Strike

Looking back - Sarri changed the way we played significantly by refreshing the midfield - Bakayoko, Fabregas left Jorginho and Kovacic walked in. This change had a big effect on our best performances even under Lampard and Tuchel - where the team was able to break the press of top teams like City, Madrid. I remember there was a 2-1 loss vs City under Lampard where the team looked extremely comfortable breaking City's feared pressing. Under Tuchel, we beat City thrice in a row in 21. Kante Jorgi and Kova all at their peak in that run. All this was partly due to the attention paid to "good football". Our midfield signing after Jorgi/Kova if you ignore the Saul, Zakaria loans is going to be Enzo if we can get the deal over the line - It has been long overdue. I'd wait and give Potter time with the team they aim to build.

Saka contract is not extended isn't it? They might be acting on the feeling Saka might not extend (contract till 24)

Footballers are a lot more practical. His stock is high now and he moves up the football pyramid with one move - good salary, big club in London, worldwide fanbase. If he passes on this move (which is also a sensible thing to do given he could win the league with Benfica, have a CL run), there is an outside chance he suffers an injury/loss of form and the big move never happens for him.

Saw that. He tweeted again with the link to his English article

Enzo Fernandez is now very close to signing with Chelsea. Benfica's midfielder should become a new Blues player soon: talks between parties are at advanced stage - negotiations went on last week too. The deal is moving fast: fee will be set at 127 million euro. Chelsea are going to pay this amount in three installments (around €40m each), in order to buy as soon as possible the Argentine international, World-Cup-star. Last details to be sorted. Meanwhile, Benfica are closing in for Enzo Fernandez's substitute, coming from Argentina too. Meanwhile, Benfica are closing in for Enzo Fernandez's substitute, coming from Argentina too.

I'm genuinely excited now! This will be the first midfield signing since 2018 when Jorgi and Kova came in.

The deal is really advanced with 200 caveats in case it falls apart. Just have to wait and watch this week It seems United and Arsenal are working on the loan deal for Felix

Hazard levels of dependency on Reece at the moment

Zero urgency, watching this you can't tell if we are chasing the win or not

Can't believe the intensity increased one notch and this team is incapable of putting together a decent 90 mins. This is still a relegation side

Was coming.

Matter of time we concede

Romano is saying 'deal is really advanced'

City snapped up the Argentine mid Benfica were looking to replace Enzo with. Does look like they're doing what they can to scuttle this Enzo deal

@Tomo's call at the start of the season - Haaland will score but City will regress - looking golden

Oh come on. United lead

Is it? I still think there is a deadlock and I am skeptic of Boehly-Eghbali being able to navigate this. Benfica have no choice but to sell if release clause is triggered. Chelsea won't trigger the clause (FFP, needs 120m to be given in one go). Benfica have enough reasons to reject a payment structure proposed by Chelsea (Champions League run, League title push, definite interest in the summer)

Is it financially possible to sign Enzo AND retain Kante, Jorgi - two of the highest paid players? I'm still not convinced by all the news that came in yesterday

They will try to do the same as the Nkunku deal - offer more than release clause but on better payment terms.

Madrid, Pool fixated on Jude Bellingham (Fabrizio on Caughtoffside). Barca, City stocked with mids. Looking at the moment like Chelsea might be the only ones in the queue in January.

The fee might look huge but we miss out on him and there's a big chance we end up with Rice for a ~80m fee.

How to tide over another month without Reece? With Reece this season P8 W6 D1 L1 Without Reece this season P7 W1 D2 L4 Even the only win (vs Villa) was with a monster Kepa performance

We have just 3 - Kante, Kova, Jorgi - with one of them perma-injured. Carney and Gallagher are not DMs. RLC and Zakaria are squad players at best for me. We needed a DM in the summer and we need a DM now to walk into the XI