Magic Lamps

Pretty sure bis agents or whoever would physically transport him to cobham by cattle lorry if necessary to keep the cash rolling in. If he really does not show, it is a clear breach of his contract and we can sue him for the entirety of its remaining value.

Don’t see that working out for them when they have öde who is more agile and clinical also 68 total fee is not enough. Could see us entertaining 68m plus add ons.

Yes Onana is underwhelming. Raya as detailed before is too similar to Kepa in terms of reach and confidence-reliance. Mamard and Kobel I really rate. Both would be awesome upgrades

I noticed that. He might quite possibly become more of a creator than a scorer cos he sure as hell is not a reliable finisher which is a shame bc of how often his pace will make him alone in front of goal . He just has to show more. 22 is young but it’s late for switching from 3rd tier league like UPL to EPL

Let’s hope you are right. His assists look nice but bar his pace there is not really anything super special about him. He will still need to improve loads as a player. He is already 22, needs to learn fast. I think it’s a good thing. They need the confidence. They should have enough drive to cut their vacation short and show up in time .

Looks like the real deal. Athleticism + technique. Not sure how consistently clinical he is but he makes the impression that he adds a lot to the game without scoring with his dribbling, assists and hold up play under pressure. If it does happen it will still be a challenge to replicate this in PL.

Thanks for the stats. They indeed look promising and I was surprised on the passing. Subjectively never perceived his as this consistent but will do some further research. So our difference in opinion is basically only whether our b2b signing should be required to provide attacking output or not. Btw, about the Kai stuff I think you confuse me with someone else. I think he is decent when used correctly and has a place in the clubs history. but just some pages back I wrote a post about how overall his development here has been disappointing and that he can gladly leave if the price is right.

That’s right. The point I was dismissing was that Caicedo was a complete midfielder, which is obv absolute BS. Kante was limited too but that is also why he did not work as well in a midfield three. So if we wanna buy a midfield sitter anyway, why buy another midfielder whose main strength is basically attacking the ball and that’s pretty much it.

He really is not a complete midfielder. Quite the opposite. Lampard, Ballack, Gerard were what I consider complete midfielders. The technique, the tactical ability, physicality, passing range, leadership, huge quantifiable impact on both ends of the pitch, controlling, dominating the play in midfield. Caicedo is far from that. He doesn’t score or assist goals. His technique, esp his first touch is average, he lacks tactical anticipation. He doesn’t head the ball well, he is not ambipedal, his passing range is inconsistent. His strengths are tackling, tenacity, stamina. Nothing else is really close to being on an elite level. A rather limited player. If you spend 80m on a player with one top league season under his belt he better should have shown more in those than a few decent tackles. Granted he is still young and seems to have the right attitude but he is not good enough to help us to the level where we should be. I doubt he ever will be. More often than not midfield is where the game is won. If our recruiting strategy continues to be throwing tons of cash at flavour of the month players from hipster clubs like Brighton we will be waiting a long time for our first major post-Roman title.

Kova is a player we should have 0 regrets about. We got him when we needed legs desperately and for a reasonable price. He gave us his absolute prime years. And now we essentially get a refund. The only one who should have regrets is kova himself bc he never built any momentum to become the player he should have despite getting all the chances here. He is still very similar to the player he was at 21. Never got consistently world class at anything other than dribbling and close control even though he had all the tools in terms of natural technical talent. While every single major departure is reasonable on its own and not worth shedding any tears about what is worrying is the overall trend. Mount, Havertz, kova all were here long enough, loved by the fans that one would have been forgiven for presuming they had built a special bond with the club. The bond the Lampard, JT, Drogs, Cech generation had. The bond even late joiners like Cesc, Giroud and Ballack referred to. The bond that made them stay even when times were stormy and the club under fire from all sides. Maybe it’s just circumstantial, individual decisions coming together or a generational thing. However, it could very well also be that Boehly and the other duds already changed so much that not only has the club been missing that ruthless winners mentality since but also that familiar supportive atmosphere of the previous era.

One has to say the resoluteness with which he bumps into other players when tackling is a joy to watch. Not a joy worth 80m tho. Even in his highlight reel you can see him being technically deficient.

So won’t caicedo and Enzo not stand on each others toes? Of we really want to free up Enzo we need someone with sublime tactical ability, positioning, discipline who stays back and protects the defense. That is not caicedo. Can’t see him succeed here in our current set up

Am I the only one to consider Caicedo massively overrated? Alas, full steam ahead into the Brighton trap again. Some ppl just never learn.

Easily 3 of our 5 worst ever signings arrived in last two summer windows. Jury still out on Mudders but can see him going there. K2 we overpaid but we needed an experienced CB and he had some pedigree so shit like this can happen But cucu with only one ok PL year was supposed to be a backup anyway was just pure madness. Spending close to a world record fee on him was bonkers under any circumstances even if he had a few promising moments for Brighton. they absolutely rinsed us as did Cucus agent demanding anything less for our greatest cb talent since JT would be criminal

Yup many tough games in winter/midseason when we are shit anyway so overall a schedule than helps a top 4 challenge more than hindering it.

This. He is a sunk cost anyway. If we give in here, clubs will just sell us any player for a huge fee, few days after signing he gives some interview professing his love for the former club and we just loan him back for peanuts? No one will ever take us seriously anymore.

It would be disappointing but if they bid a crazy fee for him we should sell him. There are plenty of good cbs out there. Goalies, cbs, right footed wingers and strikers who can’t score under pressure there are fkin tons of. Never want us to spend a truckload on any of those in the near future again.

All the best to NG. great, unique player and person to have at the club. What a career he has had. Never stopped working hard, top attitude, very much the antithesis to the spoiled brat stereotype of todays player generation. Won it all here in 7 yrs so great deal for all parties as well. Pretty sure he knows himself he is finished otherwise he would not have abandoned professional football at all. If someone deserves 200m just for showing up at the ass end of the world it’s Kante even if it leaves a slightly sour after taste. I know we all hate what the Saudis are doing to football and I do not think they will ever wash the stain of all those human rights abuses in their medieval country. Anecdotally, I once turned down to work in Abu Dhabi for about 300k py without thinking twice lol but almost everybody has a price. 100m pa is surely above that for everyone except maybe the richest 10^-5% of population and some extremely idealistic ppl.

Marina did. But where is she now we were on way better terms with Atlético than with inter now

I like the complete carelessness. Just no fucks given, just throw money at it till another washed up dud shows up in the dessert. I also like how they allow him to choose a side. As if K2 has a favourite Saudi club 😂 This is why no one will ever give a shit about Saudi league now or in 10 yrs , cos they do not even give one themselves.

Bc they are clueless there has absolutely no indication of the noises so far this summer that the new setup with Vivek is any better than the previous boehly-eghbali-Tuchel disasterclass triumvirate

Watch us. He is on insane wages. The entire footballing world has witnessed what a shit and toxic player he is plus he has declared to only want to stay at inter. Why should they even bid a penny? They will give us a symbolic 10m or so just so we can save a bit of face. plus Onana is decidedly average. Hard pass. Good shot stopper and athletic but not really that good with his feat and not always convincing in the air. Error prone too. Still inter are in no rush to sell him, so why would they swap him for a player with virtually no value. They hold play the cards here. there are so many decent goalies out there. Us paying a truckload for the only one that just was a free agent and still has ages left on his contract would be so in character for Todd

Inter got 100m from us for Lukaku and probably gonna get him back for free. they got Obama for free and now are gonna cash 60m for him from us again still can’t buy a tap in in a CL final lol Apart from how fkin dumb our transfer strategy is there also seems an innate desire to bankroll Inter Milan and ofc also Brighton.

Ability wise Reece is pretty much a generational talent. Possibly our best academy graduate since JT. He could have gone on loan to Iceland and still made it through. Shame injuries have caught up with him. For casadei a loan in England would not hurt acclimatising him but obv minutes should be priority. Villa and Brighton both would probably not play him enough yup. Second striker is a BS position for players with waning powers. For strikers who don’t score enough goals, 10s who are not creative and wingers who have become slow. Best example is Griezmann. Nkunku on the other hand is at the pinnacle of his powers, he can play everywhere in attack but his best position indeed is behind a striker but he can more than deliver as a winger as well.

Lukaku best defender for the opposition team at blocking goal bound shits just like vs donezk 2 yrs ago. It tbf i think that di marco header would have been blocked by Dias on the line the miss was way worse. 4m out, 7,20m open goal, 15cm Ederson’s leg. Guess what he hits. Probably worse than all the Timo misses for us the last few years. Still, fat Rom did not even look bothered. Probably will blame his coach not starting him for missing yet another sitter