Jase

If you're referring to the stories that came out yesterday, then they're probably BS or didn't go anywhere because the Italian media started and killed the rumors at the same time...

https://theathletic.com/2739045/2021/07/30/Chelsea-are-determined-to-sign-kounde-and-have-been-tracking-him-for-two-years/ According to The Athletic on Kounde: - Club are prepared to do whatever it takes to sign the CB - An agreement is thought to be some way off - Club trying to offer player plus cash to lower the fee. The player offered has moved from Emerson to Zouma but the situation is a bit tricky because the latter is settled in London and there's interest from West Ham - Kounde has been wanted by the club for the past two years - He is keen on a move to SB and sees it as a good step to make at this stage of his career - Several names were under consideration along with Kounde after Tuchel took over - Sule, Konate and Gimenez - Club planning for the future with Kounde and the fact that some of the defenders' contract is running down - Club have looked at the possibility of offering £30 million + Zouma for Kounde but it will take more cash for Sevilla to accept, something more in the region of £40 million + Zouma - Sevilla are admirers of Christensen but the club want to keep him and have opened talks with him - Rudiger wants to be made one of the club's highest-paid players (but no mention of whether contract talks have started)

I mentioned £40 million because that's the amount that's being thrown around and based on the clubs that Abraham has been linked with, there seems to be only two interested parties - West Ham and Arsenal. Arsenal want Abraham but only on loan while we want to sell. Maybe they would be able to afford Abraham if they sell Lacazette but there doesn't seem to be any takes for the latter, especially with him reportedly on £200k wages p/w. West Ham also want Abraham but they don't have money, although I could see him being used in a deal for Rice. Brighton is a good shout but Nikki mentioned above that they're going after the Celtic ST for less money and I have my doubts whether they'll bomb all their earnings from the White sale on one player. Newcastle is also another fair shout but not sure if they have the finances now and even you said previously that you mentioned Newcastle because of the potential takeover but that hasn't happened. Palace could probably do with a new ST too but they seem to be rebuilding their defence and midfield - e.g. they just spent close to £40 million on Guehi and Andersen alone. So, not sure how much exactly they have left and they may just persist with the likes of Benteke, Ayew, Mateta and Zaha for the time being.

Villa is a decent call but last we heard that is they aren't willing to smash their transfer record for another ST for the third consecutive year.

🤔

Who do you think who will shell out £40 million to buy Abraham? Be realistic.

So much for his value going up. 🤪

If we aren't including Zouma into a deal, then selling him shouldn't be a problem, I think. He's on low wages and isn't too expensive. But with the other two... Abraham's wages isn't high but is valued at £40 million while am not sure about Barkley's current value (maybe £20m-£30m?) but he's earning close to £100k wages p/w. We're gonna need some parties to bite the bullet here if we want to attract buyers for the both of them.

Would Grealish really improve City?

True and it's unlikely to happen but when you factor in the wages that we would be shedding by swapping those 3 players away (Barkley is earning close to 100k p/w, IIRC?), then it's maybe worth it from a financial POV.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/07/29/west-ham-target-chelseas-kurt-zouma-sealing-alphonse-areola/ According to the Telegraph, a move for Zouma could happen if West Ham can fork out around £25 million.

The funny thing is West Ham don't really have money and if they want money, they would have to sell players. Good for them if they keep Rice but can their current squad cope with the extra burden of Europa League next season? Don't they still need a striker since Lingard is gone and Antonio is injury prone?

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke on Haaland... https://www.football.london/Chelsea-fc/transfer-news/dortmund-Chelsea-erling-haaland-transfer-21176001 "It is pretty clear to me that Erling Haaland will stay at Dortmund, just as Julian Brandt will remain" Watzke’s told Dortmund’s in-house media channel. "I tend to say that every day but no one really seems to listen as I hear something new every week."

Nope, Zouma isn't considered HG.

Now Sky Sports have this on Zouma...

Similar to the MARCA report shared earlier and the fee that Sevilla supposedly want is closer to what I said the other day. lol

The club need to bite the bullet with Drinkwater. Either loan him out for last time or just ditch him for the lowest price possible and hope Drinkwater is sane enough to accept lower wages elsewhere.

Drinkwater only has a year left on his contract. If we keep him, the club will likely extend his deal by at least another year but that's not ideal given his age and the amount of wages he's on. If we're gonna keep a midfielder as the 4th choice, I'd rather keep someone like Gallagher. He wasn't great on Tuesday but he's still young and can still grow and learn under Tuchel. That being said, I do suspect that we'll end up buying a midfielder.

Barkley has a reputation for doing well in pre-season and then goes AWOL when the actual season begins. Are we sure Drinkwater won't go down that route? There's a reason why Drinkwater has barely played at any of the clubs that he's been loaned to in recent years. Squad player or not, I'd imagine that 4th CM (or whatever people want to term it) will play a decent amount of games throughout the season because we'll have a lot of games again and Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante can't play every game. And not to mention, Kante has a dodgy injury record in recent years. I know Drinkwater won the Premier League but that was 5-6 years ago and it was just one great season. He didn't kick on with his career and instead, let it go downhill. Are we sure he's still up to standards in the Premier League? Or in the Champions League?

Lukaku stories surfacing again in the Italian media...