Mhsc

Hall looked extremely vulnerable when he actually had to defend or move back towards our byline, from what I remember. It was supposed to be his natural position but agree he looked very awkward for us there, couldn't keep up with the pace of play, think he is just too raw to play there atm but could develop into a decent MF but I think he needs a loan to play a year in the Championship or similar tbh. It is sometimes a bit absurd these youth products are directly involved with us, very few at his age can already be good enough to play at this level, but in a couple of years he could be an interesting player.

I am guessing we'll see variations of something along the lines of these two (assuming we ever actually sign Caicedo), depending on who may end up nailing down a spot and becoming undroppable: Jackson Mudryk Nkunku Madueke Enzo Caicedo Chilwell Bads Fofana Reece Kepa Sterling Jackson Nkunku Enzo Reece Caicedo Chilwell Colwill Fofana Gusto Kepa

Yes, I am in favour of this, honestly a midfield of Reece as a DM, Enzo as a left 8 and Caicedo as a right 8 could be phenomenal and able to hold their own at any level of football. With regards to squad size, I think we are moving in the direction of Pep with a smaller squad and lots of players that can play multiple positions. Pep won the treble like this and dominated English football for quite a while now. It has obvious risks but clearly can be insane when it works. I also think this is why the club is not going crazy to sign lots of CMs, thinking we have options who can play there (Santos, Hall, Colwill, Reece all very sensible options imo), but just targeting players they think are potentially elite and important for the long term, who will almost definitely be useful somewhere (Caicedo for example can play 3 positions - AT LEAST - competently)

If someone offers 100m for Colwill we should immediately sell, as that would be totally bonkers and would never happen... he is a promising player but he wasn't even a guaranteed starter at Brighton mate.

Yeah would also be a good option imo again depending on whether Santos is ready. He has good experience, good quality, not a world class player like Enzo or Caicedo might be but for sure a rock we could rely on. I don't think the club is planning to get anyone other than Caicedo though, until Santos has had his shot in preseason. Hopefully the club has learned from the way Levy was able to lock in Harry Kane and others. We are extremely in control of this situation.

Assuming we keep Santos in the squad, we'd have Enzo, Caicedo, Santos and then we have Hall, Colwill or R. James as options too, for probably a 2 man midfield. Seems alright for a season with no Europe tbh. If Santos is going on loan and the view is he's not ready, then we should buy K. Thuram or similar.

I mean if it is true they would sell their prodigy youth product at only 40m euros then you kind of know something is off here. I have extreme doubts about Cherki based on his attitude, goal output and physique. His output for expected assists / goals are worse than the numbers Ziyech had when we bought him too, I think, although I’d need to check properly. Grim signing.

K. Thuram’s ideal position is also as a left 8, which is also arguably Enzo’s best position. I think he could be turned into a DM and I do like him, would be a nice player in the squad especially if we had CL and a bigger need for depth. It would not be dissimilar to the transformation we put Mikel through. Tbf, if it is Caicedo for 100m or Lavia + K. Thurman together for 100m then I think the answer is obvious what to do… Caicedo is Rice-esque in being statistically unusually good at lots of different things (bit worse than Rice at several things too), but with Kante-esque pressing added in, but 100m is literally two really strong CM worth of money.

K. Thuram is quite similar to Kovacic imo but with a lot better defensive attributes, better physicality, just a good option all around but v different profile to Caicedo

Didn't he just publicly commit to staying?

God please no, his ability to inflict damage is 10x there, I would pick Santos, Colwill, Reece James, Hall, shit even Thiago Silva ahead of Cucu in DM, just please god no

Ideally he only goes to Cobham if the entire real squad is in USA so there is literally no crossover. I don't think it is good for him either to train with the lads. If you're training against him wouldn't you go in hard, after what he did, and given his attitude?

Muani IMO is probs the best option available for Poch-ball, ticks all of the boxes: presses, drops deep to join play and assist, unselfish, from what I can see very nice guy with strong head on his shoulders, also outperforming his xG. I think he would be insane for Nkunku, Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke etc. Just probably also the reality that he is too expensive, if we're splurging £100m on Caicedo. Jonathon David is also an interesting option as he might be like half the price of Muani. Vlahovic I am only interested if it is in some kind of deal for Lukaku where we kill two birds with one stone, he would have a long term Giroud-esque use in the squad but hard to imagine he could be our main man if we want to win the league in next years.

Yes, definitely a good thing for him not to show up. I wonder if he pushes it far enough if we can fire him and sue him for his transfer fee back, like we did with Mutu? That would give me an intense pleasure, but I guess would be impossible for some reason. It is exactly what he deserves after his behaviour.

80 is legit an insane price for Caicedo, 100 is just pure stupidity

100m for Caicedo would really be insane, with Enzo I could understand it as he has insane abilities that you cant see in almost any other player on Earth, Caicedo is great but there are a bunch of great players who play similar. I don’t get it. Don’t be fooled by Brighton so many times.

At risk of ending up in the same situation with a lot of dribbles made, a lot of key passes made, and not enough goals. Gonna be interesting, atm betting big on Jackson fmpov. I am more convinced that Kepa is a top 4 quality goalkeeper than I am that Jackson is a top 4 quality ST, as he has never done it, but maybe could.

I don't want him to end up at Inter tbh. Doesn't deserve it. They can put forward a proper package or they can fuck off and he either ends career in reserves or moves to whoever will put up something sensible for him, PL clubs need to stop propping up these poor-ass clubs who are robbing us blind over and over so they can finally sink.

Wonder how Poch gives assurances while simultaneously having the line that you get paid to train not to play. I think all he can tell him is he will be treated as a senior player the same as everyone else and he views him as in serious contention the same as the others, likes the type of player he is etc.

Another player in their prime, I honestly think that Saudi is a long term threat if they don't lose interest in this project. Money wins in the end, always, it just might take a while.

Still think we should be looking at him, good age, experience, height, skills, we would have option to play 4-3-3 with Caicedo at the base, Enzo as a left 8 and SMS as a right 8, would honestly be an insanely strong midfield...

The only way this strategy makes sense is if it is to be spread across 3 clubs owned by BlueCo (assuming another is coming in Portugal as rumoured), but somehow the rumours are all directly for these kids to come to Chelsea. It absolutely does not make sense for Chelsea FC to spend this much money on this many prospects, we've been here before and are clearing them all out now..

No thanks

Shame Dybala chose to stay, would have added goals and experience. He has been persistently injury prone and he / Mou have figured out an arrangement to work around it, I guess the lower intensity league plus the fact it is beautiful Italy is a strong draw to stay there and just enjoy football while he can. I am really hoping we see something concrete about Caicedo pop up today that implies it is done very soon... I like him but honestly if it will take up our whole team for 3 weeks at a crucial time like this I'd rather just grab someone else and work on this slowly in the background with no pressure as a potential added bonus but the pressure on Brighton to sell a player that wants to leave more than on us as a team in a desperate situation.