Chelsea Transfers

[NikkiCFC 8,516]

5 minutes ago, TheHulk said:

Pereira is fucking trash.

Then why share such a horrid source like ESPN? 

We do not need replacement for Mount. Mudryk, Felix, Nkunku, Havertz, Sterling, Gallagher are all already here. 

[Mário César 1,483]

We simply can't have other season with Kepa as a number 1

if we will sell mendy, I hope Kepa goes in the same way

I think we will try tu buy diogo costa from porto

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

If we keep Kova and Kante gets fully fit again we only need a GK and a CF in summer, that's it.

Replacement for Mount? We have enough players to sit on the bench.

Will be way more important to get rid of the deadwood than to make another acquisition wave in the market.

[Mário César 1,483]

24 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

If we keep Kova and Kante gets fully fit again we only need a GK and a CF in summer, that's it.

Replacement for Mount? We have enough players to sit on the bench.

Will be way more important to get rid of the deadwood than to make another acquisition wave in the market.

and about felix situation?

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

31 minutes ago, Mário César said:

and about felix situation?

I would pass on him as things stand. He is exactly what we don't need and already have plenty of, a technical but inefficient and wasteful player.  If we intend to keep Havertz who is currently our best attacker, we have no place for the similar Felix esp when the superior Nkunku joins us. We have an abundance of AMs already.

[milka 3,407]

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by milka

[OneMoSalah 9,104]

6 minutes ago, milka said:

 

Can sign him permanently but, regardless of who we sign, we are not going to make any real progress with GP as manager.

Pereira would be a ridiculously bad signing also. Joao Palhinha for me is the only player we should be looking at from Fulham as his style of play/profile is what we need.

[milka 3,407]

Out of 11, there are only 4 positions that are certain for the next campaign - James, Silva, Enzo and Chilwell.
Everything else is questionable or to be decided in the summer.

The goalkeeper post is also in question. There the options seem to be far more limited -  Costa , Raya , Meslier , Kobel .

[Mário César 1,483]

we need a goalkeeper, center forward and a midfielder 

only 3 or at least 4 signings 

and sell deadwood 

[Vegetable 830]

Kepa & Mendy are far from perfect, but somehow synergic duo. The GK market is similar to strikers right now - no robocops exist and actually, Mendy was closest to be one for a while. If people think that getting another GK will magically cause us to stop conceding goals, well, think again. Feel like it's the least of our worries and some FFP millions to find better use elsewhere. 

[Vesper 31,105]

3 hours ago, Vegetable said:

Kepa & Mendy are far from perfect, but somehow synergic duo. The GK market is similar to strikers right now - no robocops exist and actually, Mendy was closest to be one for a while. If people think that getting another GK will magically cause us to stop conceding goals, well, think again. Feel like it's the least of our worries and some FFP millions to find better use elsewhere. 

I cannot disagree more, with most every point

de rec

[Vesper 31,105]

Felix and Fernandez are Chelsea’s new attacking brain – but defensive frailty remains

https://theathletic.com/4323005/2023/03/19/Chelsea-enzo-felix-everton-potter/

With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps Graham Potter tempted fate when, abandoning his usual slavish devotion to measured statements and emotional stability, he allowed himself to indulge in a little populist rabble-rousing at an event for Chelsea members on Thursday.

Having thanked the fans for being fair with him, he ended his message to them with a bang:

“We will try and beat Everton, take the draw and then we will try and win the fucking Champions League!”

The draw he referenced was the following day’s laying-out of the Champions League quarter-final and semi-final brackets, not the deflating blow Everton inflicted on Chelsea’s tentative recovery by snatching a late point at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. But it was at least conceivable for the football gods to hear Potter’s words and conclude that he and his team, a spring in their step thanks to three encouraging wins after three miserable months, were asking to be Dyched.

On the pitch yesterday evening, it was much easier to see exactly how Chelsea had contributed to their own undoing: both Everton equalisers were largely self-inflicted wounds, with this season’s ninth set-piece goal conceded in limp fashion to Abdoulaye Doucoure at a corner before startlingly poor individual errors from Kalidou Koulibaly and Kepa Arrizabalaga allowed substitute Ellis Simms to make himself this season’s Jarrad Branthwaite in the 90th minute.

Chelsea had twice edged themselves ahead, both of their goals just reward for one of the more convincing performances in possession of Potter’s seven-month tenure. Directed by the routinely excellent Enzo Fernandez at the base of midfield, they played through Everton’s press and then stretched and stressed Sean Dyche’s diligently-drilled low defensive block to its breaking point.

Fernandez’s long-range passing is particularly dangerous: he completed 10 of his 13 attempts, sometimes switching the point of attack to Reece James on the right but more often out to the left to Ben Chilwell, who touched the ball more (96 touches) than any other player on the pitch. One such combination yielded the first-time cross Michael Keane could only clear to the feet of Joao Felix for the opening goal.

Everton had come to west London imbued with the fighting spirit of Dyche’s most dogged Burnley teams; he has spoken in recent weeks about transforming the mentality of a struggling squad since replacing Frank Lampard at the end of January and, at one point in the first half, Amadou Onana let out a fierce yell of triumph in front of the away dugout after forcing the ball out for a Chelsea throw on the halfway line.

Led by Burnley alumni Keane and James Tarkowski, Everton also blocked 10 of Chelsea’s 20 shot attempts but in the 53rd minute, Joao Felix managed to squeeze one through the legs of the latter and into the only place it could evade goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s desperate dive, kissing the inside of the far post before spinning across the line.

A first goal at Stamford Bridge was no less than the Portugal star deserved for a display of elegant menace that prompted his name to be sung resoundingly and repeatedly in the stands.

Starting in the No 9 role inhabited by Raheem Sterling against Borussia Dortmund in the previous home game and Mykhailo Mudryk away to Leicester City last weekend, he linked easily with the resurgent Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic, who was making his first start in more than two months. The Atletico Madrid loanee’s movement between the Everton lines was a constant problem, punctuated by several skilful flourishes that dazzled the crowd — most notably one flick and spin around the corner that left Tarkowski pressing fresh air.

Until the final 15 minutes, there were plenty of signs of an exciting, dynamic Chelsea attack coming together.

James and Chilwell have returned to something close to full power following injury lay-offs, stretching opponents horizontally and giving this team back their old wings. Between them, January signings Fernandez and Joao Felix provide the Chelsea side with a new brain capable of creation as well as control. The first goal here was a product of Fernandez and Chilwell, the second a result of the panic caused by James combining with Joao Felix.

The broad reaction to Potter’s late-game decisions underlined the limited trust he commands with supporters, despite the recent upturn. The introduction of Conor Gallagher for Pulisic on the hour was widely interpreted as defensive, despite the change not actually changing Chelsea’s system at all (3-4-3 with the ball, 5-3-2 without it).

In the final minutes, he favoured the height of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Carney Chukwuemeka to try to deal with Everton’s aerial barrage, with Chelsea’s game management undermined by the forced withdrawal of the excellent Wesley Fofana (“He was feeling his hamstring,” Potter said later). This was not the moment for N’Golo Kante’s long-awaited return — no point introducing the greatest midfield ball-winner of his generation against a team increasingly intent on bypassing their own midfield.

 

Potter watches his team twice pegged back by Dyche’s Everton in Saturday’s 2-2 draw (Photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Would weaponising the speed of Mudryk or Noni Madueke as Everton pushed up in search of an equaliser have been a better strategy? Perhaps, but encouraging the game to become more open and transitional comes with its own defensive risks. Potter took the more pragmatic approach — one perfectly aligned with the values of many of his more decorated Chelsea predecessors, if not quite so in tune with the current desires of many supporters.

Ultimately, two points were lost because of a disastrous cascade of individual errors: Fernandez leaving Doucoure uncontested to receive a pass forward from Vitalii Mykolenko and redirect it to the feet of Simms; Koulibaly opting to confront rather than contain a striker without a Premier League goal to his name at the time and only recalled from loan at Championship side Sunderland by Lampard at the turn of the year; then Kepa allowing a relatively tame shot to squirm under his left wrist.

Potter’s decisions did not let Everton back into the game primarily because they were never out of it, and never gave the impression of a team who believed they were beaten. They made Chelsea feel their physicality throughout — by fair means and occasionally foul, best illustrated by one crude Tarkowski neck-pull on Joao Felix — and made maximum use of their physical advantages to ensure they were never more than one opposition mistake away from salvation.

The result further cements Chelsea in mid-table mediocrity and dulls the optimism of a timely recent revival, but it could also provide an opportunity for Potter to spend the two-week international break that starts tonight (Sunday) thinking about the flaws in this team that he still needs to address with that quarter-final against Real Madrid on the horizon.

After all, defending set pieces and managing late-game leads are the kind of details a team needs to get consistently right if they want to try to win the fucking Champions League.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Vesper

[Vesper 31,105]

Liverpool ‘increasingly unlikely’ to sign Jude Bellingham this summer

A huge blow to Jurgen Klopp's plans.

https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/20/liverpool-increasingly-unlikely-to-sign-jude-bellingham-this-summer-18469515/

Liverpool are set to miss out on signing Jude Bellingham this summer with it ‘increasingly unlikely’ the club will not be in a position to fight for his signature.

Bellingham remains one of the most-sought after players in world football with Liverpool thought to have been among the front runners to sign him when he leaves Borussia Dortmund.

In recent years, the midfielder’s social media activity has been used to fuel suggestions he favours a move to Anfield while Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard recently backed the club to sign the England international, even offering his services to help get the deal done.

Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid have been leading the race to sign the 19-year-old with latest reports suggesting Dortmund will be looking for a fee of at least £110million for their prized asset.

But according to The Athletic, a deal is now seen as very challenging for Liverpool.

A combination of that huge fee, the financial power of rival suitors and Liverpool’s reluctance to enter a bidding war has cast major doubt on Liverpool’s chances of signing the former Birmingham City starlet.

It is thought City and Real Madrid are in better positions to compete for his signature in the coming months.

Liverpool’s hopes are fading fast 

Liverpool are set to finish the season without a trophy and face a fight to finish in the top four, currently sat in sixth place and seven points behind fourth place Tottenham.

Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner are all out of contract at the end of the season and with Jurgen Klopp’s squad in need of a refresh, wider recruitment could also affect their chances of landing Bellingham.

Chelsea are also interested in signing the midfielder while Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag views Bellingham as a ‘generational talent’ and a future captain.

Former United defender Ferdinand meanwhile believes Liverpool’s Champions League elimination at the hands of Real Madrid will have left the player with serious doubts over a move to Merseyside.

‘If Liverpool get Bellingham then Stevie [Gerrard] and yourselves [Michael Owen and Peter Crouch] will have swam the English Channel to get him,’ he said on BT Sport.

‘I just think that if he watched that tonight he must be thinking, ‘if Real Madrid and Liverpool are in for me, there’s only one place to go!”.

 

[Vesper 31,105]

Liverpool will be a "title-contending team" once again if they sign Mason Mount and Jude Bellingham in the summer, according to Arsenal legend Paul Merson.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/liverpool-transfers-bellingham-mount-klopp-29509578

Jurgen Klopp's side are enduring a tough campaign. The Community Shield winners failed to go far in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. They are also sixth in the Premier League - seven points behind Tottenham in fourth with two games in hand.

Liverpool are expected to revamp their squad in the summer, with Klopp's midfield a particular talking point. Merson believes the Reds will be competitive again if they can bring in long-term target Bellingham, 19, and Chelsea talent Mount, 24, in the next window.

"Whoever gets Mason Mount has got the biggest result ever," Merson told Sky Sports, with a number of clubs said to be interested.

"The kid can play. It's bad business by Chelsea - they should give him what he's asking for. You don't offload your best players.

"There are so many players that need to get shipped out of this Chelsea squad before Mount. When you hear whispers of the teams that want to buy him that tells you everything you need to know."

Mount's existing deal expires in June 2024. Chelsea could be forced to sell the England international if they fail to agree a contract extension before this summer, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain all thought to be interested.

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Vesper

[ulvhedin 526]

14 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

If we keep Kova and Kante gets fully fit again we only need a GK and a CF in summer, that's it.

 

They will get fully fit and next game they will get injured. No way we should trust them to be fit, it would be suicidal

[Vegetable 830]

7 hours ago, Vesper said:

I cannot disagree more, with most every point

de rec

Would love to hear more on that.

Keepers seem to have a sinusoidal form nowadays. People were envy of De Gea, year later they wouldn't want him for free. Heck, even Cech was not the kind of machine we remember him. The current situation reminds me the beginnings of Kepa, when defense was shaky and he was horrid. Behind solid defenders, his error rate went down and performance up.

Sure, we can get Oblak, he will be more solid, but won't have it any easier saving the sitters he is confronted with. And in two years people will call for replacement as he is too old and on decline.

Meanwhile we are on the verge of shitting another 90-something million on Felix, who is undoubtly very likeabale lad, but not quite the savior we need. This is exaggeration, but it's starting to look like some FFP coconut islands get rich quick scam. Boehly is playing va banque, basing on the result that seems to be out of reach with current personal structure. Will he come out and say "sorry, we are not able to spend a dime for next 8 years, but trust the process, stadium is coming, Potter is nice"?

And still, we have not quite cheap Slonina who fits us nowhere but the satellite club we don't have. And I won't even go into people thinking we will get him as number 1 and some 16 yo serbian as number two will be the first people to cry when they will let the first howler in.

Given we have limited resources to spend, I'd focus on pursuing creativity and finishing, GK could be upgraded, but is it really *that* urgent? Unless, we are shifting Kepa and freeing his wages, but I doubt it's realistic.

[Reddish-Blue 2,674]

12 hours ago, milka said:

Out of 11, there are only 4 positions that are certain for the next campaign - James, Silva, Enzo and Chilwell.
Everything else is questionable or to be decided in the summer.

The goalkeeper post is also in question. There the options seem to be far more limited -  Costa , Raya , Meslier , Kobel .

I don't see the club drastically changing the CB positions.  I feel a mix of Silva, Fofana, Badiashile and Colwill will be solid next season. 

You would think Kante is a certainty for next season as well, assuming he's fit. 

Massive question marks remain over Mount (likely to leave) and hopefully we see Ziyech & Pulisic move on. 

[TheHulk 2,647]

 

[TheHulk 2,647]

 

[TheHulk 2,647]