Reddish-Blue

There is no justification for relegating a football club. I think a transfer ban + possible points deduction would be enough of a deterrent for the rest of the PL sides.

The problem isn't getting in between the lines of the other team, the problem is, he offers nothing else to the team. To play that #10 role, you have to have that creativity, eye for a pass, longshot ability....and Kai has none of these attributes. He is no different to Werner, will immediately look like a solid player again once he returns to the Bundesliga.

You're right but considering there is a very high chance of him joining our long list of flops, I'll take my chances.

I knew that we would regret splashing so much money on this guy. To spend that much on a player that is raw and hasn't played in a top european league just to say that we beat Arsenal to his signing is crazy. To think we could have had Enzo-Caicedo as our midfield moving forward for a similar transfer fee.

I hope we go nowhere near Bielsa. Even Everton backed out of a possible Bielsa deal because apparently he requested specific players for his system and the Everton board disagreed. I wouldn't mind Flick if he is interested in club coaching again, has shown that he can deal with egos in a dressing room (Bayern Munich & Germany to an extent). The other name that may be a bit left field is Glasner at Frankfurt, he's been in that RB model a few years back and I'm sure Vivell will keep a close eye on his progress.

With Felix, I wouldn't be surprised if that was part of his loan contract conditions where he would be given the chance to participate in the UCL. If only we didn't waste that money on Mudryk, Badiashile would have had a chance to play in the UCL this season.

I feel like Brighton won in every way possible. De Zerbi is an upgrade on Potter and they managed to get rid of two players who didn't want to be there (first was Cucurella who had his head turned by City and then we ended up paying an extra 20 million for him for no reason) and then they sold off Trossard in January. Potter was thrown into a sink or swim type of situation and he's sinking at the moment. When was the last time we actually had a solid win against a side in the top half of the table? The performances we put up against Arsenal/Newcastle were borderline pathetic, we were chasing shadows for 90 minutes...the same can be said about the City game, they barely left 2nd gear. United have a good coach, Liverpool/City have elite coaches, Arsenal have found a good coach, Newcastle have a coach that has them playing on the front foot and Spurs have the Italian madman in charge. It looks like we're the only ones with an average coach...

That would be a solid option. Potter just reminds me of Moyes at United version 2.0, he's never had to handle so many egos/big names in the dressing room and you can tell he is out of his depth. There is no way that any fan should be accepting a 0-0 draw against our local rivals Fulham, particularly at home. There was enough "talent" out there to score at least 1 goal against them. People used to Lampard was a bit out of his depth trying to manage Chelsea but at least he had connections with the club and understood the fans, Potter is no better and he hasn't really improved anyone this season other than Kepa...

Even when you say that, you know Havertz will be selected for pretty much every game as there is no alternative. Potter is already under pressure this season, he's not going to further rock the boat by leaving Havertz on the bench. The same can be said for Mason Mount...both will play the majority of games if they are fit.

He's still too raw to get significant minutes, wouldn't expect anything more than cameo appearances for Fofana. Feel like it's going to be Havertz/Felix/Sterling if Potter does choose to rotate...

This is so true. We literally have no other options at striker and Havertz will continue to get selected. Shame about Broja's nasty injury, would have had a real chance to get minutes this season.

There's no way the club can let go of both Mount & Gallagher due to HG criteria (and there were rumors of Sterling potentially being sold in the summer to help balance the books).

Talk about one step forward, three steps back

We still have to replace Kante in midfield, Silva in defense and possibly a new GK

Is there really a precedent for it to be more than 3 games? From memory Cavani got 3 games whilst he was in the PL

The only reason to go above the buyout is to try and negotiate instalments for the payments...rather than having to pay the 120 million + taxes in one hit.

About time to announce another deadline day loan deal, Saul v2.

Aren't they already negotiating with that young midfielder from Boca, think his name are Varela?

That's just the plot twist and we end up with Caicedo holding up a Chelsea jersey on deadline day...

Worst part is, he'd actually be a good fit for them as he wouldn't have to play every game.

I would have thought Enzo would be next choice in the list for whichever club misses out on Bellingham. Enzo will get to pick which club he goes to....if we wait till the summer and our negotiating position would be much worse without the attraction of UCL football next season.

Remind me, was Mount the only stand out player in that CL run or was it most of the team that played very well and showed up on the big occasion? Comparing Mount & Gallagher doesn't make sense as one is meant to be guaranteed starter whilst the other is only starting to get a chance this season as a squad player. As I said before, your logic is flawed as you can't compare starting quality players to squad players. Everyone knows that Mount is better but the fact that he hasn't been able to show that level of talent this season and drag Chelsea up the table to the European competition places is the biggest concern moving forward. The easiest hypothetical would be: Let's say Mount & Saka swapped places at their respective clubs, there's a high chance that Arsenal aren't top of the league right now and we're likely in the top 4.

I like how you had to bring up Gallagher at the end of your point just to inflate Mount's value once more. Not sure why you're trying to compare starting quality youngsters like Saka/Foden to a young English squad player like Gallagher...that's comparing apples to oranges. At the end of the day, let's put it this way, if Mount stays here as a starter, we won't be better than a top 4 side for years to come (I highly doubt he would accept a squad role).

And during that time, he also had the likes of Kante, Kovacic, Jorginho controlling the midfield. As I said, him being a guaranteed starter was only because he was a good fit on the wing for Tuchel's tactics with a class midfield behind him. The problem moving forward will be utilizing Mudyrk, Nkunku, possibly Felix in attack....which leaves Mount as the odd man out. Haven't seen a single game where Mount has actually influenced the game from midfield.

Bit weird to say that Mount is considerably better when they haven't been given the same number of opportunities at Chelsea so far. Would be easier to judge if Gallagher was given 2 seasons to prove his worth without any pressure or competition for places. The interesting part is, people tend to forget Mount's previous seasons as there was nothing spectacular about them. With the type of players we are getting now, it remains to be seen where Mount actually fits in the overall picture as we don't need passengers in the first team XI. As I've said before, Mount is the steady 6/10 player that managers like to keep in the lineup (because he does the basics right) but he won't win you games on his own...unlike the other English youngsters at City/Arsenal.