Tomo

City want Gvardiol, are no where near getting him. United want Hojlund, are nowhere near getting him. Liverpool want Lavia, likewise. And I won't even get into Spurs.

Unfortunently I didn't get much tourist stuff in as I spent the first few days partying then the days I specifically set aside for the tourist stuff i fell ill (I think through the pollution which i read Belgrade is something like #9 in the world and by far the worst in Europe). I did manage to get to a Red Star game though (I can't remember the opponents but it was the same day we played Arsenal at home last season).

If you're doing the latter I would recommend to add Pompeii to the list aswell, really surreal experience being in the ruins and on top of the volcano (although you will have to book in advance for the latter, I didn't and got extremely lucky by getting the last spot while I was there). The City also has a very relaxed pace which was much needed after a few days in Naples (same will apply to Rome). I do agree Budapest is overhyped in terms of tourism but the nightlife is something else (the instant nightclub especially is bonkers).

It would be quicker if I named the countries I haven't been too in mainland Europe haha.

I couldn't agree more but unfortunately as we saw with Zinchenko's interview there are people that see all Russians/Belarusians as accessories (how the fuck did he get away with such a sweeping generalisation on TV in 2023? Don't get me wrong I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for what he and his country are going through however Russian citizens have gone to prison protesting the war and some are effectively on the run because they disagree with the regime, I meet a few in Serbia who pretty much had to rebuild their life from nothing because if they stayed in Russia they'd have been called up and didn't want to do it).

Right on que.

The only reason people even remember Shearer has the record is because he has a platform to remind us all the time. As much as one trophy is 100x better than that 'honour'.

I think it's a non starter now with Mudryk in the team, even if his views are the total opposite to Zinchenko it would be a political/PR nightmare. Imagine if we signed him shortly after doing the game for Ukraine, we would get slaughtered on all angles.

There's this out dated idea that leadership is all about throwing your weight around and pumping your chest, which has led to the massive modern day myth that Declan Rice is a good leader. James represents everything the club is about, on and off the pitch.

Really? He's got a good first touch and control but his actual distribution is rubbish.

Emery's football isn't sustainable over a period of time though. We saw it at Arsenal, soon as his teams go 1 up they surrender any initiative and control and his teams are not defensively coached well enough for that.

Shame we didn't get the conference league. Usually I wouldn't want to go near that competition but would have been perfect on this occasion given the amount of young players we've got, and will give us a huge huge chance to win our first trophy under new ownership (which we need to do before it becomes a 'thing').

We have a totally different budget for youth players and first teamers. In terms of the impact on any first team signings, what we spend on youth players is about as relevant as what I spent at the bar.

I do like what I see but it's mainly at LCB so I'm not sure if it will translate to the right, maybe @Vespercould shed some further light. I also think his leadership qualities could prove valuable in this young team (despite being relatively young himself).

If he can play RCB to a high level I'd defiently be keen on bringing Guehi back.

Apart from one of that list none are at our domestic rivals. Musaila would have left regardless, he considers Germany home. And we didn't develop Mount for United, we developed him for ourself and i doubt United will see anything close to the 2021 version we got, he looks as burnt out as Oscar did circa 2015. As for plastic and heritage, players don't have to be from the academy to be a proper Chelsea person, as far as I'm concerned Enzo qualifies already.

Who have we grown for our rivals?

I think you've both been baited by whoever the hell has made that story. Going after Maguire makes little sense even if he was good, we've got too many players in that area of the pitch.

Absolutely not. The present day version is worse than Kepa and even the prime version was overrated. If we want a stop gap for a year or two go get Keylor Navas.

I totally disagree about his quality, for me he was never good enough for the top level, a good top flight level scorer at a club like Everton was his ceiling. But even if we ignore that, hindsight can't be used about the attitude, his lack of character has been an open secret for a decade, we had an in house example already for god sake.

At the want of a suitable fit I'm happy to take that 'risk' and whatever short term pain may or may not come with it. A big part of the the reason we got into this mess is by signing a so called proven PL number 9 without factoring in how he fitted the system then doubling down by making the exact same mistake again.

Maybe but he's even worse in any other position so my guess is he's dropped by Milan by Christmas.

Pulisic whining about game time as soon as he's out of the door. Does someone want to break it to him who is competition for LW is at Milan?

It wasn't to dissimilar to what Saliba was doing for a while before getting into Arsenal's team. I think/hope he's using his leverage. Which in many ways can't blame him for as he came back last summer ready to go only for us to sign Kouli in his position.