King Kante

It's a buyers market. I am not sure Real will be able to get this sort of fee. Utd are after PL players and won't be able to do this after the Brentford guy and Cuhna. City don't need him, Dippers are after Wirtz. We already have a ton of AM's and aren't going to smash the eage structure even if we laid out the fee. PSG don't need him either. Bayern for me is the only possibility but the also don't really need him. For me, this is just Real trying to flog a player through the media.

Whenever I see Kudas, the first word that pops into my mind is 'greedy'. I think it was against City last season but if he had passed instead of taking a shot they would've been around 2-3 nil up in 20 mins or something. His performances last season seemed to me like he had brought into his own hype. For me, we need to sort other areas of the pitch before getting another AM.

Yeah, it is almost as if he is looked in a cupboard somewhere in Cobham with The Sound of Silence playing on repeat.

Let's see how things play out. Currently the problem is other clubs are on holiday and know we need/want players for the CWC. Mike M probably also depends on shifting a GK first. We can't have 5 GK's and then try and flog one as having 4 already gives us a weak hand. With Milan we should probably try and package one of them to go there.

Not signing Sancho is good news. Most of Redcafe are on suicide watch because of it.

I have seen a bit of him and he is more like RLC, where you look at him physically and see some nice moments and go 'wow, what a player, If he puts it all together he will be unstoppable'. Problem is, he is essentially is a CM who doesn't track or have the vision to break lines with his passing but has some decent dribbling ability so gets put in a AM role where you hope he comes up against a smaller and not so fast FB so he can domiante them - however that is a tough ask in the PL. I mean, even in the bloody wide open Bundesliga he got found out when he got asked to stop doing 'kick and rush'/integrate into a managers specific system.

Should've read, last time he played in England. Essentially, the red flags come from him being at Brighton for four years and barely getting a chance, while his loans at Champo sides bore decent to good records. Let's not forget Brighton is a club (the key club of Tony Bloom's club network, no less) who are known to be highly data driven and prone to giving youngsters a chance. Him being there so long and not getting much of a sniff after multiple Champo loans is a serious reg flag. On top of this, his Champo seasons with Coventry, after being sold by Brighton, where decent but not septactular. He then went to Portugal and put in amazing numbers but this league is also known for churning out players like Darwin and Felix who flatter to decive. Essentially, he kind of screams Kezman. Of course, some players progress much later in their careers, but Gyokeres at £60m plus £250k+ a week for four-five years seems like a risk that you cannot get out of if it goes pear shaped (owing to his age.)

A combination of wages and red flags over his pervious performances in the PL.

Mate, until the replace Onana who makes Sanchez look like prime Yashin and their slow as fuck CB's along with the vastly overrated Drogu and Yoro they will still be too easy to get at. Utd's biggest problem is in their defensive areas - especially in a 343 formation - means buying some nice attacking players just turns losses into draws which puts them midtable even with one game a week.

I see Petro going. He is on low wages and was brought for £7-£9m. We can probably get around £20m for him so that is decent profit for a 2nd/3rd choice GK (although I still like him most of what we have.) Sanchez I think is a hard sell and his HG status makes him useful as a 2nd GK. Noni I can also being sold. We can probably get £35m+ which again is a decent profit. I can see him going in a package. Ideally for someone like Rodgers.

Gittens is perhaps the most overrated player in Europe. Anyone thinking he is an answer to anything is on crack. Garnacho (who I think is fairly average) is leagues above that guy. Dortmund can't wait to take any decent offer - hence him being prostituted via the media - and some people cannot wait to swallow. Absolute joke.

I have someone I know who has loose ties to someone important on the Palace board. He normally doesn't say much except if it is true/only gets the odd bit of information. I don't think it has been reported in the media and as ever in football things can move quickly. However, he is certain this is the current strategy e.g. Guehi sees out his contract unless they can get a package/get their targets at reasonable prices. Palace apprantly are a little worried about the depth of their squad and the amount of games they've got next season. What they definitely don't want is ending up in a relegation battle because of it nor being dire in the Europa as it is a big thing for their fans.

Guehi is an upgrade on Tosin, Badi and Disaster. Depending on the situation he is also an upgrade on Trev (depends on how many long balls we have to deal with.) However, their are quite a lot of rumours internally at Palace that they're close to a gentleman's agreement he stays this year and goes with their blessings on a free next year. They really don't want to lose him this year owing to being in the Europa and needing to build their squad out. It may change if they can get some of their other targets or agree to some other players as a package for him.

Hearing Guiu is close to Ipswich on loan. Think that is a good move for him. Champo provides a good introduction to English football and provides a lot of minutes. Delap for £30m plus Guiu getting a good loan out of it means the deal keeps on getting better. Will keep a close eye on Guiu next season, as I think he will do very well at that level.

I doubt we will get £20m+ for him unless a PL team comes in. Only one who had any links to him were Leeds. Personally, I would perfer him to both the two here this season but people seem to want more ball playing skills in the GK.

Alverez is being mentioned more as a attacker that would warrant a big fee and not be as risky rather than a possibility. Isak is in the same category.

I do not think they have enough Dinner Ladies left to sack to pull that off.

Maresca is a Pep acolyte so I imagine he does micromanage the players. There was a clear divide in our season where we played with some semblance of pattern but where still playing aspects of counter attack like Poch's team (Aug-Oct) and full Maresca ball (Nov-onwards.) Additionally, be a acolyte I imagine he essentially copies his mentor and Pep is known to explicitly dictate what players do unless their name is Messi. Say you say, Palmer's quote was indeed loaded. I can imagine he isn't happy at finding himself under another manager who is the knock off version of the one that sold him for £40m because he is too much of a maverick/off the cuff player. Absolutely agree. Like you, we need to: a) be realistic about what type of players we are going to sign. b) like players who have a bullishness. c) recognise Delap is a project but appreciate he showed a lot considering the side he was playing in last season. d) Is a Bargain. What is interesting is that we were completely split on Lukaku coming back. Me being probably the most against on here, and you being pretty pro. Shows how people can see different things in football but equally agree on other things within the game. For me he is a Grealish/Zaha in that he is one of those players that is great for a smaller team but gets a bit lost in a bigger team to pin down his exact role.

Maresca is a moron. Literally this is the guy that had a completely on fire Palmer and told him to change his game to aide his boring style of football, which consequently led of his form tailing off. Palmer's sideways/backwards comment yesterday wasn't just a joke imo. Therefore, I wouldn't read too much into his love of Jackson.

Also, he has shown he can handle the physicality of the league and also be able to move PL CB's about. I do get where people are coming from, but equally at £30m this is a no brainer deal. Especially as it is avoiding the typical English tax and we have some evidence he can play in the PL at 21.

This could be said for a lot of players before a move. Did anyone fear Salah when he went to Liverpool, Kane after his loan at Norwich? Personally, I am fine with Delap, I think he has something but time will tell. However, I perfer him than putting a personality like VO into the dressing room or spending stupid wages and fees on a Bundesliga CF. Gyokeres and Alverez are the only two that are better options - although I have doubts about Gyokeres' ability to translate his form to the PL.

Finally, one of the players said they're tried of going backwards and sideways: https://www.google.com/amp/s/Chelsea.news/2025/05/Chelsea-player-admits-he-was-sick-of-going-backwards-and-sideways-and-did-his-own-thing/amp/

Just realised Sane is out of contract. That would be a no brainer for me. Provides experience, still a good player. Deal could be structured as a signing on fee with wages lowered accordingly to keep him in line with the rest of the squad.

How good is Branthwaite? When I last saw him he was diving in a bit which tells me his reading of the game isn't the best. My thing with CB's is that they should be on their feet 98% of the time. The ones that have to dive in are the ones that have been caught out.

With Strasborg in the Conference next year, is there a chance we can shift a couple more players to them via sale? Ideally we can try and knock out players like Disaster, Badiashile and Jorgensen (loan, as Petro has a few teams sniffing around him.)