Chelsea Transfers

[SomethingSomething 17]

8 hours ago, Gundalf said:

Am I the only one who misses this ability at Chelsea? I feel like these modern footballers cant really shoot anymore. It helps u so much against low blocks. 

Midfielders nowdays are so expensive and they dont provide half of what midfielders used to. U have bunch of talented players who get good season and odd goal and then they crumble under pressure because they could never score goals on regular basis like Lamps, Gerrard etc. 

IMO coaching system is now different. They dont allow midfielders to take a shot, but rather keep possesion until a clear chance occurs, hence strikers with half ability (Lukaku, Immobile,...) compared to older strikers (Drogba, Henry, Raul,...) actualy score more. 

IMO only quality strikers that can be compared to older players were Suarez, Lewa and Benzema. In late 2000, 2005, you had a striker of that quality in almost every top team if not two (Del Piero, Trezeguet).

Haaland is amazing at scoring goals, but the dude has zero elegance or technique, a glorified Inzaghi. 

[Vegetable 830]

9 hours ago, Gundalf said:

Am I the only one who misses this ability at Chelsea? I feel like these modern footballers cant really shoot anymore. It helps u so much against low blocks. 

Was thinking about pretty much this lately; Isn't it more of sign of times as this kind of football is not muh beautiful footy and it's almost a shame for top tier clubs to attempt long shots or longer passes via air as it's so old timey? Top football pretty much went for Klopp-ized tiki-taka, full speed, full press, short passes, trying to walk the ball into net. Much less wastefull though, as you don't really do shots not on target anymore. And very little number of players is allowed to attempt anything outside the system.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Vegetable

[Pizy 18,928]

Whoever we bring in now is going to be hugely overpriced due to how late in the window it is. So with that in mind we 100% need to make it a player we think has an extremely high ceiling and have a super high confidence won’t underwhelm. We can’t afford another mega high priced bust in attacking positions. It’s straight up embarrassing just how long it’s been since we bought an attacking player that lived up to the hype before they joined us. Literally all of our rivals have bought hyped up forwards who have come in and killed it for their new clubs. Whereas every time we do they become scared little children who melt under the spotlight almost overnight.

Kudus is the safest bet to instantly fit into the PL and into Poch’s style for me. But Cherki would be the one I’d be most excited about because I think his potential is the biggest. A player who can produce moments of Hazard-like magic out of nothing. Balogun would be extremely underwhelming and we’d probably have to essentially give Arse all the money back that they gave us for Havertz when we ripped them off there. 

Sadly, the Cherki rumors don't have any actual reporting behind them. It’s just random Chelsea Twitter users trying to wish it into happening. 

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

9 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

Was thinking about pretty much this lately; Isn't it more of sign of times as this kind of football is not muh beautiful footy and it's almost a shame for top tier clubs to attempt long shots or longer passes via air as it's so old timey? Top football pretty much went for Klopp-ized tiki-taka, full speed, full press, short passes, trying to walk the ball into net. Much less wastefull though, as you don't really do shots not on target anymore. And very little number of players is allowed to attempt anything outside the system.

 

19 minutes ago, SomethingSomething said:

Midfielders nowdays are so expensive and they dont provide half of what midfielders used to. U have bunch of talented players who get good season and odd goal and then they crumble under pressure because they could never score goals on regular basis like Lamps, Gerrard etc. 

IMO coaching system is now different. They dont allow midfielders to take a shot, but rather keep possesion until a clear chance occurs, hence strikers with half ability (Lukaku, Immobile,...) compared to older strikers (Drogba, Henry, Raul,...) actualy score more. 

IMO only quality strikers that can be compared to older players were Suarez, Lewa and Benzema. In late 2000, 2005, you had a striker of that quality in almost every top team if not two (Del Piero, Trezeguet).

Haaland is amazing at scoring goals, but the dude has zero elegance or technique, a glorified Inzaghi. 

I think you are both on point. Tactical ability has improved for all areas of the pitch on average but also this as limited strikers and midfielders expressing themselves. Hence we don’t see as many individual goals from these like those great long range strikers and runs through the middle. All is a bit less risk, more pace intensity and closing down, positional pressing etc. Attacking game is more reliant on wide players like wing backs, wingers, wide attacking midfielders or isnide forwards nowadays. More space out wide and less risk after turnovers. Footballers have probably become more athletic and tactically adept but also less independent, more predictable and risk-averse. It is a logical development. After all it’s a team sport. But we see with our squad when it goes too far towards that extreme. 

[Vesper 30,195]

Chelsea

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/136327338/Chelsea

• Chelsea like Brennan Johnson but he’s not a priority - full details here.

• There have been reports of some inside being Chelsea being frustrated by Hall’s departure - more info on that here.

• Chelsea remain desperate to sell Romelu Lukaku - more from Ben Jacobs here.

• Chelsea will complete Djordje Petrovic deal this week, an agreement in place as revealed yesterday.

• Deivid Washington already completed medical tests at Chelsea — it’s about final documents, formal steps then the Brazilian striker will be unveiled as a new Chelsea player. Santos will receive €16m fixed fee plus €4m add-ons.

• Carney Chukwuemeka sustained an injury to his left knee — and he already underwent surgery. Chelsea expect Carney to be our for six weeks.

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

1 hour ago, SomethingSomething said:

Haaland is amazing at scoring goals, but the dude has zero elegance or technique, a glorified Inzaghi. 

The same Inzaghi who never scored 20 league goals in any season for AC Milan? 

I agree with the rest of your points about midfielders of previous decades having the whole package whereas nowadays there are many midfielders with limited skill sets (either they are good at defense or they are good at attacking/set piece situations etc) but to say Haaland is just a glorified Inzaghi is a poor comparison. 

 

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

5 hours ago, DDA said:

Am I the only one who looks at Kudus and thinks he isn't that great at all? I'd rather Cherki tbh, he reminds me of Mata.

The sad part for Kudus was that he had the Brighton transfer sealed (their bid was accepted by Ajax) but they wouldn't agree to a release clause in his contract and the deal was off.  Wonder if he spoke to Caicedo at all? 

[Vesper 30,195]

I am (obviously) and have been pushing hard for Kudus (especially now with the injuries)

but not buying him will not gut me like our passing on Tchou did

that fucking did me in 😔

[Pizy 18,928]

The only concern about the Kudus possibility is that Ajax have seemingly raised the price considerably as the window has gone on. I remember in the beginning of the summer there was talk about under £30m or something. Now they’re rejecting bids of over £40m from West Ham I think? So that means when Chelsea get involved we’ll probably get quoted £55m or something. 

[Vesper 30,195]

14 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

The sad part for Kudus was that he had the Brighton transfer sealed (their bid was accepted by Ajax) but they wouldn't agree to a release clause in his contract and the deal was off.  Wonder if he spoke to Caicedo at all? 

Brighton is now a massive hardball playing team when it comes to transfers

and it seems to be working for them

I do not think they are losing one wink of sleep over the Kudus deal blowing up, not one

they have their template and they refuse to deviate from it

hats off to them (grudgingly, as they have fucked us 6 ways to Sunday, and we also are to blame for a lot of it, they saw a mark in Boehly and played him like a fiddle)

Edited August 23, 2023 by Vesper

[Vesper 30,195]

KK was just an rookie mistake, and we did not lose that much money (thank fuck)

I am sure the fact that Thiago was far older and is still near WC played a role

and

Auba did not cost much, and was just another gamble on an older, ex WC player (like KK), auba was a bit of a monster at Barca for a nice spell, so easy to see why be bought him

so fine there, easy to forgive those 2 (at least their is for me)

BUT

these 2:

Marc Cucurella    (I NEVER rated him, he always look shit or basically bog standard to me) 

Wesley Fofana  (NEVER BUY a massively injured player until they have two full seasons at the level they were at (or better) before the injury 

were just INSANELY stupid, crazy expensive buys

plus potentially (not remotely there yet to the point where I call him a perma bust)

Mykhaylo Mudryk  

combine that with Rom buy under Roman

and those 3 (or 4, if Muddy does end up a bust) are just KILLING is now

plus the Tchou pass

 

we should ABSOLUTELY have

Osimhen (from Lille or even after either of his first two seasons at Napoli)

Tchou (2021 summer disaster pass/refusal to buy)

Ousmane Dembélé (so many times we could have signed him from Barca, grrrr)

Nuno Mendes (only cost PSG a £32.5m transfer fee, after a £6m loan fee)

and

Skriniar

on our team NOW 

none of them would have cost outrageous money at all if we bought them when I was saying to buy them over the past several years (and we deffo had the money to do so, look at the insane amounts we shit away on others I said do not buy)
 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Vesper

[Vesper 30,195]

35 minutes ago, Pizy said:

summer there was talk about under £30m or something.

they said €40m for ages

and yes, they are fucking playing games now

fuck them

[milka 3,393]

 

[Strike 7,492]

An issue with the crazy spending we have done is that football is system dependant and one guy who looks good in one system could be a total misfit in another. It is difficult to look at someone’s talent and say they will be incrementally good for 8 year period

Wish the club had only gone out and spent big on sure-fire talents like Enzo. I am not convinced by either Mudryk or Caicedo (not beyond doubt at least). In one year, everything could change and a new set of wingers and defensive mids will be the flavour of the month. 

[ulvhedin 526]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

 

Ousmane Dembélé (so many times we could have signed him from Barca, grrrr)

 

You are talking about injury-prone players and then mention Dembele? Even last season (where he was most creative player for Barca) he played only 25 league games.

[SomethingSomething 17]

2 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

The same Inzaghi who never scored 20 league goals in any season for AC Milan? 

I agree with the rest of your points about midfielders of previous decades having the whole package whereas nowadays there are many midfielders with limited skill sets (either they are good at defense or they are good at attacking/set piece situations etc) but to say Haaland is just a glorified Inzaghi is a poor comparison. 

 

It was more of a personal opinion on Haaland. He as I said is fantastic goalscorer, probably most lethal in the world, but in the end, he lacks technical ability in ball control and shooting compared to Henry/Ronaldo/RVP/Suarez/Lewa/Benz etc.

Some of those players were best dribblers or long range shooters, capable of freekicks and beautiful curved shots.

Haaland is great inside penalty area, but thats about it. He perfected that skill and is now best striker in the world who will probably beat records of  all those above I mentioned.

Haaland is as boring as inzaghi but due to his stats, he is praised. 

But IMO to me, he is boring, without any technical smoothness and sadly thats how midfielders and forwards are nowdays trained to be. Lethal in something, but below average without any expression in other areas. 

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by SomethingSomething

[Vesper 30,195]

42 minutes ago, ulvhedin said:

You are talking about injury-prone players and then mention Dembele? Even last season (where he was most creative player for Barca) he played only 25 league games.

other than knee injury a couple of years ago, that he has overcome to my satisfaction

his main issues for years were hamstring related injuries 

he had surgery on it in Finland, performed by one of the top specialists on the planet, Dr. Lasse Lempainen (who also sorted his knee that I mentioned above), and has now passed a very rigorous PSG physical

I am not saying he was the biggest lock to succeed on that list, but when healthy he is such a massive threat creative wise

we can all now watch him at PSG and see how he holds up

[Vesper 30,195]

West Ham target Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus as part of bumper double deal

East London club also interested in Sevilla's Youssef En-Nesyri as they look to strengthen attacking options

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/08/23/west-ham-transfer-ajax-mohammed-kudus-youssef-en-nesyri/

West Ham United remain in talks to sign Mohammed Kudus, despite having two bids rejected for the Ajax midfielder, and are also hoping to sign Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri.

The east London club are working hard to strengthen their attacking options in the final days of the transfer window and are keen to add both Kudus and En-Nesyri to their squad.

Their second bid for Kudus, worth in the region of around £35 million, was turned down by Ajax earlier this week but negotiations are still ongoing between the two clubs.

Kudus appeared to be close to joining Brighton earlier this summer but the move stalled due to issues with the player’s personal terms.

A Ghana international, who can play on the wing or as an attacking midfielder, Kudus is regarded as one of the European game’s most exciting young talents. The 23-year-old scored 18 goals in 42 appearances for Ajax last season and has also been the subject of interest from Chelsea this summer.

En-Nesyri has been a long-term target for West Ham, who first tried to sign the striker in January 2021.

It is believed that Sevilla could be open to selling the 26-year-old, who starred for Morocco in last year’s World Cup and struck 18 goals in 48 appearances for Sevilla last season.

En-Nesyri scored with a towering header against Manchester City in last week’s Uefa Super Cup and also headed a memorable winner against Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar. He is reported to have jumped to a height of 2.78 metres (9.1ft) to score the goal against Portugal.

If a deal can be agreed with Sevilla, En-Nesyri would help to fill the void left by the departure from West Ham of Gianluca Scamacca, who joined Atalanta for around £20 million only a year after arriving in the Premier League.

After selling Declan Rice to Arsenal in a deal that could be worth £105 million, West Ham have so far invested around £85 million in three new signings: Edson Álvarez from Ajax (£35 million), James Ward-Prowse from Southampton (£30 million) and Konstantinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart (around £20 million).

Mavropanos previously played for Arsenal in the Premier League and it is understood that the north London club will receive around 10 per cent of the fee paid by West Ham to Stuttgart.

[SomethingSomething 17]

Spending 1 billion, we could have a 100m world class player for almost every position and we look like a midtable team atm. 

Im all for long term progress, but the money spent doesnt bring optimism we are prepared for long term development by the board. Unless Im mistaken we have the worst spending in history. Psg at least bought stars, attractive football. City dominated league, Real won number of CLs. 

We spend more than any of those and just look at our starting 11 and the bench. Probs worth around 200m total in reality. 

Either boehly and co have a master plan that no one sees or this is the worst football project in history that will make Chelsea next ac milan or worse. And I dont realy believe someone from usa who is in football for the first time has a master plan that none of actual football gurus sees. 

If we miss another CL next year, that will be catastrophic for our club.

[NikkiCFC 8,326]

One of the best strikers in the world may be available. 

Weird things happening in Al Ittihad. Jota bought from Celtic one month ago for 25m already free agent apparently. And now this. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by NikkiCFC