Non-Chelsea Transfer Pub

[Unionjack 7,531]

39 minutes ago, Vesper said:

I also think we have almost no shot at Isco. Real have almost no reason to give up Asensio, Isco, or even Vinícius Júnior next summer at this point,

This is why I dont understand why RM would want Eden. Now or gambling on a free which  I would rather bench him for his last year than let him take the piss

But I do have my Blue heart pumping optimism right now.

[Vesper 30,278]

CIES Football Observatory

n°233 - 17/09/2018

Economy

Transfer cost to assemble the squad: Manchester City at the top

http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2018/233/en/

Manchester City has spent almost €1 billion in transfer indemnities to sign its present squad members (add-ons included). This is the highest figure ever measured for a football team. Issue number 233 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for all of the big-5 league teams.

Seven English Premier League teams are in the 11 top positions of the table. The biggest increase compared to last year was measured for Liverpool (from €437M to €704M). The Spanish giants (Barcelona and Real Madrid), Juventus and Paris St-Germain (2nd overall) are the only non-English teams in the top 11. The best-ranked German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, is 12th.

Total transfer expenditure to make up the squad for clubs from the five major European leagues went constantly up during the last decade. In 2010, a big-5 league had spent on average €67M to sign its squad members. In 2018, this figure reached a new record high of €161M. During the same period, the amounts invested to assemble the squad by English Premier League clubs went up from €126M to €326M.

Transfer expenditure to assemble the squad

(million €)

 

 

[quickpassnmove 924]

Hope it's an exciting January for us looking at new forwards with a left foot dominance.

Where's the player that looks like the next Robben (with his shooting accuracy anyway)?

[Unionjack 7,531]

15 minutes ago, quickpassnmove said:

Hope it's an exciting January for us looking at new forwards with a left foot dominance.

Where's the player that looks like the next Robben (with his shooting accuracy anyway)?

LOL Its amazing how we are looking forward to the January sales still 3 months away

But then again here in England it wont be that long till the Xmas stuff starts hitting the shops.

Quote

Dear Santa Roman. I have been a good boy this year and I would like a couple of new players ..............

 

[Vesper 30,278]

3 hours ago, quickpassnmove said:

Hope it's an exciting January for us looking at new forwards with a left foot dominance.

Where's the player that looks like the next Robben (with his shooting accuracy anyway)?

Leon Bailey FTW. Left footed RW yardie version of Robben. Deadly shot as well as pace.

Federico Bernardeschi and David Neres of Ajax are also left footers who prefer RW.

My dream set of wingers would be Bailey and Neres on RW, replacing Willian and Pedro, and Chiesa or Asensio plus CHO on LW (if Hazard leaves in January or next summer).

Ousmane Dembele is surely off the table now as he has exploded for Barca (as predicted). Mbappe is a pipe dream unless your name is Shitty, Real, or Barca.

Malcom would have been great at RW (swap him for Neres above), but we all know the cockup with Willian and the £65m offer from Barca that we foolishly turned down, thus allowing Barca to grab Malcom for only £37m.

Vinícius Júnior from Real is a wild card at LW.

[bigbluewillie 1,930]

Who is this Vesper

She has an incredible knowledge on all subjects, players she will tell you anything about them no matter who, even what they have for breakfast

Any stats are truly amazing, and in depth post........this is no ordinary person..... she has to be involved in the professional game at some level, possibly an advisor.

[Unionjack 7,531]

28 minutes ago, bigbluewillie said:

Who is this Vesper

She has an incredible knowledge on all subjects, players she will tell you anything about them no matter who, even what they have for breakfast

Any stats are truly amazing, and in depth post........this is no ordinary person..... she has to be involved in the professional game at some level, possibly an advisor.

Send her a Msg and have a chat, She doesn't bite.

[bigbluewillie 1,930]

4 hours ago, Unionjack said:

Send her a Msg and have a chat, She doesn't bite.

The comment is tongue in cheek bud.

Oh and I forgot her command of the English language, there aint no Swede with that command or any foreigner for that matter.

The intrigue goes on

[Unionjack 7,531]

3 hours ago, bigbluewillie said:

The comment is tongue in cheek bud..

Oh and I forgot her command of the English language, there aint no Swede with that command or any foreigner for that matter.

The intrigue goes on

Sorry mate.

Its hard to get a read on texts sometimes. Sarcasm doesn't translate written down all the time. Shall learn to keep moi's nose out of sjhit 

[Vesper 30,278]

3 hours ago, bigbluewillie said:

The comment is tongue in cheek bud.

Oh and I forgot her command of the English language, there aint no Swede with that command or any foreigner for that matter.

The intrigue goes on

I live in Sweden now, I am half Swedish, but was born and grew up in West London (South Kensington mostly) for the most part. I did spend a few years as a toddler and early schooler in Hong Kong, and read for my MBA in New York as well. As for foreigners having a superb command of English from a both a syntaxical as well as an idiomatic perspective, I know hundreds, especially in academia. It's the global language of business and what passes for a global culture (much to the dismay of the French, lol). Using Sweden as a pedagogical example, English is mandated by law to be taught alongside Swedish, as well as a 3rd, actual 'foreign' language.

[Vesper 30,278]

Kai Havertz saves Bayer again (video)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Mainz 05 Highlights

Watch Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Mainz 05 Highlights
Start date: Sep 23, 2018 2:30 PM
Location: Leverkusen Venue:BayArena
Referee: Marco Fritz, Germany

https://highlightsfootball.com/video/bayer-04-leverkusen-vs-mainz-05-highlights-3/

 

Bayer has so many players I would love to get.

BTW, Mainz has one player, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, a 22yo super young DMF  who all the big clubs are after, a real beast

RW Leon Bailey (of course)

AMF Kai Havertz, and remember he is only 19!

CB Jonathan Tah  (1.94m beast, the more I see of him, the more I think he might become my number target as Pavard is looking very unlikely, and Marquinhos is a pipe dream) had a superb pass in the game highlights

also

CB Panagiotis Retsos   superb young Greek potential buyperhaps, he is great at didtribution and ball play)

LB Wendell super solid young player

LW Julian Brandt (not in my top of list, but still is a really good player)

LW Paulinho (18yo new Brasilian signing, HUGE HUGE potential, could be a £60-70m plus player in a few years)

CF Lucas Alario (would be a great backup striker option)

 

Jean-Philippe Gbamin

[Vesper 30,278]

Manchester City Targets for January and Summer 2019

I post this because I still think Shitty are our biggest team to overcome to win the title, with Liverpool 2nd, and I will point out players we both are going after

Shitty projected targets (they really dont give a fuck as to price, PSG and Shitty share that enviable position)

 

CB Marquinhos or Matthijs de Ligt or José Giménez or Dayot Upamecano or Benjamin Pavard (maybe even go for the top dog in Raphaël Varane, but Real would be INSANE to give Pep the best CB in the world, it would be like saying, HERE come take the next 3 CL's like we did. To be honest, the first 3 or 4 are (Marquinhos) or probably will be (the rest) sorta near to being as good as Varane (none are there yet, of course). I will say they make a move for Matthijs de Ligt (highest potential of them all), but I honestly have no gut feeling for sure.

 

LB One name only, and its a gut-wrencher for me, as he is my main realistic target for us. Júnior Firpo of Real Betis. We can offer a starting position if we sell Alonso (which we need to do to RM for £50-55m, which covers cost of Firpo). We have to block the Mancs on this one. They will move for Ryan Sessegnon perhaps if we get Firpo, not sure if he is a Pep-style player plus (and this affects us too) I also am not sure if he really wants to be a LB fulltime, I think he prefers LMF or LW.

 

DH DMF  Ruben Neves, Wolves says £110m, City will pay close to that, Pep is obsessed (probably rightly so). Only other DMF's I could see them even considering (as it has to be a deep holding type) would be Rodri (too late, Atletico Madrid scooped him up, and I think he is the next Busquets), Julian Weigl (HUGE talent, young, but has had a off year, Pep could fix him and make him a terror though, but Neves is better) and Leandro Paredes (maybe a slight step down, but still could do wonders there, is by far the most experienced and still only 24, but I say NO, they don't go for him). The only other remotely young WC DH DMF's out there are Jorginho, Busquets (not young, lol, but still a monster), and maybe (or very soon) a young 21yo Argentine who plays with Stuttgart, Santiago Ascacíbar. (I don't count Marco Verratti at this position, as he is a regista, like Kroos, Koke, Thiago, Pjanic, Pirlo (back in the day), etc) I am not sure if one could label Lucas Torreira from the goonas as either a genuine DH DMF or world class (for sure not there yet). Maybe also add in Frenkie de Jong from Ajax (see below) as he seems to be able to play almost any position other than striker and GK.

I say Neves all the way, he will someday be the best DH DMF in the world, IMHO, and he also can score (sniper of a shooter, 7 goals last year alone), which is crazy, given where he plays from. Its a crazy hard position to fill, as they are so few players who have the skillset need, its probably the hardest position in football to master and play.

 

CMF Adrien Rabiot  I do admit both of the first two that I now discuss could be also seen as DMF deep playmaking MF'ers as well, but really feel the are more forward-leaning players. I think, unless Barca scupper the Mancs, Rabiot goes to Shitty in January (maybe a pre-contract) or surely in the summer, on a free, he wants City, City wants him, both badly, BUT watch out for Barca. TBH, a better fit for Barca IMHO is Verratti, but who knows.

I think the only other CMF Shitty would REALLY covet if somehow Rabiot deal falls through would be Frenkie de Jong, the 21yo Ajax midfielder wunderkind who is going to be probably the most fought over young MF this summer, as Barca, Real, PSG, ManUre, Bayern, and Juve have all said they want him (not just want, WILL get him in some cases!). God help us and all football if Pep pulls both de Ligt AND de Jong from Ajax. Rabiot, btw, is better at this very minute (totally WC), but de Jong is OFF THE CHARTS scary down the road in 2, 3, 4 years. Same for de Ligt at CB, who is 2 years younger than de Jong.

Long shots, finally, would be Bryan Cristante (another favourite of mine) from Atalanta, now on loan at Roma or the poison dwarf's (Napoli) Piotr Zielinski. I do not see them making a run at SMS. He just doesn't, IMHO, for some reason, seem a Pep-type player. He seems to coast at times, which is never going to sit well with Guardiola. Doubt me, go watch the Serbian WC games, and some Lazio losses last year. It has always bugged me about him. He is like a much, much more talented RLC at times. Shitty only have one player like that, the horrid (and injured or would have been long gone) Eliaquim Mangala. John Stones used to have that issue, but Pep has, from all I can see, pounded it out of him.

 

Thats their only needs, literally, other than back-up GK, as Guardiola is contemplating whether to hand a Shitty debut to 19yo Arijanet Muric (big lad too, 1.98m and supposedly still growing a wee bit), He was recalled from loan at NAC Breda last month following an injury to Claudio Bravo.

 

If they bring in those 4 main targets (CB is the only one I am not clear on, I pray it isn't de Ligt they end up with) I do not see how anyone can touch them.

 

Long term insane bonus prediction: They get Mbappe within 3 years or so. Pep is the best manager on the planet, and I am sure he wants who will be the best player on the planet, having had that for years in Messi. Obviously Real and Barca will try too (he is out of Juve, AM, Bayern price range, ours too unless Ratcliffe buys us and finds a quarter to a third of a billion quid he wants to spend in his spare change drawer, lolol), Mbappe would be insane to go to Manure unless ZZ is the manager.(which actually MIGHT put Manure close to the top of the Kylian sweepstakes, goddammit)

He would make Shitty, IF they hold the team together, and get those 4 above, plus replace a couple aging stars (Sergio Agüero, who will be 33 in 3 years (hello Mbappe), David Silva (my number one AMF target, Kai Havertz is on Pep's radar as a replacement alas, as, I predict, will also be the one we fumbled this summer, Aleksandr Golovin, provide he progresses at Monaco, plus Carlos Soler from Valencia), Kompany (replaced by one of those CB's I listed, although its Otamendi who will be the first one benched), and Fernandinho (Neves replaces him) could, quite possibly (on paper) become one of the greatest sides ever, up there with the 1955-1960 5-in-a-row EC (CL now) winning Alfredo Di Stéfano-led Real sides, the early 70's Ajax sides, the mid 70's Bayern sides, the late 70's/early 80's scouser scum sides, the late 80's/early 90's AC Milan sides (my pick for greatest ever, due to defence and just insane generational talent, I am sure most won't agree with me), the mid 1990's/early 2000's Manure sides (a little light on the CL trophies, just the one, the Treble Year 98/99), Pep's Barca sides (especially the 2010-11 Sextuple winning team) and the most recent Real Madrid 3 in a row CL sides.

[Johnnyeye 7,517]

4 hours ago, Vesper said:

Manchester City Targets for January and Summer 2019

I post this because I still think Shitty are our biggest team to overcome to win the title, with Liverpool 2nd, and I will point out players we both are going after

Shitty projected targets (they really dont give a fuck as to price, PSG and Shitty share that enviable position)

 

CB Marquinhos or Matthijs de Ligt or José Giménez or Dayot Upamecano or Benjamin Pavard (maybe even go for the top dog in Raphaël Varane, but Real would be INSANE to give Pep the best CB in the world, it would be like saying, HERE come take the next 3 CL's like we did. To be honest, the first 3 or 4 are (Marquinhos) or probably will be (the rest) sorta near to being as good as Varane (none are there yet, of course). I will say they make a move for Matthijs de Ligt (highest potential of them all), but I honestly have no gut feeling for sure.

 

LB One name only, and its a gut-wrencher for me, as he is my main realistic target for us. Júnior Firpo of Real Betis. We can offer a starting position if we sell Alonso (which we need to do to RM for £50-55m, which covers cost of Firpo). We have to block the Mancs on this one. They will move for Ryan Sessegnon perhaps if we get Firpo, not sure if he is a Pep-style player plus (and this affects us too) I also am not sure if he really wants to be a LB fulltime, I think he prefers LMF or LW.

 

DH DMF  Ruben Neves, Wolves says £110m, City will pay close to that, Pep is obsessed (probably rightly so). Only other DMF's I could see them even considering (as it has to be a deep holding type) would be Rodri (too late, Atletico Madrid scooped him up, and I think he is the next Busquets), Julian Weigl (HUGE talent, young, but has had a off year, Pep could fix him and make him a terror though, but Neves is better) and Leandro Paredes (maybe a slight step down, but still could do wonders there, is by far the most experienced and still only 24, but I say NO, they don't go for him). The only other remotely young WC DH DMF's out there are Jorginho, Busquets (not young, lol, but still a monster), and maybe (or very soon) a young 21yo Argentine who plays with Stuttgart, Santiago Ascacíbar. (I don't count Marco Verratti at this position, as he is a regista, like Kroos, Koke, Thiago, Pjanic, Pirlo (back in the day), etc) I am not sure if one could label Lucas Torreira from the goonas as either a genuine DH DMF or world class (for sure not there yet). Maybe also add in Frenkie de Jong from Ajax (see below) as he seems to be able to play almost any position other than striker and GK.

I say Neves all the way, he will someday be the best DH DMF in the world, IMHO, and he also can score (sniper of a shooter, 7 goals last year alone), which is crazy, given where he plays from. Its a crazy hard position to fill, as they are so few players who have the skillset need, its probably the hardest position in football to master and play.

 

CMF Adrien Rabiot  I do admit both of the first two that I now discuss could be also seen as DMF deep playmaking MF'ers as well, but really feel the are more forward-leaning players. I think, unless Barca scupper the Mancs, Rabiot goes to Shitty in January (maybe a pre-contract) or surely in the summer, on a free, he wants City, City wants him, both badly, BUT watch out for Barca. TBH, a better fit for Barca IMHO is Verratti, but who knows.

I think the only other CMF Shitty would REALLY covet if somehow Rabiot deal falls through would be Frenkie de Jong, the 21yo Ajax midfielder wunderkind who is going to be probably the most fought over young MF this summer, as Barca, Real, PSG, ManUre, Bayern, and Juve have all said they want him (not just want, WILL get him in some cases!). God help us and all football if Pep pulls both de Ligt AND de Jong from Ajax. Rabiot, btw, is better at this very minute (totally WC), but de Jong is OFF THE CHARTS scary down the road in 2, 3, 4 years. Same for de Ligt at CB, who is 2 years younger than de Jong.

Long shots, finally, would be Bryan Cristante (another favourite of mine) from Atalanta, now on loan at Roma or the poison dwarf's (Napoli) Piotr Zielinski. I do not see them making a run at SMS. He just doesn't, IMHO, for some reason, seem a Pep-type player. He seems to coast at times, which is never going to sit well with Guardiola. Doubt me, go watch the Serbian WC games, and some Lazio losses last year. It has always bugged me about him. He is like a much, much more talented RLC at times. Shitty only have one player like that, the horrid (and injured or would have been long gone) Eliaquim Mangala. John Stones used to have that issue, but Pep has, from all I can see, pounded it out of him.

 

Thats their only needs, literally, other than back-up GK, as Guardiola is contemplating whether to hand a Shitty debut to 19yo Arijanet Muric (big lad too, 1.98m and supposedly still growing a wee bit), He was recalled from loan at NAC Breda last month following an injury to Claudio Bravo.

 

If they bring in those 4 main targets (CB is the only one I am not clear on, I pray it isn't de Ligt they end up with) I do not see how anyone can touch them.

 

Long term insane bonus prediction: They get Mbappe within 3 years or so. Pep is the best manager on the planet, and I am sure he wants who will be the best player on the planet, having had that for years in Messi. Obviously Real and Barca will try too (he is out of Juve, AM, Bayern price range, ours too unless Ratcliffe buys us and finds a quarter to a third of a billion quid he wants to spend in his spare change drawer, lolol), Mbappe would be insane to go to Manure unless ZZ is the manager.(which actually MIGHT put Manure close to the top of the Kylian sweepstakes, goddammit)

He would make Shitty, IF they hold the team together, and get those 4 above, plus replace a couple aging stars (Sergio Agüero, who will be 33 in 3 years (hello Mbappe), David Silva (my number one AMF target, Kai Havertz is on Pep's radar as a replacement alas, as, I predict, will also be the one we fumbled this summer, Aleksandr Golovin, provide he progresses at Monaco, plus Carlos Soler from Valencia), Kompany (replaced by one of those CB's I listed, although its Otamendi who will be the first one benched), and Fernandinho (Neves replaces him) could, quite possibly (on paper) become one of the greatest sides ever, up there with the 1955-1960 5-in-a-row EC (CL now) winning Alfredo Di Stéfano-led Real sides, the early 70's Ajax sides, the mid 70's Bayern sides, the late 70's/early 80's scouser scum sides, the late 80's/early 90's AC Milan sides (my pick for greatest ever, due to defence and just insane generational talent, I am sure most won't agree with me), the mid 1990's/early 2000's Manure sides (a little light on the CL trophies, just the one, the Treble Year 98/99), Pep's Barca sides (especially the 2010-11 Sextuple winning team) and the most recent Real Madrid 3 in a row CL sides.

i sure love reading your posts, your footy knowledge is immaculate

[Vesper 30,278]

4 minutes ago, Johnnyeye said:

i sure love reading your posts, your footy knowlegde is immaculate

tack så mycket!!!

[quickpassnmove 924]

On 9/19/2018 at 3:21 AM, Unionjack said:

LOL Its amazing how we are looking forward to the January sales still 3 months away

But then again here in England it wont be that long till the Xmas stuff starts hitting the shops.

 

My prevailing thoughts for this season on CFC's inadequacies regard our lack of scoring, so I am looking forward to more forwards who can score ASAP. Nevermind the defence for the moment; that can be addressed later --or when the right person is targeted/we make the CL again. Like Sarri, my focus would be on scoring and confidence in our attacking prowess in any given match as opposed to being too concerned about clean sheets. Time for Chelsea to evolve under Sarri and become that team that we want to see play regardless of the difficulty in any given matchup.

[coolhead23 1,147]

On 9/25/2018 at 10:57 AM, Vesper said:

Manchester City Targets for January and Summer 2019

I post this because I still think Shitty are our biggest team to overcome to win the title, with Liverpool 2nd, and I will point out players we both are going after

Shitty projected targets (they really dont give a fuck as to price, PSG and Shitty share that enviable position)

 

CB Marquinhos or Matthijs de Ligt or José Giménez or Dayot Upamecano or Benjamin Pavard (maybe even go for the top dog in Raphaël Varane, but Real would be INSANE to give Pep the best CB in the world, it would be like saying, HERE come take the next 3 CL's like we did. To be honest, the first 3 or 4 are (Marquinhos) or probably will be (the rest) sorta near to being as good as Varane (none are there yet, of course). I will say they make a move for Matthijs de Ligt (highest potential of them all), but I honestly have no gut feeling for sure.

 

LB One name only, and its a gut-wrencher for me, as he is my main realistic target for us. Júnior Firpo of Real Betis. We can offer a starting position if we sell Alonso (which we need to do to RM for £50-55m, which covers cost of Firpo). We have to block the Mancs on this one. They will move for Ryan Sessegnon perhaps if we get Firpo, not sure if he is a Pep-style player plus (and this affects us too) I also am not sure if he really wants to be a LB fulltime, I think he prefers LMF or LW.

 

DH DMF  Ruben Neves, Wolves says £110m, City will pay close to that, Pep is obsessed (probably rightly so). Only other DMF's I could see them even considering (as it has to be a deep holding type) would be Rodri (too late, Atletico Madrid scooped him up, and I think he is the next Busquets), Julian Weigl (HUGE talent, young, but has had a off year, Pep could fix him and make him a terror though, but Neves is better) and Leandro Paredes (maybe a slight step down, but still could do wonders there, is by far the most experienced and still only 24, but I say NO, they don't go for him). The only other remotely young WC DH DMF's out there are Jorginho, Busquets (not young, lol, but still a monster), and maybe (or very soon) a young 21yo Argentine who plays with Stuttgart, Santiago Ascacíbar. (I don't count Marco Verratti at this position, as he is a regista, like Kroos, Koke, Thiago, Pjanic, Pirlo (back in the day), etc) I am not sure if one could label Lucas Torreira from the goonas as either a genuine DH DMF or world class (for sure not there yet). Maybe also add in Frenkie de Jong from Ajax (see below) as he seems to be able to play almost any position other than striker and GK.

I say Neves all the way, he will someday be the best DH DMF in the world, IMHO, and he also can score (sniper of a shooter, 7 goals last year alone), which is crazy, given where he plays from. Its a crazy hard position to fill, as they are so few players who have the skillset need, its probably the hardest position in football to master and play.

 

CMF Adrien Rabiot  I do admit both of the first two that I now discuss could be also seen as DMF deep playmaking MF'ers as well, but really feel the are more forward-leaning players. I think, unless Barca scupper the Mancs, Rabiot goes to Shitty in January (maybe a pre-contract) or surely in the summer, on a free, he wants City, City wants him, both badly, BUT watch out for Barca. TBH, a better fit for Barca IMHO is Verratti, but who knows.

I think the only other CMF Shitty would REALLY covet if somehow Rabiot deal falls through would be Frenkie de Jong, the 21yo Ajax midfielder wunderkind who is going to be probably the most fought over young MF this summer, as Barca, Real, PSG, ManUre, Bayern, and Juve have all said they want him (not just want, WILL get him in some cases!). God help us and all football if Pep pulls both de Ligt AND de Jong from Ajax. Rabiot, btw, is better at this very minute (totally WC), but de Jong is OFF THE CHARTS scary down the road in 2, 3, 4 years. Same for de Ligt at CB, who is 2 years younger than de Jong.

Long shots, finally, would be Bryan Cristante (another favourite of mine) from Atalanta, now on loan at Roma or the poison dwarf's (Napoli) Piotr Zielinski. I do not see them making a run at SMS. He just doesn't, IMHO, for some reason, seem a Pep-type player. He seems to coast at times, which is never going to sit well with Guardiola. Doubt me, go watch the Serbian WC games, and some Lazio losses last year. It has always bugged me about him. He is like a much, much more talented RLC at times. Shitty only have one player like that, the horrid (and injured or would have been long gone) Eliaquim Mangala. John Stones used to have that issue, but Pep has, from all I can see, pounded it out of him.

 

Thats their only needs, literally, other than back-up GK, as Guardiola is contemplating whether to hand a Shitty debut to 19yo Arijanet Muric (big lad too, 1.98m and supposedly still growing a wee bit), He was recalled from loan at NAC Breda last month following an injury to Claudio Bravo.

 

If they bring in those 4 main targets (CB is the only one I am not clear on, I pray it isn't de Ligt they end up with) I do not see how anyone can touch them.

 

Long term insane bonus prediction: They get Mbappe within 3 years or so. Pep is the best manager on the planet, and I am sure he wants who will be the best player on the planet, having had that for years in Messi. Obviously Real and Barca will try too (he is out of Juve, AM, Bayern price range, ours too unless Ratcliffe buys us and finds a quarter to a third of a billion quid he wants to spend in his spare change drawer, lolol), Mbappe would be insane to go to Manure unless ZZ is the manager.(which actually MIGHT put Manure close to the top of the Kylian sweepstakes, goddammit)

He would make Shitty, IF they hold the team together, and get those 4 above, plus replace a couple aging stars (Sergio Agüero, who will be 33 in 3 years (hello Mbappe), David Silva (my number one AMF target, Kai Havertz is on Pep's radar as a replacement alas, as, I predict, will also be the one we fumbled this summer, Aleksandr Golovin, provide he progresses at Monaco, plus Carlos Soler from Valencia), Kompany (replaced by one of those CB's I listed, although its Otamendi who will be the first one benched), and Fernandinho (Neves replaces him) could, quite possibly (on paper) become one of the greatest sides ever, up there with the 1955-1960 5-in-a-row EC (CL now) winning Alfredo Di Stéfano-led Real sides, the early 70's Ajax sides, the mid 70's Bayern sides, the late 70's/early 80's scouser scum sides, the late 80's/early 90's AC Milan sides (my pick for greatest ever, due to defence and just insane generational talent, I am sure most won't agree with me), the mid 1990's/early 2000's Manure sides (a little light on the CL trophies, just the one, the Treble Year 98/99), Pep's Barca sides (especially the 2010-11 Sextuple winning team) and the most recent Real Madrid 3 in a row CL sides.

Wow ... great poster.  love the knowledge. 

On a flyer ... based on your knowledge what would your team (current under 23ish/24ish) be like? 

[Vesper 30,278]

7 hours ago, coolhead23 said:

Wow ... great poster.  love the knowledge. 

On a flyer ... based on your knowledge what would your team (current under 23ish/24ish) be like? 

You mean if I could have any players under 25yo? First off, I will not list Messi, CR7, or Neymar. Also, many players I would take on a full 25 man roster are 25 to 28. So this will exclude Oblak, Ederson, Varane, van Dijk, Koulibaly, Alaba, Alex Sandro, Sergi Roberto, Kante, Jorginho, Kroos, Pogba, Koke, Verratti, De Bruyne, Coutinho, Isco, Hazard, Salah, Firmino, Icardi, Kane, etc. There are a few older players than those who I might want for depth, but 28yo is always a cut off for any list I make, as I look at it like actually buying players for a team, not putting out a best of all-star ATM thing, like FIFA's bullshit (Dani Alves, was their starting RB, 35yo, hardly played in 2018 due to injury, no WC, etc, a joke he made it, enough said). I am super harsh age wise, I do not believe in buying any players over 27, 28, especially no 30 somethings. Thus my stance on Lewandowski, etc, when older names are tossed out for us to get in the reality based world. Higuain is also a perfect example. Production falls of the charts for almost all players once they hit 31, 32, even younger in some cases. GK are sometimes the exception (and the drop comes 3 years or so later), but even those are really rare if you are talking truly world class. Buffon was a freak.

My dream sub 25yo team (assuming we are Sarriball).

This also is NOT based off our current roster,this is a 'pick anyone' side. I can easily plug-in the players we DO have into this, and pull some out of this list, to be realistic in terms of who I would buy FOR US in the real world.

IF Hazard refuses to renew,and IF Kante simply cannot adapt well to Sarriball (there is no actual DMF destroyer role in the system, it's not possible to have one, so that really fucks Kante atm, I do think, however, he CAN adapt to new box to box role, but jury is out, I give him a full year to try), then these below are the only players I would keep off current squad (yes it is a harsh trim down).We HAVE to sell Hazard if he refuses to renew (and we are going to get fucked on price massively now)

 

Kepa

Antonio Rüdiger

Andreas Christensen

Ethan Ampadu

Emerson (UNLESS he is perma-fucked from his knee injury at Roma, which may, unfortunately, be the case) 

César Azpilicueta

Jorginho

N'Golo Kanté (explained above)

Mateo Kovacic (need to buy him perm!!)

Mason Mount

Ross Barkley

Callum Hudson-Odoi

Olivier Giroud (as 3rd striker, for 2 more years max)

all the rest need to go go go (also, if/when FIFA changes to allow only 8 players out on loan, we have 32 to sell, eeek, I already have that list, will post as I study it more)

 

So, Finally the team!!

 

GK Kepa - Chelsea

GK Thomas Strakosha - Lazio

CB Marquinhos - PSG

CB Matthijs de Ligt - Ajax

CB José Giménez - Atlético Madrid

CB Aymeric Laporte - Manchester City

CB Niklas Süle - Bayern Munich

LB Lucas Hernández - Atlético Madrid

LB Benjamin Mendy - Manchester City

RB Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich

RB Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool

DH DMF Rúben Neves - Wolves

DH DMF Rodri - Atlético Madrid

CMF Saúl Ñíguez - Atlético Madrid

CMF Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - Lazio

CMF  Frenkie de Jong - Ajax

AMF Kai Havertz - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

AMF Dele Alli - Tottenham Hotspur

LW  Ousmane Dembélé - Barcelona

LW  Leroy Sané - Manchester City

RW  Kylian Mbappé - PSG

RW  Leon Bailey - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

CF Paulo Dybala - Juventus

CF Gabriel Jesus - Manchester City

CF Pietro Pellegri - Monaco

 

Finally, to fudge/explain a bit

Dybala turns 25 on November 15th, so I would replace him with Marcus Rashford of Manure or maybe, probably (IF he continues to score like he has so far), Krzysztof Piatek of Genoa or finally, Lautaro Martínez of Inter Milan.

Pietro Pellegri of Monaco at 3rd CF is a pure potential inclusion (3rd strikers do not play much in Sarriball, unless there are injuries), he is only 17, but I think 4, 5 years from now (maybe sooner) he is going to be a monster, the next Italian superstar striker.

3rd GK would be absolutely be Alex Meret of Napoli

At CB I almost Included Ampadu, as his upside is MASSIVE, would drop Laporte

[quickpassnmove 924]

I've been watching so little football that I forgot Ruben Neves is still only 21 y.o. Still an interesting young 'baller.

And I've become one of those who does not know some of the players on Vesper's list here. However, I would never have included Dele Alli --not that he's over-rated; I think he's good, but he's not going to reach any higher IMHO and he's not at all intimidating, nor magical.

No way Chelsea were going to sign Benjamin Mendy it seems. Clearly, Ben was going to sign up for Pep only when he was the main target for Pep last summer.

 

[Vesper 30,278]

1 hour ago, quickpassnmove said:

I've been watching so little football that I forgot Ruben Neves is still only 21 y.o. Still an interesting young 'baller.

And I've become one of those who does not know some of the players on Vesper's list here. However, I would never have included Dele Alli --not that he's over-rated; I think he's good, but he's not going to reach any higher IMHO and he's not at all intimidating, nor magical.

No way Chelsea were going to sign Benjamin Mendy it seems. Clearly, Ben was going to sign up for Pep only when he was the main target for Pep last summer.

 

Neves, de Jong, and Havertz are 3 best 21yo and younger MF's on the planet atm IMHO.

Neves is a fucking beast, and the other two are just as scary high in potential.

Neves is so so rare, as he is a NATURAL DH DMF, the rarest players on the planet, AND he is also offensive in terms of shooting and goals. de Jong can play anywhere on the field, except GK and striker, so maybe Pep (or US!!!!!!!) turns him into a DH DMF.

My god, if we landed those 3, (especially if we lose Kovacic),we are set for the next 8 to 10 years or so in MF.

LOL, you hit the one player I struggled with, Alli. Havertz would start for me anyway.

I hate Spuds with the burning passion of a 1000 suns, and yes, he is overrated, but the only other 24yo and under AMF's who are remotely close close to him are Carlos Soler of Valencia or Talisca, who is on loan in China at  Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao until January from Benfica due to FFP shite.

After that I would go with Lucas Paquetá of Flamengo (potentially a superstar, Neymar is demanding PSG sign him)), Amine Harit of Schalke, Pablo Fornals of Villarreal, or Bruno Fernandes of Sporting Lisbon,but those 4 are a step down. I played by the rules, 24yo and younger, lol. Hell toss Barkley on the list with the 4 above.

If you insist no Alli, then I put in Carlos Soler.

[coolhead23 1,147]

15 hours ago, Vesper said:

You mean if I could have any players under 25yo? First off, I will not list Messi, CR7, or Neymar. Also, many players I would take on a full 25 man roster are 25 to 28. So this will exclude Oblak, Ederson, Varane, van Dijk, Koulibaly, Alaba, Alex Sandro, Sergi Roberto, Kante, Jorginho, Kroos, Pogba, Koke, Verratti, De Bruyne, Coutinho, Isco, Hazard, Salah, Firmino, Icardi, Kane, etc. There are a few older players than those who I might want for depth, but 28yo is always a cut off for any list I make, as I look at it like actually buying players for a team, not putting out a best of all-star ATM thing, like FIFA's bullshit (Dani Alves, was their starting RB, 35yo, hardly played in 2018 due to injury, no WC, etc, a joke he made it, enough said). I am super harsh age wise, I do not believe in buying any players over 27, 28, especially no 30 somethings. Thus my stance on Lewandowski, etc, when older names are tossed out for us to get in the reality based world. Higuain is also a perfect example. Production falls of the charts for almost all players once they hit 31, 32, even younger in some cases. GK are sometimes the exception (and the drop comes 3 years or so later), but even those are really rare if you are talking truly world class. Buffon was a freak.

My dream sub 25yo team (assuming we are Sarriball).

This also is NOT based off our current roster,this is a 'pick anyone' side. I can easily plug-in the players we DO have into this, and pull some out of this list, to be realistic in terms of who I would buy FOR US in the real world.

IF Hazard refuses to renew,and IF Kante simply cannot adapt well to Sarriball (there is no actual DMF destroyer role in the system, it's not possible to have one, so that really fucks Kante atm, I do think, however, he CAN adapt to new box to box role, but jury is out, I give him a full year to try), then these below are the only players I would keep off current squad (yes it is a harsh trim down).We HAVE to sell Hazard if he refuses to renew (and we are going to get fucked on price massively now)

 

Kepa

Antonio Rüdiger

Andreas Christensen

Ethan Ampadu

Emerson (UNLESS he is perma-fucked from his knee injury at Roma, which may, unfortunately, be the case) 

César Azpilicueta

Jorginho

N'Golo Kanté (explained above)

Mateo Kovacic (need to buy him perm!!)

Mason Mount

Ross Barkley

Callum Hudson-Odoi

Olivier Giroud (as 3rd striker, for 2 more years max)

all the rest need to go go go (also, if/when FIFA changes to allow only 8 players out on loan, we have 32 to sell, eeek, I already have that list, will post as I study it more)

 

So, Finally the team!!

 

GK Kepa - Chelsea

GK Thomas Strakosha - Lazio

CB Marquinhos - PSG

CB Matthijs de Ligt - Ajax

CB José Giménez - Atlético Madrid

CB Aymeric Laporte - Manchester City

CB Niklas Süle - Bayern Munich

LB Lucas Hernández - Atlético Madrid

LB Benjamin Mendy - Manchester City

RB Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich

RB Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool

DH DMF Rúben Neves - Wolves

DH DMF Rodri - Atlético Madrid

CMF Saúl Ñíguez - Atlético Madrid

CMF Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - Lazio

CMF  Frenkie de Jong - Ajax

AMF Kai Havertz - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

AMF Dele Alli - Tottenham Hotspur

LW  Ousmane Dembélé - Barcelona

LW  Leroy Sané - Manchester City

RW  Kylian Mbappé - PSG

RW  Leon Bailey - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

CF Paulo Dybala - Juventus

CF Gabriel Jesus - Manchester City

CF Pietro Pellegri - Monaco

 

Finally, to fudge/explain a bit

Dybala turns 25 on November 15th, so I would replace him with Marcus Rashford of Manure or maybe, probably (IF he continues to score like he has so far), Krzysztof Piatek of Genoa or finally, Lautaro Martínez of Inter Milan.

Pietro Pellegri of Monaco at 3rd CF is a pure potential inclusion (3rd strikers do not play much in Sarriball, unless there are injuries), he is only 17, but I think 4, 5 years from now (maybe sooner) he is going to be a monster, the next Italian superstar striker.

3rd GK would be absolutely be Alex Meret of Napoli

At CB I almost Included Ampadu, as his upside is MASSIVE, would drop Laporte

Superb!!! Would have to say it took me some time to go through it but was truly an interesting read with few new names which I wasnt aware of

Just one query ... You have included Kepa assuming your first choice and have not included Donnarumma. Do you really think Kepa is the next big thing in goalkeeper, just trying to get a perspective because honestly I have my doubts on both.