Chelsea Transfers

[chelsea_4_eva 1,186]

I just hope that moving forward, we only sign players who are technically good on the ball. I cannot take anymore of these professional football players with little technical skill.

[Superblue 6,372]

9 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Have we done great in terms of getting close to the big two? Probably not. But I'm really not getting the hype over the North London duo (Spurs i sort of get because of Conte but that's about it). 

Most of the signings they've made would have caused a meltdown here, especially if K2 ended up in one of those places.

They've both made some good signings but also some pretty average signings but it's being hyped up by the activity of both.

I think Jesus to be honest is a cracking signing for Arsenal and could be quite a big difference in where they might finish this season as they didn't have a consistent goal scorer last year and if he can fill that spot it'll improve them. But overall the rest of their signings are fairly 'meh'.

Spurs, I personally would have loved Perisic and Spence but as rotational backups to Chilwell and James. Those additions to Spurs don't trump what we already had. I do like Bissouma though I think he's a good signing although I'm not sure he's as suited to Conte's style as what they already had in Bentancur and Hojberg. The others like Richarlison and Lenglet though I think are bang average buys.

I'm extremely happy with the two players we've signed. In my opinion if neither are in the world class category, they're both only a level down and walk into our team as upgrades. It would just be nice to have had a couple more in that bracket to have arrived as I think then that would be the difference for most fans between pessimism of fighting for top 4 and optimism pushing the two above us.

[Jype 6,398]

3 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Have we done great in terms of getting close to the big two? Probably not. But I'm really not getting the hype over the North London duo (Spurs i sort of get because of Conte but that's about it). 

Most of the signings they've made would have caused a meltdown here, especially if K2 ended up in one of those places.

Exactly.

For Spurs getting the likes of Richarlison, Bissouma, Perisic and Lenglet does wonders for their squad depth but I wouldn't say any of their new signings really improve their best XI. Last season Spurs managed to get decent results even with shit rotational players because the only played in the Conference League and didn't even take it seriously but if they're going to want to do well in both the PL as well as the UCL their key players are going to have a lot more match load and getting these good depth signings was the least they could do. Conte is an excellent manager and having him for the full year instead of joining mid-season will be a much bigger impact than any new signing so they are definitely a threat.

As for Arsenal they replaced Lacazette with Jesus which I definitely consider an upgrade and Saliba returning from loan is an interesting one that can potentially improve their XI but the other incomings (Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira) are just more depth. Like their North London rivals, Arsenal too were in desperate need of squad depth with the return of European football this season. Even with the addition of these depth signings, will they do better in the league after adding another 8-12 European games to their match calendar or will the increased match load turn into a negative for their EPL form because their key players start getting more tired and get more injuries?

Of all the Spurs/Arsenal signings the only ones I'd definitely take for our squad are Jesus and Perisic, and of them only the former would be in competition to be a starter player and the other just a decent backup for Chilwell. 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,954]

With Leicester saying £70m-£80m for Fofana, remember they wanted £80m for Chilly and we paid £50m.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

5 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

With Leicester saying £70m-£80m for Fofana, remember they wanted £80m for Chilly and we paid £50m.

We don't have Marina anymore, remember so far Boehly doesn't seems doing any haggling and just offered what other clubs want.

[MoroccanBlue 5,399]

6 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

We don't have Marina anymore, remember so far Boehly doesn't seems doing any haggling and just offered what other clubs want.

Was also on his last year wasn't he? Not to mention he was pushing for a move. 

No, this will be difficult and Leicester honestly have every right to value something astronomical. 

[manpe 10,861]

15 minutes ago, Jype said:

Of all the Spurs/Arsenal signings the only ones I'd definitely take for our squad are Jesus and Perisic, and of them only the former would be in competition to be a starter player and the other just a decent backup for Chilwell.

I would definitely take Jesus, Zinchenko and Bissouma. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,399]

Just now, manpe said:

I would definitely take Jesus, Zinchenko and Bissouma. 

2 of which improve us immensely. 

[Strike 7,792]

3 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Was also on his last year wasn't he? Not to mention he was pushing for a move. 

No, this will be difficult and Leicester honestly have every right to value something astronomical. 

No, Chilwell still had 4 years to run on his contract. Leicester accepted a 50m offer after finding out City aren't bidding.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

2 minutes ago, Strike said:

No, Chilwell still had 4 years to run on his contract. Leicester accepted a 50m offer after finding out City aren't bidding.

And Chilwell at that time also still injured.

[manpe 10,861]

2 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

2 of which improve us immensely. 

I take it you mean Jesus and Bissouma? I would have also REALLY liked Zinchenko, would have been the perfect cover for that left side and even midfield. Him and Sterling together, graduates from Pep school, would have had instant understanding with each other too. I think le Arse really made two terrific signings.

[Strike 7,792]

 

This Athletic article from last week says that to sign players, Leicester need to sell first. The club committed £100million in funding for their new training ground at Seagrave, while also pushing through ambitious plans to redevelop King Power Stadium and the surrounding area.

Castagne, Tielemans, Schmeichel, Dennis Praet were the ones they were hoping to sell but they have not got offers. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,399]

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 21,751]

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 5,399]

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 21,751]

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 6,372]

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.