Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 31,047]

14 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

You mean the same Sterling who has been capped 80+ times by England?    

If Sterling was still in his prime (like when he was getting 15+ PL goals a season for City), he'd be a definite pick in the English squad.   Don't see Grealish competing with that. 

Sterling has only had 3 great seasons on his entire career, all in a row, from the age of 22/23 to 24/25yo (he was born December 8, 1994, so turns 30yo on the middle of next season)

he absolutely peaked at the age of 24/25, which is bizarre, as he had no bad bad injuries

it is almost like he is like 70 to 80% of NFL running backs, who peak early and then mostly tumble down due to the insane physical beating that they take (the average career span for an NFL running back is around 3 years)

Sterling of course does not have that excuse

he has now had 2 meh and 1 poor  (last season) seasons in a row since

 

[Tomo 21,751]

35 minutes ago, Vesper said:

I refuse to blame a 19/20yo kid for Putin's war crime thuggery.

I couldn't agree more but unfortunately as we saw with Zinchenko's interview there are people that see all Russians/Belarusians as accessories (how the fuck did he get away with such a sweeping generalisation on TV in 2023? Don't get me wrong I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for what he and his country are going through however Russian citizens have gone to prison protesting the war and some are effectively on the run because they disagree with the regime, I meet a few in Serbia who pretty much had to rebuild their life from nothing because if they stayed in Russia they'd have been called up and didn't want to do it).

[Special Juan 28,730]

8 minutes ago, Mhsc said:

How much are we really going to get for him if we are broadcasting he is for sale? Maybe £40m? Still will be good in the FFP books, but I was expecting him to stay at this point - he has done alright in preseason, albeit filling a hole in CM that shouldn't exist. Have no doubt he will have a good PL career, was just never clear if he is at the calibre we need if we want to win titles again.

35-40M, Santos is here now, we have Enzo, Caicedo probably will eventually arrive and I think we will get one more.

[NikkiCFC 8,516]

3 minutes ago, Tomo said:

I couldn't agree more but unfortunately as we saw with Zinchenko's interview there are people that see all Russians/Belarusians as accessories (how the fuck did he get away with such a sweeping generalisation on TV in 2023? Don't get me wrong I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for what he and his country are going through however Russian citizens have gone to prison protesting the war and some are effectively on the run because they disagree with the regime, I meet a few in Serbia who pretty much had to rebuild their life from nothing because if they stayed in Russia they'd have been called up and didn't want to do it).

What were you doing in Serbia lol

[Mário César 1,477]

10 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

35-40M, Santos is here now, we have Enzo, Caicedo probably will eventually arrive and I think we will get one more.

if we get another player besides caicedo what will happen to casadei and chouko?

[Vesper 31,047]

20 minutes ago, Tomo said:

I couldn't agree more but unfortunately as we saw with Zinchenko's interview there are people that see all Russians/Belarusians as accessories (how the fuck did he get away with such a sweeping generalisation on TV in 2023? Don't get me wrong I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for what he and his country are going through however Russian citizens have gone to prison protesting the war and some are effectively on the run because they disagree with the regime, I meet a few in Serbia who pretty much had to rebuild their life from nothing because if they stayed in Russia they'd have been called up and didn't want to do it).

yes, but again, we were trying to buy him despite already having Mudryk, so we must have talked to him (Mudryk)

I doubt Mudryk would snap over an Armenian descent (100%) player joining us, a player whose family also fled a war (granted they fled to Russia, but that was pre Putin Russia, a Russia that was at the time being propped up partially by the US)

see this Time Magazine cover from July 15, 1996:

 

Hypocrisy of Russia-Did-It Stories Is Hard to Stomach (2016)

https://fair.org/home/hypocrisy-of-russia-did-it-stories-is-hard-to-stomach/

 

Hollywood even made a Jeff Goldblum movie about it

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324619/

Edited July 24, 2023 by Vesper

[Jype 6,398]

I wouldn't mind Gallagher staying. Even if he's not starting quality I do think he'd be a good squad option to keep around. He's not on big wages, doesn't seem to have a big ego and demand a starting role, is an academy graduate to fill HG roles etc.

But at the same time I won't shed any tears if he does go, as long as the money is good. For Pochettino's 4-2-3-1 there's a bit of a probelm with Gallagher's position. Even though he can play both roles to some extent, he's not that well suited to playing in the pivot nor is he quite technical enough for the number 10 role compared to what someone like Nkunku offers.

As long as we use the Gallagher sale money on getting some tactically better suited players it might make sense to cash in but we shouldn't sell him just for the sake of selling if there's no clear plan to get a better alternative in.

[Strike 7,763]

 

 

[LAM09 7,085]

12 hours ago, Tomo said:

The only reason people even remember Shearer has the record is because he has a platform to remind us all the time.

As much as one trophy is 100x better than that 'honour'.

That might be the case, but it's still some achievement in what most view as the best league in the world. Being able to do both is surely Kane's priority.

[Vesper 31,047]

6 minutes ago, Strike said:

 

 

£35m is too low

I am sure we can get between £40m and £50m for him (HG and a multiple capped Sr England player) who is only 23yo, so in the first year or two of his prime time (22/23 to 30yo or so)

£40-42.5m at a minimum

[LAM09 7,085]

Talent aside, I'm against signing Mbappe due to his attitude, but with our very impressive clear-out, would a move for him actually be feasible all things considered (FFP related)?

[Mhsc 1,139]

4 minutes ago, Vesper said:

£35m is too low

I am sure we can get between £40m and £50m for him (HG and a multiple capped Sr England player) who is only 23yo, so in the first year or two of his prime time (22/23 to 30yo or so)

£40-42.5m at a minimum

Maybe if our stance was that he is staying, if he is not being offered a new contract (2 years on his deal left) and we're shopping him around... Only way is if clubs get into a bidding war over him, I guess.

[Vegetable 830]

19 minutes ago, Jype said:

I wouldn't mind Gallagher staying. Even if he's not starting quality I do think he'd be a good squad option to keep around. He's not on big wages, doesn't seem to have a big ego and demand a starting role, is an academy graduate to fill HG roles etc.

But at the same time I won't shed any tears if he does go, as long as the money is good. For Pochettino's 4-2-3-1 there's a bit of a probelm with Gallagher's position. Even though he can play both roles to some extent, he's not that well suited to playing in the pivot nor is he quite technical enough for the number 10 role compared to what someone like Nkunku offers.

As long as we use the Gallagher sale money on getting some tactically better suited players it might make sense to cash in but we shouldn't sell him just for the sake of selling if there's no clear plan to get a better alternative in.

Agree with that, people seem to be dead set on selling him for sake of it, but if he is supposed to be mainy doing cardio shifts, why not do them for us? He is HG, seems level-headed, good ethics, eager to work and eager to train, people will be crying we need this kind of players next week. He is atm just a squad player, but if we were supposed to sell him just for sake of it for a laughable 35 million and then convert this 35 million into 1,65 random brasilian children, what's the point?   

[Vesper 31,047]

Just tossing this out here

Ousmane Dembélé's release clause for July and August is only £43m

I know he really wants to stay at Barca, but they are so fucked atm financially

 

[Pizy 19,254]

As little as I’d care if we sold Gallagher, I would still not sell to Spuds. Sell to Palace, WH, or Everton but never Spuds. 

[Vesper 31,047]

1 minute ago, Mhsc said:

Maybe if our stance was that he is staying, if he is not being offered a new contract (2 years on his deal left) and we're shopping him around... Only way is if clubs get into a bidding war over him, I guess.

the number in my mind for some time (just like me for Mount with £60m, which is exactly what we got) for Gallagher is £45m (£35m + £10m English tax)

let us hope I am once again at the right price point

[Mhsc 1,139]

1 minute ago, LAM09 said:

Talent aside, I'm against signing Mbappe due to his attitude, but with our very impressive clear-out, would a move for him actually be feasible all things considered (FFP related)?

I think the best paid player in the league is De Bruyne at 400k pw base, so if we offered Mbappe a ludicrous 500k per week lets say and pay some huge fee to sign him then yes we would be fine with the clear out that's happened / happening. But Mbappe wont be happy with what we call superstar money in the PL after what he's been on at PSG and is being promised elsewhere.

[Tomo 21,751]

40 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

What were you doing in Serbia lol

It would be quicker if I named the countries I haven't been too in mainland Europe haha.

[Gundalf 806]

 

[Vegetable 830]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

but we were trying to buy him after we already had Mudryk

Zakharyan is not even of Russian descent, he is 100 per cent Armenian (both parents), just like that Ajax AMF

I refuse to blame a 19/20yo kid for Putin's war crime thuggery

 

I don't think this guy himself would be much of a problem, except maybe PR, but the problem is he is playing for Russian club. For the next two years or more it's a waste of energy to even discuss it.

Still I'd stay away from trying to sound super cold reasonable and level-headed just because we'd like a player and looking for justification to make the situation morally clean. He had a chance to get the hell out of there. He knew what was coming. Russia is not Belarus where majority of society is against the dictator and is aware he is just a doll that fixes the elections. Imperialistic policy and "western enemies" has a lot of following. It's not like majority of society is caught in collateral damage, nor the Ukraine is the holy nation that some media is trying to make out of it, but it's heavy ot. 

Either he runs out his contract or buys it out or we can forget the guy playing in western world anytime soon.