TheHulk 2,462 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 5 minutes ago, Vesper said: we better get a damn good low price on Guehi not happy about this he is overrated IMHO I was happy to see him sold We won't, we will get rinsed by Crystal Palace over an mediocre player. Vesper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,141 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Scratching around especially with ex players making themselves look like absolute amateurs is what they do. It's embarrassing in all honesty, especially the Chalobah situation as he should still b here anyway as he is better than the fucking two donkeys that are here now. There is no plan, business strategy, it's all hit and hope OneMoSalah and bigbluewillie 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mário César 1,278 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 after the way we humiliated chalobah, trying to get him back is one of the most humiliating things for the club. if I were chalobah, I wouldn't even want to come back, and rightly so bigbluewillie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pizy 18,926 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Us not signing Tel would be a good thing. Not because of the quality of the player but because it stops us signing someone who isn’t needed. Nkunku should still be sold regardless of Tel coming in or not. But replace him with an actual fucking #9! The primary reason Nkunku failed to take off here is because we have been shoehorning a player who isn’t a natural striker into that role. So why would we then replace him with another player who is much the same? Someone who can technically play as a forward but isn’t natural in the role? bigbluewillie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkh 596 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) Chelsea were comfortably compliant with the Premier League’s PSR rules. [@JacobsBen] Remember all those “experts” who said we were DEFINITELY in PSR trouble for 23-24? 🤣💪✅️✅️ Edited January 14 by mkh bluesman2610 and Fernando 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan 17,958 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Just splash the cash on Gyokeres or Isak. bigbluewillie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,141 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 3 minutes ago, Milan said: Just splash the cash on Gyokeres or Isak. Neither happening mid season, especially not Isak, he has the pick of the football world come the summer. Gyokeres will be Man United bound but we need to make our move now and sound it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,141 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 SKY Germany reporting the board of Bayern saying that Tel is staying and he is their star of the future. We need to now move on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddish-Blue 2,509 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 1 hour ago, TheHulk said: We won't, we will get rinsed by Crystal Palace over an mediocre player. Mediocre and he would be the best CB at the club 😄 TheHulk and Vesper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,193 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 A curated shortlist of left-footed centre-backs ripe for transfer rumours https://www.scoutednotebook.com/p/u23-left-footed-centre-backs-shortlist-mns As I watch players, sort spreadsheet columns and create custom Stathead searches, I find myself building internal shortlists for particular positions, roles or even specific player replacements. The reason I want to develop different formats for MNS is because, sometimes, no one breaks any single-game records and I find myself forcing the issue for the SCOUTED Stats section. Inspired by the January transfer window, this is what I came up with. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I find myself editing and updating a Saka Understudy database that still does not have a physical form. More recently, however, I keep stumbling across players that all fit the same description: left-footed centre-backs. I am not even looking for them. Admittedly, my next massive SkillCorner piece is based on centre-backs, but not specifically the left-footed variant. Earlier this season, I suggested the future of football is left-footed. This was loosely based on the disproportionate number of left-footed players that made up the top 15 for Shot-Creating Actions: 73.3% of them. This is remarkable when you consider that, according to Mark Thompson’s quick check in 2023, just 27% of players from a pool of 2,800 were left-footed. As for centre-backs, I imagine the rise in demand for left-footers has coincided with the increased responsibility in build-up. While it doesn’t matter which foot you use if you’re heading away ten crosses each game, it does make a difference when receiving the ball on that side of your own six-yard box. I also believe demand has increased yet again due to the inversion of full-backs and other in-possession shapes. At the very least, you might see a left-footed centre-back deployed at left-back to fulfil a similar role. Essentially, the left-sided centre-back has never been more left-sided. Get to the fucking shortlist, Jake. Yes, I know I waffle. It is how I get from brain to paper. When reviewing my list, I noticed that they were born in ascending years: 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005. So, it made sense to find a representative for 2004 and present a five-player shortlist based on these age groups. I also want to emphasise that the scouting process for these players is not yet complete. I simply wanted to share names I am looking at more closely than others and explaining the reasons why. Mika Mármol 2001 — Las Palmas, Spain For a Squawka video at the start of the season, I suggested Mármol as an alternative for clubs competing for the signature of Jorrel Hato - you will see why he is in-demand later. A year earlier, Llew analysed Mármol’s move to Las Palmas and got it spot on. Again. Read the full thread. In his debut top-flight season, Marmól completed more take-ons and made more successful tackles than any other centre-back in LaLiga. This season, like Hato, he’s been deployed at left-back most often. Due to his height, LB or LCB in a back three is most likely his best position at the elite level. It reduces the potential for his weaknesses to be exploited, mainly his lack of aerial prowess, while maximising his strengths: ball-playing, aggressive defending, mobility and speed. Otávio 2002 — FC Porto, Brazil Within a year, Otávio was signed by Famalicão for €500k and sold to Porto for €12m. Like Marmól, the Brazilian seems to be an extremely aggressive, front-footed defender. Despite standing at 188 cm, he also shares a weakness in the air. On the ground, however, he is a force of nature, making him the perfect cover for an extremely attacking full-back. In recent games, Wenderson Galeno, one of the most productive players during the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League campaign, has been deployed at left-back; he was playing left-wing during that UCL campaign. Of course, Porto are one of the most dominant teams in the Primeira Liga so can take more risk, but Otávio’s ability to cover large spaces makes it an even easier decision to rationalise. I will not say too much more as he features heavily in the upcoming SkillCorner piece I mentioned. For now, trust me. Konstantinos Koulierakis 2003 — VfL Wolfsburg, Greece Frequent MNS readers will not be surprised to see this pick. Konstantinos Koulierakis featured in back-to-back editions earlier this season after posting monster ball progression numbers before a dropping a couple of impressive performances during the November international break. Your new favourite centre-back, the U-21 EURO dream teams, and the cleanest sheets in South America Read full story The Greek international is closer to the throwback style. He wins 60% of his aerial duels and makes plenty of clearances. When he does play the ball, it usually travels a long, long way. He averages 10.7 Long Passes and 1.3 Switches per 90 minutes; both tallies rank him in the top five for 2001+ outfield players in Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season (450+ minutes played). His title as PAOK’s record transfer sale is under threat due to reported Liverpool interest in Stefanos Tzimas. I wonder how close he will get to Kevin De Bruyne’s €76m Wolfsburg record. Bram Lagae 2004 — KV Kortrijk (on loan from KAA Gent), Belgium This was the birth year I did not have an instant pick for. Generation 2004 includes soon-to-be Manchester City centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov and MNS regular Joel Ordóñez. But they are both right-footed. So Llew threw over some suggestions from Slack: Your best bet for a 2004 lefty is probably Mikayil Faye at Stade Rennais (Diambars graduate who went to Croatia then signed by Barca). Alan Matturro is interesting, your classic Uruguayan CB, but isn't playing much at Genoa. Maxim Dekker and Dominik Prpic worth a look. Seydou Sano was interesting/eye-catching at U-20 World Cup but went to Qatar. I already lean heavily on his insight to provide further evidence for the points I make in this newsletter but I did not want to completely nab the picks. So, I did a little search to look for some alternative names. Football is not played on spreadsheets but I noticed that Koulierakis was the only player on this list so far with a aerial duel success rate above 60%. To fix that, I searched for players born in 2004 and beyond (to provide some context) that had won at least 20 aerial duels this season while maintaining a 65%+ win rate. That returned 12 players: It’s a very cool list which includes another soon-to-be Manchester City centre-back, Vitor Reis, among names that SCOUTED fans will be familiar with. From the five 2004 candidates, only Bram Lagae is left-footed. Brahim Traoré appears to be completely two-footed but in the clips I found he seems to be deployed on the right side most often. I made a note of his name, but he does not make this shortlist. Lagae operates on the left of a back three and seems to enjoy a foray forward. Even though the Belgian gets the spot by default, it is not without merit. If you add a 65%+ Dribblers Tackled threshold to the above list of 12, it shrinks to just four names: Bram Lagae, Jorrel Hato, Yarek Gasiorowski and Vitor Reis. That is very good company to be keeping. That warrants further investigation. Nathan Zézé 2005 — FC Nantes, France At the moment, Nathan Zézé does not do much else but clear the ball. But he has done it more often than any other centre-back born in 2003 or later across Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season. Including 2001+ players, only Murillo, Botond Balogh, Nathan Collins and Illia Zabarnyi have made more. Zézé has the telescopic athleticism we highlighted as Leny Yoro’s standout attribute ahead of the big move to Manchester United (and interest from Real Madrid). I wrote this for Zézé’s entry in SCOUTED50 2024/25: “Zézé is very much a ground defender. He has the physical profile to compete and hold his own in the air, but thrives when covering large distances to sweep or making front-footed lunges to intercept the ball before it reaches the desired recipient.” A transfer is inevitable. If not this window, expect to see his name a lot in the summer. TL;DR Here are five left-footed centre-backs I think we will hear plenty of transfer rumours about in 2025: 🇪🇸 Mika Marmól (2001, Las Palmas) 🇧🇷 Otávio (2002, FC Porto) 🇬🇷 Konstantinos Koulierakis (2003, VfL Wolfsburg) 🇧🇪 Bram Lagae (2004, KV Kortrijk (on loan from KAA Gent) 🇫🇷 Nathan Zézé (2005, FC Nantes) Fernando 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesper 30,193 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 here is the CMF we should have bought instead of KDH Lazar Samardžić tracking to (in a full season's mintes) 20 goals, 16 assists he cost Atalanta 16.5m quid, around half what KDH cost LAM09 and Fernando 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkh 596 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Fernando 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,141 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Nkunku out as well as Veiga raises a decent bit of cash, use it wisely you muppets bigbluewillie and Fernando 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando 6,585 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 8 minutes ago, mkh said: Yes good money for him. I doubt cheapskate Bayern will pay that. So we can play hardball because I'm sure other teams will pay that, United for example. mkh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando 6,585 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 3 minutes ago, Special Juan said: Nkunku out as well as Veiga raises a decent bit of cash, use it wisely you muppets If I was the board I will throw all that money at a CB. Get me Murillo no matter if he cost a lot. He will cost big money like Enzo, Caicedo money. But those for me are money well spent because they are good and will be good for us many years. Blue Armour and bigbluewillie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHulk 2,462 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Special Juan said: Nkunku out as well as Veiga raises a decent bit of cash, use it wisely you muppets Owners: Edited January 14 by TheHulk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strike 7,491 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 3 hours ago, Special Juan said: No fucking way should we be even entertaining selling Nkunku if we don't get Tel coming the other way Why? Just get someone else. A proper 9 in his prime instead of a 19 year old who doesn't want to move anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,141 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 1 minute ago, Strike said: Why? Just get someone else. A proper 9 in his prime instead of a 19 year old who doesn't want to move anyway Exactly, but my point was if we are selling him to them and have already approached them for discussions then something is there. Lets be clear here and like 99 percent have on here, we need an out and out CF, and a top class one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,141 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 9 minutes ago, Fernando said: If I was the board I will throw all that money at a CB. Get me Murillo no matter if he cost a lot. He will cost big money like Enzo, Caicedo money. But those for me are money well spent because they are good and will be good for us many years. Sort of agree to an extent but the club won't spunk 70M on a CB, not a chance, especially with them looking at either Guehi or Trev coming back Fernando 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pizy 18,926 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 The prices we’re briefing these journalists for some of our unwanted players is pretty funny. Carney for 40m, Nkunku for 65m. There’s not a chance in hell Bayern would pay anywhere near that. I doubt they would even offer 40m. Fernando and Vesper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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