Chelsea Transfers

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

I get the reasoning behind selling high-value players like Kovacic, Mount and Kai first to ease the selling pressure to then be in a better position to offload the absolute deadwood but if we get bent over for those, we will actually be in a worse position than before due to the precedent set. In any case we should not budge. We may need to sell players but those three mentioned are in high demand.

Still it will continue to haunt me forever how we spunked out 600m on players that are mostly absolute shite and way worse than the ones we are now trying to offload first (which we are forced to cos the dregs we bought were so overpriced and are now unmovable bc of wages an being shit ofc).

Sterling is no better than Kai and 4y older , Cucu is not really better than Azpi, Mudryk is way worse than Mount or even Pulisic, not even gonna start with how we downgraded with fkin K2. Caicedo or Lavia are both inferior to Kovacic. We are in an ongoing process of downgrading our squad and losing tons of money in the process. The only saving grace is that some of our younger prospects still might come in clutch. Hall and Colwill looks absolutely terrific. Casadei and Santos seem to be potent goal threats. Badia is a boss, Enzo a future captain and Madueke looks like there is some player in him.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Magic Lamps

[robsblubot 3,595]

58 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

I get the reasoning behind selling high-value players like Kovacic, Mount and Kai first to ease the selling pressure to then be in a better position to offload the absolute deadwood but if we get bent over for those, we will actually be in a worse position than before due to the precedent set. In any case we should not budge. We may need to sell players but those three mentioned are in high demand.

Still it will continue to haunt me forever how we spunked out 600m on players that are mostly absolute shite and way worse than the ones we are now trying to offload first (which we are forced to cos the dregs we bought were so overpriced and are now unmovable bc of wages an being shit ofc).

Sterling is no better than Kai and 4y older , Cucu is not really better than Azpi, Mudryk is way worse than Mount or even Pulisic, not even gonna start with how we downgraded with fkin K2. Caicedo or Lavia are both inferior to Kovacic. We are in an ongoing process of downgrading our squad and losing tons of money in the process. The only saving grace is that some of our younger prospects still might come in clutch. Hall and Colwill looks absolutely terrific. Casadei and Santos seem to be potent goal threats. Badia is a boss, Enzo a future captain and Madueke looks like there is some player in him.

Couldn't agree more, and another worrying sign is that these players suddenly want out, some desperately so. Yes, I understand that a lot of money is made on transfers, but happy players tend to stick around. 😟

Edited June 9, 2023 by robsblubot

[Vegetable 830]

28 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

We are in an ongoing process of downgrading our squad and losing tons of money in the process.

Well, at least "THE VISION" will have an opportunity to finally materialize and owners will be able to act like they were managing their beloved Brighton, aka get ready for fight for the upper part of the table, boys gave everything. 

[LAM09 7,056]

4 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

I get the reasoning behind selling high-value players like Kovacic, Mount and Kai first to ease the selling pressure to then be in a better position to offload the absolute deadwood but if we get bent over for those, we will actually be in a worse position than before due to the precedent set. In any case we should not budge. We may need to sell players but those three mentioned are in high demand.

Still it will continue to haunt me forever how we spunked out 600m on players that are mostly absolute shite and way worse than the ones we are now trying to offload first (which we are forced to cos the dregs we bought were so overpriced and are now unmovable bc of wages an being shit ofc).

I've only seen City strongly linked to Kovacic, so selling him first for a figure around £25-30m makes sense all around. That should put us in the clear regarding FFP for now while allowing us to demand fair prices rather than gifting first team quality players away.

I honestly can't think of a buy that I would deem a success since Kante, which was largely down to his release clause. No one with any football knowledge was appointed after Emenalo left, and the cycle kept going, dud after dud. Boehly went about things completely the wrong way in the hope that throwing money around would stick, which in turn has put us in an even bigger whole.

I'll repeat what I said in another thread: I envision us becoming a team like Arsenal if we don't get our house in order within the next 12 to 18 months.

[Blue Armour 4,446]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

I get the reasoning behind selling high-value players like Kovacic, Mount and Kai first to ease the selling pressure to then be in a better position to offload the absolute deadwood but if we get bent over for those, we will actually be in a worse position than before due to the precedent set. In any case we should not budge. We may need to sell players but those three mentioned are in high demand.

Still it will continue to haunt me forever how we spunked out 600m on players that are mostly absolute shite and way worse than the ones we are now trying to offload first (which we are forced to cos the dregs we bought were so overpriced and are now unmovable bc of wages an being shit ofc).

Sterling is no better than Kai and 4y older , Cucu is not really better than Azpi, Mudryk is way worse than Mount or even Pulisic, not even gonna start with how we downgraded with fkin K2. Caicedo or Lavia are both inferior to Kovacic. We are in an ongoing process of downgrading our squad and losing tons of money in the process. The only saving grace is that some of our younger prospects still might come in clutch. Hall and Colwill looks absolutely terrific. Casadei and Santos seem to be potent goal threats. Badia is a boss, Enzo a future captain and Madueke looks like there is some player in him.

Exactly my point.

I can't believe how anyone can be thrilled with this.

I think most of the fanbase has just become numb after the entire past season.

To sum it up., we've dropped several places in the league, we downgraded on managers (at least until Poch was appointed), and now we're offloading the players that helped us be a top 4 side and at least compete for cup competitions.

Chelsea needed some treatment, but we're going for a full surgery with no guarantee on returns.

A lot of hopes are being pinned on Pochettino and a select few good signings like Enzo.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Blue Armour

[calculatingInfinity 1,472]

1 hour ago, mkh said:

Breaking | Chelsea initiate contact over the possible signing of Mike Maignan from AC Milan, according to L’Équipe.

 

 

 

Would absolutely love this. Admittedly I haven seen that much Milan (or Lille), but every time I have seen him play, he has been outstanding.

[Mário César 1,280]

sterling it is better than kai

even koulibaly it was better at the end of the season than the beginning

cucurella its better than azpi that is finished 

our problem is not your defense, its our attack

Kova its injury prone and caicedo makes a lot of sense 

[robsblubot 3,595]

2 minutes ago, Mário César said:

sterling it is better than kai

even koulibaly it was better at the end of the season than the beginning

cucurella its better than azpi that is finished 

our problem is not your defense, its our attack

Kova its injury prone and caicedo makes a lot of sense 

Not particularly keen on using "better" to compare players with completely different characteristics, positions, and role. Does Sterling heads the ball, and has more physical presence in the box as Kai does? It's all relative. Even Mount and Sterling are so different that it's hard to compare the 2: e.g. you lose specific things when you swap them.

pretty much disagree with the rest, and think the last bit is speculation/wishful thinking. Cucurella also made a lot of sense...

[Mário César 1,280]

6 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

Not particularly keen on using "better" to compare players with completely different characteristics, positions, and role. Does Sterling heads the ball, and has more physical presence in the box as Kai does? It's all relative. Even Mount and Sterling are so different that it's hard to compare the 2: e.g. you lose specific things when you swap them.

pretty much disagree with the rest, and think the last bit is speculation/wishful thinking. Cucurella also made a lot of sense...

that is a risk, this is obvious but we need midfielders

who you suggest?

[robsblubot 3,595]

21 minutes ago, Mário César said:

that is a risk, this is obvious but we need midfielders

who you suggest?

eh not my job nor a thing I like to do. There way too many variables to consider and I don't have the information, nor the knowledge, to assess that.

It also depends on what the manager wants to do, and what characteristics he needs. It's silly to sign someone who does not work with what the manager wants. Does he want to keep possession, or quick transitions? high or low block? 3 at the back? Is Caicedo's energy necessary or the manager prefers a player who can control the ball better? 🤷‍♂️
Funny that City wants Kova and not Caicedos...

Edited June 9, 2023 by robsblubot

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

30 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

eh not my job nor a thing I like to do. There way too many variables to consider and I don't have the information, nor the knowledge, to assess that.

It also depends on what the manager wants to do, and what characteristics he needs. It's silly to sign someone who does not work with what the manager wants. Does he want to keep possession, or quick transitions? high or low block? 3 at the back? Is Caicedo's energy necessary or the manager prefers a player who can control the ball better? 🤷‍♂️
Funny that City wants Kova and not Caicedos...

Maybe because they already have Rodri, Phillips and others to fill that role in the side.   They want Kovacic as a possible replacement for Gundo...

Caicedo isn't needed at City, they already have a solid midfield

Compare that to us and right now we're looking at Enzo - Gallagher and whatever youngsters are out on loan to fill the midfield next season (as both Kovacic/Kante are out the door). 

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

2 hours ago, LAM09 said:

I've only seen City strongly linked to Kovacic, so selling him first for a figure around £25-30m makes sense all around. That should put us in the clear regarding FFP for now while allowing us to demand fair prices rather than gifting first team quality players away.

I honestly can't think of a buy that I would deem a success since Kante, which was largely down to his release clause. No one with any football knowledge was appointed after Emenalo left, and the cycle kept going, dud after dud. Boehly went about things completely the wrong way in the hope that throwing money around would stick, which in turn has put us in an even bigger whole.

I'll repeat what I said in another thread: I envision us becoming a team like Arsenal if we don't get our house in order within the next 12 to 18 months.

@LAM09 that would actually be an improvement on where the club is at right now.   From memory I don't recall Arsenal finishing 12th in their 'bad' seasons under Wenger/Arteta.  

We need a new spine to the team like what Mourinho built back in 04-05....and all the super glue fixes over the years are finally catching up to us and unlike teams like Liverpool, United we don't have class players who can score goals for fun and bail us out from bad performances (Salah, Rashford). 

[robsblubot 3,595]

37 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Maybe because they already have Rodri, Phillips and others to fill that role in the side.   They want Kovacic as a possible replacement for Gundo...

Caicedo isn't needed at City, they already have a solid midfield

Compare that to us and right now we're looking at Enzo - Gallagher and whatever youngsters are out on loan to fill the midfield next season (as both Kovacic/Kante are out the door). 

I think it's more than that: it's characteristics. IMO Kova fits City's system like a glove.

There is also the mental aspect, which we (esp fans) have scant information about most of the time. It's difficult to assess winning mentality when we sign players from smaller teams, for example, because they dimply never really were in a position to dispute much. When you go for big names, then you have a better idea of how they react in big matches.

Edited June 9, 2023 by robsblubot

[Mário César 1,280]

kova add deep to city squad 

with us he was a starter 

for them he is a rotational squad player

there is no more to be said 

our problem to be honest is wingers lack of end product, a centerforward, a goalkeeper and a creative midfielder 

we need a midfielder like fabregas, with a good assist skills 

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

15 hours ago, lucio said:

He’s a carthorse. Bulky version of gallagher. Would be worth £10m if he was foreign 

I am sorry but you are well off this with I’m afraid.

Doing the boy a disservice calling him a bulky version of Connor Gallagher. Couldn’t be more wrong and not even the same type of profile. He is more than 10 times the player and someone who now should be considered as someone who can actively contribute in a bigger team. Its no surprise Arsenal, Bayern, United are all after him. 

He’s got a level or two where he can get to yet also but he needs to play in a better team with better coaching to get that. Yes maybe price will always go against him but personally I think after spending £100m+ on Enzo Fernandez - again will be a great player in the long run but for me, based on the current crop of players out there, no midfielder in the world is worth what we paid for him bar a select few - it doesn’t really matter what we pay for him because he is the type we need, its the same logic as the Enzo deal, we ‘needed’ him. I’d take him over Caicedo in a heartbeat. Especially when you consider both are going to he wanted for at least £80m and we missed out on Ugarte, although again he isn’t on Rice’s level atm but the price was better and profile suited what we need.

Definitely more difficult to look a top player in that West Ham team than it is in the Brighton teams of the past 2 seasons IMO.

Edited June 10, 2023 by OneMoSalah

[LAM09 7,056]

1 hour ago, Reddish-Blue said:

@LAM09 that would actually be an improvement on where the club is at right now.   From memory I don't recall Arsenal finishing 12th in their 'bad' seasons under Wenger/Arteta.  

We need a new spine to the team like what Mourinho built back in 04-05....and all the super glue fixes over the years are finally catching up to us and unlike teams like Liverpool, United we don't have class players who can score goals for fun and bail us out from bad performances (Salah, Rashford). 

I'm talking about permanent mediocrity rather than one off season. I've been saying for far too long that this side lacks leaders who can turn things around when times are tough, but we are constantly linked with the next shiny toy, or has been.

We have a habit of not replacing key players once they've left (old guard, Mata, Hazard, Costa, Cesc, etc) for some stupid reason. You can only play the same record so many times.

42 minutes ago, Mário César said:

kova add deep to city squad 

with us he was a starter 

for them he is a rotational squad player

there is no more to be said 

our problem to be honest is wingers lack of end product, a centerforward, a goalkeeper and a creative midfielder 

we need a midfielder like fabregas, with a good assist skills 

The bold part is where most of our issues stem from. Last season would have been very different, even with our problems, had every chance that fell to Havertz fallen to someone like Kane instead. It's beyond painful watching amateur standard finishing season after season. 

We had Jorgi as our top scorer not too long ago. 😐

Edited June 10, 2023 by LAM09

[Strike 7,492]

5 hours ago, mkh said:

Breaking | Chelsea initiate contact over the possible signing of Mike Maignan from AC Milan, according to L’Équipe.

 

 

 

I think the best keeper option if we can do the deal. 

[lucio 5,418]

2 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

I am sorry but you are well off this with I’m afraid.

Doing the boy a disservice calling him a bulky version of Connor Gallagher. Couldn’t be more wrong and not even the same type of profile. He is more than 10 times the player and someone who now should be considered as someone who can actively contribute in a bigger team. Its no surprise Arsenal, Bayern, United are all after him. 

He’s got a level or two where he can get to yet also but he needs to play in a better team with better coaching to get that. Yes maybe price will always go against him but personally I think after spending £100m+ on Enzo Fernandez - again will be a great player in the long run but for me, based on the current crop of players out there, no midfielder in the world is worth what we paid for him bar a select few - it doesn’t really matter what we pay for him because he is the type we need, its the same logic as the Enzo deal, we ‘needed’ him. I’d take him over Caicedo in a heartbeat. Especially when you consider both are going to he wanted for at least £80m and we missed out on Ugarte, although again he isn’t on Rice’s level atm but the price was better and profile suited what we need.

Definitely more difficult to look a top player in that West Ham team than it is in the Brighton teams of the past 2 seasons IMO.

Ugarte is already well clear of rice , he has quality on the ball, rice is a tractor. Lavia and caicedo are both much better on the ball too. 
UTD and arsenal have both made massive transfer blunders before, especially with English players. We and city both wanted cucarella and he is awful. 
rice can do a job but he’s completely one dimensional and isn’t one of the best defensive mids in the world. I’d say he’d look worse in a progressive team like Brighton , playing under Moyes makes him look better where he can afford to be bad on the ball 

[Clockwork 1,794]

I would sign Lavia, and add joao palhinha while Lavia develops.

[robsblubot 3,595]

5 hours ago, LAM09 said:

I'm talking about permanent mediocrity rather than one off season. I've been saying for far too long that this side lacks leaders who can turn things around when times are tough, but we are constantly linked with the next shiny toy, or has been.

We have a habit of not replacing key players once they've left (old guard, Mata, Hazard, Costa, Cesc, etc) for some stupid reason. You can only play the same record so many times.

The bold part is where most of our issues stem from. Last season would have been very different, even with our problems, had every chance that fell to Havertz fallen to someone like Kane instead. It's beyond painful watching amateur standard finishing season after season. 

We had Jorgi as our top scorer not too long ago. 😐

City won the league countless times without even employing a dedicated #9. They defend with freaking Ake and Stones! A team scores and a team defends. We can't score because we simply aren't very good and have not been very good for some time. Even smaller teams manage to outplay us because we are slow and pedantic pedestrian on the ball.

We play like shit... we have players who look completely clueless on the ball, like Mudryk. Players who are constantly injured. New signings who are clearly raw and their decisions showcase that. What would a striker possibly do in those conditions? win a point here and here? that's not what we need.

Defenders defend and attackers attack sounds so passe. I'm supposed to be the old one here. 😅

Edited June 10, 2023 by robsblubot