Pizy

Zubimendi looks really classy on the ball but doesn’t look very athletic to my eyes. More mobile than Jorginho, yes, but I just wonder how he’d do stepping up to the pace of this league. Koné looks like a gem to me, though.

For £75-80m we could probably finally take Rice this coming summer who I feel is slightly superior to Caicedo. Just silly, ridiculous money for him. We should learn our lesson after giving Brighton £62m for Cucu (who I still think will be a good signing). Saw someone elsewhere mention Bissouma when he was at Brighton which I had forgotten about. He looked pretty awesome under Potter, was highly sought after by most of the Big 6, got his big move to Spuds and has been anonymous. That should be a red flag. If Caicedo was available for £40m I’d jump at that price. But £75m+ should get you a nailed on game changer in my mind.

Looks like we could strike out on midfielders and a RB this window.

Really don’t think Caicedo is worth getting into a heated bidding war for. Solid player but nothing rare or special.

Must be said, would be a very smart but non-Arsenal like move if they get Caicedo. It’s the kind of future thinking big move that we did with Nkunku. They want to get ahead of the competition now even though they don’t necessarily need him this season. Arse supporters have named Xhaka and Partey as their 2 best players this season so Caicedo doesn’t even go straight into their XI. But surely Xhaka will come back down to earth at some point. He’s in the form of his life after being bang average and booed off the pitch by his own fans not too long ago. So having Caicedo waiting in the wings is smart.

Probably hoping that since they’re top of the league and flying he’ll be so keen to join that he’ll hand in a transfer request. Maybe hoping Brighton give in and take £60m.

Hopefully we don’t do anything silly 😅

Honestly, since Benfica is so excellent at identifying and developing talent (and particularly South American talent) why don’t we offer them Andrey Santos on loan for 2 years as part of any Enzo deal? Plays in midfield, speaks Portuguese so would settle very well presumably, and is one of the most sought after Brazilian talents recently. They could develop him into a beast without spending any money, really.

Paying Enzo’s release clause at the last minute seems extraordinarily unlikely. And it would probably permanently destroy our relationship with Benfica if our club cares about that sort of thing. Taking their best player with no time to replace him when they’re in the midst of a very tight title race? Seems impossible at this late stage.

Would be very strange if they immediately rejected £55m from us only to accept just £5m more form Arse. But I don’t think we should go any higher. He’s not worth this sort of money in my opinion. Be a good signing for either of us but I think we can get someone as good or better for cheaper.

Just please no stupid buys in these last few days of the window. If you ask yourself “would any other big club sign this player” and the answer is no we shouldn’t go near them. City/Liverpool/United/Arse/any of the other massive clubs wouldn’t sign Anthony Gordon in a million years. So neither should we.

Signing a winger with the intention of playing him as a fullback instead of buying an actual fullback in Gusto who has a higher ceiling would be incredibly stupid. Especially for £40m. If he was half that I’d still think it’s a bad signing.

Having 4 goalkeepers around the place sure sounds useful…

Our two biggest needs entering this window were a CM and a RB. Would be pretty stunning if we end up spending huge money this month but fail to address our most glaring holes. Still expect something to happen, though.

Good if so. Not the right player for us at this point in time.

If Enzo is off the table this window and we (quite rightly) won’t pay way over the odds for Caicedo but the club is still absolutely determined to sign a midfielder this window I think Nunes would be the most sensible of the “panic” options. For me he looks the most likely to seamlessly slot into our team.

You take away Reece’s best qualities by moving him there. Can’t really put in crosses and attack from wide areas as a DM.

Anyways, Everton are in a fight for their PL lives. They’re about to sell their best young talent Gordon to Newcastle. Why would they also sell Onana who they just bought a few months ago? Plus, they’re having big trouble currently even getting a new manager. It’s like they’re asking to get relegated.

Definitely looks like a panic buy if it happens. And for the opposite sort of profile we should targeting in such a key position on the pitch. Onana is undoubtedly very talented and is a massive human being that can be physically intimidating, but he’s still very, very raw and inconsistent. That’s not at all what we need. We need a refined, calm, highly technical CM. Onana would be more a]of a long term Kante successor. What we need more urgently is a long term Jorginho successor.

I guess you could consider him an alternative to Caicedo. But he’s not really anything like Enzo in terms of playing style.

Thought Nunes was very impressive when he first got to Wolves but haven’t really heard much about him since. Liverpool fans seem to be happy they’re being linked with him so I guess he has continued to look good?

Caicedo would be a nice signing but not one that gets me excited. I won’t be devastated or heartbroken if he goes elsewhere. Unlike with Enzo. We can get a number of players with Caicedo’s profile for a LOT less than what Brighton are demanding.

Enzo’s not happening. Let’s just put that out of our heads for this month. Too late in the window, too important to Benfica’s season. We now pray that we’re still at the front of the queue in the summer and he’s by far our #1 target. We will need to roll out the red carpet and make him feel like he’ll be the centerpiece of the new Chelsea project in order for him to choose us over the many other suitors he’ll have.

Exactly. I’ve seen supporters from rival clubs asking why we’re signing so many quality players in positions we’re already well stocked in and I just point to Man City. For years now City have had essentially 2 starting XI quality squads. With the exception of De Bruyne, Pep has been able to rotate just about any player in his XI without any real drop in quality. This is what we’re trying to have at Chelsea and it’s what many of us have been begging for for ages. So that we’re never forced to watch our entire season collapse when we get 1 or 2 key injuries.

Every club that has a player we’re after is going to demand massive money going forward having seen the cash we’ve thrown around since Boehly came in. In this case he’s their star youngster and a key player so it’s only right they ask for a hefty fee. In my opinion, it’s kind of justifiable for us to pay this sort of money for him. We desperately need a rotation option for James, he’s only 19 and already very good, and has the potential to be top class. With Azpi surely leaving in the summer we may as well get ahead of the competition for him (which will be significant) and sign him now when he’s apparently super keen to join us.