Chelsea Transfers

[LAM09 7,056]

1 hour ago, Marvin123 said:

🚨 “Chelsea are looking at signing Joakim Maehle for wing back/full back.”

 

#CFC

 

(@siphillipssport)

He'd be a smart buy & is someone I've talked about for a few seasons now. In all honesty, there are a number of Atalanta players that would fit perfectly.

[King Kante 1,643]

6 hours ago, manpe said:

One of the main gripes with Lukaku last season was that he didn't do monkey work off the ball and that compromised our whole pressing system. Wasn't Ronaldo even more useless at that, statistically? What kind of identity are we trying to build if we keep bouncing between different styles to accommodate temporary stopgaps? Especially one like Ronaldo that requires huge attention. Nothing will change with that kind of short-termism, we need to build something sustainable.

I am going to play Devils Advocate here. Personally I was against signing CR7 at all costs at the start of the window but the more I have thought on it, I have seen a way he could work. 

Firstly, we need to get rid of the Lukaku comparisons. Yes, he probably works less off the ball than Lukaku but equally his in game intelligence, close control and finishing are lightyears ahead of Lukaku. I mean, there really isn't any comparison as it is a bit like comparing someone in the special Olympics to someone in the able bodies Olympics. 

That said, he doesn't come without issues. The issue he presents is his lack of work off the ball (read this as close to zero) and his ego (absolutely massive.)

However, what needs to be remembered is that we actually create a decent amount of chances, particularly against lower opposition that don't get finished which means we get dragged into too many dogfights which is draining on the squad/team. This has now been a problem since Diego left. 

Theredore, CR7 in his current state is needs to be seen as an Old Skool CF in the ilk of Pipo Inzaghi and Ruud Van Nisteltrooy in that he'll always be in the right place in the box/knows how to shake his marker with clever movement and most importantly takes his chances. This is actually a type of player we need in 60% of our league games and our early games in the FA/EFL Cup and CL. I honestly believe that you put CR7 in our side and we beat the riff raff with much more ease and with more frequency that improves our squad motivation and points accural. 

The problem is obviously the rest of the time, latter stages of the cups and against the better teams in the league. However, even here CR7 could be useful. For me, if he could accept that he won't be starting all these games (he would start some just due to form/injuries to players/other teams) and could accept a Super sub role, he could be very handy. An example is like last season away to Real, after the 3rd goal, he would've been a great option to bring on, as his experience would've calmed everything down and he would know how to take the sting out of the game. As for games when we then thrown the kitchen sink, who is better than a fresh CR7 for the last 20 minutes to find that space in the box to tap something in? 

In those instances, we don't need a Kai/Mount/Werner running their b*locks off. 

This for me, really comes down to what he is expecting as the only issue I see for a year or two of him is his ego getting in the way. However, with his lack of options and his desire to play CL, it may just be we can get it to work. 

As I said, I wasn't a fan or this transfer and I am still not completely sold. However, if discussions can be had and he can accept that his limitations due to his age, means he has to be played selectively. He could actually be a big positive. 

[King Kante 1,643]

4 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

He'd be a smart buy & is someone I've talked about for a few seasons now. In all honesty, there are a number of Atalanta players that would fit perfectly.

At this point, a RWB with James moving to RCB makes a lot of sense in my book. 

[LAM09 7,056]

4 minutes ago, King Kante said:

At this point, a RWB with James moving to RCB makes a lot of sense in my book. 

I'm really not a fan of James at RCB unless we were signing someone of Hakimi's calibre. It will nullify a large part of his game.

Edited July 28, 2022 by LAM09

[DDA 9,941]

J5 to Juve.. De Jong in for J5.

No brainer 

I would actually pay 70mil for that to happen.

Surprised we haven't struck full force for De Jong. He is a huge upgrade on J5 , it's not even funny.

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by DDA

[lucio 5,418]

15 minutes ago, King Kante said:

At this point, a RWB with James moving to RCB makes a lot of sense in my book. 

Surely less hassle to do away with the back 3 which would allow us to utilise more midfield options too 

[Pizy 18,928]

7 minutes ago, DDA said:

J5 to Juve.. De Jong in for J5.

No brainer 

I would actually pay 70mil for that to happen.

Surprised we haven't struck full force for De Jong. He is a huge upgrade on J5 , it's not even funny.

 

Don’t want to break up the Jorginho & Koulibaly bromance after they’ve just been reunited. 🤣

[nyikolajevics 2,700]

39 minutes ago, King Kante said:

At this point, a RWB with James moving to RCB makes a lot of sense in my book. 

Last season he bagged 6 goals and 10 assists, he was a serious weapon running up and down the right flank. I believe he can solve RCB but we will not use his great abilities. Like having a Ferrari and only using it going out grocery shopping to Tesco.

[whats happening 1,620]

its much easier to find a good cb than a good rwb. since we have a world class rwb, there is no logic to put him on cb unless we sign another rwb which would be stupid because we have other issues to solve with that money.

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

54 minutes ago, King Kante said:

At this point, a RWB with James moving to RCB makes a lot of sense in my book. 

He played LM/LWB the majority of last season. Can play RWB also. 

 

Fantastic squad depth option to have. 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

For me the chances of TT going for CR7 are low, based of the fact that when interviewed he has always emphesized on how the team have mutual respect for each other and work well together, no egos. So I would think CR7 would be at the bottom of the list.

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

50 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

 

For Kounde, if the ruours are true, then yes we left him hanging to dry after last summer. Same as we are doing with Slonina right now

But for Raphinha we pretty much bid in a bid once we were sorted and knew he was available. It was the player who dragged things out forever to wait for Barca.

Anyway, it does not really matter now.

If it remains with Sterling and K2 as signings, it will still be a half decent window. I expected far worse tbh. Most important thing 

It will be struggle to finish top 4, we should not expect any titles but if we can stay relatively injury free and at least one of the academy graduates is a hit there is not too much to worry about in terms of keeping status quo. Obviously not a great situation to be in but I feel getting  2 mentally weak players in AC and the donkey out of the club and getting 2 mentality monsters in instantly improves us.

My major gripe is that apart from not plugging  the holes in the cb department we have started to look for wb backups way too late again. Most likely our season will again hinge on RJ and Chilly (provided he even comes back properly provided he suffered a potentially career-wrecking ACL) staying fit.

Finally, refreshing the sqauad is also necessary to keep morale and motivation high. A demanding coach like TT will burn out some players sooner or later. What is worrying is that, in the absence of new signings, TT is handing minutes to players we all know have nothing to give to this club anymore. Minutes which would have been put to better us by players from the academy who did not go on tour or  were prematurely sent home. I really don't get it. Right now this has a feeling of mourinho in late 2015 with how TT is brooding. Difference is we dont have trigger happy Roman anymore. As a consequence, chances are Todd is gonna keep TT around for some time since he is relying on him a lot for his introduction into football. If that is for better or for worse we will see.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Magic Lamps

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

So Tuchel wants to block any moves for Werner?

Ok Mate.

[Blue Armour 4,448]

The lack of any consistent transfer rumors in the past few days makes it feel even more likely that the club wasn't prepared with a plan B following the failure of the Kounde bid.

The only hope is the club gets its act together fast because other clubs will become less likely to part with their players after the season begins., especially if they need replacements.

[Strike 7,492]

4 minutes ago, Blue Armour said:

The lack of any consistent transfer rumors in the past few days makes it feel even more likely that the club wasn't prepared with a plan B following the failure of the Kounde bid.

The only hope is the club gets its act together fast because other clubs will become less likely to part with their players after the season begins., especially if they need replacements.

We are on Plan J at the moment

[jandomi10 82]

#Chelsea held talks with Brazilian wonderkid Endrick's agent and parents in Sao Paulo on Friday, a day after he turned 16 and signed his first professional contract with Palmeiras. His release clause is €40million, with the Blues offering €30m + bonuses. (@jorgenicola)

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

Kind of mental his release clause is only 40m when he has the potential to be greater than Neymar. 

I imagine every club in Europe will be approaching him. All about which one offers him the best bonuses, wage, development, and lifestyle/culture. 

Sadly, it'll yet again be Real or Barca. 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

8 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Kind of mental his release clause is only 40m when he has the potential to be greater than Neymar. 

I imagine every club in Europe will be approaching him. All about which one offers him the best bonuses, wage, development, and lifestyle/culture. 

Sadly, it'll yet again be Real or Barca. 

Not €40m but more like €60m according to globoesporte.

https://ge.globo.com/futebol/times/palmeiras/noticia/2022/07/21/endrick-assina-primeiro-contrato-com-o-palmeiras.ghtml

Edited July 28, 2022 by Blues Forever

[King Kante 1,643]

2 hours ago, nyikolajevics said:

Last season he bagged 6 goals and 10 assists, he was a serious weapon running up and down the right flank. I believe he can solve RCB but we will not use his great abilities. Like having a Ferrari and only using it going out grocery shopping to Tesco.

I don't disagree however, I think we need to think about what James would actually bring to the RCB role. Firstly, I want to say that for me James is going to be a de facto World Class player.

Firstly, James at RCB is going to be a very different proposition to AC or Trev. James in that position will do a few things; 

1) Bring the ball out of the back with strength and intelligence which will free up space for the RWB. Currently James has had to bring the ball out from the RWB position. If however, he switches to a RCB role, he'll still do it there which means opposition teams will need to tuck someone in on him in attacking phases which will give the RWB more room. Think about how Rudi would do this, which then freed up Chilwell or Alonso. 

2) With the overloads TT tries to create, James still has plenty of opportunity to enter the box along with the RWB. For instance if you see a few of Chilwell's goals before his injury Rudi wasn't far behind or was taking up attacking positions. This stopped with Alonso because he hasn't got the legs to get back, thus I think TT was trying to prevent being open wide to counter attacks like we were under SFL. 

3) In games were we dominate the ball, James from RCB, can move into DM/CM a lot more easily than he can from RWB, as from that position he would leave the flank free. This then solves the problem in games of high possession of being one short in midfield. 

4) James at RCB will get a lot more freedom to spray his long range passing about. This can be seen when Dave played under Conte. When Dave was there and had his legs, he got a lot of freedom to play that back post ball, while being tucked in a bit more, James would have more space either side of him to take up positions to pass/cross; if the RWB is a half decent defender they could even swap in attacking phases. 

5) James is physically built like a bull, him with Silva and K2 is a super powerful unit. 

Then we get to an aspect of James that isn't spoken about enough; he isn't actually that quick. Rather his positional play allows him to pick up yards. If we can find a RWB that is quicker, we can transition the ball quicker on counters. 

To me, James is too good to be wasted out on the flank with his skills and would actually benefit from being tucked in a little more. 

Edited July 28, 2022 by King Kante