Pizy

Keep Timo, let Pulisic go to Juve. Timo can be used as Kai’s backup in the middle if we can secure two new wingers.

I seriously just don’t get the appeal of this current Barca if you’re a younger player. You’re watching them go through a financial crisis, they’re forced to sell of some of their biggest ever legends due to their inability to pay their wages, they’ve been begging their players to take dramatic pay cuts, their club hierarchy are always giving interviews about how dire everything is. How can a player like Raphinha look at all that and think it’s appealing? This isn’t the Barca of 10 years ago where they were a juggernaut competing and winning everything in sight. They’re a shell of their former selves and have no hope of winning LaLiga or the CL anytime soon. I get it for older players who are nearing the end of their careers and want a cushy final stint like Lewa or Aubameyang, but not younger players.

Withdraw the offer and move on. Throw 50m at Barca for Gnabry or offer Dembele the terms he’s seeking.

Antony has the look of colossal bust written all over him for me. All that showboating and unnecessary tricks and flicks work for him in a shit league where he’s on the best team but I can’t see him getting away with all that in the PL. Ajax apparently want silly money for him as well and we saw firsthand what a dominant wide attacker from Ajax looks like in England. Gnabry would be amazing opposite Sterling but all rumors of him leaving Bayern dried up. And if they lose Lewa they aren’t going to want to lose him as well.

What do we do if we miss out on Dembele and Raphinha? Assuming Sterling is nailed on for the left wing. Tuchel clearly wants a right sided winger as well. So who is left out there?

A desperate and pathetic last ditch attempt for Richarlison probably means we failed to convince Raphinha. Not that I mind missing out on Richarlison of course. Still, concerning how scrambled our strategy seems to be. Insert ourselves at the last minute for Raphinha, insert ourselves at the last minute for Richarlison, bouncing between CB targets daily. Not a peep about Sterling in a week, Dembele links died. Entire moth of June has passed and we haven’t signed anyone. The team that finished right on our tails are about to sign their 4th and 5th players. Under a manager that has huge title winning pedigree. Wtf is going on?

Now if Barca snap their fingers and magically get that money they’ll likely have both. And we’re left holding our dicks.

We still haven’t agreed personal terms with Raphinha? Did we seriously bid £60m for someone first before even checking that he was keen? Look at Richarlison with Spuds. The dude jumped at the chance and agreed personal terms instantly. And he’s going straight to their damn bench!

Hopefully Richarlison is off the table soon so in case Raphinha falls through we don’t throw stupid money at Everton for him instead.

Wish people would stop bringing up Ampadu all the time. He has shown nothing out on loan to suggest that he’ll ever be Chelsea quality.

Assuming Sterling is still being sought, I wonder who we’d target as the second wide player of Raphinha fails? The Dembele link seems to have died. Raphinha’s work rate and directness are huge reasons why he’s perfect. There aren’t really many other options that are similar.

Why would we bid such a huge amount without knowing with 100% certainty that the player fancied it? As I wondered about before, personal terms are usually a formality. Now it’ll be a massive embarrassment if we bid, had it accepted by Leeds, and then the player chooses a completely broke, dusted Barca who are a shell of themselves instead.

Wonder what’s going on with Sterling. Lots of journalists made it sound like it would happen this week but it’s been quiet. Also, aren’t personal terms usually a formality for big clubs? Curious that we have no confirmation that those are sorted with Raphinha. In fact, the reports today seem to suggest it’s not even necessarily a done deal and that Barca/Arse are still alive.

Can’t imagine us being after both Bellingham AND Rice next summer of they’ll both cost around £100m.

I’m saying they play in the same general area of the pitch. Not quite a pure, creative #10 but kind of a hybrid who is box to box.

SMS is an awesome player but we literally have no room for him. We have 3 very good players who occupy the same area of the pitch he does in Mount, Kova, and Gallagher. That sort of hybrid #8/#10 area. No idea why we’re still being linked with him.

Yeah, 120k per week sounds very low for such an expensive transfer. If that’s all we’re offering I think Arse would surely double that. I believe they just gave Eddie Nketia something close to that and he’s nowhere near Raphinha’s level.

Koulibaly + de Ligt in addition to Sterling and Raphinha would instantly make us title contenders.

Think it’s abundantly clear now that Tuchel’s vision this summer was to target attacking players who are already performing at a high level in the PL. He has witnessed firsthand how Chelsea are repeatedly burned by wide attackers coming in from other leagues and struggling to adapt. Must admit, I never in a million years would’ve thought that a couple of super expensive attacking players would be the first order of business for us this summer. The desperate need for CB’s had me convinced that we’d want to wrap up a couple of deals ASAP. I hope we can get de Ligt or Skriniar in really quickly before another club wakes up and starts a bidding war.

Got really excited for a moment there but now the journalists are saying that we still need Raphinha himself to choose us over the others. Not done yet.

Okay, I see. I’m still very skeptical that Tuchel will suddenly switch to a 4-3-3, though. The back 3 system suits so many of our personnel so well.

We ain’t spending £65m to take one of the leagues best wingers out of attack and moving him to wingback, ffs. 🤣 If we are after another wingback we could get a top quality one for a hell of a lot cheaper than what Raphinha will cost. Borna Sosa for example. As for Mount moving deeper in midfield, that’s another bad idea. His best work is done around the box. Moving him further back takes away all his best qualities.

That’s what I’m curious about. But if we buy 2 new CB’s for huge money and switch to a back 4 where does that leave arguably our best defender over the past 2 years Thiago Silva? In a year with a midseason WC he’ll want to be playing every match in order to stay ready and sharp. He has been publicly dreaming about his final WC for a while now. Would be cruel to bench him now.

Dembele or Raphinha? I would probably slightly lean Dembele myself because his potential is outrageous and he can play on either wing. But if we end up with Sterling & Raphinha, two PL proven players who would need zero adaptation, I’d be more than content.

Considering. Plotting. Thinking about. It has been pretty widely reported what sort of fee Leeds are seeking. Just offer around £60m and they’ll sell.