Romelu Lukaku

[nyikolajevics 2,573]

2 minutes ago, Fernando said:

0 goals for Chelsea. 

Expect to be about the same when he comes. 

 

Very fair.. He was 18, about 13 out of this 15 performances was 10-15 minutes as a sub, usually when we were down. He pretty much didn't get a single chance to prove his worth back then.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

6 hours ago, Jype said:

Goals of course decide games, but need to look at the bigger picture. I don't see you advocating the signing of Ighalo from Watford or Defoe from Sunderland, yet they're both also decent goalscorers in the Premier League at lower level clubs. Hell, if we're going for a donkey who scores goals but does little else we should buy Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen, the lad scored 26 in 40 last season but would cost only a tiny fraction of Lukaku's price and also comes with the mythical "proven in the PL" tag many seem to appreciate.

In modern football simple goal poachers with very little footballing ability apart from scoring are very, very rare at top clubs. Like someone said earlier, there's a reason why Mario Gomez was dumped from Bayern despite a goalscoring record almost second to none.

You asked earlier for alternatives if Lukaku isn't bought, and dismissed the idea of buying no one by saying it would be like giving up on the whole season and possibly risking the club's future. I'd say it's quite the contrary. Is your memory really that short, have you completely forgotten how the nightmare of Fernando Torres deeply hurt the club five years ago? He turned out to be a big money flop and took three and a half years to get rid of him because of the huge investment and absurd wages he had, and through that whole fiasco the club avoided "marquee signings" in the striker department because for starters the club couldn't afford any and also because the board were afraid of another massive flop.

Now, which one you think is more of a risk: buying Lukaku for £75M and no doubt £250-300K a week wages (Raiola won't allow a player that expensive to sign on reasonable wages, as the hands down most expensive player in club's history he's gonna demand highest wages too) with the chance of him being as mediocre as many are predicting and again like Torres impossible to replace even when better strikers were to be available in another year or two, or alternatively just stick with what we got and see where that leads us? It's not like Costa, Michy, Traore, Remy (with Hazard and maybe even RLC also being capable of playing as the deeper striker) are so shit that it's impossible to make top4 this season as long as the defense gets sorted out first.

If Lukaku is bought for £75M and massive wages that's going to mean no other big striker signings for a good few years. Lukaku at the moment couldn't be further away from a proven elite player who can handle the pressure of being the top dog at a top club with CL ambitions and there's absolutely no way of telling if he'll ever become that. Maybe he will, maybe he won't but that my friend is a £75M gamble I wouldn't take because if it backfires things will get really ugly really fast.

Very well thought out post and thanks for responding in the fashion you have!

Now there are a few things I agree with and there are a few I'm left scratching my head. First, you mention Ighalo as if he has some sort of track record for success in the Prem... One Swallow doesn't make a summer. Lukaku has been scoring goals in the prem for the past 4yrs? And what's more impressive is he has just turned 23. Defoe is 33... why not throw Drogba's name or Eto'o for that matter?

I Hear all this talk about the modern game and why its important to be a footballer in order to have real value like that's some sort of rule of thumb, its not... There is more than one way to be successful and while I agree I would feel so much more confident in having someone like Griezmann or Muller play the secondary striker role, I fail to see a situation where a team that finished 10th can even come close to attracting the likes of them. And maybe therein lies the problem, this God complex that we can attract the world's best because we are 10th place Chelsea!

What I do see is an adept association trained striker who is young and already proven in the prem. Then you go well off the deep end and mention Torres like there is any sort of comparison between he and Lukaku... Why stop there why not mention Shevchenko or Sutton? Lukaku is coming off his best season in the Prem with 25 goals in all comps, Torres was coming off a serious knee injury and was struggling for form at the time of the acquisition. Why does it have to be all doom and gloom? You speak as though it is a given that Lukaku is going to flop here, what if the opposite is true?

What if the manager sees the opposite of what you see? I think a lot of what the problem is here is a lot of you seem to think you have an understanding of what it is the club are trying to accomplish and when it goes against your opinion you come here and shit over the decisions made because they don't agree with yours. WE DON'T KNOW SHIT! Lets start there... You don't know what wages Lukaku will command and to make a statement like 'he will ask for 300k a week' makes you look silly. You also don't have any clue as to what a partnership of Lukaku and Costa will look like, why? Because we've never seen it! The manager has an idea of how he'd like to play and he's identified Lukaku as a guy he'd like to pair with Costa because what HE sees is a partnership that can flourish. 

Now, I would agree that for my money 75m for Lukaku is just ridiculous. But you can't look at these numbers in a vacuum.  Raheem Sterling went for 50m, Stones will go for in and around the same amount, what do they have in common? Well first they are association trained, that in and of itself well drive up the price. 

And then you close by saying "If Lukaku signs no one else will come..." Dude, no offense but have you not been paying attention? Players come and go all the time. Having Costa for the next year is so uncertain let alone the next 3... 

 

[Blue Armour 4,278]

16 hours ago, petre.ispirescu said:

You know, all this talk about transfer fees and shit, it really starts being so boring. I buy the Home, Away and the 3rd kit every two seasons for around 300 Euros. Why do I do this when I can easily go to a Chinese depot outside my city and buy all three of them (perfect replica) for less than 30 Euros? Because it's my choice, my money, I pay for something genuine and I don't give a fuck if someone tells me I'm crazy for paying that much for a piece of cotton.

You guys have no idea about all the bonuses included in Lukaku's contract at Everton, but you like to jump at every obscene amount the lousy media throws. Chelsea will not pay 65m to Everton because:

1) Chelsea get 20% from Lukaku's next transfer. So, there is a 13m discount right from the start (should Everton accept a 65m bid).

2) Chelsea get a lot of performance related fees, plus a bonus should Lukaku gets sold for more than 28m. Which he will. 

3) Everton still have not payed the entire 28m for his transfer for Chelsea. So more money to be deducted from here as well.

 

This is why Everton hold for more money, because at this point, with all the clauses, they only get around 45m and are probably looking for something in the region of maybe 53-55m.

Thanks for sharing the info about the clauses. Its the first time I'm coming across this information.. If its really true,  then the purported transfer fee doesn't seem as bad.

And yes, no one really has the right to tell another person how much they should or should not spend. However coming back to your own example, I can understand why you would want to spend 300 Euros on genuine kits. Because they are the real deal. But I can't say the same for Lukaku.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

[RuudiGullit 112]

Reports saying that Everton won't sell him so it isn't happening. 

[Special Juan 27,424]

What I find fucking hilarious is reading around the Everton forums. Three days ago they claimed everyone in the media was speaking shite and didn't have a clue, now they are a wash with links to every paper and all of a sudden these journalists are very 'switched on' because they say the transfer will be blocked

[Ryan Fong 2,776]

What I find fucking hilarious is reading around the Everton forums. Three days ago they claimed everyone in the media was speaking shite and didn't have a clue, now they are a wash with links to every paper and all of a sudden these journalists are very 'switched on' because they say the transfer will be blocked:lol:

People believe what they like to hear when it comes to transfer window. By believing "it's blocked" makes them feel the privilege of their shit club based in a shithole place called Liverpool, thinking they are the big boy now which is beyond pathetic.

[Jype 6,398]

7 hours ago, Chelsea Legend 11 said:

Very well thought out post and thanks for responding in the fashion you have!

Now there are a few things I agree with and there are a few I'm left scratching my head. First, you mention Ighalo as if he has some sort of track record for success in the Prem... One Swallow doesn't make a summer. Lukaku has been scoring goals in the prem for the past 4yrs? And what's more impressive is he has just turned 23. Defoe is 33... why not throw Drogba's name or Eto'o for that matter?

I Hear all this talk about the modern game and why its important to be a footballer in order to have real value like that's some sort of rule of thumb, its not... There is more than one way to be successful and while I agree I would feel so much more confident in having someone like Griezmann or Muller play the secondary striker role, I fail to see a situation where a team that finished 10th can even come close to attracting the likes of them. And maybe therein lies the problem, this God complex that we can attract the world's best because we are 10th place Chelsea!

What I do see is an adept association trained striker who is young and already proven in the prem. Then you go well off the deep end and mention Torres like there is any sort of comparison between he and Lukaku... Why stop there why not mention Shevchenko or Sutton? Lukaku is coming off his best season in the Prem with 25 goals in all comps, Torres was coming off a serious knee injury and was struggling for form at the time of the acquisition. Why does it have to be all doom and gloom? You speak as though it is a given that Lukaku is going to flop here, what if the opposite is true?

What if the manager sees the opposite of what you see? I think a lot of what the problem is here is a lot of you seem to think you have an understanding of what it is the club are trying to accomplish and when it goes against your opinion you come here and shit over the decisions made because they don't agree with yours. WE DON'T KNOW SHIT! Lets start there... You don't know what wages Lukaku will command and to make a statement like 'he will ask for 300k a week' makes you look silly. You also don't have any clue as to what a partnership of Lukaku and Costa will look like, why? Because we've never seen it! The manager has an idea of how he'd like to play and he's identified Lukaku as a guy he'd like to pair with Costa because what HE sees is a partnership that can flourish. 

Now, I would agree that for my money 75m for Lukaku is just ridiculous. But you can't look at these numbers in a vacuum.  Raheem Sterling went for 50m, Stones will go for in and around the same amount, what do they have in common? Well first they are association trained, that in and of itself well drive up the price. 

And then you close by saying "If Lukaku signs no one else will come..." Dude, no offense but have you not been paying attention? Players come and go all the time. Having Costa for the next year is so uncertain let alone the next 3... 

 

I'm well aware we can't sign Griezmann or Müller, but those are exactly the kind of players £75M should fetch and not Lukaku. It's not very smart to pay way over the odds for a player only because there's no better options available. And like I mentioned in my earlier post, if we're going for a player of that profile I would consider someone like Javier Hernandez at fraction the price a better option because he's also a proven goalscorer. Alexandre Lacazette would be another pretty solid option at half the price.

As for my claim about the wages Lukaku would sign for, I agree that we don't know what happens in these negotiations but what I do know is Mino Raiola. Along with Jorge Mendes he's the number one agent in world football and when he starts negotiating transfers or contract extensions it's a guarantee that he'll come out on top, always has and always will. Just need to look at what kind of figures we're talking about with Zlatan or Pogba this summer and Raiola's other deals in the past to make it pretty easy to conclude that Lukaku won't be signing on squad player wages even tho that is the role he would initially come for. If the only reason the club would be desperate enough to pay crazy money in transfer fee for Lukaku is that they don't see any other options, don't you think Raiola and Lukaku will use that in salary negotiations too?

[Special Juan 27,424]

Talk of Benteke going to the other side of Stanley Park.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

4 hours ago, Jype said:

I'm well aware we can't sign Griezmann or Müller, but those are exactly the kind of players £75M should fetch and not Lukaku. It's not very smart to pay way over the odds for a player only because there's no better options available. And like I mentioned in my earlier post, if we're going for a player of that profile I would consider someone like Javier Hernandez at fraction the price a better option because he's also a proven goalscorer. Alexandre Lacazette would be another pretty solid option at half the price.

As for my claim about the wages Lukaku would sign for, I agree that we don't know what happens in these negotiations but what I do know is Mino Raiola. Along with Jorge Mendes he's the number one agent in world football and when he starts negotiating transfers or contract extensions it's a guarantee that he'll come out on top, always has and always will. Just need to look at what kind of figures we're talking about with Zlatan or Pogba this summer and Raiola's other deals in the past to make it pretty easy to conclude that Lukaku won't be signing on squad player wages even tho that is the role he would initially come for. If the only reason the club would be desperate enough to pay crazy money in transfer fee for Lukaku is that they don't see any other options, don't you think Raiola and Lukaku will use that in salary negotiations too?

Obligatory eye roll...

If you think 75m will land you either Griezmann or Muller you haven't been paying attention... And again what you fail to acknowledge is we need ASSOCIATION TRAINED PLAYERS. We are right at the threshold when it comes to that figure.

No you don't know either of Mino and Jorge, all you know is they are agents for some players. You again have no idea what they're like at the negotiation table or what our club is willing to spend vs what they will command.

couple that with the fact that the fee will appear high but the actual math is much lower (they owe us still) and you'll get why I'm not that bothered over price. If and when the time comes to go for someone like Griezmann we can sell Costa back to Atleti and negotiate a fee for Antoine.

[milka 3,346]

Romelu Lukaku is currently in talks over a new contract with Everton. #EFC #CFC

 

[nadavTKL 1,787]

In a few days when the club realise Everton would never sell them a player, i wonder who's going to be the next target...
I mean is it possible they'll just go straight to Lacazette? finally?

[Jype 6,398]

20 minutes ago, Chelsea Legend 11 said:

Obligatory eye roll...

If you think 75m will land you either Griezmann or Muller you haven't been paying attention... And again what you fail to acknowledge is we need ASSOCIATION TRAINED PLAYERS. We are right at the threshold when it comes to that figure.

No you don't know either of Mino and Jorge, all you know is they are agents for some players. You again have no idea what they're like at the negotiation table or what our club is willing to spend vs what they will command.

couple that with the fact that the fee will appear high but the actual math is much lower (they owe us still) and you'll get why I'm not that bothered over price. If and when the time comes to go for someone like Griezmann we can sell Costa back to Atleti and negotiate a fee for Antoine.

You're right, the club need HG players but not so desperately that it makes any sense to make Lukaku, who's not even that good, the fourth most expensive player in the history of football. In this transfer window £75M might not be enough to get you Griezmann or Müller, mostly because they're not moving anywhere and because Chelsea atm wouldn't get these players either way, but it should with a 100% certainty be enough to get a player better than Lukaku. And if no better players than Lukaku are available, why not turn to the massively cheaper alternatives that I have mentioned to you many times (Lacazette or Chicharito)?

And yeah again you're right, I don't know Raiola or Mendes personally but what I do know is their reputation and that is haggling enough to make anyone roll over and give in to their demands to get the absolute best possible deal for themselves and their clients. Hell, the Pogba to United transfer has been pretty much done and dusted for weeks but the only thing remaining is negotiating the £20-30M piece (!!!) Raiola is going to be taking from the table and he won't budge one bit. These guys are brilliant businessmen and know every negotiating tactic in the world, as can be witnessed from the various record breaking deals they've been a part of in the past. If Raiola smells blood he will pounce, and Chelsea's obvious desperation in buying a new striker is exactly that.

And £75M is still £75M, even if Everton do still owe Chelsea some installments. The £28M was recorded as a one-off profit in the 2014 finances and this potential £75M will be divided over the 5 year contract length at £15M a year should the deal be completed. The only thing potentially lowering the price is if like in KDB's case Chelsea have some sell-on clause for Lukaku that give the club like 20% of any future sale. In that case £75M minus 20% would actually mean £60M because the club would be first paying £75M and then get £15M of that back from Everton. So far I haven't seen anything indicating that is the case and the price remains £75M, which is nothing but fucking ridiculous and completely unnecessary spending.

 

[Fernando 6,455]

34 minutes ago, milka said:

Romelu Lukaku is currently in talks over a new contract with Everton. #EFC #CFC

 

Good I hope this is true. 

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

5 minutes ago, Jype said:

You're right, the club need HG players but not so desperately that it makes any sense to make Lukaku, who's not even that good, the fourth most expensive player in the history of football. In this transfer window £75M might not be enough to get you Griezmann or Müller, mostly because they're not moving anywhere and because Chelsea atm wouldn't get these players either way, but it should with a 100% certainty be enough to get a player better than Lukaku. And if no better players than Lukaku are available, why not turn to the massively cheaper alternatives that I have mentioned to you many times (Lacazette or Chicharito)?

And yeah again you're right, I don't know Raiola or Mendes personally but what I do know is their reputation and that is haggling enough to make anyone roll over and give in to their demands to get the absolute best possible deal for themselves and their clients. Hell, the Pogba to United transfer has been pretty much done and dusted for weeks but the only thing remaining is negotiating the £20-30M piece (!!!) Raiola is going to be taking from the table and he won't budge one bit. These guys are brilliant businessmen and know every negotiating tactic in the world, as can be witnessed from the various record breaking deals they've been a part of in the past. If Raiola smells blood he will pounce, and Chelsea's obvious desperation in buying a new striker is exactly that.

And £75M is still £75M, even if Everton do still owe Chelsea some installments. The £28M was recorded as a one-off profit in the 2014 finances and this potential £75M will be divided over the 5 year contract length at £15M a year should the deal be completed. The only thing potentially lowering the price is if like in KDB's case Chelsea have some sell-on clause for Lukaku that give the club like 20% of any future sale. In that case £75M minus 20% would actually mean £60M because the club would be first paying £75M and then get £15M of that back from Everton. So far I haven't seen anything indicating that is the case and the price remains £75M, which is nothing but fucking ridiculous and completely unnecessary spending.

 

The price to compete has gone up in the Premier league in particular. The number being bandied about for Lukaku is shocking to the system because none of us actually know how much these new deals we've signed with sponsors and media outlets actually amount to. 

Lukaku wants to work with Chelsea again and clearly the manager wants him. Lacazette has never once been linked with us and struggled for large parts of the season in Ligue 1... You guys don't watch Ligue 1 so you're making blind assertions that Lacazette is better than Lukaku. He very well could be but I doubt it... He wasn't even a French international on a team that featured no Benzema! So in the eyes of the many people who would've watched him week in and week out, Lacazette was worse than Giroud and Gignac so please stop throwing around these random names, neither Chicharito or Lacazette make us significantly better, they are just cheaper options. And isn't that the problem in the end? You guys are looking for bargains in the market when Higuain went for 79m, Pogba for 100.... The players that are available won't come cheap, Everton don't have to sell. The reason we are so heavily linked is because he wants to come back, we want him, but everton are in no position to let him go for his actual valuation. That is why this is where it has reached. My point in all of this is simple. GIVE THE MANAGER THE PLAYERS HE WANTS, allow him to form his squad and see what happens. If we start this relationship off by getting 3rd and 4th choice selections and he fails he's off and its the board's fault. If Lukaku is who he wants, get him Lukaku... If Lukaku fails its on his head. 

Now if you just don't like Lukaku that's all fine and good, if you don't like him at a certain price then thats an entirely different scenario, one that neither of us will ever understand.

 

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Hope he stays put and not because I think he is not good enough (I would actually love to have him at Chelsea one day), but maybe Conte and the board wake up and see that the club's going nowhere with that defence. If we're to spend that much money rather do it wisely. Diego Costa, Batshuayi, Traore, Loftus-Cheek is more than enough for a season with no European competition. Hazard can play there too. With absolute ease.

[Unionjack 7,531]

8 minutes ago, petre.ispirescu said:

Hope he stays put and not because I think he is not good enough (I would actually love to have him at Chelsea one day), but maybe Conte and the board wake up and see that the club's going nowhere with that defence. If we're to spend that much money rather do it wisely. Diego Costa, Batshuayi, Traore, Loftus-Cheek is more than enough for a season with no European competition. Hazard can play there too. With absolute ease.

I presume that buying him isn't at the expense of us not buying defenders.

I would hope that as Conte has said it a few time that we are waiting for the right players.

Of course in a perfect world we want all our business done quick as soion as the window opens for the squad to get sorted out sharpish. We never live in that word. We just gotta have faith that we get new lads of the same calibre as the 1st 2.

[nono 791]

 

We were probably never in for him. Maybe that snake Raiola was leaking those stories to get him a better deal. Thank goodness though.