Pizy

So in his announcement it says Lesley has flown to the US and joined up with the team to “quickly integrate with the squad.” So….is he not actually going out on loan? Why fly out to the States when there’s only 1 match left that he won’t be ready to play in?

Edson Alvarez is the level of player that clubs like Everton, West Ham, or Wolves would do well to sign. He doesn’t look near Big 6 club quality. He’s a very “basic” looking DM who doesn’t do anything special, just does a decent job with no standout traits. If he were theoretically a free transfer with the idea of being Caicedo’s backup I’d have him. But no chance should he be considered a Caicedo alternative. We aren’t challenging for the top 4 with Edson Alvarez as our first choice DM.

Yeah, reading comments from Juve supporters in multiple places this isn’t the usual case of a fanbase gladly calling for a player who hasn’t lived up to the hype to be sold. Many of them think Vlahovic is really good and was the victim of Allegriball.

With De Zerbi being Italian, with Brighton playing great football, with them losing Mac Allister, AND with us after Caicedo I don’t get why we aren’t trying to include Casadei on loan as part of the deal. He would be absolutely perfect in that side and would develop beautifully. That way they don’t have to spend a penny on replacing Caicedo this summer. I guess Brighton don’t want to do us any favors after Colwill?

Dead silence since that Ornstein tweet. Cherki talk has totally evaporated as well. Feels like Olise is now the primary attacking midfield target and Kudus may have just been sounded out as the fall back option. If I remember the wording Ornstein said, it was something like “Chelsea have explored the conditions of the deal” with Ajax. To me that sounds like the groundwork has been laid and if we cannot get Olise we can quickly move to secure Kudus. Which is a shame in my opinion since I think Kudus is far superior.

“Talks continue for Caicedo” may be the single most repeated phrase from Fabrizio ever. Feels like he’s tweeted that line 60 times since the window opened. What tf could the clubs even still be discussing at this point?

Tyler Adams? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Edson Alvarez and Veiga would both be MASSIVE steps down from Caicedo. Lavia is the only solid DM link who I’d be happy to sign if Caicedo proves impossible. He’s not the more experienced midfielder Poch ideally wants but he’s at least got world class potential. Unfortunately, it’s likely too late to snag Lavia as he seems to be eager to join Liverpool.

Sending Casadei to them on loan would be ideal. But I feel like Santos is absolutely part of Poch’s thinking this season judging by how he was used in preseason.

At the very least, Vlahovic is good with the ball at his feet. Can receive the ball in tight areas and dribble last defenders. So I guess at least we wouldn’t be buying another Lukaku who has the touch and footballing ability of an elephant? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Pretty good shout actually. And Mitro would probably be fine not being the undisputed starter if he’s at a huge club.

Much like most of the players we’ve been buying recently, you’d be buying Vlahovic based on what he could be rather than the step back he took after going Juve. He is only in his early 20’s so the upside is there. But damn, is it underwhelming. If we get him I’ll keep an open mind but he’s starting from a true “prove me wrong” place. I’m skeptical.

Man, we’re throwing money all over the place for every position but the one we’re in dire need of…

Wonder what bringing Vlahović would mean for us going after Elye Wahi. By all accounts that move was very advanced and he was sold on the idea of becoming a Chelsea player this time next year. Vlahovic and Jackson are both in their early 20’s and we still have Broja as well. So bringing in multiple young strikers makes no sense. Perhaps Broja is sold? Idk, man. I think Poch could do well with Vlahovic’s physical tools but he gives off big time Morata vibes. Super talented but never convinces you that he’s truly top level.

So is his treatment at Brighton almost strictly due to falling out with De Zerbi? Because admittedly his highlights from when he was their starter make him look very good. A commander of the box.

Our fans really have to let go of this Mbappe dream. We ain’t gonna spend £150-200m on someone who would be here for a year. And that’s only if we could convince him to come here. And the idea of a loan that I see fans of other clubs talking about is even more silly. A loan does absolutely nothing for PSG. The entire reason they want him gone is so they get a massive fee before he walks for free.

The only upside of negotiating with Brighton so often is that at least we’re building a report with their owner/negotiating team. We’ll know how they operate and how to approach them. Whether it’s Boehly or Egbhali, having that relationship could give us a leg up on any future players we may be interested in. If we’re able to smooth things out and get Caicedo it wouldn’t shock me at all if we use this business relationship to go in for Mitoma within the next year or two.

This Robert Sanchez thing still doesn’t make much sense to me. From our side or his, really. Deemed not good enough anymore for Brighton but is good enough to push Kepa? And why would he want to jump to our bench from theirs? Basically just hoping that Kepa fucks up and if he doesn’t and performs well, Sanchez will be sat on the bench for months.

I don’t know how much of this is Dortmund’s best team (not sure who they’ve bought or sold other than Bellingham) but United’s second team is completely dominating them. They look really poor here. exit: and literally seconds later they carve United open and score 🤣🤣🤣

Unless they’re considering signing Elye Wahi to immediately play for Chelseanrsther than Strasbourg I don’t think we should do anything else in the striker department this window. Though, I wonder what Poch means by a striker with a different profile. Wahi is very similar to Jackson. Could he be alluding to literally someone of a different physical profile or age profile, I wonder?

One DM and one more advanced one. Caicedo + Kudus. Poch also just confirmed 100% that the DM from Rennes we just signed will go out on loan. So Caicedo is still on!

We’re so close to having a super balanced and competitive squad. Couple of midfielders and we’re right there amongst the rest of the challengers.

Yeah, Jackson looks fucking class.

Midfield is an open chasm with this pairing. Again highlighting our need for a DM.

Another observation is that through preseason so far Malo Gusto looks like he won’t need much time to settle. Looks at home in the Chelsea shirt already. Was concerned about him defensively from what I read but he has looked good in that department. Ironically, we haven’t really seen any of signature attacking play in any match yet.

That’s the most encouraging thing so far for me. New teammates he’s not used to, not completely sharp yet, been moved all around the attack. Yet still scoring regularly and getting in great areas. He’s going to be an amazing bargain signing when he’s fully settled.