Chelsea Transfers

[Special Juan 27,424]

Unfortunately Mason hasn't been good at all lately, no matter the stature he holds at the club. His performance levels must start matching what he is asking for and I damn sure what he's asking for is up there with the big earners.

Things are starting to heat up now with top class signings and this will do nothing but highlight were he is in terms of his levels. It's alright ratting about and puffing and panting every game and showing your down and sad after a defeat, but he's got to do so much more and pretty quick for me.

[LegenTerry 265]

A lot of talk and  exclusive articles  today in Croatia about us putting Mateo Kovacic on transfer list ? 

Apparently they are referred on some Guardian reports. Is there any truth in that ? I mean he was one of our best players last couple of seasons so it would be very disappointing to let him leave.

Edited February 2, 2023 by LegenTerry

[lucio 5,418]

3 minutes ago, LegenTerry said:

A lot of talk and  exclusive articles  today in Croatia about us putting Mateo Kovacic on transfer list ? 

Apparently they are referred on some Guardian reports. Is there any truth in that ? I mean he was one of our best players last couple of seasons so it would be very disappointing to let him leave.

Stories just after the close of the window are normally horseshit

[Superblue 6,370]

13 minutes ago, LegenTerry said:

A lot of talk and  exclusive articles  today in Croatia about us putting Mateo Kovacic on transfer list ? 

Apparently they are referred on some Guardian reports. Is there any truth in that ? I mean he was one of our best players last couple of seasons so it would be very disappointing to let him leave.

I think a lot of this will stem from the fact that he has only a year left come the summer and will turn 30 in 2024 when his contract is up so it's likely a difficult one for the club to try to sort out here.

Having said this, I've read nothing in recent times to suggest that there has been any discussions for a new contract with Kova. I can remember reading a while back that he was considering his future towards the end of his contract and that he might be receptive to a new challenge so he may have already put something like this out to club already?

For me personally, we don't want to go too young, too quick and unless we can get £30m+ for him in the summer to help fund a replacement and/or he's pushing to leave, I'd be inclined to look at seeing if we can get his contract extended by a year or two.

[Vesper 28,786]

2 hours ago, LegenTerry said:

A lot of talk and  exclusive articles  today in Croatia about us putting Mateo Kovacic on transfer list ? 

Apparently they are referred on some Guardian reports. Is there any truth in that ? I mean he was one of our best players last couple of seasons so it would be very disappointing to let him leave.

I already explained in some depth as to why there is the talk

it is complicated and will require a large judgment call

see:

 

[Vesper 28,786]

1 hour ago, Superblue said:

I'd be inclined to look at seeing if we can get his contract extended by a year or two.

If I was a soon to be (last month of this season) 29yo Kova

there is not a chance I would extend it for ONLY a year or two on my June 2024 expiring current contract

especially for only a year

as then I am assed out at 31

or, if a 2 year extension, 32

he turns 30 right before his current deal ends, so that is a hot mess too, as 30yo is when your value starts to dive (and only gets rapidly worse, especially 33yo and on, at 33yo you are 99% of the time fucked in terms of footie valuing you for big pay cheque, despite the freak of nature in Thiago that we are blessed with) unless your name is Messi or CR7 or you are a GK (and even there, for most GKers, 33, 34 is VERY often the last peak years, if they even make it to that age at peak, despite some exceptions (I documented this GK age thing long ago, in pretty detailed depth)

it is not a coincidence that the young adult human demographical cohort is so often delineated as 18 to 32yo's

it is a bad confluence of age and expiration and club transition/flux

[Vesper 28,786]

why T-Markt only shows prices in Euros now

ffs

Hello,

I've been using Transfermarkt for a very long time and, until I changed my laptop recently, all the prices I had seen were in UK Pound Sterling currency. Now, since logging in from my new laptop, all the prices are in Euros. Since I am used to see them in UK Pounds, I tried to find a way in settings to change this but I couldn't. I am entering the https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk URL so I thought the prices would automatically be seen in Pounds, but no they aren't. Please tell me if there is any way to switch from Euros to Pounds

Hi,
Sorry little late reply. For a few months it has been shown in euros because of the exchange rates, which, especially in the past, have not always been shown correctly.

So your settings are correct.

Unfortunately, you also have to say that this will not be changed back again.

[Superblue 6,370]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

If I was a soon to be (last month of this season) 29yo Kova

there is not a chance I would extend it for ONLY a year or two on my June 2024 expiring current contract

especially for only a year

as then I am assed out at 31

or, if a 2 year extension, 32

he turns 30 right before his current deal ends, so that is a hot mess too, as 30yo is when your value starts to dive (and only gets rapidly worse, especially 33yo and on, at 33yo you are 99% of the time fucked in terms of footie valuing you for big pay cheque, despite the freak of nature in Thiago that we are blessed with) unless your name is Messi or CR7 or you are a GK (and even there, for most GKers, 33, 34 is VERY often the last peak years, if they even make it to that age at peak, despite some exceptions (I documented this GK age thing long ago, in pretty detailed depth)

it is not a coincidence that the young adult human demographical cohort is so often delineated as 18 to 32yo's

it is a bad confluence of age and expiration and club transition/flux

Yeah, one year extension I think isn't happening.

2 year extension though could be possible if we get it thrashed out this season. It would give him still 3 years here, and at 32 he's still going to find a good club prepared to pay him a good wage, particularly with no transfer fee involved.

I've just seen GP's presser and he's injured again. There is that concern alongside Kante, that you've got two top midfielders there who should and would be involved regularly when fit but the reliability of keeping both fit is a massive concern. 

I think with Kante, they're hoping to see his recovery from surgery to assess if it's sorted a lot of his issues out. If we can get him back to full fitness and just manage his minutes moving forward then I think the club would definitely want to try and get him signed up for another couple of years. This for me, would spell trouble for Kova because I cannot see Chelsea wanting two central midfielders that are injury prone and needing their minutes managed throughout a season.

[Vesper 28,786]

6 minutes ago, Superblue said:

Yeah, one year extension I think isn't happening.

2 year extension though could be possible if we get it thrashed out this season. It would give him still 3 years here, and at 32 he's still going to find a good club prepared to pay him a good wage, particularly with no transfer fee involved.

I've just seen GP's presser and he's injured again. There is that concern alongside Kante, that you've got two top midfielders there who should and would be involved regularly when fit but the reliability of keeping both fit is a massive concern. 

I think with Kante, they're hoping to see his recovery from surgery to assess if it's sorted a lot of his issues out. If we can get him back to full fitness and just manage his minutes moving forward then I think the club would definitely want to try and get him signed up for another couple of years. This for me, would spell trouble for Kova because I cannot see Chelsea wanting two central midfielders that are injury prone and needing their minutes managed throughout a season.

IF someone offers us £40m in the summer, gone

and he is my favourite player here left from the CL and World Champions days

Sell him to Fulham or Brentford

as Kova LOVES London

he said it is the best city on the planet (other than some in Croatia, lol) and he wants to live here at least part-time after retiring, barring a coaching job elsewhere

[TheHulk 1,855]

What's the point of a CB if Colwill comes in, guess Gvardiol still possible.

[TheHulk 1,855]

I guess no more Edwards.

[Pizy 18,368]

Gvardiol was my #1 dream target last summer but he’d be totally nonsensical now. Even if we move Koulibaly this next window we’d still have two extremely young left footed, left sided CB’s. We may already have a headache on our hands with trying to please both Colwill & Badiashile. 

Unless the idea is to become a back 3 side for good the last thing we need is another expensive CB.

[Hashishi 148]

Contract situation looks good for most of the team

[Vesper 28,786]

2 hours ago, Pizy said:

Gvardiol was my #1 dream target last summer but he’d be totally nonsensical now. Even if we move Koulibaly this next window we’d still have two extremely young left footed, left sided CB’s. We may already have a headache on our hands with trying to please both Colwill & Badiashile. 

Unless the idea is to become a back 3 side for good the last thing we need is another expensive CB.

what we need is to SO HOPE that the right footed, crazy expensive and (IMHO) potentially perma-damaged Wesley Fofana somehow regains complete pre injury form

oh and a time machine to use to go back scream 'WTF are you THINKING!!!' at Boehly when he is ordering the £95m total cost disasterclass buy of KK, lolol

[Vesper 28,786]

On 01/02/2023 at 20:51, Gundalf said:

Anyone remembering the Barca-Chelsea transfer battle in the summer? Feels like ages ago. 

WW were the ones to pull out over the dwarf Kounde, thank fuck 

I never really got hyped about Raphinha, so was not arsed when he went to them (and now they supposedly are already ready to sell him, LOL) HARD PASS

if we had pulled de Jong, then NO chance we would go for Enzo and Enzo is more is my type of player (I do rate de Jong though, I think he is a wonderful player)

neither Gavi or Pedri were EVER leaving Barca, certainly not to come to us 

Ousmane Dembélé not coming was a pretty big disappointment (I wanted him over Sterling in fact)

BUT

there was one fail that KILLED me

still does

I would prefer him over even Skriniar I think (so you KNOW I rate the fuck of him) especially as he is 4 years younger

Ronald Araújo

 

these are my top 6 (performance not value, I mean IF you had to win a game, who would you have on your team NOW) CBs on the planet

No order

Thiago Silva

Ronald Araújo

Josko Gvardiol  

Rúben Dias  

Marquinhos 

Milan Skriniar  

 

I can see William Saliba or Sven Botman or De Ligt replacing Thiago when our rock retires in a year and a half or 2 and a half years

what SUCKS is that before his massive leg break, I would have put Wesley Fofana above all 3 as the next member of the Big 6 CBs

I so hope he can recover to that level

 

btw

watch these teens

the 3 best teen CBs on the planet atm IMHO and one is ours!

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

15 hours ago, Pizy said:

Colwill & Badiashile.

Two equally effective players of the right quality is a big advantage I reckon. Let's get into the squad management through rotation habit. Let's enable the manager to rest players as he sees fit without having to risk jeopardising results to do it. For example, what a luxury it would be not to have to play Reece twice in Champions League weeks?

This is not just good for individuals, but it's great for squad bonding. Everyone is involved, everyone is contributing.

Edited February 3, 2023 by OhForAGreavsie

[OhForAGreavsie 5,892]

6 hours ago, TheHulk said:

What's the point of a CB if Colwill comes in, guess Gvardiol still possible.

A successor to Thiago?

Edited February 2, 2023 by OhForAGreavsie

[Vesper 28,786]

Explained: Chelsea’s restructure and the roles of Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart

https://theathletic.com/4149526/2023/02/02/Chelsea-restructure-winstanley-stewart-recruitment-transfers/

Even as Chelsea have brought in 12 first-team signings across the first two transfer windows of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s ownership for an initial commitment in transfer fees in excess of £500million ($615m), the division of responsibilities within their extremely active recruitment operation has remained difficult to decipher for the rest of the football world.

No longer. At the end of a January window that saw seven new players arrive at Cobham and Lyon right-back Malo Gusto acquired ahead of the summer, Chelsea have moved to restructure their senior football management team as two of their widely reported recruitment hires, Laurence Stewart from AS Monaco and Joe Shields from Southampton, officially start work.

Stewart and Paul Winstanley, who was initially recruited from Brighton & Hove Albion in November to serve as director of global talent and transfers, will be appointed co-sporting directors. The pair will assume overall responsibility for driving Chelsea’s football operations, including transfers, talent identification and recruitment strategy.

Reporting to Stewart and Winstanley will be technical director Christopher Vivell, who will adopt a more global focus as Chelsea look to build out a multi-club model in the coming years. The rest of the senior team underneath the co-sporting directors includes Shields, head coach Graham Potter’s trusted recruitment analyst Kyle Macaulay and long-serving data chief Matt Hallam. Head of youth development Jim Fraser will also be fully integrated as the club looks to focus the bulk of its recruitment on elite younger talent.

Further hires are expected to be made in Chelsea’s data and scouting operations in the months ahead, but Boehly and Clearlake co-founder Behdad Eghbali now believe they have their core team in place. Both men have been heavily involved in Chelsea’s first two transfer windows since the ownership change, with Eghbali leading the club’s successful efforts alongside Winstanley to sign Mykhailo Mudryk from under the noses of rivals Arsenal and Enzo Fernandez on deadline day.

Boehly and Eghbali each have a large portfolio of business interests outside of Chelsea and while they are expected to remain actively engaged owners on the sporting side, it is Winstanley and Stewart who will be empowered to shape the club’s approach to recruitment, from data analysis and scouting to the mechanics of transfer and contract negotiations.

That, of course, will not necessarily prevent agents and executives at other clubs from taking transfer proposals directly to Eghbali and Boehly, who last year assumed the title of interim sporting director following the departures of Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech. But it is hoped that, by clarifying their structure in this way, Chelsea will establish Winstanley and Stewart as the primary points of contact for anyone interested in doing deals with the club.

The two men are regarded internally as having different but complementary strengths: Stewart, whose previous role at Monaco was technical director, is more focused on scouting and player performance, while Winstanley has more experience in the realms of transfer negotiations and talent management — a track record he enhanced with a leading role in Chelsea’s recruitment in a very busy January window.

Chelsea’s senior reshuffle is also intended to signal a significant shift in strategy. After breaking numerous records for spending on transfer fees in the summer of 2022 and January 2023, Boehly and Clearlake want to invest more modestly in recruitment in the coming windows. That claim is likely to be greeted with considerable scepticism outside Stamford Bridge, given the scale of their movements in the market to date, and actions gain more credibility than words.

But the idea — voiced publicly and privately by many in the football world in recent weeks — that Chelsea have set out to disrupt and distort the transfer market is not endorsed by the club. The large transfer fees agreed for players like Fernandez and Mudryk that have understandably dominated the headlines are only one aspect of the investment; all of the January signings are deemed to be on sensible, incentivised salaries that are designed, over time, to help Boehly and Clearlake bring the club’s overall wage bill down to a more sustainable level relative to the Roman Abramovich era.

Chelsea are also likely to persist with longer-than-average contracts where suitable, despite UEFA’s move to cap the duration at which transfer fees can be amortised for financial fair play (FFP) purposes to five years from next summer. The reasoning is that these extended commitments benefit the club by protecting the resale value of young and (hopefully) improving assets while also benefiting the players, who gain greater security of income in case of injury.

Stewart and Winstanley are now in position to lead the conversations that underpin these strategic decisions, though Boehly and Eghbali are keen to maintain the more collaborative culture they sought to establish at Cobham following the departures of Granovskaia and Cech last year, ensuring everyone involved in the process has input.

Chelsea’s ownership group has been insistent since assuming control of the club last summer that they wanted to build a world-class sporting organisation as well as a winning team. With these structural changes, they believe they have taken a big step towards achieving that goal.