OneMoSalah

I find it ironic but its no surprise certain people just don’t see his value, like with Mount also. I get maybe getting another CM in but selling Jorginho is daft all things considering.

Costa had his head turned by a Chinese club midway in Conte’s first season who were prepared to offer him 620k a week or something daft to go there and he dropped him against Leicester IIRC that season after this. Costa had also wanted to go to Atletico after the 2015/16 season with Jose and Hiddink but stayed and played for Conte after Conte and the club refused to sell him. To say Conte pushed him out, realistically would be incorrect. Costa made it very easy for Conte to push him out, he clearly didn’t want to be there, he effectively wanted to go hut wasn’t allowed. Just read this interview he did where he said he wanted to go to Atletico prior to starting the 16/17 season. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11668/10810337/diego-costa-admits-he-wanted-to-leave-Chelsea-for-atletico-madrid

If he felt so personally attacked then Oli’s probably right or got a basis for it. Otherwise why would he feel its about him 😂?

Yeah its tough to judge. They may be accurate for some but some of those are also laughable. I mean Werner was reported on 275k or 200k depending which source you trust when we signed him. There was also a lot of talk Havertz was on huge money also (reportedly 310k according to Marca but I doubt its this high), then Kante reportedly on 290/300k when he renewed few seasons ago and will be getting a new deal this summer as well apparently so they’ll increase that. Kurt Zouma will 100% be on more than 40k also for sure so I would 100% be questioning them figures. No way Chilwell is the highest paid player at the club I will bet my life on that, a left back, sorry but not a chance 😂

I think he had an agreement with them after last summer though, that he would stay another season and could go this summer because United had bid for him then but weren’t prepared to meet their price. What your saying makes sense for the player from his point of view but it also severely shafts Dortmund as they get no resale contributions at all, which is ultimately their business model if they like it or not, buy cheap, develop the player, maybe win a few trophies but then sell the player for a lot of profit. Lewandowski did this years ago for instance, going to Bayern on a free, Dortmund didn’t see a penny.

I suppose if it happens I’ll hold my hands up but I do think its just the usual lazy “former Chelsea manager goes to club X and wants to sign an out of favour player” shit we see a lot. I mean we spent 2 years hearing about this with Conte wanting Emerson and Alonso and for all the rumours the links, no bids were ever made. Very much the same with Sarri wanting Jorginho at Juventus, a lot of rumours, nothing ever happened.

Haha maybe but honestly, I really still don’t buy it. May just be me being stubborn but it feels like it could be one of the typical 1 + 1 = 3 scenarios journalists use regarding transfers more commonly than not that turn out to be bullshit. Even then, the link being made, it means nothing to its done and personally I don’t see how any reasonable top/good forieg. side is taking a punt on Ruben from us on loan/full time in all honesty.

Tbf I disagree with this completely. Dortmund have always been that sort of club. They sell 2/3/4 of their best players every 2 transfer windows more or less and then just keep on churning out young players/making clever buys in their place. Its their whole business model. They can deny they are a “selling club/development club” but they have been for the best part of 7 years. This is ultimately part of what led to Tuchel’s bust up there also and him getting sacked as he was particularly unhappy regarding the sales of Hummels, Gundogan and Mkhitaryan who were 3 of his key players. Dortmund definitely didn’t sign Haaland with the aims of him staying there for like 3/4/5/6 years, they signed him for 1 or 2 seasons max, where he would be playing every week, improving, with the idea or aim to sell him for a massive profit. Sancho as well, I don’t think they anticipated him having such an impact so soon, so to get 4 seasons out of him I think hes run his course there as well 100%. But they’ll do what they do, they’ll find another few young players or a few smart signings somewhere and then, 2/3 years later, rinse and repeat.

No excuses to win all 6 trophies. Jesus you on the drink? Yes those 2 great players but to win all 6 trophies, fuck me, thats incredibly difficult and unrealistic. Never mind 6 winning 3 in a season in a near impossible feat these days. Never mind 6 🤣 I get the optimism around the club and what 2/3 excellent signings can do but wouldn’t go as far as that. I mean if theres no excuse to not win all 6 trophies you going to sit saying if we dont and Tuchel doesn’t we should sack him? Even those records, I doubt anyone is getting close to them even with Haaland and Hakimi. They are incredible records.

I still find it moronic how eager people were to see Sarri sacked within like 6/7 months here. Or how unappreciative/impatient people were with what he was trying to do because there was signs there that in our half and the middle third we were doing what he wanted but we needed more in attack. Yet Frank comes in and the word patience which has rarely ever been used here, is all of a sudden the way to go.… Nobody can argue we’d really improved in 18 months with Frank because we had spent like another 3 seasons now trying to find a good option at number 9 and make the attack more fluid, as opposed to reliant on one player. Plus the football at times with Framk was even worse in attack. Fullbacks spamming crosses in to 5 ft 7 players. I get he was stubborn with his methods and got out when the ban was in to go to Juventus but he was effectively shoved out the door more or less by the lack of backing he got. Look into what he said after the Europa League final. No surprise few weeks later he left, would of probably done so even if Juventus never came in for him. Plus maybe he never truly has the connection with the fans but ultimately it works both ways also. For example, during that period the fans booing Jorginho v Malmo is definitely one of the most embarrassing things I can remember in recent times involving us in a football game. Or our own fans jeering Sarri making subs etc instead of getting behind the team.

I mean he’s not done anything particularly interesting in his career. Its not always a fair barometer of how good a manager he is but again underwhelming spells at Porto, bit better at Braga, good spell at Shakhtar then a meh spell at Roma. It looks very middle of the road. Its more the circus of how they’ve gone from looking at 2/3 top class options to scraping the barrel for someone, who’s just been replaced by the man they sacked also 😂.

I dont get the first source though. I mean what are they basing this assumption off of? No way on top of the fee which will be 150-170 maximum, commission fees, player wages over a 5 year contract and agents fees it will reach 400m surely? If he is wanting 300/350k like reported thats 15.6/18.2m per year over say 5 years thats 78/91m. So say that goes from the 170m fee to 248/261m including wages over 5 years. So where is this other 160/140m coming from 😂? Its just absolute nonsense. Aye the agent is a greedy prick but the numbers dont add up to make 400m in any circumstances. The 300/350k p/w demands are only rumours and their not even after tax either so whilst it will again cause issues with wage structure its not catastrophic ie signing Ronaldo/Messi on 500k + a week. Plus the wages aren’t paid all upfront so why people are getting hung up in including these in a deals total cost is bizarre unless its the new norm for every transfer now but its not and never will be.

Paulo Fonseca in advanced talks with Spurs. Jesus he must of been what their 5th choice… Likes of Naglesmann, ten Hag, Pochettino and Conte all wanted/approached before him. Hope their managerial search keeps going for a few weeks yet. And the longer it does go on, the even more likely that Kane will leave them I think. Conte or Pochettino were probably the only 2 managers on that list who could encourage him to stay or at least have a higher chance. Even that big lump Mido that used to play for Spurs in 2004-7 is tweeting criticising Daniel Levy questioning him and saying he’s more interested in making money than bringing Spurs on another level. 🤣

Promising player. Had a very decent season with Hibs who finished 3rd in the Scottish Prem and he played a lot as a left back in a back 4 or left wingback in a back 5. Don’t think Arsenal is the right move yet, he’s only 19, too soon. Would say he needs another season of playing every week to see if he can keep building on his talent at least, maybe 2 seasons because whilst he is talented he’s not an exceptional talent yet.

I don’t even get where this €400m is coming from in all honesty. I mean fee to Dortmund is likely €150-170m on top of agent fees and sign on fees. Will be around €200m minimum probably. Unless folk are including his wages but why only do this for Haaland? I mean when we signed player X, Y, Z, nobody ever went its going to cost €30m/whatever transfer fee plus the agent/sign on bonus on top of however many years worth of wages over whatever period. Just seems like a number someone with too much time has plucked out of thin air! I know they’ve said about wage structure but did we not just give Timo Werner a £275,000 a week 5 year deal last season? Haalands agent wants what £300,000 or around there per week for him?

Theo Hernandez is a very good attacking fullback. He’s not bad defensively but can still be rash sometimes. The 8 goals and 7 assists this season are good stats though and he has shown good potential but still has a with a few things to iron out I suppose. Has good pace and physicality though. I think PSG are linked and trying to get him but went quiet a last week or near two weeks ago.

Be an interesting appointment. Probably out of his depth a bit at Juventus although they clearly needed overhauled (and have done for 3/4 seasons be interesting alone watching that unfold) and had his good and bad moments here. Maybe the likes of Lazio, Napoli, clubs who are expected to do well but never truly disrupt the established top teams is his level. Some good players to start with, Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto are two very good MFers then Immobile and Correa as well are of a pretty decent level. Not so sure on rest of their squad, know Pepe Reina and Lucas Leiva are there but surely they must be nearly 40 now.

David Wagner steals another job somehow. West Brom fans better be excited to see them run a lot trying to gegenpress and play piss poor with the ball just like his team did at Huddersfield. Whoever takes the Palace job is effectively doomed regardless. Bar Eze, Zaha, Guita, Milivojevic, and a handful of others there isnt a great deal to work with.

Unai Simon is decent from what I have seen. Don't think he's outstanding, in fact none of the Spanish GKs are. They are all at a similar level. Which is crazy considering 2 or 3 years ago at the World Cup Kepa was considered to be the Spanish publics preferred choice to be their number 1 ahead of De Gea. Then years before that De Gea was seen as the best player in that position in world football. Its been weird.

Aguero signed for Barca. Last week or one beforehand. Lewandowski would never happen because of his age and his contract length also. He would also cost a good bit of wages I would think still because well he’s Lewandowski and he would want a big salary based around the fact hes been the best or consistent number 9 in the world alongside Luis Suarez for probably a period of nearly 10 years. I will be honest I refuse to believe any club in the world is giving Dortmund and Haaland a package that will exceed €400-450m but it will for sure be expensive regardless. As it would be for Mbappe. Or any other player of that ilk.

Would agree but also I think having someone with Haaland’s mentality and ability at that age, you’d hope would also elevate the others around them and also the reward over a prolonged period is massive if his career continues on the trajectory its had in the last 2/3 seasons. That ruthless killer mentality in front of goal is what we are missing in an abundance. Sort of thing that the likes of Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez, Lewandowski, Salah, Aguero etc have when they are in on goal you know 99/100 times its a goal. I get it makes it a bit of a jigsaw fitting everyone in but like when we signed Eden in 2012, I think if the option is there and the possibility, we might as well because he is basically a one in a million player. I know the scenario was maybe slightly different regarding we needed younger attacking players then but at the same time, say we don’t get a Haaland or a Kane or someone of that ilk, say City or United do and they go and take them up another level, I think we may regret not trying. It will be interesting though because aye Havertz can operate as either a false 9 as he has done with Tuchel, but we will 100% need to have at least 5+ league goals more from each of him, Mount, Timo, Callum, Christian etc if we dont get a striker but also, with a striker he can play as second striker or attacking midfielder off of them I would think. Similarly to Werner despite the difference in playing styles. Kai being this sort of hybrid player like Tuchel described him as alongside a proper number 9 would actually give us more flexibility. Particulary with 343.

Weird scenario. Imagine Kepa somehow ends up getting to the Euros. Lot of talk Luis Enrique is making the Brighton GK his #1 at the Euros too.

Yeah not buying that to be honest. Tuchel is a big fan of Andreas, wanted him at Dortmund, has played him since coming in and got an improvement out ot him. Makes little sense. Can get Emerson though but again, with Conte gone, who says Inzaghi is open to signing him? Would be nice to see some consistency from Reece going forward though, mainly in terms of looking to take people on and putting crosses in regularly when he gets in certain positions. Thats my only concern with him sometimes. Some games you see him get into good positions constantly, getting crosses in and your thinking, wow some delivery pity nobody gets on the end of them but then the next game, you don’t see it even though he’s in multiple positions where you think cmon drop the shoulder, blitz past him and cross it in as there is folk in and around the box. He has all the attributes to be a very complete RB/RWB. Good defensively (improved a lot this season after wee bits and pieces last season that weren’t great), has mobility, physically strong, technically good, great delivery. Just needs to do a bit more when he’s in the opposition half in certain games. Sometimes he looks half arsed.

I see the incredible naive insistence on bringing Guehi back isn’t going to end anytime soon. If he’s going to be a bench warmer whats the point? If he’s not ready to break in ahead of the guys who started in the CL final and stay there, he should be sent away on loan again and continue to be allowed to develop as opposed to rot on bench for the best part of the season bar cup games or a injury/suspension crisis that well don’t tend to happen here as often. We are stacked at CB in a 3 with Azpi, Silva, Rudiger as our first 3 then Zouma, Andreas as backup/rotation and Reece as an last resort option. Then we have Tomori (would expect him to be sold though) and Sarr who are much more experienced players out on loan who have been exposed to a higher standard and much higher amount of games than Guehi. I mean even then, unless one of those guys who were in the squad leaves/be moved on to be replaced then it has to be an immediate upgrade on any of those ie a Varane or someone who is going to make an instant impact and improve the defence even more. Its a shame Swansea didn’t come up as he could have had PL experience there but hopefully we find someone who doesn’t want to play like Stoke City to take him on loan.

Yes but I mean if its playing time at a Newcastle/Crystal Palace/Burnley on loan/permanently or a Hertha Berlin/Hoffenheim/Stuttgart or something on loan/permanently, what do you think most will go for? Thats taking the bit hitters out of it. Or where do you think clubs would probably try encourage people to go more actually? I think 10 years ago the PL loan would be a cert but now its almost more the foreign leagues by looks of it. Not just the playing part but the challenge of being in another country, another language, another culture, all these things are always forgotten with about how they can contribute towards player development because its not just the footballing aspect that can change or improve, its the mental aspect or the psychological aspect of someone going over to a new country and getting immersed into all that. Yes some PL clubs don’t loan young players/try their young players but even then the ones you’d hope would/think they’d be more likely (the relegation fighting clubs, the ones who were probably better sides when they first came into the league, or the ones who didn’t have the Big Sam to Tony Pulis transitions/cycles or the ones on shoestring budgets etc), your probably never going to see a huge improvement in a player compared to some of these foreign leagues because a high % of them are either bad footballing sides or below average coaches. I mean its no shock that Leeds, Sheffield United (last season), Aston Villa (one of the most improved teams this season by a mile) and Wolves (first poor season in the PL with Nuno) have came up in recent seasons with good managers and have leapfrogged at least 6 or 7 different clubs who been in the PL consistently for close to however many years. It is because the others are, to put it bluntly, basically poor sides who do their bit and get to 40 points, celebrate and then say okay lads lets go for 41 points next year despite having a good chunk of money that they’ve pissed up the wall on a Joelinton or a Benteke or whoever. Who is going to leave a top club/academy and want to play for that, teams where you’ve got the revolving door of Big Sam/Roy Hodgson/Tony Pulis playing horrendous football which is reliant on kicking it 60-70 metres, getting a knockdown or playing off of set pieces, rinse and repeat nearly 40 games a season? Because the other clubs who actually play and can afford to buy players are buying from foreign leagues 75% of the time or ready made players from PL/championship clubs. Also one bad loan doesn’t define someones career. These guys may have struggled in Germany that you listed but again the experience, the differences, all of that one way or another is something else that can be taken onboard for a player. I mean I doubt anyone thought that Emile Smith Rowe would go from Huddersfield to one of Arsenal’s main men in 6 months. Or nobody could have seen Reiss Nelsons good spell in Germany lead to how he’s barely a regular for Arsenal at all. Same for the bloke Lookman as you said, good initial spell, signed and rarely featured, went to Fulham, looked meh. Fair enough its never always a guarantee a loan regardless as they can change a manager/get injured or sign someone else but there is invaluable experience to take from all aspects of it.