Chelsea Transfers

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

2 hours ago, Vesper said:

Hazard, he was top of my board for young wingers back in the day

also, we TWICE HAD the best young young AMFs on the planet and lost them both (De Bruyne long ago, and again with Musiala)

also we DID buy the best young (under 22yo) GKing prospect on the planet in Gabriel Slonina (only just turned 18 seven months ago) The only other GKer who is younger than Donnarumma (who soon turns 24) and is POTENTIALLY (as it stands atm IMHO) better than Slonina is the 22yo giant (1.97m) Georgian GKer on Valencia, Giorgi Mamardashvili, who is 4 years older than Slonina. The only other GKers who are young and in that mix atm, are the 22yo Illan Meslier (soon 23 and also a giant at 1.97m) and the 23yo Diogo Costa (bit short at only 1.85m, 1.86m, I have seen both heights listed)

Slonina is the only teenage GKer valuation-rated in the top 40 GKers under the age of 25 (so an even bigger group, and he is already at 14th), and one of only 2 in top 50 (the other is an 18yo, who turns 19 in a month, a Russian keeper at 41st, Daniil Khudyakov, from Lokomotiv)

 

now more:

also (this is a bit of hedge) in theory, IF he had not had that horrid injury, Wesley Fofana

and now we are in for 2 more (not saying we land either)

in Gvardiol and especially Bellingham

IF Fofana had never had the nightmare injury and we do get Gvardiol, we would be staring at the best CB pairing on the planet within 2 to 3 years or so max IMHO

still MAY be if Fofana somehow miraculously completely regains everything back to pre injury form and physical nature/ability (I have my doubts, sigh, which is why he came off my board for buys as soon as he was injured, but it is NOT impossible) and we do pull Gvardiol

finally, we COULD and SHOULD have purchased the best young DMF on the planet in summer 2021 (Tchou) but fucking Marina and our SHIT scouts kiboshed it, those motherfuckers

Or more likely we end up with a cb contingent of perma-wrecked Fofana, deluge-rinsed Koulibaly and 40y.o. Thiago besides Trev and hopefully Colwill for the next few years.

Unless we quickly return to signing top-shelf talent early and do not fuck up developing them for once we have a squad set up for years of midtable finishes. without prime Kante our midfield looks absolutely bleak, all it has is mediocrity in depth. Our attack is terrible anyway and no i don't buy Ziyech/Puli resurgence arch vs some sideshow clowns at the WC. We are Reece James FC at this point.

But things can turn quickly. Arsenal 3 years ago had the ultimate team of dregs. Now they still have a few of them lingering around which makes them paperthin but they are packed with young talent. All it needed were a few decent buys&patience w their hg talent. At least 3 out of Saka, odegaard, Smith rowe, Martinelli and Saliba (all born 2000 or later) will become world class soon and lock in top4 for years if they don't fk it up.

Years of erratic buying, contract mismanagement and the manager merry-go-round have left with an incoherent, ageing, injury prone squad. Even a brilliant coach like Tuchel could only make them play out of their skins for this long. And for some reason I do not trust Boehly&co to get us out of this mess.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Magic Lamps

[Vesper 31,108]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

hopefully Colwill

his lack of game time at Brighton troubles me

[Vesper 31,108]

Bennacer has been hitting the Milan scran table hard

I smell Eden 2.0

now

November 2022

 

before

Edited December 5, 2022 by Vesper

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

15 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Bennacer has been hitting the Milan scran table hard

I smell Eden 2.0

now

November 2022

 

before

All this junk we are linked with. Bennacer, Penaldo, that Pepe chap, Taremi, Pau Torres, add 150m Declan Rice for good measure and we are set for an age of mediocrity. UEFA Incompetence League champions 2024 here we come

[Vesper 31,108]

16 hours ago, cosmicway said:

Why we allowed Olivier Giroud to leave Chelsea ?
After two years the man is still going strong. He scored again today against Poland and he also scored an almost legal goal with flying scissors -just like against Atletico. The referee had blown his whistle for a foul just a fraction of a second earlier. He may also win the world cup again.
We fancied Lukaku was going to solve all of our problems !

Because most thought he was not up to playing on a pressing club (which is bollocks, look at him on France and at many times on Milan, Milan's overall shitshow against us notwithstanding)

BUT then we turned around an bought the turgid Lukaku, who couldn't press a bunch of grapes after Lizzo sat on them

also, I have a bit of a theory on hard pressing CF's

they are often injured

look at Gabriel Jesus for instance

a pressing machine, but so often injured

same for Bamford, Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson, Firmino, Andrea Belotti, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Danny Ings, etc

 

[Vesper 31,108]

19 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

All this junk we are linked with. Bennacer, Penaldo, that Pepe chap, Taremi, Pau Torres, add 150m Declan Rice for good measure and we are set for an age of mediocrity. UEFA Incompetence League champions 2024 here we come

that is a 2011-2013 Anzhi Makhachkala shopping list

ROFLMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Former world's richest club Anzhi Makhachkala to fold 11 years after signing Samuel Eto'o

Anzhi Makhachkala are set to fold this summer after they were denied a licence to compete in the third division next season just 11 years after signing Samuel Eto'o

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Vesper

[Reddish-Blue 2,676]

2 hours ago, Magic Lamps said:

Or more likely we end up with a cb contingent of perma-wrecked Fofana, deluge-rinsed Koulibaly and 40y.o. Thiago besides Trev and hopefully Colwill for the next few years.

Unless we quickly return to signing top-shelf talent early and do not fuck up developing them for once we have a squad set up for years of midtable finishes. without prime Kante our midfield looks absolutely bleak, all it has is mediocrity in depth. Our attack is terrible anyway and no i don't buy Ziyech/Puli resurgence arch vs some sideshow clowns at the WC. We are Reece James FC at this point.

But things can turn quickly. Arsenal 3 years ago had the ultimate team of dregs. Now they still have a few of them lingering around which makes them paperthin but they are packed with young talent. All it needed were a few decent buys&patience w their hg talent. At least 3 out of Saka, odegaard, Smith rowe, Martinelli and Saliba (all born 2000 or later) will become world class soon and lock in top4 for years if they don't fk it up.

Years of erratic buying, contract mismanagement and the manager merry-go-round have left with an incoherent, ageing, injury prone squad. Even a brilliant coach like Tuchel could only make them play out of their skins for this long. And for some reason I do not trust Boehly&co to get us out of this mess.

Not that I like talking about Arsenal but they did a good job in getting rid of the average players from their squad and heavily investing in players of the 21-24 year age group. 

Feel like we took a step in the right direction by offloading Barkley, Drinkwater and other squad fillers.  Now if we can do the same with Ziyech/Pulisic, get in a solid defensive midfielder....we might be able to start building a half decent team again!

Nkunku*, Havertz, Mount, Gallagher, Reece, Fofana, Colwill will be nice to watch in the coming years...just need to fill out the rest of the squad

[Superblue 6,372]

5 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Not that I like talking about Arsenal but they did a good job in getting rid of the average players from their squad and heavily investing in players of the 21-24 year age group. 

Feel like we took a step in the right direction by offloading Barkley, Drinkwater and other squad fillers.  Now if we can do the same with Ziyech/Pulisic, get in a solid defensive midfielder....we might be able to start building a half decent team again!

Nkunku*, Havertz, Mount, Gallagher, Reece, Fofana, Colwill will be nice to watch in the coming years...just need to fill out the rest of the squad

They've done well overall with their investments in recent seasons but I do still think when the pressure starts increasing they may struggle because overall they lack big game and trophy winning experience throughout their squad. They can perhaps lean a bit more on Zinchenko and Jesus compared to previous seasons, but even them I'd argue were more peripheral and less integral in City's success, and there's talk of Jesus being out for 3 months now anyway.

It's what I'm a little concerned about with Chelsea. They have to get the balance right in a rebuild job. We're maybe in a bit better spot from some of our players like Mount, James, Havertz, etc having won the Champions League and been involved in far higher calibre games in recent seasons, but I don't think you can just simply cull all of your older, more experienced players. Some will need to be phased out over the next couple of years. We're in a difficult spot in the summer because not only do we have Jorginho and Kante out of contract, but Kova only has a year left then too and if he doesn't extend it may be the last chance to move him on and recoup some money for him. The midfield clearly needs a revamp but that doesn't mean I'd want to lose all 3 in one swoop.

Similarly in defence. We're in a situation where Thiago Silva and Azpi aren't long term options and Koulibaly will be 32 in the summer too and hasn't yet settled. Is that again a similar circumstance, where all 3 are moved on in the summer? 

So that could end up being the 6 most experienced players within the squad all potentially moving on at once. That wouldn't sit well with me but it's definitely a realistic prospect. 

[Vesper 31,108]

I think that if there are FFP-related punishments, then when a club loses a player on a free there should be some sort of tribunal that awards what the player is actually worth on a 'credit against FFP' basis

it is madness that we lost (just using TWO players for an example) Rudiger and AC, who if they were under 2 or more year contract expiration dates, would cost EASILY £80-90m plus combined, and we just have eat it, with no credit towards FFP balance sheets

if you take a loss on investment in real life, you can claim that capital loss against taxes you owe via a formula, so why not have some sort of 'loss credit' in football

football doesn't have a draft system, so draft picks cannot be used like they are in American pro sports when rival clubs sign 'free agents'

[Superblue 6,372]

3 hours ago, Vesper said:

I think that if there are FFP-related punishments, then when a club loses a player on a free there should be some sort of tribunal that awards what the player is actually worth on a 'credit against FFP' basis

it is madness that we lost (just using TWO players for an example) Rudiger and AC, who if they were under 2 or more year contract expiration dates, would cost EASILY £80-90m plus combined, and we just have eat it, with no credit towards FFP balance sheets

if you take a loss on investment in real life, you can claim that capital loss against taxes you owe via a formula, so why not have some sort of 'loss credit' in football

football doesn't have a draft system, so draft picks cannot be used like they are in American pro sports when rival clubs sign 'free agents'

I understand where you're coming from with this, but at the point of contract expiration there's no loss on investment because the investment has been amortised over the length of contract so by the end of this the investment is worth nil anyway.

Slightly off topic but I do think with the continuously rising costs of transfer fees and wages, you'll see an increasing number of players in the future moving on free transfers. We just have to get cute and clever with this, and hopefully we'll get our own back losing out on Rudiger sometime in the future. Having said that, we took Ballack back in the day who at the time was one of the best midfielders of his generation and was worth millions so I guess it boils down to "you win some, you lose some".

[Vesper 31,108]

Gvardiol took a punch to the jacobs, eek

[Vesper 31,108]

this was an inevitable rumour

Chelsea keen on signing Ghana’s World Cup star

https://www.Chelsea-news.co/2022/12/Chelsea-keen-on-signing-ghanas-world-cup-star/

The World Cup might now be over for many nations as we reach the knockout stages, but players performances so far live on.

Ghana had one of their own gems shining on the world stage these last few weeks, and now he has become the subject of solid interest from Chelsea.

There have been a few player standing out at the World Cup, and Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus is certainly one of them. He’s been a constant and real threat for Ghana in attack and got many tongues wagging.

According to sources at Si & Dan Talk Chelsea today, report that Kudus has very much drawn interest from Chelsea, and we they even putting in some groundwork to try and sign him.

The report states that Kudus is open to moving to the Premier League from Ajax, but they would be looking for at least £40m for him. His current market value is £12.5m (transfermarkt), and Chelsea would be looking to sign him for much less than £40m. His contract runs out in 2025.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,954]

 

[Vesper 31,108]

32 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

 

he is worth £129m (€150m)

[Hamilton 2,120]

Hm didn’t know we had Musiala on the books, is it a matter of impatience from us with the player or the player with us?

[Jype 6,398]

14 minutes ago, Hamilton said:

Hm didn’t know we had Musiala on the books, is it a matter of impatience from us with the player or the player with us?

Musiala left when he was 16 and at the time he wasn't even eligible for a professional contract yet so there wasn't anything the club could have done to prevent him from going.

If I'm not mistaken his move had most of all to do with his decision of switching international allegiance from England to Germany so it made sense for him to go there and try to make a name for himself in the Bundesliga.

The club can be blamed for many fuck ups with its academy trained young players but I don't think Musiala is one of them, despite being hands down the best player of the lot. 

[Strike 7,792]

If Real are in the fray, this one's done

[Reddish-Blue 2,676]

20 hours ago, Superblue said:

They've done well overall with their investments in recent seasons but I do still think when the pressure starts increasing they may struggle because overall they lack big game and trophy winning experience throughout their squad. They can perhaps lean a bit more on Zinchenko and Jesus compared to previous seasons, but even them I'd argue were more peripheral and less integral in City's success, and there's talk of Jesus being out for 3 months now anyway.

It's what I'm a little concerned about with Chelsea. They have to get the balance right in a rebuild job. We're maybe in a bit better spot from some of our players like Mount, James, Havertz, etc having won the Champions League and been involved in far higher calibre games in recent seasons, but I don't think you can just simply cull all of your older, more experienced players. Some will need to be phased out over the next couple of years. We're in a difficult spot in the summer because not only do we have Jorginho and Kante out of contract, but Kova only has a year left then too and if he doesn't extend it may be the last chance to move him on and recoup some money for him. The midfield clearly needs a revamp but that doesn't mean I'd want to lose all 3 in one swoop.

Similarly in defence. We're in a situation where Thiago Silva and Azpi aren't long term options and Koulibaly will be 32 in the summer too and hasn't yet settled. Is that again a similar circumstance, where all 3 are moved on in the summer? 

So that could end up being the 6 most experienced players within the squad all potentially moving on at once. That wouldn't sit well with me but it's definitely a realistic prospect. 

I don't see us letting Kovacic go anytime soon, feel like he'll get a nice contract in the coming months. 

Jorginho is the most interesting one as the rumors around Declan Rice will only get more frequent & annoying as the transfer window approaches and you would think that if the club is "all in" on Declan Rice, then Jorginho's role in midfield comes into question as I don't see Potter utilizing them together in any possible midfield combination. 

The defensive planning is just shocking as we had two replacements in Tomori & Guehi but we let them go for about 25 million each and now we're likely to spend 60-70 million just to find a solid CB to take over from Thiago Silva. 

Interesting times ahead, massive transfer window coming up

[Reddish-Blue 2,676]

5 hours ago, Strike said:

If Real are in the fray, this one's done

Was he seriously linked to us?   Seemed like Real Madrid would be a no brainer considering they have Vinicius & Rodrygo who can show him exactly how to get to the very top. 

[Strike 7,792]

1 hour ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Was he seriously linked to us?   Seemed like Real Madrid would be a no brainer considering they have Vinicius & Rodrygo who can show him exactly how to get to the very top. 

Many papers reported that Thiago Silva hosted Endrick's family, showed Chelsea training ground in November 

https://www.espn.in/football/soccer-transfers/story/4800283/paris-saint-germain-Chelsea-among-clubs-vying-for-brazilian-wonderkid-endrick-sources