Reddish-Blue

Because there's no controller in the midfield. You go back over the years, it was Makelele, Essien, Obi Mikel, Matic, Kovacic/Kante. Right now, I don't see Enzo or Caicedo being that player, ideally Lavia is supposed to be the one but his injury issues (in such a young career) are concerning. Think we have horrible fixtures coming up so it'll be interesting to see how Maresca adapts.

Exactly. I've seen United, Liverpool and a few other clubs loan out players and they all have penalty clauses for lack of game time. It's just easier to write bad when it comes to Chelsea because we get way more clicks on X and other platforms!

To be fair, Broja hasn't looked like a PL level striker since those injuries wrecked his development. A bit of financial security was definitely helpful in that situation. Funny how he had multiple offers but his agents chose Forest and the Forest manager at the time came out and said something along the lines of we like him as cheap squad depth but he won't be getting minutes. At least it's good to see Santos playing more regularly in France and developing his skills!

I remember when similar things were being said about Loftus-Cheek, shame about his back injuries as he had all the tools to be that x-factor in our midfield.

I never saw him as a player that could "run the show". At best, he was a system player at his previous club and the coach knew how to get him motivated and do the basic things well. I think the other issue with Mudryk (which he spoke about during his time with the national team) is that he was hoping to move to a club with his international team-mates to help him settle down and adapt to the league. That's the reason why the links to Arsenal were so strong and Zinchenko was one of his close friends and then the Chelsea transfer happened and he doesn't have that friendship here. Ideally, he needs a loan to a different league, fresh start, play without the pressure, have fun again and then come back.

I heard reports that he slightly reduced his wage demands for this loan spell, I remember one of the Arsenal reporters saying something like 275k, with Arsenal paying about 125k weekly, Chelsea to cover the rest.

That makes no sense, the youngsters have a pathway as they would be competing against foreign youngsters of a similar age, not experienced 25-28 year old players. Knowing Liverpool he'll go there and in 2-3 years he'll be sold to Bournemouth or some other half decent side for like 20 million just like they did with Solanke and a few others over the years.

With the contract that was given to him, he won't be shipped off anytime soon. 6 years, 250k a week for a player that will end up playing 10-15 games a season if he's fit. Sad part is that talent wise, he's easily up there with the better RB's...

Would have been even better if Broja and Chalobah were sold permanently.

Still can't believe we funded Brighton's transfer window by signing three of their players for around 200 million (GK, LB, CM). I don't see us getting out of Disasi's contract unless a Saudi side needs a defender...😆

Because we lack leaders on the pitch. You need guys like Azpi, Rudiger, Terry, Cahill, A.Cole, Thiago Silva, Kante to help develop that culture. You don't go around spending 250 million on a midfield setup who aren't a good match for each other. Problem is, what happens if Enzo or Caicedo lose form, can Maresca drop them or will they continue to play due to the amount the club invested in them?

This kid was a massive talent a few years ago. Hopefully he's not going over to Saudi Arabia this early in his career.

It is also the reality of the situation. How many of the UCL team are still here? Azpi, Rudiger, Christensen, Thiago, Alonso, Jorginho Kante Kovacic, Mount Havertz. The turn over in the squad has been crazy and I honestly don't think we've actually improved in defense or midfield from that team. Enzo and Caicedo wouldn't be able to match the trio we had and same for the current defense against Rudiger and co.

That's not just team work, that is actually buying or developing talent who are versatile enough to adapt to the situation of the game.

In one sense, the business model is good as ideally that's what you want to see, if the player doesn't fit or develop, flip them or sell them off. The only issue with the Clearlake approach is that they hoarded too many players in consecutive transfer windows. Just look at the LW situation, you got Mudryk, Neto, Sancho, Sterling, Carney, even Felix all being paid from Chelsea's books this season. If we had a clearer plan, maybe Mudryk, Carney and a few others would be playing regularly elsewhere.

If we were that serious about his development, he would have been loaned out much earlier in the transfer window, especially considering he spent last season doing nothing in the reserves and then making up the numbers on the bench.

Brighton have new players, new coach and they don't look like they have that many 'teamwork' issues. Even Liverpool went away from the Klopp methods and they still look good under Slot. The main thing is, you're playing at home to a plucky team, you get 7 shots on target and you can't score the 2nd goal that would have broken the game open. Palace will be just like Forest, Fulham and so many other sides that will come to the Bridge looking for that 1 goal as they know that may be enough to walk away with a point. As they say, there's no point having more possession if you're not going to do anything with it.

Feel like he's the only natural RW type player we have in the squad. That Brazilian wonderkid we bought may change things if he keeps developing... Neto and Sancho are more LW, Felix prefers to play through the middle.

Hopefully we get the win at home, would be awesome to see the team build a bit of momentum!

Brighton treat us like their cash cow. 3 players sold to Chelsea, 200 million.

If we had been able to sell Chalobah and Broja instead of just loaning them on deadline day....what a waste of a transfer window. The only benefit was offloading Lukaku.

We loaned out our serviceable backup CB to Crystal Palace on deadline day. 😆 Disasi/Badiashile should have been told to go just like Sterling and the others.

That was because there was a rumor of Newcastle considering a significant offer for Madueke (in the 50 million range) and that would have helped balance the books. They then tried to get Elanga from Forest on deadline day for 35 million as Howe was desperate for a winger but Forest declined.

Looks like all three deals have gone through Sterling to Arsenal (no loan fee), Broja to Everton (no loan fee due to injury) and Sancho with obligation to buy at 20-25 million depending upon performance clause.

He's been on the transfer list for most of the window, looked like Palace would get him then there was nothing until deadline day with United keen on a cheap deal for him.