Superblue

If that is indeed the case, then I wouldn't be surprised if the loan approach was for Bissouma. Talk has come up today that we've enquired about him. Obviously Potter knows him well and rates him highly from his time at Brighton where he was an important player in their team under him. Struggling to get game time at Spurs, I could see us possibly eyeing him as a temporary move for now to help plug a gap. Maybe the new ownership didn't get the memo that some clubs just don't conduct dealings with one another!

For the long term profile of the squad, the only player natural in the right hand side of an attack is Ziyech who looks likely to move on sooner rather than later so I can understand the interest. He is a talent with a lot of potential but he's also had a huge number of injuries and struggled to stay fit which is a huge worry. I'd much prefer to see him stay fit and perform the second half of this season before making a move on him. I'd doubt his market value would change much between now and then if they already want 30-40m now. It is still vital we sort out our midfield and the only thing I am hoping is there are one or two key targets but are not available now. Given what has happened with Nkunku being done in the background, there could easily be something similar taking place for a midfield signing in the summer. The one thing I would say if we do sign Madueke is that we'll jump from one of the slowest attacks in the league to one of the quickest with him and Mudryk. Some serious pace right there.

We need to get £17m don't we to cover Pulisic and Ziyech amortisation? Or are you viewing it as if they were to be sold now rather than the summer? In the summer I don't see why we couldn't at least cover their amortisation. It is incredible that just the move of those three frees up potentially Nkunku plus two more similar size signings. However if anything it just highlights how poor some of our signings have been because it's less a case of fetching £20-25m for these players, and more that we are getting off the books about £130-140m initial investment of these players.

It is all due to change again over the next year or two anyway and move towards a model where certain expenses (transfer fees, wages, agents fees I believe) have to be within a certain percentage of your turnover (believe it's due to start at like 80% and move down to eventually 70%). To me this looks like an even bigger means of keeping the established clubs at the top table and will be even more restrictive for any clubs that have a bit of ambition. But I'm not sure what the transition is from current to the future one. Perhaps Chelsea are aware that the changes offer a window of opportunity, I'm not too sure.

I can't see a situation where we have headed into January looking like top 4 is pretty much out of the picture and gone on to spend what we have with a backdrop of breaking FFP. I'm sure there would be contingencies in place at the club for missing out on the top 4 as it's unlikely to happen this season. Personally I think there will be a clear out in the summer which will give rise to being able to go again in the market if they choose to. Jorginho will almost certainly leave in the summer and I think Pulisic and Ziyech will both be sold too with a year left on their deals. That just there is £20-25m of FFP costs per annum cleared off the books, and based on the age profile and contract lengths we have been targeting, probably gives rise to 2-3 big signings that can be done to replace those costs. I think depending on interest in the market, one of the keepers, Auba and Koulibaly will all be moved on too and then I do think it's up in the air with regards to Havertz and Gallagher, particularly as we can probably fetch decent fees for both.

I like the links to the Brentford keeper. I don't think there are many stand out keepers at present that can give you the blend of shot stopping/handling and ability to play out the back. Any that start to show any remote potential (like the Porto keeper) are quickly tagged upwards of £50m. With the disaster of Kepa's move and still a number of positions to strengthen over the next couple of windows or so, I'm reluctant to see the club really dent the budgets for a keeper. I read earlier Raya's contract only has one year left in the summer and Brentford would be willing to sell for £15-20m. To me it seems a cost effective and fair price to take a solid Premier League proven goalkeeper who is excellent on the ball. He's certainly an upgrade in my opinion on Kepa and I think one of our two keepers might be able to be sold in the summer for a similar price to help fund the move.

Probably more to do with Colwill who is also a left footed centre back. Could they potentially play together as would involve one on the right hand side. I assume if everything fell correctly for the club the first choice long term would be Fofana on the right and one of Badiashile or Colwill on the left. Fofana still needs to prove his fitness long term though to be reliably considered for that role.

The facts are that besides Roman putting in conditions to prevent them from taking money out of the club for the next 10 years or whatever the stipulations are, I don't see this being a situation where we get milked every year for dividends. We're not making big profits like United, and given the investment made to buy the club, a few million a year in dividends is a drop in the ocean to paying the ownership back on their investments. I believe they view the Premier League to continue to grow financially over the next 10 years or so, and that Chelsea and other top clubs in the league could be worth 2x, 3x or more the value they are now. They clearly have identified areas too where they feel they can grow the club in that period and add value to it. In 10 years time when they are in a position to make more flexible decisions, they are either sat on a much greater investment than they initially invested and will continue to operate the club, or at that point they will look to sell or divest a proportion of their shareholding in the club to outside investors. In the case of Clearlake I think they'll certainly look at that being the solution. If the club can grow in value 2 or 3 times in that period then theoretically they could divest half or a third of their holding to recoup their initial investment and then still hold a significant stake. If I'm correct in my assumptions on this, then I have no problem with it. At the end of the day, we were never getting another Roman, and these guys are businessmen. I think it's easy to look at the Glazers and all American investment is then red flagged and painted with the same brush which is simply not true.

Think the full quote mentioned after the war has ended.

There is one big positive/negative of the longer contracts. Like you mentioned if they flop, then we could well struggle to offload them. But on the flip side, if some of these players go on to be big players over the coming years, then it'll look like a masterstroke that they are tied here throughout most, if not all of their 20's. In recent years we've seen Rudiger move on a free transfer at the very peak of his career, Christensen move on a free, and Hazard and Courtois able to essentially force the club's hand with moves due to their contract situations. We also now have Mount in a very similar position if something doesn't materialise this season. So we are certainly a club that can also see the setbacks of losing control over players contracts too. The key is to have more hits than misses in the transfer market to really make this work, and we may not really know or be able to assess this strategy for at least a couple of years or so. Regarding the offloading, I think there could be a fair few moved on in the summer. I think if there's no takers for Auba and Azpi then they'll be allowed to move on anyway, as of now Jorginho and Kante will leave on frees, possibly Silva too, Felix and Zakaria are only on loan and the likes of Ziyech and Pulisic will only have a year left on their deals meaning the club are more likely to sell cheap and recoup something back for them. I also think the club will look to sell Koulibaly and Mendy too if there's market interest.

Maybe we need to get the NFL thread on this forum a bit more active 😂 That's sweet mate, I've got no ties to New Orleans but getting to the Superdome for a game and visiting the city in general is on my bucket list one day, probably when the kids have grown up and flew the nest!

To be fair I can see a lot of people opposing the Cowboys over here purely because of them being 'America's Team'. Definitely interesting to know and something I wasn't really aware of over here. I haven't been since before Covid to any of the London games and granted I never went to a Washington game but used to make one each year and usually they were a bit of a circus of fans of all teams and I wouldn't have said they'd be amongst the most well supported. I'm pretty certain my team are one of the least backed over here mind. Got into NFL about a year after Hurricane Katrina, and got sucked into the idea and "Cinderella story" behind New Orleans rebuilding their team, not to mention the entire city. Believe it was the first year of Sean Payton and Drew Brees and the return back to the Superdome after a year away and I was hooked on the Saints ever after. Year later a Superbowl win too! I have the Chelsea badge and a football helmet with the fleur-de-lis tattooed on the back of each shoulder. Unfortunately now, it's an ageing, declining team that has mortgaged itself multiple times over by kicking salary caps down the road and giving away draft picks and really is in need of a complete rebuild over the next few years. The combination of the Saints and Chelsea over the last few months has not been healthy to say the least!

Out of curiosity, just say either this window or in the summer we buy a centre midfielder and replace Dave at right back but only then do one more move, what would everyone want? Let's assume Felix goes back in the summer but Nkunku joins. I think looking at the makeup of our squad it's either a striker or a goalkeeper.

I didn't watch, but I think he had a poor game against Barca the other night.

I wouldn't see Washington as a well supported team over these shores, what made you support them?

I think Lavia has a lot more upside, I'd just like to see him continue the rest of this season at Southampton. If they go down I think he'd be half the cost of Caicedo. As much as its tempting to buy a midfielder in this window, I really don't want us to cock it up in a panic. If the right player isn't available until the summer, then we need to bide our time. Hopefully the move for Nkunku would suggest there is the start of a shift to that thinking in being prepared to wait for a main target. I am also interested to see what Kante we get back when he's fit. Feel that this surgery may have been something he's needed as a more long term fix. I don't expect him to be someone you can rely on game in game out but if we are going to agree a new contract with him and he can come back to full fitness and managed properly, he could still play a big role here and possibly changes the complexion a little bit of what we want the midfield makeup to be (i.e. I see Caicedo as probably the closest profile and alternative to him. If Kante does return, is Caicedo as needed and could we possibly look at alternative profiles in the midfield)

Is Carney not on the B list with Broja? If he isn't he may end up missing out. Based on the above, Fofana will definitely miss out, so it looks like possibly one player. It'll be interesting as the one that does miss out, it'll be as good as proof that they're not really in plans. I'd potentially wager Aubameyang if Havertz and Felix can stay fit and available for the attack. Otherwise, massive risk, but the club may look at Mendy and just using Bettinelli as the number 2 in the Champions League. How's it work with Premier League registrations, I'm pretty sure there's is a lot more relaxed than the Champions League and the likes of Fofana and Mudryk count as U21 players this season.

Certainly looks like he takes his conditioning and training seriously, looks like he has muscles in his legs that I didn't even realise were there (they're certainly not apparent in my legs!) - on the Chelsea video of his signing he seemed to cite Ronaldo as his inspiration in football and that training and application do appear to be very "Ronaldo-esque".

Colwill was at the Bridge for Sunday's game, up in the box with Eghbali, Mudryk and Felix. From what I've read and understand, the club decided to pay the premium on Cucurella in the summer and just loan Colwill out as opposed to using him in a permanent transfer to lower the Cucurella deal. At the time I felt this was the right move, and his recent performances for Brighton would confirm this for me. I think the club will want to keep him given the youth drive they seem to have been doing. When Silva decides to leave, I think they'll view Fofana, Chalobah, Colwill and Badiashile as the centre backs moving forward in the long term at the club. I was impressed with Badiashile at the weekend, albeit it's only one game but I think Colwill could be something very special and the profile of both, I think Fofana and Colwill have the makings of a very promising centre back partnership in the future.

Besides stretching FFP out further, the long contracts I do also think have something to do with what the ownership walked into at Chelsea. They were coming in as Christensen and Rudiger were walking out the door, in reality the best part of £100m worth of defenders leaving on a free that required replacing. They had arguably the two poster boys of the club in James and Mount needing new contracts to be tied down to, and they had the likes of Jorginho and Kante with expiring contracts. They've clearly assessed with the younger talent at the club that they don't want a player at their peak in their mid 20's with a contract expiring. The risk of being caught in a position like PSG did with Mbappe for them is greater than having a player on a long contract and they don't work out. Not all of them will work out, so it'll be interesting how that is dealt with when the time comes. Hopefully at the very least the more expensive ones like Fofana, Mudryk do.

I personally am not worried about this. I think it's more likely to be him just wanting to move to the Premier League. As much as we wouldn't like to admit, Arsenal are a big club and were after him in the summer so that firm interest for the last 6 months or so had probably turned his head and got him twerking for that move. Us coming in presented two options for him, and from the looks of things, it hasn't taken too long to get him to decide to make the move here.

I have my doubts on Caicedo. Looks a really good player but Brighton are going to want an absolute fortune for him. Just feel there should be something equivalent somewhere for a much more attractive price.

Given the recent run of form, I think the subs were only natural to try and hold on to what we had. I'd have done the same in his position and whilst we'd all like to be 3 up and coasting, it was natural for the team to get nervous and drop deeper as the game wore on. Confidence is clearly on the floor at the moment, across the players, staff and fans and that's only going to be improved by stringing a better run of results together. I thought today was a starting point, not necessarily performance wise, but the players putting a shift in and grafting a win. It was needed and hopefully a shot in the arm for everyone associated with the club.

Ironically Liverpool away might be one of the better games to throw him in next week, whether its from the start or a cameo in the second half. They will likely leave the space he should thrive in and will also be up against Trent who's defending is mostly lazy at best.

Huge amount of money but this is a move seemingly driven by the likes of Vivell and Winstanley. We're just going to have to trust their judgement and plans for rebuilding the team. What he at least brings is pure, blistering pace and explosiveness that this team across the board lacks. It will help prevent teams from trying to press high against us, which has happened with a lot more regularity in the last 12 months, when we have a potential weapon over the top into spaces behind. Like @OhForAGreavsiementioned on the transfer page, sometimes you have to take opportunities in the transfer market and buy the best player available irrespective of the position of need. If Mudryk is that high up on Chelsea's list of targets then fair enough, just so long as the holes in the squad are fixed moving forward which starts firmly in that central midfield area.