Pizy

Just a few days ago we were all saying “sign some fucking defenders!” Now the club is trying to sign ALL of the defenders they can get. 🤣 Really hope we aren’t done with attacking players and have enough money to go big on another winger/forward after a mammoth outlay on CB’s.

Yes, he’s got that same hyper aggressive sort of playing style that is very Rüdiger-esque. But that’s also been part of what makes him questionable. He is so aggressive that he can become a liability.

Some sort of clause must be put into Colwill’s sale and we better be getting a great fee if he goes. Doubt any PL club would agree to a straight up buy back clause these days but there should certainly be a first refusal clause like we ironically had with Aké and decided not to exercise.

Colwill being sold would set such a terrible precedent. Have we learned nothing from Tomori or Guehi?

We should go hard at Koundé again. Back 3 consisting of Thiago Silva in the middle, KK left, and Koundé right would be insane. Colwill and Trev to rotate as needed. Forget Aké.

Don’t care what anyone says, this new home shirt is beautiful. And as predicted looks way better on Sterling there than it does on a hanger.

Aké, Kimpembe, and KK all play primarily on the left side. Even signing 2 of those 3 makes little sense, never mind all of them.

For the exact reason I said. So they don’t have other clubs in their ear behind the scenes offering them 300k a week or something. True, they may have multiple years left in their current deals but they’re on baby money compared to most of their teammates. You ideally want to lock them down long before they enter the final year and their agents get to work on fielding offers from elsewhere.

The Reece James and Mason Mount contract situation is sounding very Rüdiger like. Like Toni, they’ve both now that they’ve heard nothing from the club yet but want to stay. Feels like both should’ve long since been handed new contracts. Hopefully this new ownership doesn’t make any silly mistakes and gets both done during THIS season and doesn’t wait until next summer after they’ve each had brilliant seasons. Then the likes of Real Madrid and City will be in their ears tapping them up with mega salary offers.

He’s no Rüdiger in terms of pace but who is? He’s very athletic and can get about just fine. He’s not going to get twisted in knots like Harry Maguire or anything.

If we can get 1 more attacker who provides goals in addition to KK, Sterling, and I guess Aké, I see no reason why we shouldn’t enter the season thinking title push. A depth signing at fullback would be the cherry in top. We definitely won’t be favorites but if we can keep our key players fit (namely the fullbacks) we have a first XI as good as anyone in Europe and a very deep squad.

Yep. All sources in the Italian front seem to be saying done deal. Now let us hope this is a nice, simple transition for him in the PL. Has every single quality you’d want in a CB.

Or PSG who have been linked with him before. They could get him instead of Skriniar.

Again, I just hope we get KK over the line quickly before someone ratfucks us at the last moment. Our priority #1 entering the summer window was to get a dominant, top class CB and he’s probably the only one left that’s realistic.

It appears Barca is trying to do a Raphinha here again by telling K2 to wait until they magically find more money like they keep doing. Don’t think this one is in danger though because they need to save money for Lewa.

I don’t even rate Kimpembe but would still prefer him than spending £45-50m on Aké.

I think 3 new, expensive CB’s is overkill. Unless Colwill is going out on loan again. Use the money on a wingback!

Right, so the easy bit is done which was agreeing on KK’s side. Now for the hard bit where everything can fall apart: dealing with that asshole De Laurentiis who could wake up one morning and decide to add €20m to the asking price. 🤣

Drop the Aké interest, play KK at LCB, and then go and get Koundé to p,any on the right side. Back 3 comprised of KK, Thiago Silva, and Koundé has it all. But you could also switch to a back 4 if necessary.

Also helps to have Jorginho in front of him who he’s played with and Mendy behind him who is his good mate for Senegal.

€40m for a player in 2022 is sofa cushion money. For someone who is a world class calibre player it’s a piss take, 31 years old or not. Don’t see any downside to this. He’s massive, he’s quick, he’s comfortable on the ball with great passing range, and seemingly most importantly to Tuchel he’s a big time leader for club and country. He is ideally suited to English football. Don’t have to worry about him in the way you might have to with Koundé for instance.

After seemingly being linked with him every transfer window for the past 5 years it could finally happen. With how things have gone for us this summer so far (go after a top player and then get hijacked) I’m not going to get too excited until he’s holding a Chelsea shirt. But damn, what a good signing he’d be.

Wonder what the plan would be for Koulibaly’s position if we buy him. He’s still a beast of a CB but from all the footage I’ve been studying of him he appears to play almost always either more centrally or on the left side. But we’re buying Aké as a left footer to play on that side and we obviously have Silva as the master of the central position. Ideally, Koulibaly rather than Aké would be the direct Rüdiger replacement for the left side and then we’d buy Koundé or De Ligt for the right side. I don’t know how easy it is for CB’s to switch sides of the pitch. Maybe it’s super simple? Idk.

It’s very concerning that we don’t even appear to be linked at all with any fullbacks anymore. Going another whole season praying for the health of RJ and Chilly is so risky. Being straight back to seeing Azpi or Alonso/Emerson playing significant minutes is inexcusable. Tuchel wasn’t shy at all last season in mentioning how much we lost as a team without RJ/Chilly fit. Surely we won’t risk that again? Getting at least 1 new wingback for the squad is just as important as the CB’s. We can probably squeeze 1 more season out of Alonso becasue he’s at least useful in attack. But Azpi HAS to go this summer. He’s totally shot, sadly.

Think Leão will be impossible to pry from Milan. He has Real Madrid or PSG for mega money in a season or two written all over him if his development continues. He’d probably cost over 100m this summer.