OneMoSalah

I get that but say in 3 or 4 full seasons again when he or the club turns around and wants to renegotiate then again, we are looking at £300-£350k+ a week. Easily. True on his performances but £250k now just means the next one is going to be £300-£350k+ minimum and no doubt with his trajectory in say 3 years we will sit down and want to renegotiate a deal. I mean people can say what they want and this is all hypothetical but giving a 22 year old £250k a week after 128 appearances, whilst he has been pretty impressive I still think he is definitely young enough and clearly we could have given him a slightly lower wage and he would of resigned because he’s a Chelsea lad. I mean I still remember the talk when United gave Rashford a 200k + a week deal. There was a lot of criticism, giving him a mega mega contract. I would of hoped that Boehly would of been a bit more measured in particular with new deals for the likes of Reece and Mason. Not that they don’t deserve a pay rise or a wage similar to some of the other guys absolutely not, but again to not put the club in a position where 3 or 4 years down the line the wage structure has to be hugely restructured and no doubts, it will have knock on effects on other players.

Great news but personally I feel 250k a week (highest paid defender in club history) is madness. And I’ll go back to it but as soon as we gave CHO 150k a week this was always going to happen. Mason will likely renew next and be on similar terms.

It is more than a bit rich, we have won some of the biggest trophies in club football playing the same way. As have several other clubs. I mean this dominate possession but struggling to put chances away… unfortunately you don’t get any prizes for playing good football and winning nothing despite this footballing hipsters ideology that you need to play good football to be successful. Ten Hag looks like he has found a way of playing and winning which suits his squad whilst not necessarily being his style. Or certainly based on his team at Ajax but would say that no manager can recreate their previous team to the point its identical. Pep’s sides have changed slightly each club be has been at, Mourinho’s have, Klopp’s have, Tuchel’s have. Its just another sign of a good manager incorporating things or an approach that suits some of the players they already have. A win against a good Arsenal side who threw a lot at them, makes that United result even better for then. And also shows that there is again more to football than having 60-70% of the ball or more passes than your opponent. United had more shots on target, more clear cut chances, likely they had a higher percentages of duels won and distances covered too. Small details that matter particularly in big games.

The number of touches are irrelevant, even more so considering he got an assist for Gundogan’s goal…. I mean if someone only has 8 touches but still provides and assist or a goal, how is that an issue? That’s still contributing to the team. Using touch maps is pointless, particularly if someone has provided a goal or an assist. Even the other games where Haaland has scored or assisted, I bet his touches aren’t that high. Aguero was the same under Pep. Because he was in and around the box more than coming to feet. Or he was stretching teams making runs off the ball. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/08/14/erling-haaland-eight-touches-two-passes-man-city-bournemouth/ even the telegraph stated in an article that despite only having 8 touches he pulled Bournemouth apart.

Disagree. Just watch his back to back hat tricks. He's the real deal. Does a bit of everything.

Playing a back 4 over the last few weeks has only reinforced that we need to go back to 3 at the back IMO.

Wouldn’t even say that Kulusevski, Bentancur or Zakaria’s situations was to do with their ability. DK was one of Juventus’ better players in his first season there under Pirlo and alongside Ronaldo, Morata and Chiesa, their quality really helped them finish top 4, even though they were a pile of shite as a team. Was more a lack of playing time/starts under Allegri that killed him more than anything and thats why he moved. How he’s done in the PL hasn’t surprised me one bit. At Parma he was also impressive and I think Juventus will be kicking themselves in a few seasons because he has the potential to be an excellent player. Or even Atalanta as he was there before. Bentancur was a weird one though because he had played regularly for 4 full seasons and even up to his move to Spurs. I don’t know was it just financially that it suited them more than anything else? They also were interested in Zakaria before in the summer, months before they actually got him as a replacement for Bentancur in January. Plus they would of needed to generate money for investing in their squad. And Pogba was linked for months on end. It does seem weird but all 3 definitely didn’t leave there due to being poor players.

Good luck to him. Still think, he has got the ability to be a top 6 level player. Would of rather seen him play more than Ruben or Ross over the last 18 months or so. As a fellow Scot also I am glad he will be getting regular playing time in a half decent team after seeing that horrendous Norwich team he played in. I just hope he doesn’t do too well and end up going to one of our rivals in 18 months or 24 months. Because I still think his talent is undoubtedly there. Maybe if he develops a bit more physically and is a bit more robust he will improve also because technically there is no doubts from me he is capable of being a good MF player.

Was a very good player in Germany and even if he didn’t play a lot for Juventus (people saying he was a flop based on 11 games are clueless but not as if over the top comments based on stupid assumptions). His profile is exactly what we needed IMO - tall, strong, quick, good in duels, sound technically - so lets see how he does. I think the PL will suit him a lot more than Italy and the Saul comparisons are unfair (although again Saul did start showing after a while, whilst nothing special that he wasn’t half bad either). Was linked with a lot of top clubs prior to going to Italy too. But apparently a “flop” based of 11 games…. Or thats what I gathered from some peoples opinions in the transfers thread 😂

Zakaria and Aubamayang is good business. Two players who are either in their prime/at a high level to offer something instantly. And no more Havertz upfront so a win win. Havertz/Mount and Sterling off Aubamayang should be a productive attack.

Welcome! Good player but big big price tag. More than likely because Leicester paid £35m for him as opposed to him being a ‘generational talent’ or ‘best young CB of his generation/Europe/whatever’. I am not sure I’ve seen enough from him to confidently say £70m is a good deal for us. Considering what we’ve lost this summer too in terms of Rudiger’s and Christensen’s ability and experience and how we’ve started, he’s got to come in and hit the ground running. Obviously he’s young and over 7 years or whatever his contract is, may prove to be a very good deal but look at Kai Havertz, big money and barring a CL winning goal and a handful of games, theres still huge doubts over what he is, what he offers, if he’s going to become that player that he should be etc. Still not convinced he’s could grow into one of the very best CBs in Europe like the owner has said and some others are/have said. I mean he’s not even played 100 career games. Its even harder to believe that sort of talk based on 37 Premier League games, and its 99.9% likely that not a lot of people on here saying such things watched him at St Etienne or for France u21s either.

Im sorry but 77m and loaning him back is the most retarded thing we could do. Is any CB under 25 worth 77m? Even Fofana is he worth 70m at present? No.

Being compared and being the same are two different things mate. Look at PSGs squad for example, all those big hitters last year and they couldn’t get a really decent team out of them. Also, people in the media thought Man United could be competing for the title after signing Ronaldo, Varane and Sancho months after Ole had them 2nd. The difference with guys like Origi, AOC, Ake, Zinchenko, Tmikias, compared to Saul, RLC, Alonso and Barkley are they are actually decent enough players and have secured/will secure good moves if they leave/were to leave. RLC and Ross wouldn’t (hence why hes off on a free and only partial link for RLC is Lazio due to lazy Sarri link from that 2 month purple patch he had here) and well Sauls back at Atletico and Alonso is only linked to Barca as a back up. Zinchenko has already shown he is actually a pretty good player at Arsenal and even at City at times last year. Just needed regular games. Origi didn't go to AC Milan, Serie A champions, who already have Ibra and Giroud for nothing. Ake wasn't linked/almost sign here for nothing. They're good players (although Ake not starting quality for the likes of a City).

Nail on the head. I genuinely think he wouldn’t get any opportunities at the likes of a City, Liverpool, Spurs or Arsenal.

On paper maybe. But even then, debatable. Not even just debatable. It was a good squad. I mean footballer isn’t won on paper - all the attackers and their inconsistencies, the lack of quality back up wing backs and to Kante. Likes of mediocrity of guys like Saul, Loftus-Cheek, Sarr, Barkley in it. “A great squad” … If thats a great squad then how do you describe City and Liverpools? Or are you going to try and say that Tuchel is the reason Havertz, Werner, Ziyech, Pulisic all cant deliver consistently, despite the fact they didn't really do much consistently under Frank either? Or that TT is the reason RLC hasn’t done anything since barring a 3 month period under Sarri? On a different note I think TT’s comments calling the team soft has hit the nail on the head. No point just pointing out the midfield being soft. The whole team is front to back. We’ve been soft for fucking years, I mean when we finally look like we are getting somewhere (ie we win a trophy/league/whatever) we seem to just fall away and its either the managers fault/lack of transfers (which maybe they shoulder some blame in some aspects) but players being weak mentally or getting carried away with winning one trophy definitely is a contribution too.

I dont even think Celtic would go for him. Scottish League may not be an incredible standard but Celtic’s business since Ange Postecoglu took over has been pretty incredible compared to the previous 3 or 4 windows. I mean a lot of the games I’ve see, he’s basically signed 3/4s of a whole new team and it is so clear they all suit his philosophy off high tiempo attacking and high pressing football. Throw in the fact Celtic have got a lot of players in MF too as they’ve basically overhauled those places, so unless Matt O’Reilly (looks like he could be the next big one to go, links with Man United, Dortmund, Liverpool, Newcastle) is sold then I don’t see it happening. James McCarthy joined for big wages last summer and barely starts so they’d be wary to sign another big wage player I’d imagine incase it didn’t work out. In fact I think whilst it may seem attractive to the Old Firm (again the fact we couldn’t shift Barkley at all screams out that it definitely wouldn’t be) in my eyes their much better sticking with developing the likes of O’Reilly, Turnbull (Celtic) and Tillman (Rangers) because both their models are orientated around progressing players and generating big profits from them. Plus Rangers signed Aaron Ramsay and that barely worked out either, someone who when fit is considerably better than Ross Barkley. I honestly do think the time of the Scottish League being a retirement home/place where players such as Barkley, Ramsay etc would go to see out a few seasons and get away with half arsing it is done. Its never going to be a top league but Rangers and Celtic are definitely ambitious sides and the standards aren’t exactly League 1 or League 2. I really think Barkley ending up playing at a top 10 PL club is very unlikely. In fact going abroad may reinvigorate his career.

If he is listed as 6 ft 3 on official PL website/Leicester City site, he is more than likely 6 ft 3. I mean fucking hell… never seen somebody give so much of a shit how tall someone is/don’t buy it based off a photo 🤣 Also do you have insecurities because you seem to mention your height every 2/3 months regarding certain footballers? Pretty sure you’ve included this about a few other players over the years 🤣

Bournemouth going down. 100%. Scott Parker for all the praise he gets as a manager is absolutely abysmal in the PL. On the other games - never thought I’d say it but more worried about Arsenal than Spurs at present. Saliba, Jesus and Zinchenko have strengthened them a lot in terms of quality and good quality depth at a problem position for them (LB). Jesus will likely score 20-25+ this season in all comps, in fact I have no doubts he will and thats the sort of numbers which can turn a 5th or 6th place finish to a 3rd or 4th. Odegaard was also outstanding v Fulham. Saliba too looks a real asset.

Only been a few games but already very impressed with him. Chilwell’s got a lot of work to do to get back in the team for me (although he’s maybe not fully fit yet)

Trying far too hard to make an impression. Needs to take it slow and it will happen naturally. Thats without even thinking about the red card. Abysmal. Doesn’t matter what age you are, how experienced you are, you don’t do that on a booking, thats just common sense.

He is one of the most petulant footballers in the PL, that is why. Leave him at Palace. When things don’t go for him he cuts about like a 5 year old who’s been told to go to bed when he doesn’t want to. Also Everton have been the only club stupid enough to offer Palace big money for him.

An even bigger problem for us playing 433 is the lack of quality out wide in attacking areas. Bar Sterling. Thats another reason why we play with wing backs. Because James and Cucurella/Chilwell are more threatening out wide than most of our actual wingers.

Good move for him. Never good enough for an elite level club but definitely can be a very good player for the likes of a West Ham.

I am sure Tino rejected a new deal and Lampard sealed Tomori’s fate loaning him out with buy option.

Tchou was never coming here let’s be honest, even last year. As soon as Madrid entered the frame and firmed up their interest it was inevitable. I mean I am 100% certain we would of gotten him last year if he wanted to come here but he was likely always going to be waiting on Madrid coming in for him. Either that or Tuchel wasn’t convinced fully. Plus until I’ve seen him do well for Madrid I am yet to concede we missed out on a good deal. Letting Casemiro go is madness.