Reddish-Blue

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.

Don't see why Simeone would want someone like Lukaku... Now I see why the club didn't sign a striker as I feel they've been told that Lukaku is returning next season...

Not really, he's just keeping his options open. He probably doesn't want to look like Mudryk who was literally twerking for Arsenal fans and liking all the rumors linking him to Arsenal.

I feel up to 70 million is fair for Caicedo considering what we paid for Cucurella. Arsenal would actually be getting good value if Brighton accept their bid, I'd be shocked if we didn't at least match Arsenal's bid considering Potter was keen on Caicedo.

Just play Reece as a winger and let him run around like a mad man on the right flank.

You've basically summarized why clubs play the guessing game with those under 21 players that they sign from overseas. Sir Alex said it best years ago when he said you have to let these youngsters cut their teeth on loan, learn the hard way, prove to themselves that they are ready for first team football. There's definitely raw skill & talent in this kid, we'll get a better gauge of just how far off the pace he is when he goes on loan and has 20+ games under his belt with some decent coaching. Always found it difficult to judge players from these youth based tournaments as there have been plenty of players over the years that have looked like they are elite but then you hear about them at the age of 22-23 and they're just bang average players.

It's interesting that none of the legitimate sources from England have come out and said that Chelsea have bid for Enzo again...it's all "preparing a bid", "looking to make another offer", just trying to create a story that isn't there. If we do sign a midfielder before deadline day, gut feeling is that it'll be Caicedo for the 75 that Brighton want. Don't see the point of getting Kessie here for like 6 months.

You could say that about any 18 year old youngster coming from a foreign league. Let's give the kid a chance to develop in a solid European league and play a season of football before judging him on highlights.

This isn't about loving Chelsea, this is him allowing hype get to his head and not really evolving as a player from season to season. He always talked about the "8" being his preferred role but he's been played there recently and looked absolutely bang average. He needs to take that next step if he wants the type of contract Reece got.

There's no guarantee that Tuchel would have worked with a Director of Football type model, considering the reason why he was sacked from the PSG job was because he fell out with their DoF. The one positive so far with Potter and this new setup under Boehly is that we're trying to get players in the Under-25 age bracket, which will allow them to develop together and build chemistry....rather than going for the finished product with minimal chances of improvement. I was surprised Badiashile was looked over in the summer, feel like he was a safer buy at CB than Fofana who was still recovering from a very bad injury.

Gut feeling is a loss, they'll be up and about for Klopp's 1000th game, expecting another 1-0 loss.