Pizy

Going to be a pretty weird dynamic if we don't have Mendy in ASAP. If Kepa starts the first few matches and gets yanked out and replaced it'll probably destroy his psyche. Would be equally as strange if Kepa plays a few blinders and then a ~£25m new keeper comes in and replaces him. This is why it was probably not smart waiting until this late to sort the keeper situation. Going into match 1 knowing who our new keeper is and having him training with the boys is what would've been idea.

Havertz sounds like he's ready to start straight away. Werner likewise. Chilwell we all knew would be missing for a while. Ziyech is the new signing I was probably most looking forward to seeing initially so this injury really annoys me. Why Frank even played him in the second half of that useless friendly I don't know. Was really feeling that Ziyech was the one new signing that would instantly provide decisive goal involvement. Guess the Ziyech blow is softened quite a bit by the fact that CP is back already.

Yeah, we should have enough for Brighton. But it's looking likely we'll be seeing the same dreadful defense + keeper for a bit longer. When a strong start to the season is probably going to be hugely important, that's not ideal. Especially with Liverpool up next.

That answer about Ziyech didn't sound good at all. Frank says he's hopeful he'll be ready in a matter of weeks. Doesn't to me that he'll be ready any time soon. 😣

I don't mean wait until his price goes down, I'm saying we'll wait until we have money for the huge outlay that will be required. WH will likely demand £65-80m for him which there's no chance of us paying this summer. This time next season we'll have PL and CL money to work with and will probably only need one or two players after what we've done this summer.

Our business has been so fantastic that I'm not really bothered about him going there either. I don't think he'll be this transformative player that becomes a world beater or Ballon D'Or contender like their fans think. He'll of course be very good and strengthen them.

Always assumed Sancho would eventually end up there, but as the saga has dragged on and on I had just started to think that maybe United's incompetent negotiators may have waited too long. But it looks like it'll get done. Pretty dreadful planning for Dortmund if they sell him at this late stage, though. How can they replace their best attacking player now?

Hopefully this dude has a big, alpha dog personality and can handle intense pressure. Because he's probably going to our most scrutinized new player considering all the drama around Kepa.

Difference is Soumaré is miles and miles more comfortable on the ball than Bakayoko is.

That fucking sucks about Ziyech. Damnit. But holy shit at CP being back that quickly. I wasn't expecting to have him for like a month. I'm going to guess that without Ziyech, Havertz will start the season on the right with Mount in the #10 position.

Definitely don't think Soumaré is shit. Far from it, actually. I think he's a top talent who has an excellent all around game. I was impressed with him when we played Lille last season. If Frank is 100% determined to sign a midfielder this window and Rice is totally impossible, Soumaré would be a good fallback option. But I don't think the position is in desperate need of a player there currently. We'll wait for Rice until next year if need be rather than signing someone just to sign them.

I have a feeling that the FA or FIFA or whoever is going to change the loan rules soon to limit how many players any one club can loan within the PL. Because you have to admit (however funny it is) that us sending loads of solid players to PL teams who can damage our rivals while not being able to damage us is not really fair. Hope we abuse the hell out of the rules as they are, though. 😂

But 29 is so ugly. 😣 Makes him look like an academy player who was called up last minute after an emergency injury.

Unless Christensen hits the gym and bulks up considerably I don't think I can ever see him becoming a lock in our team. He looks like he's never lifted a weight in his life and is thin as a pole. He gets bullied physically all the time. I prefer Zouma, Rudiger, and even Tomori over him.

Palace fans seem genuinely delighted to have him again. Hopefully he does very well for them and helps take points off our rivals. Then we can sell him there permanently for somewhere close to what we paid for him next summer.

Long as he can do the basic distribution adequately we should be fine. Stuff like spraying simple passes out when he's under no pressure. We probably have to hold our breath if there are ever quick attackers pressing right up in his face, though.

Mendy's arms look like a fucking orangutan. Longer than his damn body! 😂 Just what we need!

Hopefully he's able to become a regular there. If not this is another wasted year for him. If he does establish himself there it's one hell of a place to develop.

If we could pull a Chilwell and get Rice for like 20-30m under what WH are reported to want then that would be mad. Would WH have the ability to adequately replace him, though? That's the biggest hurdle. If Dec comes out and hands in a transfer request and demands to be sold to Chelsea I think it could happen. Oh, and we'd also have to sell Barkley and Jorginho.

We saw the reaction from Wet Spam fans the other day when they sold some unknown kid to West Brom. Imagine if they sold the face of their team and the guy they consider their future captain just before or even after the season starts. I can't imagine that, actually. If we wanted Rice this summer I think it would've had to happen long ago. Think he's bookmarked for next summer. WH fans might storm their owners' houses if they sold Rice now.

I don't believe for a second that we're going to consider another DM this window. We will wait for Rice.

I think Big Pete must be behind this move in part. I'm sure he's had lots of input on our new keeper search. He's a risky signing but if Big Pete thinks he's got what it takes I'm good with it. Hope he doesn't take too long to be thrown in the team.

So until we hear anything on the status of Ziyech, it's likely we'll only see 2 of our 5 new boys against Brighton in Havertz and Werner. Thiago Silva likely won't have more than a training session or two under his belt before then and Chilwell is not fit yet. I doubt a new keeper will be in by then either. So our XI against Brighton will probably have a very 2019/20 feel to it. Same poor keeper, same poor back 4. But more class up front.

The only audience who I can see loving and buying this 3rd kit is very young kids who love flashy colors.

If we wanted to make a serious push for the PL title and CL this season and are indeed after another deep sitting midfielder (which I can't see) then we should be doing everything we can to steal Thiago Alcantara before he goes to Liverpool. He's 29 years old but his game isn't reliant on pace or athleticism at all and I can easily see him playing elite football for another 3-4 years. World class player available for €30m. Will sadly never happen unless we sold Jorginho, though. I'd fancy us against anyone with him in our team controlling the midfield.