Pizy

Feels like there’s a lot of revisionism here about Mudryk. Madueke I agree with because he looked pretty average before we even bought him and expectations were pretty lukewarm. But Mudryk was absolutely awesome before we bought him. He looked like a genuine super talent. He’s got the physical tools still to be a monster winger if he can regain his confidence. Mudryk is a lot like Timo Werner in that they both had amazing seasons where they looked like worldies and then as soon as they moved to Chelsea they look super timid and lose all confidence. I don’t know why we have such shit luck like that. Still, I definitely don’t think we should give up on him.

In years past I’d agree, but in this day and age of PSR and sustainability this and that there are probably only like 4-5 clubs in the world that could theoretically afford these players. And despite our currently diminished position we’re one of them. Even Real Madrid won’t go out and pay 100m for anyone these days and Barca are bankrupt. Bayern don’t spend mega money on players to that degree. Really just leaves PSG and 3-4 PL clubs.

And they probably would be if we weren’t already well stocked in that #10 area with Nkunku & Palmer. Both Musiala and Wirtz are probably the next £100m players when/if they move. Musiala is probably impossible for anyone other than Real Madrid when his contract runs down a bit. Wirtz we would probably be after if we had room for him. Fits the Clearlake blueprint.

In order to play this front 4 we’d have to play the Enzo/Caicedo midfield again which we’ve seen isn’t the best defensively. I think Maresca will want to play 3 in midfield with a proper DM.

Was wondering this myself. How do you get all 3 in the same team unless 2 of the 3 play in positions they aren’t best in? Putting Palmer or Olise on the right wing negates their most dangerous move which is cutting in on their wand of a left foot and shooting/crossing. And Nkunku centrally where we’ll be facing parked busses feels like a waste too.

He’s the closest thing to Mahrez there is. So if City decide to move for him you’re right, it’s over.

Perhaps the fact that we tried hard for him last summer will be the decisive advantage for us. Shows that the club really want and value him. But what happens if we offer him let’s say £120-150k per week and United/City/Arse/Liverpool offer him £200-250k per week? Double the wages and UCL football feels like it would be super hard to turn down.

It’s best that Chelsea fans don’t get TOO invested or desperate in this Olise chase. Seems as if Chelsea Twitter are all acting as if it’s a done deal. All that’s happened is that ourselves and at least 2 others have asked Palace for permission to speak to him. That’s the easy part. The tough job is convincing him to choose our project. Tbh, I think United are in a more desperate situation so I could see them offering significantly more in wages to him than we will under Clearlake. We don’t really offer those monster wages anymore. It’s super long contracts with “modest” wages by today’s standards.

That was when it was just us after him though, right? Now he’s apparently got 3-4 suitors. I was just reading that City, Liverpool, and even Arse are interested.

Ornstein now says the same. Honestly doesn’t mean much yet since so many other big clubs (some with CL footie to offer) are also after him. Wake me up if we actually hear that he has agreed to choose us over the others.

Absolutely no to Tammy. Likewise Solanke. Both pure predators whose goals come almost entirely from chaos and fortune inside the box. We need a striker who can do a bit of everything. Solanke for £65m in particular would be insanity. Seriously, go watch all of his goals from this past season and nearly all of him come from the ball ping ponging Aron d in the box and falling to him for easy finishes. You can find a hundred strikers who can do that. He’s not special and certainly not worth a huge fee. I’d rather sign no striker than either of them.

Yoro 100% fits the exact profile of player our club loves (teenager with massive potential and huge future transfer value) but apparently has a ton of suitors after him. Would probably be a very tough one to pull off.

If Gallagher ends up staying I don’t know how we can possibly keep all these midfielders happy after the reporting that Andrey Santos will stay. Many of our fans seem to forget that Chukwameka should be back to full fitness to start the season as well and he looked super promising before his big injury. And I have no clue what the purpose of Ugochukwu is if both Lavia and Santos are here as the #6’s. For deep sitting DM: Lavia, Andrey Santos, Ugochukwu For more box to box #8’s: Gallagher, Enzo, Caicedo, Chukwameka, Casadei Feels at least like 2 of those have to go.

The Colwill rumors aren’t even worth paying attention to. Especially when linked to a cheap ass club like Bayern who can’t even agree on a fee for Tah for MUCH lower than any theoretical fee we’d demand if Levi was for sale. Which he isn’t. If this was Man City who were trying to get him I’d be worried because they’d actually be willing to offer the £80m+ it would take for us to agree.

The policy of signing almost entirely kids for development and potential is fine if you also supplement that policy every once in a while with a ready made, expericend player here and there. And for positions like striker and keeper in particular we should NOT be going the super young and raw route. The scouts want to bring in really young midfielders or wingers that’s fine. But our biggest need heading into this window BY FAR is a proven striker who can hit the ground match week 1 and have us feeling confident that they can start scoring. And yet we’re going with a raw af Jhon Duran? Again, I’m not going to slaughter the signing completely until I watch him for a bit in a blue shirt. I’m more bewildered and confused than angry at this.

Isn’t Deivid Washington meant to be a super talented young striker who we just spent a bunch of money on 1 year ago? Why not give him a proper look and see if he’s ready rather than spending €50m on Duran and blocking his pathway to the first team? It just makes no sense. Our transfer approach is increasingly weird. Buying young super talents in the same damn positions and therefor giving each one less of a chance of making it at the club.

Kvara would be incredible but De Laurentiis would probably quote us £100m for him.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that link. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ That’s absolutely what this current sporting department would do. Imagine if our entire business this summer window is appointing a manager from the Championship, signing a winger from the Championship, signing Aston Villa’s backup striker, and signing a CB (who I do really like) on a free. Fucking YIKES! lmao All on top of selling fan favorite Chelsea youth products Chalobah & Gallagher. This ownership better pray to God that all those moves turn out to be strokes of genius because if we have another poor season the toxicity will be insane.

Also, if Olise does choose United over us are we still after another winger? Or was it just that we really, really want Olise specifically? If the club are willing to pay £60m+ for Olise then there are surely other fantastic wide attackers we could get as alternatives with that money.

I think it all depends on what else happens in the window. If he is the only striker we sign then the club deserve every bit of shit the fans direct their way. If he is one of 2 strikers we buy and the other one is the primary starter then okay. If he is being thought of as someone who will compete with Jackson and those two are the only ones on the books then we’re fucked.

I just want to hear what the club leaks/briefs to the reporters about Duran. What their justification is for potentially spending such a ridiculous amount of money an an unproven backup striker from Aston Villa. Like who’s driving the signing and what they think his potential is etc. The fact that we wanted him back in January too must mean that someone in particular in our scouting department has to see some massive potential or something.

In other news, Ten Hag stays at United. Which probably means they’ll be attacking the Olise situation full-on with that settled now. Bad news for those of you who really want Olise probably.

I’ve learned after last summer that I shouldn’t write off an underwhelming or non-sexy signing. Palmer for £45m got a lot of “that much money for a guy who can’t even get a game for City?!” And there were also like 4-5 other attacking mids that we all preferred like Cherki for example. Then he turned out to be the best player in the league for the season. But goddamn, it would be a crazy gamble to spend all this money on Duran.

Same. A great step up for him would be to one of the perennial midtable clubs. He is not a top 4 level player.

Having actually watched the highlights of Duran just now on YouTube rather than looking at his stats alone and dismissing him as I’d normally do, he DOES look like an absolute animal in terms of work rate, physicality, and potential. But this is the sort of striker you bring in as a long term project who is in the squad behind an already established and world class #9. Which of course we still don’t have. He isn’t someone who an already super young and inconsistent strike force needs. If Man City for instance sold Alvarez and replaced him with Duran to backup and learn from Haaland I’d be saying “yeah, that makes sense.” As for Solanke, I’m in the same place with him returning as I was with Tammy when the idea of him coming back for huge money was being thrown out there: AVOID ATBALL COST! These guys look great as the big fish in a smaller pond types. He would flop hard if we bought him to Chelsea.