Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 30,175]

Report: Graham Potter now personally wants to Chelsea to sign player who Messi thinks is 'outstanding'

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/transfer-news/report-graham-potter-now-personally-wants-to-Chelsea-to-sign-player-who-messi-thinks-is-outstanding/

Graham Potter is reportedly fully behind Chelsea’s pursuit of Enzo Fernandez.

According to The Telegraph, Potter has ‘backed the bid for the Benfica midfielder’.

Todd Boehly is certainly on the hunt for Fernandez, having apparently been interested in him since he started to shine at the World Cup.

The 21-year-old only really rose to fame towards the latter stages of the tournament, when Argentina truly established themselves as favourites for the trophy.

He was eventually named the young player of the competition, and won numerous intrigued looks from Europe’s heavy hitters.

Not only that, he received praise from the messiah of his country.

“He is an outstanding youngster who plays a crucial role for us,” said Lionel Messi.  

Chelsea are still chasing Enzo Fernandez

Chelsea have been the leading candidate throughout Fernandez’s upsurge to fame.

Boehly and his team have apparently worked furiously to get a deal done this month, although Benfica remain firm on their stance.

They want his £106m release clause paid in full, otherwise there will be no transaction in January.

Even a side with the financial power of the South West Londoners would be reluctant to release such a hefty amount of money in one go.

Hence why Chelsea are trying to look for ways round coughing up the cash all at once.

There has been suggestions that Boehly will actually pay over the odds for Fernandez, but do so in a series of instalments over several years.

Whichever approach the Blues go down, landing the World Cup winner will not be easy.

[Strike 7,489]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

Robben, Essien, Mikel, Hazard, Kante, Pedro all choose Chelsea over United. Tons of others as well. Ballack for sure had great offers as a free agent but he came here. Bayern definitely wanted to keep him. Same argument can be used for Shevchenko and Torres. They played for great teams but still decided to switch. 

Nothing in recent years

[Vesper 30,175]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/01/06/Chelsea-keep-faith-graham-potter-plan-youngsters-contention/

https://archive.ph/MXiMw

Chelsea’s owners remain confident Graham Potter will turn around the club’s season and believe their crippling injury crisis is largely to blame for the run that has seen the team win just one of their last eight Premier League games and drop to 10th in the table. 

 

Potter is prepared to give Chelsea’s youngsters more opportunities to shine while he waits for his senior players to get fit with the likes of Lewis Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka pushing to start Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester City. 

 

The injuries to Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic could also increase Chelsea’s interest in trying to hijack Arsenal’s attempts to sign winger Mykhailo Mudryk, with co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali confident they would be capable of outbidding their London rivals but also wary of making sure the player would be prepared to move to Stamford Bridge, having seemingly set his heart on moving to the Emirates. 

 

Sterling suffered a pulled hamstring in the first minute of Thursday night’s Premier League defeat by City, while Pulisic was forced off injured and Mason Mount was ruled out of the game after suffering a blow in training.

 

The latest injuries meant Chelsea now have a total of 10 senior players out and there is sympathy from the club’s owners and board for the fact Potter is effectively having to operate with one hand tied behind his back with the likes of Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all out.

 

 

Chelsea were undefeated in Potter’s first nine games in charge after replacing Thomas Tuchel as head coach and showed enough to underline the board’s faith in him. It is not seen as a coincidence that Chelsea’s form started to suffer following the injury to James in their comfortable Champions League victory over AC Milan and with Kante yet to play for Potter, there is acknowledgement that he has been without two of the club’s best players since the start of October. All of Potter’s predecessors have struggled when Kante has been out for a prolonged period and the midfielder is not expected to return before the end of February.

 

There is obvious disappointment with Chelsea’s league position and the fact a top-four finish that would clinch Champions League qualification for next season already appears to be drifting out of sight, but Potter is still viewed as the man to handle this period of transition and put the club back on the right path. Chelsea’s owners are confident the club’s luck will change and that as players start to return, so too will the team’s form and results in time for the second half of the season to offer optimism for the future. Boehly and Eghbali will have noticed that Chelsea’s match going fans have remained supportive of Potter and the players during the bad run of results. The pair have also noted that Pep Guardiola did not win a trophy in his first season in charge of City and that Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta needed periods of adjustment at Liverpool and Arsenal.

 

 

No problem between Aubameyang and Potter

In terms of Chelsea’s goals for this season and whether or not the top four is now an impossibility, Potter said: “The situation we’re in, to think about what’s going to happen in five months’ time is the wrong path for us. We have to just focus on the next day and the next game and keep being together, keep showing the performance level we showed against City, keep taking the challenges that are coming our way and try to stay together as a team and as a club and move forward.”

Chelsea’s approach to the transfer market has appeared somewhat scattergun, but Potter is believed to have backed the bid for Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez. Despite the complaints of the Portuguese club of the nature of negotiations, Chelsea have not yet ruled out making a new offer before this transfer window shuts.

But other than looking for new signings, Potter is prepared to put more faith in Chelsea’s young players following the encouraging performances of 18-year-old left-back Hall and 19-year-old midfielder Chukwuemeka as substitutes against City.

 

The outlook for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is less clear after the striker was substituted after being sent on as an early replacement for Sterling against City. Aubameyang looked upset with the decision, although sources close to the player and Chelsea insist there is no problem between the former Arsenal captain and Potter, with the pair said to enjoy a healthy working relationship.

[Artandur 939]

Are Fofana and Andrey Santos still waiting for work permits? Have either of them been training? 

[Strike 7,489]

 

 

[Vesper 30,175]

4 minutes ago, Strike said:

 

 

I already posted the entire article hours ago

 

 

[Vesper 30,175]

 

[Vesper 30,175]

Josko Gvardiol makes "dream" Liverpool transfer admission amid Chelsea interest

Chelsea have long eyed Josko Gvardiol amid his starring performances for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, but the defender has now dealt a blow to the Blues' hopes of signing him

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/josko-gvardiol-transfer-Chelsea-liverpool-28897587

Josko Gvardiol has admitted that Liverpool is his "dream" club as the transfer battle over the centre-back intensifies.

Chelsea and Tottenham are among the teams eyeing a move for the Croatian, who has impressed for RB Leipzig. He also helped his country to finish third at the most recent World Cup, playing every minute of their tournament.

His performances in the Bundesliga and at international level have attracted a range of interested suitors, with Chelsea having made a move for him last summer. He is under contract at Leipzig for another four years, but is once again set to be the subject of interest this month.

The Blues are expected to reignite their interest in the 20-year-old as Graham Potter looks to upgrade his squad. But Gvardiol has now delivered a blow to Potter's hopes of signing him, as he admitted Liverpool is his dream club.

"That would definitely be Liverpool. Since I was little, I watched a lot of Liverpool matches with my dad, and we covered every season in detail. It is a club that has remained in my heart," he told RTL Danas.

"Since I was a child, I always gravitated towards the English league. We all know what kind of league it is. I don't know if I'm mature enough and ready for that league. We will see, when I feel that this is the moment, that I have crossed a certain level and reached the border in Germany, then I will look further.

"I don't bother with numbers. I am in contact with people at the club and I don't think there have been any negotiations. I have a manager who deals with it and I am maximally focused on the work on the field."

Gvardiol also hinted that he wanted to stay at Leipzig for the rest of the season, rather than move on this month. And the defender also insisted he feels wanted by the Bundesliga side after they fought to keep him during the summer.

"I am also happy for the club to achieve something big. I'm not in a hurry, I'm in Leipzig, we still have six months to finish the season properly and to win something. And then we will look further to the future," he added.

"I am convinced of this because this summer the transfer was close and they simply kept me. We talked and they told me how much I mean to them, how much I mean to my teammates and the club, and I was glad to hear that.

"I hope to spend these six months with them. They did not give up, but it was agreed that we would go for the winter. Winter has come, so we need to see what and how to proceed, but it's okay, there's still plenty of time, we'll see.

"Well, I do not know. Nobody presented anything to me. No idea as far as I'm concerned. But I'm not in a hurry, we have time, let them arrange the plan and we'll see."

Edited January 7, 2023 by Vesper

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

Fucking shit Liverpool will get Gvardiol and Bellingham next summer. 

[Superblue 6,372]

3 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Fucking shit Liverpool will get Gvardiol and Bellingham next summer. 

You really think they'll spend about £250m in the summer for those two?

I'm not even sure they'd be prepared to pay for one of them, let alone two.

[Pizy 18,907]

It’s bad news all the time for Chelsea this season. Awful on the pitch, manager situation, a dozen different injured players, almost all the new and super expensive signings being disappointments, incompetence in the current transfer market, and some of our primary targets dreaming of moves elsewhere.

Our new scouting and sporting directors are going to REALLY have to earn their money and reputations now and in the summer. Because at this point it looks like we’re going to have to sign more David Fofana’s and random teenagers as our primary transfer business and hope they turn into stars. We aren’t going to be in position on or off the pitch to be attractive to ready made superstars for a while.

It’s a miracle we managed to convince Nkunku to choose us. If indeed it’s actually signed and done. No idea why it hasn’t been announced if so.

[Hamilton 2,120]

Yep Enzo saga won’t make it better to. That was a potential world class signing, but probably that ship sailed now.

 

[Laylabelle 9,535]

30 minutes ago, Pizy said:

It’s bad news all the time for Chelsea this season. Awful on the pitch, manager situation, a dozen different injured players, almost all the new and super expensive signings being disappointments, incompetence in the current transfer market, and some of our primary targets dreaming of moves elsewhere.

Our new scouting and sporting directors are going to REALLY have to earn their money and reputations now and in the summer. Because at this point it looks like we’re going to have to sign more David Fofana’s and random teenagers as our primary transfer business and hope they turn into stars. We aren’t going to be in position on or off the pitch to be attractive to ready made superstars for a while.

It’s a miracle we managed to convince Nkunku to choose us. If indeed it’s actually signed and done. No idea why it hasn’t been announced if so.

That's the thing top 4 helps signings but some players can overlook that. At the moment however we don't look like we have that appeal seeing as our direction is all over the place

[Superblue 6,372]

32 minutes ago, Pizy said:

It’s bad news all the time for Chelsea this season. Awful on the pitch, manager situation, a dozen different injured players, almost all the new and super expensive signings being disappointments, incompetence in the current transfer market, and some of our primary targets dreaming of moves elsewhere.

Our new scouting and sporting directors are going to REALLY have to earn their money and reputations now and in the summer. Because at this point it looks like we’re going to have to sign more David Fofana’s and random teenagers as our primary transfer business and hope they turn into stars. We aren’t going to be in position on or off the pitch to be attractive to ready made superstars for a while.

It’s a miracle we managed to convince Nkunku to choose us. If indeed it’s actually signed and done. No idea why it hasn’t been announced if so.

How many 'ready made superstars' have we bought that have turned out to be hugely successful signings here? Off the top of my head the only ones you could argue are Ashley Cole, Makelele, Ballack and Fabregas. The rest have ranged between average down to complete busts with a number falling into that second category.

Even when we've been in positions of strength, our best signings have always been players on an upward trajectory that come here with their best years ahead of them and thrive and develop further here.

Our new scouting and recruitment team should be targeting that profile of player anyway and that's ultimately what they should be paid for.

[Tomo 21,751]

9 hours ago, Blue Armour said:

That was an interesting one though.

Drogba and Joe Cole had insane pulling power over Hazard.

Sometimes a highly reputed player being at the club can make all the difference.

Liverpool don't get the banter they deserve over that.

Thought they were getting one over on us signing Joe Cole in the first place, then within a year they sent him on loan for him to spent the entire year getting Hazard to come here.

[NikkiCFC 8,319]

2 hours ago, Superblue said:

You really think they'll spend about £250m in the summer for those two?

I'm not even sure they'd be prepared to pay for one of them, let alone two.

I just saw somewhere, don't know how reliable that their budget for summer is 250m. So just get those two. For sure they can shift some players for 100m and that looks realistic to me. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,382]

3 hours ago, Hamilton said:

Yep Enzo saga won’t make it better to. That was a potential world class signing, but probably that ship sailed now.

 

Hopefully the offer to buy him but he stays at Benfica for the remainder hasn’t been ruled out. 

[Hamilton 2,120]

3 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Hopefully the offer to buy him but he stays at Benfica for the remainder hasn’t been ruled out. 

Was that ever an option then? Would be weird for a player with this price tag no?

[Stats 7,142]

We are now looking into possibility of signing Marcus Thuram in January. He is free agent in the summer and there is a lot of interest but I would take him. Fast, powerful and tall also. Let's see how this pans out.

[Artandur 939]

18 minutes ago, Stats said:

We are now looking into possibility of signing Marcus Thuram in January. He is free agent in the summer and there is a lot of interest but I would take him. Fast, powerful and tall also. Let's see how this pans out.

He is great when running into space, but won't help us a bit against low blocks either.