Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 30,198]

24 minutes ago, Costa19 said:

Thank god they did, he is a weak cnut anyway. 
 
I follow the Swedish league very very closely. Season ticket and visiting training sessions (AIK). 
 
Bergvall didnt stand out at all in the Swedish league last season beside his age and some lucky skill move.  
 
Though Im sad that Bayern Munich signed AIK’s Jonah Kusi-Asare today.. 16 years old and 190+ cm who toyed with Bergvalls childhood club (BP) last saturday and scored two goals. 
He is the real deal, the new Alexander Isak. 
Actually sad that Chelsea didnt got him.. 

 

Anel Avdić from Expressen on Romano live video stream now

[Vesper 30,198]

30 minutes ago, Costa19 said:

Thank god they did, he is a weak cnut anyway. 
 
I follow the Swedish league very very closely. Season ticket and visiting training sessions (AIK). 
 
Bergvall didnt stand out at all in the Swedish league last season beside his age and some lucky skill move.  
 
Though Im sad that Bayern Munich signed AIK’s Jonah Kusi-Asare today.. 16 years old and 190+ cm who toyed with Bergvalls childhood club (BP) last saturday and scored two goals. 
He is the real deal, the new Alexander Isak. 
Actually sad that Chelsea didnt got him.. 

 

Jonah Kusi-Asare lämnar AIK Fotboll  😪

https://www.aikfotboll.se/nyheter/jonah-kusi-asare-lamnar-aik-fotboll

 

Edited February 1, 2024 by Vesper

[Vegetable 830]

52 minutes ago, Vesper said:

or are you being sarcastic?

I am, but toying around players valuations to influence ffp was a thing some clubs (Barca?) were actually accused of afair…

[Vytis33 1,272]

Had no idea he was still at Cobbam 

 

 

[Vesper 30,198]

28 minutes ago, Vytis33 said:

Had no idea he was still at Cobbam 

 

 

one of the most insane salaries ever given out by the old board

fucking idiots

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[OneMoSalah 8,886]

On 31/01/2024 at 17:35, lucio said:

Adam Wharton going to palace 😔, we should have been all over that 

Yeah sure to go with the other 37252 young midfielders we have who aren’t going to make the grade here in all likelihood. Lets just sign them all. 

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

8 hours ago, Vesper said:

We could use an old school defender like Zouma at the club right now....at least he was solid most of the time and wasn't afraid to put in a challenge or go for the aerial duel...unlike our current defenders (bar Silva). 

[lucio 5,418]

4 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Yeah sure to go with the other 37252 young midfielders we have who aren’t going to make the grade here in all likelihood. Lets just sign them all. 

He looks much better than caicedo and ugo 

[Fulham Broadway 17,320]

40 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

We could use an old school defender like Zouma at the club right now....at least he was solid most of the time and wasn't afraid to put in a challenge or go for the aerial duel...unlike our current defenders (bar Silva). 

JT was in with our fans at Anfield. If only he'd had his kit on

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

 

[DDA 9,941]

36 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

 

They probably offered a bowl of pasta and a bottle of peroni 

[TheHulk 2,467]

Give us Davies and you can have him.

[Vesper 30,198]

Chelsea’s January transfer window: Top-class striker targets must wait until summer

https://theathletic.com/5241033/2024/02/02/Chelsea-transfer-window-summer-psr/

Perhaps one of the biggest stories of the month has been big spenders Chelsea having to watch their wallets for the first time since the new owners took over in 2022.

When you have paid over £1billion ($1.27bn) on new players across three windows, even taking into account a significant amount raised through sales, there will always come a point when you have to put the chequebook away in a world of profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR).

Yet there was still scope for a bit of intrigue as Chelsea made it clear they were ready to listen to offers for some of their players. This is The Athletic’s review of what happened and what the future has in store at Stamford Bridge.

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What did Chelsea do in January?

Not a lot. Chelsea were prepared to do some business if they were able to bring money in through sales, which is a sign that PSR has made quite the impression.

The most significant move was loaning left-back Ian Maatsen to Borussia Dortmund. The Dutch defender agreed a new contract before completing the switch, which includes a £35million buy-out clause that can be triggered this summer.

Armando Broja was the only source of interest on deadline day as he secured a loan to Fulham. Wolves and AC Milan both made enquiries but Marco Silva’s side ability to offer game time was a telling factor. Significantly the structure of the deal, which comes with an initial £4million fee, is that Fulham will pay significantly less once he gets to 10 starts and could end up paying nothing if he plays enough matches.

Striker David Datro Fofana, who joined from Molde for more than £10m 12 months ago, saw his loan at Union Berlin curtailed prematurely and was sent to Burnley instead. Andrey Santos was recalled from a disastrous spell at Nottingham Forest and sent to Strasbourg, while Diego Moreira and Cesare Casadei also had their loans cancelled at Lyon and Leicester City respectively so they could be incorporated into the first-team squad.

Promising youngster Alex Matos went to Huddersfield Town on loan to gain senior experience.

What didn’t they do?

The lack of sales was arguably the most surprising aspect of Chelsea’s window but, when you are asking for vast sums while clubs are watching their own budgets, perhaps that was inevitable.

Chelsea went into the window prepared to listen to offers for their home-grown players Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah, Broja, and Maatsen.

Gallagher was wanted most by Tottenham, but Chelsea’s £50m valuation put any move on hold. He has less than 18 months left on his contract and there have been no recent talks over new terms, so his remains a very live situation.

Chalobah’s chances of a move were hindered by the fact he has been injured since the start of the season and is only just beginning to return to fitness. Broja ended up going on loan because like Gallagher, no one was prepared to meet their £50m valuation. The club also backtracked on the desire for an obligation to buy to be included. Maatsen did not end up being sold on a permanent basis either, but the club hope his loan at Borussia Dortmund — which has started in promising fashion — will attract £35m offers in the summer.

Chelsea did consider a move for Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran and they were certainly prepared to cash in if the deal was right, but a hamstring injury put an end to that.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing of all was defender Malang Sarr, who is being paid around £100,000-a-week, remaining at the club. He has been left out of the squad all season and is not part of Mauricio Pochettino’s plans. But Chelsea were unable to find him a loan or transfer elsewhere. His contract runs out in 2025.

GO DEEPER

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran - what's going on?

How will manager Mauricio Pochettino feel about it?

Whenever Pochettino was asked about the January transfer window, Chelsea’s head coach made clear he was happy with his squad and would not be too concerned if there were new arrivals.

You can understand why he was thinking that way. For starters, the January transfer window is always a difficult time to secure your No 1 targets. With Christopher Nkunku hopefully returning to full fitness and Nicolas Jackson back from the Africa Cup of Nations, the pressure to sign a centre-forward was eased.

The reality is that, when everyone is available, Chelsea have one of the deepest squads in the Premier League. There is hope Pochettino will soon be able to make full use of it for the first time having been regularly without eight to 10 players every week.

He knows Chelsea’s most important business lies ahead in the summer and will be prepared to work with what he has until then. It has helped his cause that results have generally improved of late.

What will they need to prioritise this summer?

It is no secret that Chelsea want a top-class striker. Pochettino has bemoaned his side’s inability to take their chances since August.

Jackson has had his moments in his first season at the club, but if Chelsea are to challenge for the Premier League again, they need to recruit someone who can lead the line on a more consistent basis.

Diego Costa is the last Chelsea player to score 20 goals in England’s top division and that was back in the 2016-17 campaign, which was also the last occasion this club claimed the title.

Yet that is not the only position they are focused on. Another centre-back is required, while a full-back, a midfielder and another attacking recruit are a possibility. Chelsea will also continue to look at young talent across the globe.

What do we know of their summer transfer plans?

Most of Chelsea’s striker targets are well-documented, though that does not mean they will find it easy to acquire any of them.

They are one of the clubs keen on Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. The 25-year-old has a release clause in his contract set at around £112m. The Nigeria international has already indicated that he will be leaving the Serie A club and has decided where he is going next.

His wage demands are a lot higher than the kind of level the new owners are prepared to pay, so they would have to make Osimhen an exception. Are they prepared to do that? The same could be said for Brentford’s Ivan Toney, who Chelsea have doubts over buying given he turns 28 in March.

Chelsea prefer to look at younger players who are at the earlier stages of their career and will not cost as much in terms of salary. That is why they like Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface — although any of that trio would still command a hefty transfer fee.

Who is likely to be playing their final months for the club?

Starting this topic with a name yet to be mentioned, Chelsea fans should make the most of Thiago Silva while they can.

The Brazilian, who turns 40 in September, is out of contract in the summer and has hinted that this will be his last season at Chelsea. No talks have begun over an extension and Silva admitted recently that, as each game passes, he is getting sad because it is getting closer to the end.

Chelsea know they have to move on from Silva sooner or later and they want to commit to faster, younger players at the back to help with Pochettino’s pressing game.

While Gallagher, Chalobah, Broja and Maatsen were not sold in this window, it will take some turnaround for them to still be Chelsea players next season. The club see them as a good opportunity to generate pure profit on the books and help fund other transfers.

It is a policy they used to good effect last summer, most notably with the sale of Mason Mount to Manchester United.

Edited February 2, 2024 by Vesper

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

10 hours ago, TheHulk said:

Give us Davies and you can have him.

The word briefly probably means he was like an 8 or 9th option or they seen his name and thought fuck that. 

[Reddish-Blue 2,509]

5 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

The word briefly probably means he was like an 8 or 9th option or they seen his name and thought fuck that. 

The funniest thing is, he'd probably do well at Bayern as their attack is already setup with Musiala, Sane, Kane and co.  

[Vesper 30,198]

Kylian Mbappé set to join Real Madrid from PSG this summer

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/39451576/kylian-mbappe-join-real-madrid-psg-summer

Kylian Mbappé has decided to join Real Madrid once his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires this summer, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The news was first reported by Le Parisien.

Last month, ESPN reported that Mbappé had been offered a contract by Madrid and, according to a source, he is expected to announce his decision to join the 14-time European champions next week.

Mbappé has not yet informed PSG or Real Madrid, sources said, but his decision has been taken.

The 25-year-old's desire to be allowed to play with France in the Olympic Games on home soil in the summer will be an important part of the negotiations with Madrid.

And, given Mbappé's previous U-turn over a move to the Bernabéu in 2022, there is always the possibility that he could change his mind until the deal is actually signed by both parties. However, his move to Madrid now finally looks set to come to fruition this summer.

[Vesper 30,198]

wtf

 

Chelsea

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/141310807/Chelsea

• The details of the loan fee within Armando Broja’s transfer to Fulham: if Broja hits 10 starts + minimum amount of minutes until June, Fulham will have to pay almost zero pounds; if the player starts less than 10 games, Chelsea could receive a £4m loan fee.

[Vesper 30,198]

Chelsea star ready to fight for his place at Stamford Bridge

https://thedailybriefing.io/i/141322936/Chelsea-star-ready-to-fight-for-his-place-at-stamford-bridge

The expectation before the January transfer window was that Trevoh Chalobah would leave Chelsea and there was some interest in the player. However, the defender is now prepared to fight for his place in Mauricio Pochettino’s team as he is going to be fit and ready to play soon.

In January Chalobah had some chances to leave the London club but it was never really close. Atletico Madrid considered the possibility of signing him, same for West Ham but nothing was ever close because of his salary, which was considered too high for a six-month loan.

[Vesper 30,198]

Grading Chelsea's January transfer business

https://www.90min.com/posts/grading-Chelsea-january-transfer-business-2024

• Chelsea did not sign a single player in the January transfer window
• Cesare Casadei & Diego Moreira among those to return from loan
• Armando Broja joined Fulham on loan on Deadline Day

After spending £300m in January 2023, Chelsea went to the other extreme and didn't part with a single penny.

Instead, the January window was all about clearing up their loan army and making some emergency calls to help Mauricio Pochettino's squad at no financial cost. There were, however, a handful of significant loan exits.

Here's a grade for each of Chelsea's major dealings in January 2024.

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Andrey Santos - Recalled from Nottingham Forest, loaned to Strasbourg

Getting Santos out of Nottingham Forest was the easiest decision Chelsea had to make this month. The 19-year-old played just seven minutes in the first half of the Premier League season and whoever signed off on that loan deal definitely deserves a talking to.

Chelsea will have wanted Santos to land at another Premier League side, but it's a sign of the limited interest in his services that he ended up joining sister side Strasbourg on Deadline Day.

In France, there'll be more control over his minutes and he'll be linking up with fellow loanee Angelo. It's not all bad, but it could be a lot better.

Grade - C

 

Cesare Casadei - Recalled from Leicester

Chelsea's hands were tied a little with the decision to recall Cesare Casadei from his decent loan spell with Leicester City.

Is he ready for a significant role in the Premier League? Definitely not, but Chelsea needed a midfielder to help cover for injuries and didn't have the funds available to sign a new one, and so Casadei was brought back.

He offers something Chelsea's current crop of midfielders can't - a tall frame that can actually win headers - but there's no denying he'd be better off back with Leicester.

Grade - D

 

Diego Moreira - Recalled from Lyon

Did Chelsea recall Moreira or did Lyon terminate his loan? Either way, the Portuguese winger is back at Stamford Bridge and, having already played for Chelsea earlier this season, can no longer be sent out on loan. He's spending the next six months with Mauricio Pochettino's team.

The initial loan was a waste of time - he played fewer than 300 Ligue 1 minutes - and the decision to play him earlier this season was a mistake, now leaving Chelsea with a player who is nowhere near good enough for the squad.

Moreira is expected to spend most of his time with the academy, where he is likely to take a spot away from an emerging youngster who has spent the past six months proving himself. Bad.

Grade - F

 

David Datro Fofana - Recalled from Union Berlin, loaned to Burnley

Chelsea were among the many spectators who fell for the Union Berlin illusion this season. They loaned striker David Datro Fofana to what they believed was an emerging Bundesliga contender playing in the Champions League, but watched on as the entire unit struggled to live up to last season's heights.

Keen to get Fofana playing at a higher level, Chelsea brought him back and sent him on loan to Burnley, where he came off the bench to set up a goal on his debut against Manchester City.

The youngster will have to work hard at Burnley, who are battling at the bottom of the Premier League, but at least he'll be playing and learning at a high level.

Grade - B

 

Ian Maatsen - Loaned to Borussia Dortmund

This is a tricky one to grade since Maatsen should never have been allowed to leave in the first place. Chelsea have struggled at left-back but, for whatever reason, declined to look at the Dutchman and isolated him so much that he was going to let his market value tank ahead of an inevitable bargain exit.

With that frustrating context in mind, Chelsea have done pretty well out of this deal. Getting Maatsen to sign a new two-year contract with a release clause of around £30m is excellent business, and if he continues to impress with Dortmund, the Blues shouldn't struggle to get that fee in the summer. They're hoping to maximise an asset that, for whatever reason, wasn't going to benefit the first team.

From a football perspective, this is a shocker from Chelsea, but if we're talking pure business, it's about as good as anyone could have hoped for. Shall we just stick it right in the middle?

Grade - C

 

Armando Broja - Loaned to Fulham

Just like Maatsen, this one needs looking at from two perspectives. Broja needed to find regular minutes, and if he wasn't getting them at Chelsea, he'll definitely benefit from the short trip over to Fulham.

However, from a business side of things, this is humiliating. Chelsea started off demanding £50m and rejecting loans with options for permanent transfers. When nobody met their ridiculous asking price, Chelsea decided to accept straight loans but sought a £5m fee, and when that was laughed off as well, they ended up sending Broja to Fulham for an initial £750,000.

Chelsea are now even lighter in the striker department, and for what? They were always going to demand £35m+ for Broja in the summer anyway, and a loan with Fulham is only going to do so much to change that asking price. If he plays regularly and doesn't score, that figure is going to have to drop big time.

Grade - E

 

Alex Matos - Loaned to Huddersfield

Alex Matos joined Chelsea from Norwich in the summer and quickly made an impression behind the scenes, earning himself a regular spot in Mauricio Pochettino's matchday squad. When it was decided he was too good to be lost in purgatory, he was sent on loan to Huddersfield Town.

The 19-year-old had fans drooling on his debut when he dazzled in a FA Cup defeat to Manchester City and he's done a great job ever since, really winning over his new fans and proving he has a career in senior football.

To see Huddersfield sack their manager late in January will have come as a scare for Chelsea, but the hope is that Matos proves to be too good for any new boss to ignore. So far, so good.

Grade - A