King Kante

I would prefer Bang Bros.

I don't see City buying Caicedo for £90m+. City, since Pep got there, only pay big bucks for players that are proven and even then typically strike deals that are fairly savvy. What they do, do however, is pay top bracket pay rates. Caicedo doesn't have the track record for them to break out a £90m+ fee. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/pep-guardiola/spielertransfers/trainer/5672/station_id/128184 The only one you can argue is Dias and maybe some of the WB/FB's but I would argue Dias was more proven than Caicedo. As for the WB/FB's, Pep has always had a bit of a fetish for them.

The disrespect Gallagher gets bewilders me. For sure, not the greatest technical player, but a boy who wants to be here and gives 100%. Alex Ferguston made a career out of having players like that in all his title winning sides - see Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Darren Flecther etc for examples.

Footballing history says it is unlikely.

Germany is seriously the place to send attackers to increase their values. The lines they play out there are ridiculously high.

Surprised there hasn't been a deal for Trev sorted yet.

I think with a Portuguese club it doesn't really matter which one the club/Blueco eventually buys, as that league is dominated by the big three and all the others are essentially 'second teams' for the locals to see live football. For me, a team like Estoril would be a good shout as they're close to Lisbon. Another team, would be Santa Clara - although that is maybe just me thinking of how cool it would be to have a team based in the Azores.

I don't mind the owners buying youth players. Haven't they said that the funds for them is seperate to the funds for the first team? For me, that isn't really a major issue. For instance, they got Santos at a price that now looks great value. For me, what they're doing with them is what people where doing when they 'owned' half of Teves all those years ago. I suspect it'll be shut down soon enough. As for Caicedo, £80m was already way over the top for him. So, I am not losing too much sleep about not going higher than that for him. The kid only has one decent year in the PL and that was in the cluster feck of a year last year was with the WC. Obviously, we need another CM, maybe two, but I am firmly on board with not signing him at the quoted prices.

Really? You think RJ's best ability is to get up and down the pitch? For me, I think that is one of his weakness in the RB/RWB position as he hasn't got the quickest acceleration - although it isn't poor. So? That is not what I see. RJ's strengths, for me, is his strength/aggression on and off the ball, positional awareness, his long range passing and his shot. In fact I think he is actually wasted at RB/RWB but have accepted it because of how vital a WB is in a 3atb system. Then we come to the injuries he gets all the time which seem to affected his joints a lot. This I am almost certain are down to his build as he really isn't build to be a sprinter and he has such a powerful build - see his Dad for this. Additionally, in the development sides he typically didn't play RB because Livra and Lampty were here and he was so good they could play him anywhere. Now we have Gusto who looks promising and should be given a chance to claim the RB position so that we can move RJ into a more influential position in a back 4 system.

I think that is a good place to send him. Palace love a athletic player who gives their all.

The problem with 2006-07 was that we got our transfers wrong. Sheva was busted. Boularouz wasn't up to it and didn't replace Gallas who prior was covering LB and CB - although Cole did upgrade us at LB. Then there was the issue with losing Cech to that horrid injury, Robben being injured a lot and wanting a move. Then Utd also had CR7 go supersonic that year. After that, our transfer activity in the next few seasons was very limited with it seeming that we thought we had enough and just needed a few squad players.

True. I don't see why people don't think Bayern is an absolute super power. The only thing Kane has to weigh up is does he want the PL record? If he stays in England he'll get it. Additionally, if he waits next year for a Bosman move he'll probably he able to pick from a number of clubs and pick up a serious signing on fee.

I don't really rate Sanchez, there arenmuch better GK's out there. Saying he is better than Kepa isn't saying much either.

James in the pivot.

The loans aren't an issue and I cannot see Sterling or Gallagher going at this point. Trev I reckon is just ironing out a deal as I suspect we wouldn't have brought another CB without a clearish plan for him. Ziyech and Lukaku are the problems.

Not a massive fan of DV but I am not going to judge him on last season with Allegri. That bloke is notorious for not getting the best out of his CF's. For me, if this solves the Lukaku problem then I am ok with it. Additionally, I think DV is the type of CF who if put in the hands of a manager that gives him clear instructions will do ok. In addition, I see him as someone who has the physical abilities to be able to handle the PL. For me, Jackson has been impressive in pre-season but we cannot just go with him as one injury/or not being able to keep up his form will kill us. Additionally, AFCON will take him out for most of Jan. If this happens however, it has to be done at realistic prices. Anything over £15m to Juve means that we should just stick to the Lukaku's price has to match what Saudi offers (which I believe is about £40m.) That said, £200k a week is still a lot lower than Lukaku's £350k so I see how the FFP is working to an extent on this one, even if I can see the headline wage causing some issues. As for Broja, I reckon he will go on loan along with Solnina, Hall, Carney, Casedi, Angelo and Moreria. Personally, I would try and get Broja to Germany as that is a good league for AM's and CF's to pad out their stats and raise their price/profile.

I don't think they do. I reckon they have some sort of moneyball idea in their head which involves buying everyone between 16-21 and putting them on very long contracts. Atm, the starting XI/squad of XVIII is: Kepa Gusto Silva Colwill Chilwell James Enzo Sterling Nkunku Mudryk Jackson Bench - Betti, Badman, Cucu, Gallagher, Santos, Madueke, Broja/Maatsen For me, there are so many holes at the moment. Personally, I am more concerned with Kepa in goal than getting a DM atm. After that, we also look really light in the attack, we only have three AM's plus Angelo (unlikely to get a work permit) and Moriera (unknown quantity.) At CF we have no one past Jackson currently as Broja is injured. Then the CM positions are super young. There is so much to do, so stopping fecking about with Brighton seems sensible and long over due.

Like it or not, that is the yard stick CF's get measured at here. Either you get close to their levels or you aren't good enough. If we were happy with just a 15 goal a season CF then a player like Morata would've been fine or at least wouldn't have come in for the criterism he got. Additionally, the kid himself said last week that he wants to be better than Drogba and in the pre-season game threads people have liken him to Drogba so it isn't something just plucked out of my arse. Additionally, my point wasn't that he is or isn't going to be that calibre of player. My principal point was that any judgements of him at this point in time have to be tempered with the fact that all we have seen is his work in preseason in a Chelsea shirt. For me, the proof of whether he can lead the line here for even next season will not be seen until the PL season starts. As I said, good start thus far, but too early to tell just how good he is yet.

He has been very good in preseason, but that is all we have apart from that. It is way too early to tell if he is going to be the heir to Drogba and Costa. I am not sh*ting on what he has done but people need to put his achievements in context. For the record, I am excited by what I have seen thus far, but I am not getting carried away yet. I mean, let's remember back to September 2021 and how some people were wetting themselves over Lukaku's start to that season.

True. However, at least Gvardiol has a bigger body of work to justify the £100m RBL are requesting - or at least that figure makes more sense. Caicedo isn't worth the figures Brighton are talking about. We need to just move on or the kid should have put in a transfer request. £80m (our last offer) is already overpaying for someone with one years experience in a top league - especially as he isn't a technical god type player. What I am essentially saying is we've already reached the point where the deal should be done or we walk away. We have other gaps in the squad that we should address - GK and No.8 (so we can get goals from CM) and possibly another CF and back up CB. Let's actually work on things we can get done reasonably. I mean, even if Caicedo has another great season, he is still going to be in the ball park Brighton are talking about now next Summer.

James played in a various positions for the development sides as we had Lampty and Livra coming through at the same time. Additionally, and this is admittedly me making some suppositions. He has had a lot of problems with his joints. For me, this is principally due to him having such a powerful/big build for his size. He isn't really built to be a sprinter/runner. For me, if he went to CDM it would aide his longevity. In addition to this, I feel James is one of those players where you can put him in any position and he will be great - he did this in the development sides - think of Rooney who could play AM, CF, CM. Lastly, we also have Gusto now who looks promising, however if James stays at RB he isn't getting a game expect for when he is injured or needs a rest. For me, moving James to CDM makes a lot of sense, even if we haven't seen it yet. This of course would be a bit of an experiment, however as we don't have Europe next season, I think this is the perfect time to try. I mean, let's also member, before he became a CDM Maka was a AM for the first period of his career.

I honestly think we should just move on. I haven't been sold on Caicedo full stop, let alone for £70m+. The guy has had one good season. Additionally, Brighton always feck us over. A big concern for me, is that he couldn't even pin down his preferred position in the that Brighton side last season. I am not saying he is rubbish but whilst some people are seeing a heir to Kante, I can also see an heir to Ramires. He needs a much bigger body of work to be commanding £70m+. Where that leaves us however, is in a massive hole as we've spent so much time on trying to get him. For me, if we do have such money for a fee floating about we should now start trying to go for a Tchou or Barella. If those players are also impossible, maybe look at Lavia - although I see him being too far down the line with Liverpool. The next option for me, would be to switch Reece to DM and look at Livra or even roll with Maatsen a a utility player for RB/LB/AM - he has already made comments about being willing keep his head down to get opportunities so he may be up for that. The only issue here is it may cause issues with Reece as we don't know what his postion is on it. If the latter is the option that we go with, then find a No.8 and let's actually get a GK who is capable of commanding their area.

I would imagine Ziyech and Lukaku.

The problem however is just judging on talent and not looking at what else he brings. Like James, Gallagher really loves the club and wants to be here. Additionally, he is pretty humble and is happy to work hard for any chance he can get and won't rock the boat. For me, after having so many disruptive players and having so many new players coming in, Gallagher can act as a role model on how to behave and what it means to be a Chelsea player. That for me, is worth a lot. Additionally, I recognise that he is not that technically great, however he isn't as bad as everyone makes out. For me, he can easily become a very usable 'closer' from the bench and maybe even become a good box to box player if we switch to a 433. I get the Financial argument but, for me, you aren't getting many more HG players that are happy to take on a 3-5th CM role on his wages. That also needs to be considered as the HG rules means you need someone like him knocking about. Lastly, if we get him to sign a new contract and he has, even just a half decent season, he value is going to be the same next year or even increase. With the shape of our CM atm I really don't think selling another CM - which them means buying another - with only three weeks before the season starts is a good idea.