King Kante

I am not a MR fan but the fu*ker has a number of players we need. If dealing with him means you get a Haaland or a Romgnoli then you have to deal with him or otherwise we will end up with an Ake and a Wilson or something.

I just reckon Lampard woke up and smelt the coffee. I mean seriously, what does Kepa do well? I know Willy isn't a good GK but at least you can rest assured that if a shot it at him he is not going to let it go through him as if he is a ghost.

Not too surprised by the line up, I thought he would stick with 343/351 as whilst it is not ideal it is more suited to us than 433 where we are wide open to the counter all the time. As for starting XI, I am not surprised Alonso starts. I say this as after Giroud he is our most dangerous player that is fit. Further who actually wants to see Emerson again? Willian looks like he will be on his way out. If he cannot get in ahead of Barkley and Pedro when both CHO and Puli are injured then that speaks volumes. Mount is not going to play wide, he will be behind Giroud. Width is going to come from Alonso and James. Good to see Tomori back and that AC looks as if he is CB1. For me, whilst AC lacks aggression and physicality, he actually does the basics of defending pretty well i.e. positioning, showing the defender down the lines, not allowing himself to get caught cold by ball watching etc. Obviously he has his flaws but as a CB he actually appears to know how to play the position in a mature manner than the other three. Lastly, happy to see Kepa on the bench again. Bloke is an absolute liability.

I do not disagree with this but also think it is slightly generous. I would not say we are a top 4 side. A large reason for us being there currently is due to the spectacular underperformance of Utd, Spuds a Le Arse who all have better squads than us. Further I do not trust our board whatsoever with transfers (although to be fair they are probably better than the other three which says more about the boardrooms in the PL rather than ours.) Tonight for me showed that there are currently only two players that are currently fit that can deal with this level of opposition and that is Christensen (who does have faults still) and Kovacic. Mount and James get passes due to age and willingness but the rest were miles off. Further, whilst such areas as CF, LB, GK etc will be looked at my biggest worry is CM. For me our CM as a collective is awful as we are always easily bullied, overrun, have a lack of goals/assists and lack muscle. CM is meant to be the engine of any team and ours are all small, lack attacking nous in the final third and are mainly un-athletic. People talk about RLC being some sort of saviour but the guy is always injured and even when fit does zero work off the ball. For me the sooner we can get someone like a SMS the better.

If I see Emerson start a game again this season without it be due to injuries I will be furious. He has literally been worse than Bakayoko this season. Le Arse away is the worst performance I have seen in a Chelsea shirt since Jovanokic.

It is weird as originally the rumour was €30m/£25m then it went up to €60m/£50m now it is back to €30m/£25m. Maybe the higher figure was if someone wanted him in Jan. Anyway, yes Werner would be a great signing. However, he is on record as saying that Liverpool would suit him so I think it is pretty clear that there has been some contact there unless he is just flashing his knickers. Further to this he was also talking about joining either Utd or Liverpool in 2018; https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fourfourtwo.com/features/werner-i-dream-playing-premier-league-im-more-man-united-liverpool%3f_format=amp For me it is pretty clear that if he gets a chance he will end up with the Dippers. Only way it does not happen is if someone goes absolutely mental on wages. However, as his wages are going to be in the £250-£300k region if his buyout is £25m, we are talking insane amounts. I expect his wages to be so high as due to him being worth £70-90m on the open market, he is likely to command a serious signing on fee and wages as the saving on a fee for someone of his caliber is so large.

Maybe Osimhen but not Edouard. Edouard is essentially playing League One level football on a week to week basis and the odd Europa League match. Further, he is not the most clinical at that level so I would pass on him.

Apparently his buyout does not come in until 2021 or 2022 depending on what source you read. Further, rate he is going I see him at Real.

Going to be a tough game. For me we simply have to go 343 and pick the same side as we did yesterday with the only possible exception being Willian for Barkley. I personally also do not want to see either a) the return of Kepa or b, Tammy starting. It may be harsh on Tammy but Giroud has much better hold up play and he is missing too many chances at the moment.

Watched the Leicester v City game tonight and Chilwell was pony again. I seriously hope that we are not thinking about him. I honestly wouldn't even want him for £30m with the way he is playing at the moment. As for the Summer, I am still of the opinion that we need to get at least one player in every position bar RB. Due to this we are going to have to be clever with how we go about our business. For me, we need to go for something like the following: GK - Dubravka - Be at a decent fee if Newcastle go down. Also, I am not convinced that the club will go big on a GK and will try to give Kepa more time (I do not agree with this notion that Kepa will come good but rather see how they will think.) LB - Telles. No brainer. Good player, decent fee. CM - SMS. Question marks over his ability to play in a faster league but he has a lot of qualities. Very good with both feet, strong and physical, keeps the ball moving, gets up and down. For me, he is the exact type of midfielder we are looking for. CB - Romagoli is the dream but I still see this as unlikely. Personally I am a bit of a loss as what to do here. Upcameno only has a year left in the Summer so he would be a shout but can see him staying in Germany, also we need someone with more experience so not sure if he would be quite right. Has Alderweirald signed a new contract yet? If not he would be good for a new or two as we try and bed Tomori/Amapdu into the first team. AM - Sancho. Need another winger as Ziyech and Puli both like playing the No.10 role. Also see both Willian and Pedro leaving so this will need to be addressed especially as CHO is hit and miss at the moment. CF - Dream is Werner as he can play across the front and it gives Tammy another season to try and iron out his deficiencies. If not him, then I would be looking Mertens for two years. Obviously, all the top picks are not going to happen. However, I think something like - Dubravka, Alderweirald(?), Telles, SMS, Sancho and Mertens is possible when taking into consideration our current kitty and the money we should get for deadwood like Pasalic, Zouma, Bats, Barkley and Emerson.

If we spend £110m on Ake and Chilwell then I will officially give up on the club. Ake is an average PL CB and Chilwell has to be one of the most overrated players in world football.

No way does Sancho go for €180m/£150m. The kid only has two years on his contract. If they want that sort of money teams will just tell Sancho to wait 6/12 months as playing week in, week out for Dortmund at 20 is hardly detrimental to his career. In fact, I am slightly surprised he wants to move at all. If I were him, I would play my next two seasons at Dortmund to continue my development and then get an insane amount of money in two years time at 21.

Haha, I was being tongue in cheek. However, thanks for the info. I thought it activated next Summer.

No in 2021 that is when we want Haaland!

Indeed. Sancho will either go to us or Utd. Liverpool will not spend that type of money as it does not fit their Moneyball set up, City have bigger fish to fry, the Spanish clubs want Neymar and Mbappe, Dortmund will not sell to Munich when they can easily sell aboard. PSG may come into things but I cannot see Sancho wanting that. As for Utd they can do £120m but they are also in a desperate state and need players all over the pitch. With our £174m gain and the fact that Sancho has said he wants to return to London, is/was a Chelsea fan and is close to a number of our young boys I think we can do it and that his fee can be done for £95-£110m (remember the £ is gaining on the € atm and looks like it will continue to do so.) The problem as ever however, is if Granny will sanction it.

Fairs. If he could be had for a decent fee then he would be great. As for Sancho, I do not really get how signing him does means that we cannot sign the other players we need. By all accounts we made £174m last year plus we have CL money from this season. Further to this we also have a number of players that can raise us decent money when combined: Pasalic - £12m, Zouma - £30m, Alonso/Emerson - £20m, Bats - £25m, Barkley - £20m, Baka - £25m. That is also before we even get to players like Jorgi and Kante who have question marks over them and the Pedros/Girouds/Willians who will save us serious dollar on wages when they leave. For me Sancho is possible unless we do something insane like buy Chilwell for £65m+. I say this as I think it is safe to assume we have about £150m to play with plus a further potential £80-100m from sales of the deadwood. At this moment in time, only £34m of that £250m has been used. That leaves us with £220m to play with at least. The club just need to be smart in regards to who they buy. I think most agree that atm, the most vital positions are: LB, CF, AM, CB, CM and GK. However, GK could be covered next season by a cheaper older keeper such as Handanovic in order to try and see if Kepa can do something, LB has options such as Telles, Gosens and, apprantly, Alaba who would not cost more than £40m and in Telles' case probably under £30m. That would then leave us with something like £180m for; CB, AM, CF, CM. However, any CM can be covered by the sale of a Kante or Jorgi so that is really £180m for a CB, AM, CF. That for me, means that Sancho is possible, without us thinking that we cannot build the squad if we do buy him.

Isn't he almost 28 by the Summer? Also, he would still cost north of £50m. I cannot see the club dropping that plus £150k+ a week wages on a RB who relies on pace. Obviously, I would rather him to Chilwell but when trying to look at how the club operates, I just do not see him a viable. My money on LB's the club are following are: Chilwell - Young and English so the club will pay the tax this inccurs. Telles - One year left this Summer. Cheap. Gosens - Although having a great season, is not a fashionable type of player so probably can still be had for £35m'ish. Pasalic can also be used as a makeweight.

I really do not see why people are not so hot on Werner here. Of course he is a 2nd CF/No.11 and yes he is not Haaland when it comes to finishing. However, he conversion rate is still decent, he is a very hard working player, he is still only 23 and has shown he has the desire to improve season by season and he has a decent buyout for the market. I really do not see how he would not be a great signing for any of the top teams in England unless he does not adapt which is an issue that can cause problems for any signing from aboard.

Really be annoyed if the Dippers get Werner. He would be perfect for them. We need to pull all the stops out to stop that from happening.

Anyone else got the feeling that we buy Boga back and then use him as a make weight for Sancho?

History tells us otherwise. Good at securing players with low buyout/gentlemen agreements, bad at everything else. She is also good at getting top dollar for our players as well tbf.

I meant if he has an offer from us, I think he comes to us regardless of CL football or offers elsewhere. Personally, I know what this board are like. Great at getting players with buyouts/gentleman agreements - Costa, Kante, Cesc, Ziyech etc - and selling players. Pony at signing players without buy outs as Granny will not stump up. For that reason, I do not think Sancho will come here but that is because of that reason, not because he will choose a club over us.

Pretty sure Sancho wants London. He has said on a number of occasions that whilst he left London at 15 he still sees it as home. The problem for him however is his cost. I personally cannot see him in Spain or France. Real want Mbappe and Barca have already spunked insane money on Courtinho, Griezmann and Dembele.

Ziyech is a good signing and for the price, I cannot see this one going too wrong. The only real question over him is his ability to adapt to the PL which is valid. As a transfer no one should be anything but happy. However, as a squad we're still in seriously bad shape. At this moment in time, I have the following players as dead wood: Kepa, Willy, Zouma, Emerson/Alonso, Barkley, Pedro, Giroud, Batsh*t. Whereas, I also expect Willian to leave and I reckon a £80m+ bid takes Kante. That leaves us needing about 8-10 signings over the next few windows. Lets see how this all plays out before we start making out that the board are some sort of transfer masters.

A lot of this would not work in football. Most of the examples come from niche sports or sports where there is only one or two elite leagues. Salary caps and luxury taxes are impossible to impliment as they would come up against all sorts of legal issues in various countries. The only two that are maybe possible are the capping of agent fees and adjusting the transfer window (s.)