Pizy

We’re still going to have an issue with a bloated squad and with all the players we now have out on loan it’s going to get really bad if they return next summer having done well. What happens if all our current midfielders play super well whilst Santos & Casadei also perform well on loan? Where is their pathway? This is the problem we create for ourselves when we sign so many “wonder kids”.

Can’t really blame Chalobah here. I blame the club for leaving it until deadline day. Trying to get a player who has played dozens of times (and played very well at times) for a massive club like ours and in the biggest competitions to take a MASSIVE step down to Forest is a huge ask. He clearly thinks he’s good enough to move to a bigger, more prestigious club and he’s right. He’s in that same tier as RLC, Tammy, Tomori etc where they’re not quite good enough to be starters for Chelsea but good enough to be so at big clubs in Italy or Germany.

So if he doesn’t sign an extension but refuses to leave then what? We freeze him out for the rest of the year until he walks for free and fucks us out of tens of millions? Doesn’t seem like we’ve played this well unless he suddenly agrees a new deal.

The only case for letting Maatsen go is that for some reason Poch doesn’t think he’s a LB or LWB. Why, I have no idea. Looks like he’d even rather play Colwill out of position there than use Maatsen. So if he’s not going to use him at LB and we’re now well stocked in attacking midfield the club may feel that there’s no place for him.

The anchor that is Cucu has cost us Maatsen, then. 😔😔😔 We didn’t even get to see him play at all in his actual position which he did so well in last season.

That’s a joke of a fee. Hope we don’t panic due to the need for profit and sell for such a low price.

Brennan Johnson is going to end up moving to Spuds for £50m. As on the fence and “wait and see” as I am with Palmer, thank fuck we didn’t spend big on Johnson. He’s a nice player who could do well for them but I’m glad we backed away.

I’m very much in wait and see mode. I have no expectations at all because I have no clue how or where Poch will use him. So I don’t know how to feel about this signing. The idea of bringing a highly technical, classy footballer in is what I wanted and that’s what Palmer is so let’s see how he does. Perhaps the lack of hype, pressure, and us not knowing how he’ll be used will be to his advantage compared to recent big money transfers. He won’t have to be prime Eden Hazard from match 1 like Mudryk was.

Haven’t forgotten, no. Just going to assume that it’s going to be quite a while before we see him back to his best after such a major injury.

Only outgoings by the look of it. Our squad doesn’t need anything else other than a #9 to rotate with NJ which isn’t out there this window. Think we’ll assess how our forwards look until January and then see if we need a striker.

Good thing about Palmer is that he should be all ready to go right away having played for City multiple times. Won’t need a long fitness buildup like Lavia. Very, very interested to see which position Poch deploys him in. Left, right, #10?

Well, unless the club pulls off some madness tomorrow it seems like Poch will have the same unwanted problem that Potter had with a bloated squad. Players having to be left completely out of the match day squads, players having to train in different groups etc. Chalobah picking up that injury really fucked us. He was certain to go and for a sizable fee otherwise.

Gallagher going to a smaller club who we don’t have to ever concern ourselves about I’d be fine with. Selling him to a Spuds side who are looking better than anyone expected so soon after losing Kane is straight up idiotic. Just focus on selling Chalobah and CHO. that should be enough cash raised this summer, surely?

Just extremely silly to play Cucu last night if it makes him cup tied or whatever the issue is. How have the club not told Poch this?

What makes things worse is that if Santos doesn’t get minutes and the ability to grow and develop is that he’ll be forgotten about and stuck in infinite loan limbo for years. The Casadei loan was picture perfect and IF Santos was going on loan it should’ve been to Portugal or to a more stable club that he walked straight into. But for me he shouldn’t have been loaned. While Ugochukwu looks like a potentially solid player I don’t think we should’ve signed him. Our 4 CM’s for this season should’ve been Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, and Santos. He would’ve got decent minutes in cup competitions and as a sub in the league. And perhaps most beneficially he would’ve been training under Poch and alongside world class players day in and day out all season. Feels like the club kind of panicked and signed Ugo purely as insurance in case Caicedo didn’t happen.

Another expensive teenager from South America, huh? Seems like we’ve signed one every week this summer, ffs 🤣

Jeez. From interest revealed out of absolutely nowhere to done deal within literal hours. For a £45m deal between PL Big 6 rivals. That’s completely unheard of dealing. Have to say now that the last missing piece that this squad needs is an experienced, reliable #9. Depending on how Jackson and Broja perform until January that’ll probably be Ivan Toney.

Spuds actually look surprisingly competent after Kane has gone. Probably shouldn’t be entertaining any sales to them since Big Ange may be legit good. Anyways, they have Sarr and Bissouma in CM and Maddison at #10 so there really isn’t a place for Gallagher. Levy has had a default “No Chelsea” policy for years now. So why would we help them out?

City fans not at all happy if this happens.

Btw, more and more smoke about Salah leaving for Saudi this week. If that happens I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Liverpool immediately rush to throw that money at Brighton to replace Mo with Mitoma.

That’s a LOT of money for a kid with just a tiny sample size of first team football. It would be a 100% “trust Poch/Shields” gamble. I just knew and have been saying for days that the target we’d eventually go for would be completely surprising and out of the blue. Palmer is a name not a single person who follows football could’ve guessed. When you think about it, with the fees we should be getting for Trev, CHO, and the several million in loan fees for Lukaku & Cucu we won’t really be spending much, if any on our new attacking signing.

In this day and age of hyper inflated fees there was obviously no chance City were going to sell one of their brightest youngsters for £35m. We’re going to have to pay an uncomfortable amount for him if we want him. For a kid who has barely played it’s a huge risk.

If we get him I’m just curious where Poch sees him. As someone mentioned on the last page Sterling has started the season brilliantly on that right side of our attack. But it appears that’s Palmer’s best position. His next most natural position seems to be the #10 area. But what happens eventually when all of Nkunku, Carney, and Gallagher are fit?

Cole Palmer is surely a direct recommendation from Shields. Think I remember seeing a pic of Palmer, Shields, and Lavia together a couple of weeks ago during the Lavia saga. Also noticed Palmer congratulating Lavia on IG after his move here so they’re clearly good mates from their City days. If this move happens in addition to us going big for Lavia it will be crystal clear that the club and Poch trusts Joe Shields intensely.

From what little footage I’ve watched he appears to play mostly on the right side as an inverted, left footed RW like Madueke. Or centrally as a 10.