Chelsea Transfers

[MoroccanBlue 5,291]

Also from the FoxTalk Forums

Quote

According to Ben Jacobs (yes i know) Fofana has just liked a tweet saying 70 million to Chelsea minimum, if true, then this is where it begins.

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by MoroccanBlue

[Jype 6,398]

10 minutes ago, manpe said:

I would definitely take Jesus, Zinchenko and Bissouma. 

Zinchenko would have been a good backup for Chilwell at LWB, just like Perisic would have been. I don't think he would've gotten a game in midfield ahead of Jorginho/Kante/Kovacic/Gallagher.

Bissouma would have been a pointless signing. We already have more than enough depth there and he's not a clear improvement on any of our current midfield options, although for sure he'd have been a more long-term player compared to Jorginho/Kante. For our next CM/DM signing to replace Jorgi/Kante I'd like to think the club should aim for a higher standard than the likes of Bissouma.

Jesus I'll give you, he'd have been a good signing for us too.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

3 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Also from the FoxTalk Forums

 

Sounds about right i expect Fofana will cost around £70m-£80m considering he just signed a new extension.

[Jype 6,398]

1 minute ago, Blues Forever said:

Sounds about right i expect Fofana will cost around £70m-£80m considering he just signed a new extension.

For sure. If he hadn't signed a new contract just four months ago, he'd probably have been available for £50-60M at most but with a contract till 2027 Leicester hold all the cards and will definitely demand close to 'Maguire money' for him.

Before his leg break he was well on his way to becoming a world class player. I'm not a doctor but a leg break probably isn't as bad as a bad knee injury or a muscle tear as long as the bone has healed properly so maybe it won't be a big concern?

If Fofana is made available by Leicester and the club get enough medical records to make sure he's made a full recovery from his injury, I wouldn't mind having a go at him even if the asking price is a lot. Having a fully fit Fofana at his 2021 level would be a huge asset to the team.

[Tomo 21,733]

1 minute ago, Jype said:

For sure. If he hadn't signed a new contract just four months ago, he'd probably have been available for £50-60M at most but with a contract till 2027 Leicester hold all the cards and will definitely demand close to 'Maguire money' for him.

Before his leg break he was well on his way to becoming a world class player. I'm not a doctor but a leg break probably isn't as bad as a bad knee injury or a muscle tear as long as the bone has healed properly so maybe it won't be a big concern?

If Fofana is made available by Leicester and the club get enough medical records to make sure he's made a full recovery from his injury, I wouldn't mind having a go at him even if the asking price is a lot. Having a fully fit Fofana at his 2021 level would be a huge asset to the team.

How was he in the games post his return last season do you (or anyone) know?

[MoroccanBlue 5,291]

3 minutes ago, Tomo said:

How was he in the games post his return last season do you (or anyone) know?

From the sound of it, just as solid as before his leg break. 

 

[Tomo 21,733]

2 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

From the sound of it, just as solid as before his leg break. 

 

In that case I may feel inclined to take the gamble.

[Superblue 6,370]

I know I probably sound like a broken record and in this instance I think Leicester paid about £35m for him originally, but once again it's another player who was highly rated and I'm pretty certain on our radar before he joined Leicester.

I know you can't buy everyone (seemingly unless you're Barcelona) but I feel the best way of rebuilding key areas of this squad as a whole, we need to be better with spotting some potentially top players and snapping them up before they end up at bigger clubs and more established with massive transfer fees. It benefitted Liverpool in their early developments under Klopp by picking up some players in this way like Robertson, Mane, Matip. 

Can't expect Boehly to be doing this straight away because it's not been our policy for years but it's definitely something I'd like to see us focus on moving forward with regards to scouting.

[Strike 7,212]

7 minutes ago, Jype said:

For sure. If he hadn't signed a new contract just four months ago, he'd probably have been available for £50-60M at most but with a contract till 2027 Leicester hold all the cards and will definitely demand close to 'Maguire money' for him.

Before his leg break he was well on his way to becoming a world class player. I'm not a doctor but a leg break probably isn't as bad as a bad knee injury or a muscle tear as long as the bone has healed properly so maybe it won't be a big concern?

If Fofana is made available by Leicester and the club get enough medical records to make sure he's made a full recovery from his injury, I wouldn't mind having a go at him even if the asking price is a lot. Having a fully fit Fofana at his 2021 level would be a huge asset to the team.

Agree. Not getting my hopes up but if there is a possibility, I would pay Kounde money for him

[Clockwork 1,794]

4 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I know I probably sound like a broken record and in this instance I think Leicester paid about £35m for him originally, but once again it's another player who was highly rated and I'm pretty certain on our radar before he joined Leicester.

I know you can't buy everyone (seemingly unless you're Barcelona) but I feel the best way of rebuilding key areas of this squad as a whole, we need to be better with spotting some potentially top players and snapping them up before they end up at bigger clubs and more established with massive transfer fees. It benefitted Liverpool in their early developments under Klopp by picking up some players in this way like Robertson, Mane, Matip. 

Can't expect Boehly to be doing this straight away because it's not been our policy for years but it's definitely something I'd like to see us focus on moving forward with regards to scouting.

The success is credit to Klopp, he is the best at getting the most out of players. He has numerous examples at Dortmund and Liverpool.

 

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Clockwork

[chelsea_4_eva 1,157]

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Edited July 27, 2022 by chelsea_4_eva

[chelsea_4_eva 1,157]

39 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Also from the FoxTalk Forums

 

Praise the lord he is not wearing a Barcelona kit..

Also didnt know the lad is only 21.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

5 minutes ago, Clockwork said:

The success is credit to Klopp, he is the best at getting the most out of players. He has numerous examples at Dortmund and Liverpool.

 

 

I think Edwards played a bigger role than Klopp at Pool. He was the one who convinced Klopp to agree with Mane and Salah despite the later wanted Brandt, Gotze, and Pulisic.

[maxlev 45]

8 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

I know I probably sound like a broken record and in this instance I think Leicester paid about £35m for him originally, but once again it's another player who was highly rated and I'm pretty certain on our radar before he joined Leicester.

I know you can't buy everyone (seemingly unless you're Barcelona) but I feel the best way of rebuilding key areas of this squad as a whole, we need to be better with spotting some potentially top players and snapping them up before they end up at bigger clubs and more established with massive transfer fees. It benefitted Liverpool in their early developments under Klopp by picking up some players in this way like Robertson, Mane, Matip. 

Can't expect Boehly to be doing this straight away because it's not been our policy for years but it's definitely something I'd like to see us focus on moving forward with regards to scouting.

Exactly what I have been saying. I can remember days when we bought players like KDB, Salah, Lukaku, Marin, Moses etc from lower clubs and with cheap fee. Although not all turned to world beaters but those were smart deals by the club then. If u have senior players, then it is good to bring in young guys with great potentials to rotate with as well as to understudy the older players. Our failure in getting the best from those players was the usual impatience from our then owner which inturn put so much pressure on the coaches to develop young inconsistent players who requires patience to get to world class level. Klopp got that protection and patience from his team owners hence the results today. If same patience is shown to Tuchel, he will definitely take us to greater levels.

[Superblue 6,370]

2 minutes ago, Clockwork said:

The success is credit to Klopp, he is the best at getting the most out of players. He has numerous examples at Dortmund and Liverpool.

The coaching aspect is certainly credit to Klopp but from the scouting perspective, it's widely rumoured that there are quite a few targets that Klopp wanted and was persuaded into different players that would suit him better by Michael Edwards and the Liverpool scouting/data teams.

But my point is strictly on the scouting side of things. Whatever you think of Klopp, Tuchel, whoever and their ability to get 'X' amount out of players, ultimately our scouting and recruitment, for me, has not been to a sufficient standard for far too long and a lot of this boils down to a seeming philosophy of waiting to see young players with high potential make a 'mid-tier' move first to track their development before being interested in them.

With centre backs, Koulibaly I believe is the first we've paid money for since Rudiger and realistically if Rudiger and Christensen didn't leave in the summer it's arguable whether we would have left that position again for another year. 5 years is a long time to go without investing in what is a key area of the team, even if it was to bring a younger player in and give them chance to develop behind a more established pairing.

I'm not saying we should only follow this path now and only buy young players but it's an area we should be leaning on much more heavier now that we no longer hold an obvious advantage over other teams to just spend more than them. The Sterling and Koulibaly transfers at face value feel measured and intelligent signings at reasonable fees because of their contract situations, but two that can slot straight into the team. If we can combine similar deals to them alongside trying to identify and cherry pick some of the top young talents before they end up at bigger clubs, this to me feels an efficient and stable plan to follow in the transfer market.

 

[Clockwork 1,794]

1 minute ago, Blues Forever said:

I think Edwards played a bigger role than Klopp at Pool. He was the one who convinced Klopp to agree with Mane and Salah despite the later wanted Brandt, Gotze, and Pulisic.

Say what you say is true. Gotze was phenomenal under Klopp, Salah was a flop at Chelsea and was nothing special in Serie A. Who knows how Pulisic would have been under Klopp. If Klopp leaves Pool they will go back to fighting 4-6.

Klopp has a vast list of maximizing players at two different clubs.

Saying Michael Edwards has played a bigger role in Pool success is one of the ridiculous statement on this board, absolute insane comment.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

Just now, Clockwork said:

Say what you say is true. Gotze was phenomenal under Klopp, Salah was a flop at Chelsea and was nothing special in Serie A. Who knows how Pulisic would have been under Klopp. If Klopp leaves Pool they will go back to fighting 4-6.

Klopp has a vast list of maximizing players at two different clubs.

Saying Michael Edwards has played a bigger role in Pool success is one of the ridiculous statement on this board, absolute insane comment.

But it is the truth, he was the one who scouted and signed the majority of those cheap players despite Klopp wanted a different targets. 

[Superblue 6,370]

3 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

But it is the truth, he was the one who scouted and signed the majority of those cheap players despite Klopp wanted a different targets. 

Liverpool hit a goldmine to be honest with the perfect mix of a world class coach and a sporting director who understood his manager and could perfectly identify targets for him.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with both moving forward separately.

Klopp is clearly world class but it shouldn't be forgotten that it took key signings to make everything knit together for his team. Can he sustain those levels over the next few years working with a different sporting director to identify the longer term replacements for a number of players who are now the wrong side of 30.

Similarly is Michael Edwards work overhyped because he had one of the best coaches around to make use of the players he was identifying. Can he go to a different team with a different coach and build similar magic over a sustained period.