Chelsea Transfers

[whats happening 1,520]

14 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

 

we are losing to liverpool i bet everything i have on it lmao

[Tomo 21,730]

18 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Yes but the club should not accept this as a given. City attracted Haaland. How did they overturn us in just 15 years? They are a way better run operation. More professionalism and stability in key positions. And then came Pep. If our owners were as smart as the chemicals about who to hire to run the club we would have a chance at attracting a manager with the pulling power of Pep which in turn could make us able to sign superstars. Questions is if we need that. 

They got Haaland because of his Dad and even then he asked for a release clause to keep his options open in the coming years. Haaland to City is the equivalent of Terry or Drogba's son becoming world class, in that context they may aswell have come from the academy.

City haven't exactly been attracting the bonafide tier 1 superstars (that didn't have the connection with the club or become that level while with them), Bellingham didn't look twice at them and even an ageing CR7 fucked them off as soon as United batted their eyelashes and asked for round two.

[robsblubot 3,468]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

No Europe is definitely a plus which should give us the edge esp in October/November where our first harder games come up as well as late in the season when fatigue kicks in. but this is all worth 0 if our mostly unproven attack does not begin scoring. We need Jackson to deliver big time in Nkunku's absence, Mudryk to finally start scoring etc.

But overall it seems worrying how the gap to Arsenal and City has increased so massively. Despite all of our investments we are unable to attract the absolute best that would immediately transform us back into title candidates. If you think of the money we spend, could we have used that all to make a bid for e.g. MBappe or Bellingham? Surely. But would they choose to come here? Probably not. Then there are those older ones who would have probably joined for enough money but would have only helped us in the short term like Neymar or Messi.

I think more important than investing in the squad will also be to set up an elite sporting infrastructure and operation, to become a world class organisation again with stability in all the key areas to even constitute a believably ambitious project that attracts the absolute world class talent.

That's a lot of ifs, and I hardly saw anything different from Mudryk in pre-season to indicate we will get anything different from him.

Enzo is a top player, Caicedo a very expensive bet on potential. Even if Caicedo can deliver right away, our strength will lie in the middle of the park. That's the dominance area, not the match-winning area. Our winger options are questionable at best.

Agreed about Arsenal and City, but how about Liverpool? Yes, they've been stuttering lately, but Salah is still there; we don't have anything remotely close to that quality in attack. Their other attacking players are far less of bets than what we've got. Gakpo had a great World Cup--same as Enzo for ex. Jota looks like a solid player too. VDK is still there, and Alisson is still miles ahead of Kepa.

Maybe we could have a shot at United and/or Newcastle, but those teams have kept more of their starting XI from previous sessions. I know folks tend to completely ignore that side, but it's still a team sport and familiarity with the system, teammates, coaching style does play a part.

Edited August 11, 2023 by robsblubot

[Tomo 21,730]

3 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

That's a lot of ifs, and I hardly saw anything different from Mudryk in pre-season to indicate we will get anything different from him.

Enzo is a top player, Caicedo a very expensive bet on potential. Even if Caicedo can deliver right away, our strength will lie in the middle of the park. That's the dominance area, not the match-winning area. Our winger options are questionable at best.

Agreed about Arsenal and City, but how about Liverpool? Yes, they've been stuttering lately, but Salah is still there; we don't have anything remotely close to that quality in attack. Their other attacking players are far less of bets than what we've got. Gakpo had a great World Cup--same as Enzo for ex. Jota looks like a solid player too. VDK is still there, and Alisson is still miles ahead of Kepa.

Maybe we could have a shot at United and/or Newcastle, but those teams have kept more of their starting XI from previous sessions. I know folks tend to completely ignore that side, but it's still a team sport and familiarity with the system, teammates, coaching style does play a part.

Liverpool defensively are a mess. VVD has declined almost as badly as Kouli has, Robertson is totally out of his depth in the new hybrid role (its why they were so desperate for Colwill) and well it's always open season on their right hand side. Even if they somehow still get Caicedo that's going to absolutely cripple them this season.

[Reddish-Blue 2,325]

35 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Yes but the club should not accept this as a given. City attracted Haaland. How did they overturn us in just 15 years? They are a way better run operation. More professionalism and stability in key positions. And then came Pep. If our owners were as smart as the chemicals about who to hire to run the club we would have a chance at attracting a manager with the pulling power of Pep which in turn could make us able to sign superstars. Questions is if we need that. 

If his father didn't play for them in the past, Haaland wouldn't be at City right now. 

Bellingham turned them down in favor of Real Madrid. 

[Pizy 18,343]

5 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Liverpool defensively are a mess. VVD has declined almost as badly as Kouli has, Robertson is totally out of his depth in the new hybrid role (its why they were so desperate for Colwill) and well it's always open season on their right hand side. Even if they somehow still get Caicedo that's going to absolutely cripple them this season.

Liverpool desperately needed DM signings as much as we do. And a top quality LCB to cover for VVD. They’re 2 key injuries away from disaster.

[robsblubot 3,468]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

Liverpool defensively are a mess. VVD has declined almost as badly as Kouli has, Robertson is totally out of his depth in the new hybrid role (its why they were so desperate for Colwill) and well it's always open season on their right hand side. Even if they somehow still get Caicedo that's going to absolutely cripple them this season.

That's the situation. I don't disagree that that's the situation, I do disagree with the notion that they can't turn it around with the players they've got. They have more than enough quality to make top 4.

For me the biggest match-winners in the PL are Haaland, Salah, and Kane... KDB would be there too, but seems to be struggling physically.

I think they did well getting rid of Fabinho; never rated him (he was good early on tho) and thought he was the main reason they've been struggling in the middle of the park lately. They made some bets the same way we did, so if we assume ours will work out, we can assume some of theirs will too. Plus they've got more established players than we do. VVD is a working system away from returning to some sort of form... still a great CB in my book.

Getting a good CM is still easier than finding match-winning players; that's been the case since football was born.

Edited August 12, 2023 by robsblubot

[Reddish-Blue 2,325]

11 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

That's the situation. I don't disagree that that's the situation, I do disagree with the notion that they can't turn it around with the players they've got. They have more than enough quality to make it top 4.

For me the biggest match-winners in the PL are Haaland, Salah, and Kane... KDB would be there too, but seems to be struggling physically.

I think they did well getting rid of Fabinho; never rated him (he was good early on tho) and thought he was the main reason they've been struggling in the middle of the park lately. They made some bets the same way we did, so if we assume ours will work out, we can assume some of theirs will too. Plus they've got more established players than we do. VDK is a working system away from returning to some sort of form... still a great CB in my book.

Getting a good CM is still easier than finding match-winning players; that's been the case since football was born.

If getting a good CM was that easy, we should have had our signings completed by now.

Also, a good CM can turn into a match-winner or game changer with their influence in midfield (just look at Casemiro for United, Rodri for City, even Kante at the peak of his powers).  

[NikkiCFC 7,904]

3 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

If getting a good CM was that easy, we should have had our signings completed by now.

Also, a good CM can turn into a match-winner or game changer with their influence in midfield (just look at Casemiro for United, Rodri for City, even Kante at the peak of his powers).  

We gonna have 2 most expensive midfielders in the history of football. That's crazy. 

[Vytis33 1,125]

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,415]

I went to sleep last night Caicedo was on his way to Liverpool. I hope to wake up for the Arsenal game to hear he is a Blue!

[Vesper 28,394]

7 hours ago, Pizy said:

That he hasn’t yet and has been given a squad number suggests to me that he will be kept. 

£23m Chelsea youngster is the ‘most likely’ player to join

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/transfer-news/23m-Chelsea-youngster-is-the-most-likely-player-to-join-strasbourg-next-on-loan/

Chelsea youngster Lesley Ugochukwu could be heading to France to join Ligue 1 club Strasbourg.

That is according to a report from The Evening Standard.

Blues attacker Angelo Gabriel, 18, completed his move earlier this week to Strasbourg.

It sounds like the business between the two clubs isn’t done yet, which is no big surprise as the Blues have a majority stake in the French side as they build a multi-club model.

 

[robsblubot 3,468]

33 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

If getting a good CM was that easy, we should have had our signings completed by now.

Also, a good CM can turn into a match-winner or game changer with their influence in midfield (just look at Casemiro for United, Rodri for City, even Kante at the peak of his powers).  

Never said that it was easy, but easier. Also far less expensive... the top attacking players are mostly unattainably expensive. I've also said "good" CMs, not "the very best."

Casemiro for Real Madrid you mean. Casemiro had plenty of support of amazing attacking players in all the silverware they've got. City has been collecting silverware well before Rodri. Yes, these players can give you the stability and improve your chances esp in CL, but you still need your match-winners to score in those tight games, which is why they went all-in for haaland; reckon they'd not even be in the final without him.

Kante was indeed amazing, but once again, it was Mbappe scoring that put France over the line. Every WC champion will have a very special attacking player in the starting XI... not so much CM.

I'm not even going into our CL title because that seems to be a can of worms because of the players who left. 😅

Edited August 12, 2023 by robsblubot

[Vesper 28,394]

59 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

If his father didn't play for them in the past, Haaland wouldn't be at City right now. 

Bellingham turned them down in favor of Real Madrid. 

Non sequitur, sorry.

There is no linear proof of the 2nd positing actually confirming the first.

[robsblubot 3,468]

21 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

I went to sleep last night Caicedo was on his way to Liverpool. I hope to wake up for the Arsenal game to hear he is a Blue!

that's your own fault; you are clearly in "the wrong timezone" 😃

(so am I, btw) 😉

Edited August 12, 2023 by robsblubot

[Strike 7,201]

Didn't get why Chelsea triggered Tyler Adams release clause. Could have picked him up if Lavia did not join.

Too caught up in transfer poker. Hope they seal the moves this weekend.

[Johnnyeye 7,438]

this shit is dragging on for far too long

[Vesper 28,394]

6 hours ago, Pizy said:

Man, I’m not even paying attention to the Lavia stuff at this moment. I just want confirmation that we’ve bid again for Caicedo and have been given the green light by Brighton.

Lavia afterwards would be the super bonus on top. Get Caicedo sorted first!

and Kudus