Superblue

He mentioned he see's 2 new defenders and a 'statement' signing but unsure what position they would look at for that.

My worry with Rashford is he'll still currently command quite a hefty transfer fee and high wages and his drop off has been so significant I don't currently see a reason to pinpoint he'll pick back up. I would still have expected a lot more to come from him given his age because he was a good player a couple of years ago, but not a great player, but there was certainly potential and room to expect him to grow and develop further but he's instead regressed. You only have to look at the fall of Dele Alli to suggest it would be a huge risk to commit to buying him so it's something I wouldn't be interested in the club doing.

I know two games against a team as good as Liverpool are currently is probably a little unfair to judge, but I would not be buying Pau Torres. He just strikes me as someone that if you scout hard and wide enough you should be able to pick someone up of similar qualities and traits for £10-20m, not the £50m or whatever his rumoured fee is being reported at.

This above report I would expect to be more correct, and the scaremongering has come from this. I assume there will have to be some form of binding agreement in place within the sale that either (a) the debt is written off once sanctions are lifted by Roman in some form or (b) the initial price is, say, £1bn which goes to Government for charity, with the remaining £1.5bn to repay the loan once sanctions are lifted. I would imagine this is quite a complex issue which requires discussions with a number of parties (Roman, Chelsea, Boehly, Premier League for FFP purposes, Government for licensing issues) and is probably a point of serious discussion/negotiation to resolve in the most efficient way possible. The easiest way to do this would be for the Government licence to allow Roman to convert his debt to equity at the point of the sale. It makes the most sense but then not a lot of this has made much sense the last couple of months.

I think it's important to note there has been a lot of scaremongering since the sanctions started through the media. At one point we'd be travelling by bus across the continent, then we had our bank frozen and couldn't even fuel the team bus to travel to games. There was then also talk that we couldn't pay wages in March and players were looking into escape clauses in their contracts if they weren't paid. And now the threats of league expulsion and Roman backing out of a sale. At present it's another 'sources' story which gives very little evidence of being backed up. At present Boehly over the next couple of days is in a period of exclusivity and assuming that proceeds with no hitches I'm confident then things will move on from there.

I struggle to see how it would get to this point and feel some things are being sensationalised now. There will be a lot of posturing and negotiating now towards sorting this out. There has always been the question mark over how the loan is being settled or written off and it is something that needs to be negotiated with the Government. As the loan is tied to the purchase price, one thing I did read was the possibility of the new owners buying the club with the debt and repaying it once sanctions have been lifted in the future. The problem with the Government is as clear as day on a couple of the posts above and it already appears like they've earmarked some of the sales proceeds for grassroots football in the UK, when Roman has already intended on charitable causes regarding the war in Ukraine. This to me suggests the arrogance of the UK government that this money is coming to them and they'll disburse how they see fit (the cynic in me believes more than likely a fraction will end up in charity, and the rest will be lining their own coffers). I wouldn't be surprised if Roman is looking at a way or means to block this even if it means the funds sit in a frozen account for the time being. I wouldn't trust this Government as far as I could throw them. Ultimately so long as the funds aren't being passed over to Roman now, I don't see why the government will want the headache of blocking a sale when they've stated time and time again that it's about Roman. If they were that concerned about the damage they could do to the club they'd seize us and sell us themselves if they're that confident that their reasonings for sanctioning him in the first place are completely justified.

People might have a good moan about the kit designs sometimes but Nike did the right thing and fair play to them. I'm not even sure if they put out an official statement and they didn't need to. Trivago did, and pulled off a masterstroke really by keeping ties with the club but footnoted there was the understanding that Roman was selling the club anyway. There wasn't even calls for sponsors to distance themselves from the club, I think it was pretty clear from the start that the club was in the middle as a result of sanctions on Roman. Three and Hyundai reacted far too quickly thinking it was a positive PR move when really I don't think they would have been questioned at all about the partnership and sponsorship with the club.

To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if that's the sort of figure we're looking for. It's easy to forget because of how bad his time has been here, that he's still looked at across the continent as a high quality striker and goalscorer. He moved for similar money from United 3 years ago, and I know he'll now be turning 29 but he's also more proven from his stint at Inter. A lot of clubs may just look at the Premier League being an ill fit for him. Whether we manage to get that is another thing entirely. The one thing I hope is that we don't drag a process out to move him on, or turn down bids that are near that figure just to try and gain a few extra million to save face (which we've been known to do). It's very important that Tuchel has a proper pre season this summer and should be given chance to work with what should be his squad going into next season for an extended period of time. We have to be ruthless.

I think right now we just have to instead look at it the other way around and appreciate we can rely on academy talent for our first team. Although Christensen might leave, we could very easily start next season with Chalobah, Colwill, James, Mount, Gallagher, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi and Broja. There's also talk that Tuchel wants to take a look at Sterling in the summer and there's always the possibility of using an academy keeper too as backup. We wouldn't be far off having half of our first team squad being academy graduates which is a pretty incredible feat, especially for a club at the level we operate at.

It's difficult to play the British card for Ratcliffe when he took residency in Monaco a few years ago to save millions in paying UK taxes. He can lobby all he wants but the government aren't going to block an American bid that is fully legal and legitimate and open up a can of worms that way. Everything I've read suggests that this Boehly bid has been the strongest and most well thought from the start, and hopefully it can be cleared through as soon as possible with no hitches so we can just move forward as a club.

Jim Ratcliffe actually confirming the breakdown of numbers in his bid as £2.5bn essentially for the purchase of the club and £1.75bn over the next 10 years as committed investment would then suggest that if the bid is lower than rival bids like Boehly's, perhaps they have plans for an even bigger commitment to investment into the club. I haven't seen anything yet that suggests the purchase will be much more than £2.5bn, this seems to be the expected figure, which can then only suggest the future investment plans may be more.

Neither will leave. This idea that we're suddenly going to tumble down the league and become a mid-table side is an absolute myth. No one is paying the premium price they're going to be paying for us to watch us fall into mediocrity. Boehly's bid are apparently huge fans of Tuchel and it's clear as day if Tuchel had to name the 4 or 5 main players in his team that James and Mount would be in there. They will both be offered long term contracts with a focus of being pillars to build around for years to come. Boehly isn't coming into the club and accept the wastage that Roman has, but on the same token he'll know when the club needs to bring new players in it has to be done in an efficient and ruthless manner. Under Roman, I've felt far too often our recruitment has been reactive as opposed to proactive, which is highlighted over the last 15 years the summer following a Premier League or Champions League win, we've been really poor. The only time in that period I can remember our recruitment being a success in that scenario was after the 2012 Champions League and we bought Hazard, Azpi, Oscar but that was almost forced upon us as we needed to rebuild an ageing squad. The squad at the moment is a bit of a shambles but some hard work in the market and proper planned and well thought out signings over the next summer or two could really reshape this squad because there are some key pieces already in place as opposed to say Man United who literally need as good as a full rebuild.

I'm interested to see how Tuchel sees this side from next season moving forwards in the longer term. With the players that are leaving and potentially the ones being linked with a move away (Azpi, Alonso, Jorginho) there is the potential to look at shifting to a back 4 on a more full time basis. I haven't seen the stats myself but it was mentioned on the United game that we were in the bottom 3 in the league for distance covered per game which I thought was surprising. I know when we have the ball at times, it's possession and control heavy but that is something that needs addressing moving forward, especially when trying to break teams down that sit back. The ball needs moving quicker and there needs to be more options available. Tuchel also prides himself on counter pressing high up the field and whilst at times it works well, I don't think it's been as consistent as it was last year (and that's even in games where Lukaku doesn't play either) and it's something we need to look at getting back to. The key defensively is to not leave ourselves open to getting counter attacked too often. It's something Klopp and Pep both struggled with in their first year (Klopp for longer) with their teams often being left too exposed. In order for this, unless it's the last few minutes and throwing everyone forward for a goal, you want either 3 players behind the ball or 2 behind the ball and another 2 in the half spaces to get back to cover. We're set up fine for this, but the limitation then comes when attacking we're then relying on defensively minded players to support the attack as the spare players. This has been highlighted even more this season with Chilwell and James out for extended periods because they're replaced by Alonso and Azpi who are far less mobile (and in Azpi's instance a lesser attacking threat). If Jorginho moves on, we could potentially look to bring in a proper defensively minded holding midfielder disciplined to protect a back 2, mobile to cover ground and spaces around them, and good enough on the ball to keep possession ticking which all should allow a more flexible, attacking side. The obvious two being linked are Rice and Tchouameni and will both also cost a fortune. If one could be bought then great but there has to be alternatives that could be explored. I know there were some potential issues personally with him so I don't know where it all currently stands, but I've always been a big fan of Bissouma and he's always struck me as someone who could "step up" to that next level at a top club and only has a year left on his contract in the summer. Kamara at Marseille is another option potentially who would be free. The back 5 fit a purpose when Tuchel came in to make us defensively solid and mask a number of weaknesses within some players. It gave a new lease of life and allowed players like Rudiger, Christensen, Jorginho, Alonso, Azpi to thrive in a formation and system which highlighted their strengths and didn't leave their weaknesses as exposed as often as Lampard did. But all of these players could well be off this summer and now may be the time Tuchel needs to evolve this squad.

Boehly would be my preference here just from how it appears the whole bid seems to have been meticulously planned, ticks all the boxes and just does not appear to carry any real controversy. But it is perhaps slightly more settling to know that if something suddenly broke down with the Boehly bid, it does appear that there is a bid from Ratcliffe potentially waiting in the wings if we needed to switch quick. Hopefully though the Boehly bid can be pushed through asap so that we can at least finish the season with some clarity and positivity around the club and plan properly for next season. One thing that should be noted is Tuchel came in mid-season during a covid environment and had to hit the ground running within 3 competitions to the very end of last season. He's then had players coming back in stages over pre season due to the Euros and our season pretty much started immediately with the Super Cup and has just dragged on constantly since then with the sheer volume of games we've played. This summer, 18 months in, should be the first time Tuchel has a full squad coming back for a full pre season to be able to go and tour America, train tactically for an extended period, etc. He really needs to be given this opportunity to its fullest this summer and clarity over potential incomings and outgoings. We are well known for dragging deals out and its imperative this summer we don't do this. If there's a couple of big signings we make, they need to be in place for a full pre season with the club.

There's been talk for ages of mystery bidders, etc so I get the feeling that perhaps their interest has been noted for quite some time and maybe to be kept informed of the process. I suppose in this situation the club and Raine would be fools to not listen to such a serious offer being put on the table, despite it being after unofficial deadlines, etc.

It's all going on now it seems!

Ratcliffe seemed an obvious player at the time the club was put up for sale but it was shot down, I think by his brother saying the Premier League is far to expensive to invest in. I'm not sure if that was a smokescreen, or why there has been a change of heart. The problem is now this has come in so late it's difficult to know whether it's the right bid. I know information has been limited but at least some things have leaked through about all the bids so far to at least build a bit of a feeling across them. No idea what the plan would be here. Will there be significant investment in the squad? Thoughts on Tuchel? Long term plans? Continued investment in Academy and women's teams? Plans with the stadium? You have to believe this has been well thought through by him and he's been doing a lot of due diligence behind the scenes before presenting this offer. I guess we'll see what Raine and the club make of the bid...

I believe he is, but he's also been a Chelsea season ticket holder for a number of years too so I would assume there's some sort of affinity there with the club.

This news seems a bit strange because the way it's worded seems to be that the commitment is £2.5bn for the club and £1 - 1.5bn for future investment, which seems to have been reported as the likely figure for a while now. So I wouldn't be surprised if this is less about moving the goalposts on the price and more to do with how the deal is being structured.

For how great the football is that City play they do have a soft, susceptible side to them that has been exposed a number of times when they play opposition good enough and bold enough to take them on. It is something over the years when push comes to shove we've shown a lot more resolve in the face of adversity, especially in Europe. I think Madrid will fancy their chances going into the second leg.