Chelsea Transfers

[Vegetable 813]

9 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

He is so slow the whole video is just him walking up a dozen  stairs lol

I fully understand the general sentiment of mocking Alonso, but I won't be surprised if he'll be killing it for them – less rigid defense, less pace, more individuality, more carefree attacking? Alonso may be a baller for Spanish league and the've got him for peanuts 

[Vesper 28,057]

15 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Bellingham is an amazing talent. Creative and still resolute. Would be gutted to see him at Liverpool but I fear it’s inevitable 
 

What I find most interesting about dortmunds game is the brilliant football they are playing despite having a poor man’s Lukaku up front in modeste who looks completely useless and isolated 

 

Hummels still thuggin' it up, lol

[Vegetable 813]

11 minutes ago, Jype said:

Drinkwater £100K/wk

Hope this guy writes an autobiography one day, I'd be genuinely interested in his outlook on life.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Vegetable

[Jype 6,398]

9 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

Hope this guy writes and autobiography one day, I'd be genuinely interested in his outlook on life.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12647445/danny-drinkwater-on-his-Chelsea-nightmare-i-wasted-some-of-my-best-years

He had a pretty honest interview a couple months ago with Sky Sports, talked about some mental health issues and also about the football. Comes across a very decent guy to be fair.

From the club's perspective it would have been nice if he'd accepted a permanent move away with a big wage cut years ago but let's be honest here, who of us would actually leave millions and millions of pounds on the table if you had a contract that said you're entitled to the money? I don't blame him for taking every single penny he was owed because I'd have done the exact same thing if I were in his shoes, it was the club's mistake to offer him that deal in the first place so the only ones to blame were Marina, Emenalo and any others who might have been involved in the decision to sign him. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Jype

[OhForAGreavsie 5,834]

47 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Bellingham is an amazing talent. Creative and still resolute. Would be gutted to see him at Liverpool but I fear it’s inevitable 
 

What I find most interesting about dortmunds game is the brilliant football they are playing despite having a poor man’s Lukaku up front in modeste who looks completely useless and isolated 

 

How is Adeyemi doing? Would really have liked us to pick him up. Nothing proven yet but outstanding technical skills so that's the best possible base from which to build a footballer.

As for Bellingham we're not getting him. We have to take small steps and build our attractiveness to top players little by little. It's a process of multiple seasons.

[Magic Lamps 11,599]

2 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

How is Adeyemi doing? Would really have liked us to pick him up. Nothing proven yet but outstanding technical skills so that's the best possible base from which to build a footballer.

As for Bellingham we're not getting him. We have to take small steps and build our attractiveness to top players little by little. It's a process of multiple seasons.

Has hardly played due to injury. Jury still out 

[Jype 6,398]

Permanent move for Batshuayi. Some Turkish media reports saying they even paid a 3,5M€ fee for him. 

Great clear out of the deadwood this summer. Barkley, Kenedy, Drinkwater, Miazga, Musonda, Clarke-Salter, Emerson, Alonso and Batshuayi all gone for good. Only Bakayoko, Baba Rahman and Sarr still remain.

[Vegetable 813]

34 minutes ago, Jype said:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12647445/danny-drinkwater-on-his-Chelsea-nightmare-i-wasted-some-of-my-best-years

He had a pretty honest interview a couple months ago with Sky Sports, talked about some mental health issues and also about the football. Comes across a very decent guy to be fair.

Yeah, this is an interesting dilemma - did he accept he got the golden ticket from life by having literal boatloads of money being thrown at him for six years for doing f**k at all and living his best life or is not happy at all, as he had true footballing ambition, that ended up in a gutter. And how does he handle being rich and not having to do anything anymore in life vs being one of most hated and laughed off footballers ever?

Always intrigued me that he never just took a money and went different way in life, by starting some business or whatever, but stuck to footy and trying to rebuild himself in other clubs (but Chelsea also had a say here I guess). It can mean that he just wasn't capable of doing anything else in life or that he really tried to be decent again, but failed after all.

He partially answers it, but still, the interview is done for a reason and he probably aimed to come out with certain image there.

 

9 minutes ago, Jype said:

Baba Rahman

Gotta love it. I remember I was rather young lad playing Fifa, when Baba Rahman was in Chelsea and now I'm old prick and he's still here for next 1,5 years. And one could probably count his Chelsea games on fingers during this time. It's like he is an eternal being here, I don't think we should ever let him go.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Vegetable

[LAM09 6,668]

26 minutes ago, Jype said:

Permanent move for Batshuayi. Some Turkish media reports saying they even paid a 3,5M€ fee for him. 

Great clear out of the deadwood this summer. Barkley, Kenedy, Drinkwater, Miazga, Musonda, Clarke-Salter, Emerson, Alonso and Batshuayi all gone for good. Only Bakayoko, Baba Rahman and Sarr still remain.

Monaco will probably snap Sarr up permanently.    

[OhForAGreavsie 5,834]

25 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

Gotta love it. I remember I was rather young lad playing Fifa, when Baba Rahman was in Chelsea and now I'm old prick and he's still here for next 1,5 years. And one could probably count his Chelsea games on fingers during this time. It's like he is an eternal being here, I don't think we should ever let him go.

When he was linked I watched video of him in Augsburg and was dead set against us signing him. Sadly, I was already an old git long before then. 😞

[Pizy 18,241]

Looking at the window as a whole with both in’s and out’s it’s honestly astounding. 

And this is the very first window this new ownership group have ever participated in. Boehly had to establish relationships and get the whole operation set up in the span of a couple of months and was still able to pull off this transfer window.

Imagine what we’ll be like once we appoint a proper DoF with world class scouts beneath him. 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,834]

12 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Looking at the window as a whole with both in’s and out’s it’s honestly astounding. 

And this is the very first window this new ownership group have ever participated in. Boehly had to establish relationships and get the whole operation set up in the span of a couple of months and was still able to pull off this transfer window.

Imagine what we’ll be like once we appoint a proper DoF with world class scouts beneath him. 

It's a good start.

[Jype 6,398]

33 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

Monaco will probably snap Sarr up permanently.    

We'll see. There's an obligatory buy clause included in the loan but it will only get triggered if he plays a lot of games for them. If he doesn't perform they could easily just bury him in the stands like Milan did with Bakayoko to avoid paying a fee for the permanent transfer.

In his first start he got hooked at half time even though another one of their CBs had just gotten sent off with two yellowsso early signs aren't so great.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,335]

I hope we get the best from him. Seems like a nice guy that is very happy to be with the club.

 

 

[Thor 2,313]

1 hour ago, Pizy said:

Looking at the window as a whole with both in’s and out’s it’s honestly astounding. 

And this is the very first window this new ownership group have ever participated in. Boehly had to establish relationships and get the whole operation set up in the span of a couple of months and was still able to pull off this transfer window.

Imagine what we’ll be like once we appoint a proper DoF with world class scouts beneath him. 

Agreed. 

I've loved what I have read after the fact. Management seem to be infatuated with success and share a love for the game. 

From my perspective as well, they seem to be much better at cutting ties and making these cut throat decisions to just move on instead of attempting to wait and squeeze money out of what we have. Sometimes it is better to let go, cut the wage bill and move on. That is the reality in sports. You aren't always going to make the right decision signing a player.

I think some needed to temper expectations on here as far as what we could and did achieve, since we had all these holds and bans put on us with the sanctions. The fact we have had the transfer window we had I think is spectacular. Results have been frustrating, but given all that has gone on the last 12 months, we were always going to be in for a rough ride. Time to build for the next 3 years here and create something big. It is a marathon, not a sprint. 

[Reddish-Blue 2,296]

9 hours ago, Jype said:

In his first season Klopp took over Liverpool after GW8 with the team in 10th place. They finished 8th, gaining 48 points in 30 matches. In the following season they barely made top4, finishing only one point ahead of Arsenal and also fourth again in 17/18 with the exact same points total. They also struggled badly in 20/21, even though they just about made top4 in the end.  Would they have sacked him if they finished a couple points worse off in some of those seasons? I don't think so.

Klopp's a wonderful manager but this idea it's always been smooth sailing for him is simply not true. Especially early on there were times where they struggled just as much if not more than Tuchel has at certain points but they stuck by him and let him build up his squad in peace.

Tuchel's league form leaves a lot to be desired but in cup competitions he's worked wonders and for my money has earned himself a lot of good will in the bank. The window's just over and he's got in good players that he personally wished for but now the hard work begins. If we start falling down the table like we did under Lampard he'll eventually find himself in a position where he's under pressure to start delivering but for many reasons the start of the season (and the second half of last season) hasn't been easy. Some key injuries in midfield and some important signings being left so late in the window has definitely affected our league start but of course he can't keep riding on that excuse forever and things have to improve.

Last season Tuchel didn't yet have many of his 'own' players in the team but I'm definitely willing to give him a chance to build something of his own at the club and then see how it goes. This transfer window was a very good start going in that direction: he got in a couple of quality CBs of his own choosing, a new wing-back option, an upgrade over Werner and a striker he'll very likely prefer to Lukaku who I don't think was ever his top pick. There are still some issues to be resolved, especially the long-term midfield replacements for Kante, Jorginho as well as getting rid of Pulisic and Ziyech so a lot of work to be done but as long as we start seeing some developments in the play I'm more than willing to give Tuchel as long as he needs to complete the squad and hopefully then start competing for the EPL title. This season we just need to aim for a top-4 finish, a couple of decent cup runs and then go all-in for next season.

We had no choice but to sign 2 CB's due to the fact that the previous management allowed two quality defenders to stay at the club without signing some sort of extension on their contract (especially in Christensen's case where a 5 year and 4 year contract was tabled by the club and he outright refused to sign). 

As for the Lukaku deal, it's a bit of a head scratcher as to why that deal went ahead if the player was not Tuchel's top pick.  Surely the club wouldn't just go out and spend 97 million on an attacker without the manager's seal of approval.   

I hope for Tuchel's case that he starts delivering results sooner or later because with the amount of money spent in this window, the media will slaughter him if we're not capable of retaining our top 4 spot in the league.   Looks like it's going to be a proper fight with all of the traditional top 6 in the mix...

[Vesper 28,057]

3 hours ago, Jype said:

Only Bakayoko, Baba Rahman and Sarr still remain.

plus Lukaku, Kepa, Azpi, Ziyech, Jorginho, Pulisic (unless he steps up fast), Ampadu, Maatsen, Juan Castillo, Sam McClelland, and probably CHO

none of those are good enough to keep post summer 2023

and likely you can add Dujon Sterling (I so wish we had sold Azpi and kept him as a backup option) and Tino Anjorin (rotten luck that he got hurt right before Ralf Rangnick, then at Lokomotiv Moscow, was going to active his loan-included £17m buy option, plus then Rangnick then left for Manure) 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Vesper

[Vesper 28,057]

CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report
n°77 - September 2022

Financial analysis of big-5 league clubs’ transfers

Drs Raffaele Poli, Loïc Ravenel and Roger Besson

https://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/mr/mr77/en/

1. Introduction

Since its creation in 2005, the CIES Football Observatory has been monitoring football players’ transfers through information published by clubs, governing bodies and the media. This Monthly Report analyses economic flows for transactions occurred during the last decade from or to clubs in the big-5 European leagues: the English Premier League, the Spanish Liga, the German Bundesliga, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1.

The report covers the ten-year period between 2013 and 2022. It analyses transfer fees paid by big-5 league teams (chapter “investments”), the clubs and leagues having benefited from these indemnities (chapter “receipts”), as well as the net balances at both teams’ and leagues’ level (chapter “net spending”).

The figures published include fixed indemnities for permanent transfers, eventual “add-ons” regardless of their effective payment, as well as sums invested for paying loans. The amounts paid in the case of loans with an obligation to buy are computed for the year of the transfer. Within the limits of information available, data on beneficiaries take into consideration eventual “sell-ons” negotiated by former clubs.

2. Investments

After the pandemic years, big-5 league clubs’ transfer market investments have risen sharply in 2022: +61% compared to the previous year. This holds true for both the winter (+190%) and the summer (+49%) transfer windows. The level of transfer fee expenditure observed in 2022 is the second highest over the ten-year period analysed: €6.2 billion (just about -7% with respect to the record high of 2019).

A noticeable increase compared to 2021 was recorded in the English Premier League: +€ 1.3 billion to exceed the €3 billion mark. This is an all-time record! Growth was measured in all of the major European championships. The share of English Premier League clubs’ investments out of total big-5 league teams’ ones also reached a new record in 2022: 48.5% compared to 38.7% during the whole ten-year period studied.

The rankings for clubs having committed the most money (including add-ons irrespective of their effective payment) to sign new recruits over the last ten years shows the financial power of a handful of dominant teams. Chelsea is at the top of the table with an average of €181M transfer fee investments per year, closely followed by Barcelona and the two Manchester’s clubs. The spending of the twenty most active clubs represents 52% of the total big-5 league club expenditure.

Chelsea (€333M) also tops the expenditure table for the 2002 calendar year, ahead of Manchester United (€268M), Barcelona (€267M) and the freshly Saudi-owned team of Newcastle United (€259M). The investments of the twenty most active clubs represent in this case almost 60% of total big-5 league teams’ transfer spending, which reflects the considerable gaps existing in the financial means available to clubs.

3. Receipts

The analysis of teams having benefited from transfer fees invested by big-5 league clubs over the past ten years shows that most of the money stays within the five major championships: almost two thirds of the total. This reflects the fact that the most expensive transfers generally occur between clubs of the five biggest leagues. However, in 2022, the share of fees cashed in by teams from other UEFA associations was particularly high (23.9%).

The Portuguese top division is the non-big-5 league that benefited most from transfer fee investments of clubs from the five major European championships. Their teams have collected €2.4 billion over the last ten years (on average €241M per year). Next, we find the English Championship (€216M/year), the Dutch Eredivisie (€172M/year) and, following further down, the Brazilian (€119M/year) and Belgian (€110M/year) top divisions.

With almost €1.2 billion in income generated by transferring players to big-5 league teams, Monaco tops the clubs’ earnings table for the ten-year period studied. Four teams outside of the five major European championships figure in the top 20: Benfica (7th, €867M), Ajax (9th, €812M), Porto (14th, €694M) and Sporting CP (20th, €551M). Though several wealthy clubs, such as Chelsea (2nd, €1.1 bn), are in the top 20, as we shall see in the following chapter, their transfer operations are in the red.

Manchester City (€279 M) is at the top of the table for transfer fees received from big-5 league clubs in 2022 (Sterling, Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, etc.). The English team outranks Ajax (Antony, Lisandro Martínez, Haller, Gravenberch, etc.), Brighton & Hove (Cucurella, Bissouma, Maupay, Östigard, etc.) and Porto (Luis Díaz, Vitinha, Fábio Vieira, Corona, etc.).

4. Net Spending

For an optimum understanding of the transfer market, beyond the sums spent and received, it is relevant to study the net balance of operations. With an accumulated deficit of almost €9.5 billion, the English Premier League stands apart from the rest. Conversely, despite Paris St-Germain’s highly negative balance (-€868M), the French Ligue 1 is the only competition from the big-5 recording a positive net transfer spending (+€350M) over the last decade.

The league figures for transfer operations concluded in 2022 confirm the specificity of the English case. Premier League teams registered a total negative spending of more than -€1.7 billion. This deficit is ten times higher than that of the league with the second most negative balance: the Spanish Liga (-€144M). Conversely, the French Ligue 1 (+€76M) and the German Bundesliga (+€18M) have positive figures.

Three French clubs, LOSC Lille (+€379M), Olympique Lyonnais (+€282M) and Monaco (+€215M), are at the top of the rankings for current big-5 league teams with the most positive transfer balances since January 2013. Thirteen Italian teams specialised in the trading of players follow them: Udinese (+€190M) and Atalanta (+€139M).

At the opposite end of the picture, Manchester United totals by far the most negative net transfer spending over the past decade (-€ 1.27 billion), followed by Manchester City (-€902M) and Paris St-Germain (-€868M). Twelve clubs from the English Premier League are in the top 20. All of the current English top division teams have negative transfer balances, while only five French Ligue 1 teams are in this situation.

The over-representation of Premier League clubs among those with the most negative balances for transfers is also noticeable for 2022. Indeed, ten English teams rank in the top twelve positions. Only Barcelona and Paris St-Germain break this hegemony. Conversely, Manchester City, Brighton & Hove and Leicester City are the only Premier League clubs in the top 20 of clubs from the big-5 having recorded the most positive net transfer spending in 2022.

5. Conclusion

Transfer fee investments of clubs from the five major European leagues strongly increased in 2022 in comparison to the pandemic years: +61% with respect to 2020 and +28% compared to 2021. A record spending for a calendar year was observed in the English Premier League: €3.0 billion (+€878 M with respect to the previous 2018 record).

A new record high was also registered with regard to the share of transfer fees paid by English Premier League teams out of total big-5 league clubs’ investments. From an average of 38.7% during the ten-year period studied, this percentage reached 48.5% in 2022. Ten clubs from the English top division figure in the top twelve positions of big-5 league teams with the most negative net transfer spending in 2022.

At league level, during the ten years analysed, the English Premier League cumulated a transfer deficit of almost €9.5 billion, followed by the Italian Serie A with “just” €1.4 billion. The French Ligue 1 is at the opposite end (+€350M). Manchester United tops the table for the most negative last ten years’ net transfer spending at club level (-€1.27 billion), while LOSC Lille is at the other extreme (+€379M). For 2022, the totals stretch from -€259M for Chelsea to +€118M for Manchester City.