Chelsea Transfers

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

19 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Rice has played at CB almost 50 times in the past 5 years.

So that equivilates him having the same positional sense as Romagnoli, Gabriel, or Upamecano? Because ‘he’s played there before’? Being a shield in front of the defence is a whole lot different than being the last man of defence. 

We are essentially risking a whole lot of money in the hopes Rice turns into the next Kompany. 

 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Vesper 30,195]

I think there is a good chance (foolish IMHO) that Lampard rates the 4 CB's we now have (plus maybe even Ampadu) so we end up making no moves

but if we do

these are the good options atm

I highly doubt we go (or even can go) truly WC

that group would be

Raphaël Varane   (would have to involve Kante somehow, and even then probably impossible, as he is the 2nd best CB in the world, after VVD IMHO)
José Giménez  (this might be a possibility, as perhaps we could work out a deal where we give AM £20m plus Morata for free, so they do not have to pay us for Morata) 
Kalidou Koulibaly  (too old now for what he would cost)
Marquinhos   (so doubt PSG will sell him)
Milan Skriniar    (my 2nd choice, but all the other giant clubs want him)
Alessio Romagnoli (is who I would go for, but, like I have said for 5 months or so, Mino Raiola is now his agent)

Dayot Upamecano   << perhaps off the table now

so let's forget those

Declan Rice has been discussed ad nauseum (and will cost a tonne)

so

this leaves a shedload of great younger options (my favourites are in bold)

Caglar Söyüncü (my 1st choice here, is on target to be WC, but Leicester will want insane cash)

Gabriel Magalhães (we have been linked a lot)     
Luiz Felipe (had a great year at Lazio)

Marash Kumbulla  (super on the ball, Albanian 20yo)

Edmond Tapsoba   (exploded onto the scene in the Bundesliga, he made first team despite not playing the whole year for Bayer Leverkusen, he bossed Håland)   
Merih Demiral (Juve though, although we should say screw Alex Sandro, if you want Emerson, cough him up, lol)

Mohammed Salisu  (Real Valladolid) very large upside, left-footed
Pau Torres (Pep loves him)

Unai Núñez (another one Pep likes)

Ozan Kabak

Ibrahima Konaté (injury has made it hard to judge him, but he has insane upside)

Rúben Dias  (too expensive)

Alessandro Bastoni     
Gianluca Mancini    

then some with issues (listed)

Stefan de Vrij (if Skriniar leaves, there is zero chance Inter sells him as well, plus he turns 29 in 9 months)
Éder Militão   (he is for sale, not convinced, he struggled at Real Madrid)
Diego Carlos   (great on the ball CB, but is very expensive and is  28yo in 10 months)   
Dan-Axel Zagadou   (HUGE player, 1.96m, I think might lack the pace we need)  
Presnel Kimpembe   (doubt PSG will sell him)
Issa Diop  (too expensive, and I think there are better options)
Ben White (deffo not sold on him yet)

Robin Koch tall 23yo German, do not think he is elite yet

teenagers:

Benoît Badiashile
Tanguy Kouassi    

[Blues Forever 1,232]

I think Nizaar and Law once mentioned CB isn't our main priority right now.

[Vesper 30,195]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

 

shit, that just means another monster club out trolling the market for a great CB now

[Vesper 30,195]

14 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

I think Nizaar and Law once mentioned CB isn't our main priority right now.

yes, that is why I preface a lot of my CB comments with 'I think Lampard fancies the 5 we have'

if you break it down to bare minimum that can possibly be done

it yields

CF Mertens

RW Ziyech only

LB probably Chilwell with Emerson out the door

nothing else done, hell we may renew the 39yo to be Willy as the only option for Kepa

and that Chilwell deal is so not a sure thing

we MIGHT take the swap deal, Emerson for Alex Sandro (pretty short term fix as he turns 30 in 9 months)

if those 3 are the only moves we make, the upcoming season may be a rough one

BUT I am pretty close to resigning myself to that is all we do

if we do not upgrade on Willy, that is a potential disaster, as Kepa may (I so hope not) completely self.destrect and Willy is dogshit at his age

[King Kante 1,643]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

I think there is a good chance (foolish IMHO) that Lampard rates the 4 CB's we now have (plus maybe even Ampadu) so we end up making no moves

but if we do

these are the good options atm

I highly doubt we go (or even can go) truly WC

that group would be

Raphaël Varane   (would have to involve Kante somehow, and even then probaly impossible, as he is the 2nd best CB in the world, after VVD IMHO)
José Giménez  (this might be a possibility, as perhaps we could work out a deal where we give AM £30/35m plus Morata for free, so they do not have to pay us for Morata) 
Kalidou Koulibaly  (too old now for what he would cost)
Marquinhos   (so doubt PSG will sell him)
Milan Skriniar    (my 2nd choice, but all the other giant clubs want him)
Alessio Romagnoli (is who I would go for, but, like I have said for 5 months or so, Mino Raiola is now his agent)

Dayot Upamecano   << perhaps off the table now

so let's forget those

Declan Rice has been discussed ad nauseum (and will cost a tonne)

so

this leaves a shedload of great younger options (my favourites are in bold)

Caglar Söyüncü (my 1st choice here, is on target to be WC, but Leicester will want insane cash)

Gabriel Magalhães (we have been linked a lot)     
Luiz Felipe (had a great year at Lazio)

Marash Kumbulla  (super on the ball, Albanian 20yo)

Edmond Tapsoba   (exploded onto the scene in the Bundesliga, he made first team despite not playing the whole year for Bayer Leverkusen, he bossed Håland)   
Merih Demiral (Juve though, although we shoud say screw Alex Sandro, if you want Emerson, cough him up, lol)

Mohammed Salisu  
Pau Torres (Pep loves him)

Unai Núñez (another one Pep likes)

Ozan Kabak

Ibrahima Konaté (injury has made it hard to judge him, but he has insane upside)

Rúben Dias  (too expensive)

Alessandro Bastoni     
Gianluca Mancini    

then some with issues (listed)

Stefan de Vrij (if Skriniar leaves, there is zero chance Inter sells him as well, plus he turns 29 in 9 months)
Éder Militão   (he is for sale, not convinced, he struggled at Real Madrid)
Diego Carlos   (great on the ball CB, but is very expensive and is  28yo in 10 months)   
Dan-Axel Zagadou   (HUGE player, 1.96m, I think might lack the pace we need)  
Presnel Kimpembe   (doubt PSG will sell him)
Issa Diop  (too expensive, and I think there are better options)
Ben White (deffo not sold on him yet)

Robin Koch tall 23yo German, do not think he is elite yet

teenagers:

Benoît Badiashile
Tanguy Kouassi    

Just out of interest, how are you able to scout all these players? I watch a fair bit of PL, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 to varying degrees but I would have no chance of being able to make so any decisions on the players you've listed. 

I ask out of interest, as I consider myself to be pretty immersed in football from a fan point of view and spend a lot of my spare time watching the game but I come nowhere near the levels certainty you're able to attribute to players. 

[Vesper 30,195]

6 minutes ago, King Kante said:

Just out of interest, how are you able to scout all these players? I watch a fair bit of PL, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 to varying degrees but I would have no chance of being able to make so any decisions on the players you've listed. 

I ask out of interest, as I consider myself to be pretty immersed in football from a fan point of view and spend a lot of my spare time watching the game but I come nowhere near the levels certainty you're able to attribute to players. 

I watch a lot of streaming games, and I download others, plus there are replay sites (often Russian). I will often watch a team featuring a player I am interested in, even if the game is not top class level. I also read a lot of blogs that often have videos up.

I also do not watch much under EPL level English football. I find it to be a waste of time.

[Vesper 30,195]

Chelsea keen on making a move for world-class 27-year-old Bundesliga star

https://astamfordbridgetoofar.com/2020/04/30/chelsea-keen-on-making-a-move-for-world-class-27-year-old-bundesliga-star/

Chelsea to make a move for Bayern Munich defender David Alaba

According to Spanish reporter Guillem Balague (h/t Sun), Chelsea have turned their attention to David Alaba to fill the position at left-back.

The Blues are in the market for just such a player and have already been linked with the likes of Alex Telles and Ben Chilwell. Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has been unimpressed by Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri, and has taken to playing Cesar Azpilicueta there, out of position. In a blow for us, Telles is close to a move to PSG while Chilwell will cost at least £50million.

Frank Lampard is a fan of David Alaba

Alaba is a versatile player who is also capable of playing at centre-back and defensive midfield. Having played in some of club football’s biggest games, the Austrian is a bonafide star who is a level above Telles or Chilwell.

According to the report, Lampard is interested in Alaba’s versatility and experience. His ability on the dead ball will be an added bonus.

snip

[Vesper 30,195]

West Ham's transfer stance on Rice, Mertens to reject Chelsea

https://www.football.london/premier-league/premier-league-rumours-mertens-rice-18173716

West Ham's Rice stance revealed

West Ham United are prepared to do everything within their power to fend off interest from Chelsea this summer as the Blues continue to be linked with a move for the midfielder.

Rice, who would have been hoping to assist England at this summer's European Championships had they not been called off because of the coronavirus pandemic, was released by the Blues at the age of 14 and has hinted at the possibility of returning to Stamford Bridge.

However, the Hammers are not keen on entertaining the idea of parting ways with the 21-year-old, who still has another four years left to run on his current contract at the London Stadium.

Mertens likely to stay put

Chelsea summer target Dries Mertens wants to remain at Napoli this summer.

That's according to HLN, who say the Belgian is reluctant to leave the Serie A outfit until he becomes the club's all-time leading scorer, breaking Marek Hamsik's record.

Mertens is level with Hamsik as things stand, on 121 goals, but he may not be able to break the record this season with the current campaign on hold.

Mertens is set to become a free agent this summer with his current deal set to expire.

However, he could yet pen a new deal, as long as Napoli give him the terms he wants.

La Gazzetta Dello Sport claim Mertens wants €7.5million (£6.3m) per year for two seasons, plus another €1m (£845,000) in performance-related bonuses.

snip

 

No idea what to believe here in terms of Mertens. Wish to hell he would have scored one more goal so that damn record did not come into play.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Blues Forever

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Blues Forever said:

 

Gonna ban anyone who posts Werner to Liverpool story from now on...

[Superblue 6,372]

On 28/04/2020 at 6:19 PM, Vesper said:

it looks like we are massively pushing for Mertens (per Italian sources) so if we keep Giroud, and Tammy, then Mertens makes 3 (Michy HAS to go) so that would preclude a truly long term great striker coming in this summer

so two of our 3 strikers will be 33 and 34 years old, eeeek (technically both 34 at the end of the coming season, as Mertens turns 33 in 8 days)

I think despite the age of Mertens and Giroud, if we were to go into next season with a trio of them and Tammy as our striking options I would still view it as a significant improvement on this season.

The hope is that Tammy will continue to develop, and for me he was better earlier in the season when he had to fight to become first choice. Better competition I would like to think will bring out the best in him and from what I've seen his personality suggests that he will thrive better in that environment.

I think even at his age Giroud still offers something that would be very difficult to replace in that target man that runners behind him can benefit from. He's definitely a very credible plan B option that I think has been Lampard's biggest mistake this season choosing Bats over him as the second choice. However I think Lampard seems to have realised this and also just what Giroud can bring to the table in terms of varying the way we can play when he's on the pitch. Having an option like him next season where Lampard now knows how best to use him, compared to having him as a last resort option this season I think should be viewed as a positive.

I think with Mertens, anyone is a risk coming into the Premier League at that sort of age and expecting to make an impact but I think given the other two strikers we have and his versatility to be able to play as the central striker, but also behind a main striker, gives Lampard more options and more firepower because there's no disputing he knows where the goal is. If he could have a similar impact to Eto'o in his sole season here and add an extra 10+ goals to the team it could work really well.

The biggest thing is that Lampard trusts and has confidence in them all. If that is the case I think we'll look well equipped in that area of the pitch. We've looked threadbare and so reliant on Tammy this season because it was clear as day that Lampard didn't fancy either of Bats and Giroud. I think Giroud has changed Lampard's mind in the last couple of months and it's helped reinvigorate the group somewhat rather than trying to roll Tammy out at half fitness.

If a long term striking target isn't available or simply not attainable in the current climate, we could go far more wrong than a free transfer for Mertens. If anything, I can see demand for him getting bigger as clubs will be reluctant to spend big this summer in my opinion both from an economical and moral perspective.

[Alabama 1,992]

Mertens deal will be pointless...

Unless Lamapard has the ambition of plunging Tammy careers into mediocrity...

[Pizy 18,926]

Liverpool signing another great attacking player is like City or Barca or Madrid signing another top attacking player. I just say "ah, who cares." They're already basically unstoppable in attack so what's Werner going to add other than depth? Just like when City signed Mahrez. It just means that they have a quality player to rotate. He doesn't make their first XI any scarier.

If he went to Arse/Spuds/United then I'd be bothered because they'd be getting considerably better.

[Laylabelle 9,535]

10 hours ago, Jason said:

Gonna ban anyone who posts Werner to Liverpool story from now on...

Omg he's going to Liverpool?! 😛

Mehhhh. Just hope we can do what we need to do and voila.. eventually they'll play.

[Vesper 30,195]

1 hour ago, Pizy said:

Liverpool signing another great attacking player is like City or Barca or Madrid signing another top attacking player. I just say "ah, who cares." They're already basically unstoppable in attack so what's Werner going to add other than depth? Just like when City signed Mahrez. It just means that they have a quality player to rotate. He doesn't make their first XI any scarier.

If he went to Arse/Spuds/United then I'd be bothered because they'd be getting considerably better.

Long term though, that (Werner at Liverpool) is bad news

they are ageing

let's look 3 years or so down the road  to the 23/24 season (I always stress future-forward thinking and long term continuity of excellence)

these are their ages now, and then the ages they would be during that season

Roberto Firmino 29yo in 5 months (so 32)

Virgil van Dijk 29yo in 2 months (so 32)

Joel Matip  29yo in 3 months (so 32)

Georginio Wijnaldum 30yo in 6 months (so 33)

Jordan Henderson 30yo in a month and a half (so 33)

James Milner will be 35 in January, so he will be gone

Adam Lallana  32yo in 10 days, so he will be gone

Sadio Mané turns 29 this coming season (so 32yo)

Salah turns 28 in a months and a half, (so 31yo the full season)

even Fabinho, Ox and Robertson turn 30 that season

lesser players will be gone, Dejan Lovren (turns 34 that season), Nathaniel Clyne will be 33 that season, Xherdan Shaqiri 32 that season

to show you how time really flies, that season will be Takumi Minamino's last full sub 30yo one

other than potentially some of their academy lads (Neco Williams, Rhian Brewster, Harvey Elliott, and Yasser Larouci, come to mind, but none of those are sure things) , the only 2 actually young (under 25), great players they have are TAA and Gomez, plus maybe the on-loan Harry Wilson (who turns 24yo this coming season, so is not some teen dream)

most of the core of the bindipper current team will be past or nearly past their prime, even if only just removed from it, and they certainly cannot unload them then in summer 2023 or even worse, 2024, at those ages, for much cash

so it is vital they bring in some young blood of a very high standard over the next 2 years, 3 years max, and Werner fits that bill

 

I break down players' senior careers thusly (and this is just a generalisation, obviously freaks come into play early (Mbappe and Pele for the two greatest examples) and latter can extend it (CR7, Zlatan, Maldini, Pirlo, Messi, etc)

1. Late teens, not much expected or delivered on a consistent basis, save for freaks like Pele and Mbappe (17,18,19yo) (I am not even going to deal with 15yo's, and 16yo's, as those types playing full time or near it at Big 6 League levels are insanely rare)

2. Early full time players, on the road to prime time, here you can have some already world class players appear with a larger cohort than the pure teens, TAA and Sancho are good examples (20,21,22)

3. Beginning to Early Prime (23,24,25) often many are already prime by this point, they just lack experience, especially if they are ona poor team and/or ina weak league

4. Full Prime (26, 27, 28, 29, 30yo)

5. Wind-down from peak, often comes with a dramatic fall off (31, 32, 33yo and 33yo is a stretch with 80/90% of players in terms of starting and playing at a peak level for a big team, other than keepers)

6. 34yo and up, most are usually shot (again, save for keepers) other than the genetic freaks

My favourite years for players (again this is just in general, there are many examples who are a wee bit older, and a few even younger) are the 10 years of 20yo up to 29yo, maybe 30 if we are talking a partial 30yo season. Most teens are too frustrating, and there really is a huge drop off once you get over 30yo for the vast majority of players, just look at EPL wingers and fullbacks and DMF's.

 

 

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

A lot of Liverpool’s success was down to Firmino’s false 9 role. Interesting to see Klopp abandon that in favor of Werner and dropping an additional CM to move Firmino at CAM.  

[NikkiCFC 8,326]

6 hours ago, Alabama said:

Mertens deal will be pointless...

Unless Lamapard has the ambition of plunging Tammy careers into mediocrity...

What? We all want top stiker like Martinez, Werner... Someone who will instantly bench Tammy who does not have quality to be our first striker and never will.

Signing Mertens means exactly opposite of what you are saying. It means Frank has trust in Tammy to lead our attack.

Mertens is coming as a replacement for Michy/Pedro/Willian and is an upgrade on all of them.

 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

12 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

What? We all want top stiker like Martinez, Werner... Someone who will instantly bench Tammy who does not have quality to be our first striker and never will.

Signing Mertens means exactly opposite of what you are saying. It means Frank has trust in Tammy to lead our attack.

Mertens is coming as a replacement for Michy/Pedro/Willian and is an upgrade on all of them.

 

It’s true. It’s a massive While misguided sign of trust in Abraham. 
mertens tho is ancient. He might have been better than those in his prime but still?