m+ on him plus £250pw wages. If Granny signs off on that deal then she needs to leave. I mean if we have lower transfer money than expected, Coutinho is a decent loan signing, however if we have some dollar then there are much better buys out there. As for our transfers in, I only expect loans, frees or low fee players who only have a year or something left. I really do not see any club signing players for big money this year.

Some great names for sure and you can add Werner to the mix. With the way we work, I would imagine we would be looking at Donnarumma, Upamecano, Telles, Werner and Tonali. Not sure how many we would get/can afford but those are the ones that hit the profile we like i.e. under 27 and/or on cheap wages that means they are not too much of a risk. As for the others, I cannot see us after a Auba, Alaba, Sane or Thiago because we are a rebuild team and those players would likely want to go to teams challenging while they would still demand top wages and be a decent wack of a fee. Kun for me will leave England when he finishes at City and I am not so sure Torres, Milik and Zielinski are of the right profile for what we need. That said, I am not too sure how many we could actually afford as our finances are at the mercy of the current wage bill and how our income will be affected by Corvid. For instance, if we cannot shift either Emerson or Alonso, I can see us not signing a LB.

No way Barca get €80m for him. This transfer market is going to be the 'bottom of the market'. No way does any club lay out serious fees on players. I mean how exactly can a club go out and pay £50m+ on a player and give them £200k+ whilst their current squads are on 30%+ reductions? Further, which clubs are laying out £102m guaranteed (£50m fee/£200k a week for 5 years) when their income is uncertain in the age of FFP? Lastly, which top players, who are not out of contract, are going to want to sign a multi-year deal in this climate? For instance, Sancho is on €200k a week already, how much more than that is he going to get if he moves now and the club he goes to pay £100m+ just to sign him? It is not going to happen. Everyone is better off waiting this thing out for a year and then moving. The only exceptions to this will be; A) Players out of contract - they will need to sign something. B ) Players with only one year left - clubs will want to sell for something rather than get no fee. Further, some clubs will need to free up their wage bills. C) Players that are loaned to free up the wage bills that have become unaffordable for their clubs. Mega deals have zero chance this Summer. In the unlikely scenario that a club can afford to do it, how exactly is a £100m transfer fee with £300k a week wages deal going to play with the public when a serious amount of people have lost their jobs. It would be PR suicide.

Zouma is the one to sell. We may have kept a clean sheet against Everton but Zouma was all over the place at times. DCL really should've scored after he got himself caught on the half way line in no mans land. Further, his distribution is poor and he is at an age now where he isn't going to improve much more as he is entering his peak. Zouma for me is the Barkley of our CB's.

Barca are essentially cooking their books by around €150m. Here is an article that explains it much better than I could. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2020/01/18/intro-to-barcelona-math-how-to-make-revenue-of-836m--990m/amp/