Strike

True - Looks like a lot of work Frustrating that we spent all those years with Havertz who was a technically good forward and threw it away to sign a youngster in Jackson and now signing someone even younger in Samu.

Mbappe, Rudiger and Alaba to Madrid recently. Ran down their contracts, left for free. Don't think any of them had serious bad blood with the club.

He would get more money in signing-on fees by running down the contract. I don't blame him one bit if he wanted to do that. The board has not treated him right and he has played on for a year with great professionalism after being told to leave last summer. Was the best + most consistent midfielder last season too.

I think he's a really good CB who's not had a consistent run in his best position - LCB. His development is affected by playing LB so often

Except KDH added in central midfield, the owners have not addressed any of our issues in this window. Same conversation as April/May. Need CB, striker

Wage structure + PSR calculations. Can't spend high up-front

Because we can't afford a permanent deal. Osimhen becomes an option if he agrees to a loan late in the window -via Fabrizio

Palmer is not a mid. But reading Maresca views him as a central player.

Midfield options 2023 - Caicedo Enzo Gallagher Ugochukwu Casadei Midfield options 2024 - Caicedo Enzo Lavia KDH Carney (Palmer)

Would be happy to see this go through and get Lukaku out the door

Maresca telling this squad to specifically play a certain way, do a drilled attacking move will be 10x better than Poch just telling the attackers to make it up themselves. Some of the quotes from players about Poch’s coaching (heavy focus on running and very little on passing patterns) was worrying

We tried to sell him for a decent price but he didn’t move. Now we sell him this month or risk getting nothing. How are people believing we will get any more money for Connor? There is no market

How good is he? Hearing good things that he's tall, commanding and a good passer. But you hear good things about everyone these days - remembering all the good things said about Gabriel Slonina

Smith Rowe had 2 years left on his deal. Gallagher has 1. I can see Villa or Spurs matching Atletico's offer this week though. 35m pounds

Last year of contract and fees have dropped this summer - The market is not what it was in 2022 or 2023. Everyone is being mindful of PSR

I doubt Ornstein got the facts wrong. But it sure looks like they're back-pedalling from the loan news

We are lucky to get 35m pounds for Gallagher. Tell me another club willing to pay that much for him right now. He is a workhorse midfielder. We played him regularly because of injuries and he was our best midfielder last season. But right now, we need to sell or sign him to a new deal as a backup.

I don't have a huge problem with the deal but I'd still prefer to do this deal with just Lukaku leaving.

Arsenal transfer targets this summer is Calafiori, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Gyokeres. They’re a serious team and much better than Chelsea in all departments right now.

I can understand the sale. Connor, like Mount, is a limited midfielder. Can keeep him here only as backup.

!!

This guy from Villarreal has just one top-flight season under him. Scouting GK's is different from other positions. Think there's a big gap in the system we have in place if the club has signed Sanchez (there were enough warnings since he had become Brighton's reserve keeper), Petrovic (statistically awful in many departments) and has been linked to the likes of Trafford, Lunin, and Hermansen.

You can find such a game for even a good keeper. Not indicative of anything.

Just tells you he played in front of a bad defense.