Reddish-Blue

Cucurella was 24 when we signed him from Brighton... If we were that keen on Semenyo, we could have got him in the summer. Somehow we don't get Kudus (the player was keen but West Ham weren't keen on KDH as part of the deal) or Semenyo and we end up with the GG brothers. United get part of their Mount fee back.

The last manager to survive around 3 years at Chelsea was Mourinho Conte had about 2 years, Tuchel less than 2, Maresca will be on about 2 years if he survives till next season.

The one who should be covering for Caicedo can't even stay fit for 5 games (Lavia). Santos isn't a DM or a 10, he's a floater just like Enzo.

Can't wait to hear what excuse he comes up with when Everton beat us.

Lavia can't even stay fit for like 5 games and then we sign Essugo who apparently won't be fit till January. Seems like poor squad building if your 'squad' players aren't fit and ready to fill the void when the likes of Caicedo get suspended or need to take a breather. We used to have decent U-21 midfielders from the academy, guessing they're all on loan or not available.

Other than Colwill, the only other decent CB prospects are on loan, Anselmino in Bundesliga and Sarr in Ligue 1. As for Fofana, its a shame about the constant injuries but you can see his quality when he does play. Between him and Lavia, imagine the recovery room costs 😄

Its interesting because there were Ajax fans on another forum who said Hato has the potential to be a very good defender but he probably needed a stepping stone before moving to a top 4 PL side. I think there's quality in Hato, he's only 19, could have developed elsewhere on loan this season.

Maresca has his favourites and they'll always get a chance, even after making costly mistakes. Tosin isn't physically imposing at all, he likes backing off the striker and then we play him against Leeds who enjoy physicality, crosses into the box and balls over the top. I just hope Josh doesn't get fed up of riding the bench, would hate to see him ask for a move away.

To be fair though, we had like 20 CB's on the books and the club can't find 3 half decent ones? They could have re-integrated Veiga like they did with Chalobah. Instead we have to watch Tosin make mistakes and Josh ride the bench.

Without Caicedo, not expecting a win. Bournemouth 2-1 Would be great to see Josh get a chance rather than riding the bench and watching Tosin get minutes for no reason. Single handedly let Sunderland's striker take the ball all the way into the box and score the winner.

Yea Santos is an interesting one, he's got all the physical tools to be a good midfielder but he's not really a DM or a floating "10" like we need. Think the bigger question will be around Lavia's future, surely we don't just keep on the books for 5 games a season. Quality player on his day but he's worse than Fofana in terms of small injuries.

You have to take the good with the bad. I'm not a fan of Clearlake and their strategy but they did get us some solid players. They got us Caicedo, Enzo, Palmer, Estevao, Gusto. Penders is also developing on loan. I think the big question is, what is the next step for the club. Do we continue to float around the top 6 with "new signings" or do we start competing with the big boys?

I wonder if they'd be interested in a loan for Tosin as well 😆

I just hope Josh doesn't leave as there will be plenty of clubs keen on getting him in.

Barco needs like 2+ seasons of solid football Brighton had him and then sold him within a year.

I don't see this one happening When was the last time we actually brought in an Arsenal player (Ashley Cole?)

Expecting 2-1 to them, Noni getting a goal to prove a point

They bought well and they have enough depth to go for the PL title this season Fully expecting them to beat us by 2+ goals in the next PL match

He had pretty much won the European trophies with us and who is going to turn down the opportunity to play for Real Madrid. If some of our current squad get to that level and start winning big trophies (e.g. UCL or PL title).... Caicedo, Enzo, Estevao immediately come to mind!

Is the source reliable for Real madrid news? Would be good to have him back in that T.Silva type role

Imagine the commentary team: "Pedro plays the long ball to Pedro...who scores the goal" 😆

If they're looking for Brazilian youngsters, I wonder if the club has looked at Joao Pedro (Brazil's U-17 world cup goalkeeper). His ability to save penalties is amazing!

He'll play plenty of games between now and end of the season Hopefully once Palmer is back, they can start forming a partnership and play some free flowing football!

To be fair to United, they did well to go after PL experienced talent. If they were able to add a solid mid to help out Casemiro, they'd be in the battle for top 4.

We'll have a stacked team in 2030, thats for sure 😆 I just don't see how Chalobah/Tosin/Josh/Fofana is enough to get us top 4 this season. A defender in January would be ideal.