Chelsea Transfers

[bigbluewillie 1,930]

23 hours ago, Vesper said:

question

are we also going to have a SPORTING director?

it is my understanding (perhaps a wrong one) that a technical director is in charge of the of the overall club structure, and a sporting director is in charge of the on the the pitch/recruiting side

Vesp, my brain hurts again🙃

[Vesper 30,091]

1 hour ago, bigbluewillie said:

Vesp, my brain hurts again🙃

others answered it (my question)

we are getting a sporting director as well

which I am very happy about

I absolutely trust Boehly/Behdad Eghbali, José Feliciano + the rest of Clearlake/Wyss/Walter/Goldstein etc to build a WC organisation

[Vesper 30,091]

Fabrizio Romano

39 mins ago

Talks to be held over difficult Denis Zakaria situation

It’s not been easy for Denis Zakaria - he looked set to stay at Juventus before Chelsea decided to go for him in the final few hours of the transfer market. Chelsea signed him on loan with a purchase option of €20m, plus €4m in add-ons.

I’m told this deal will be discussed again because the situation is worrying - he’s not playing, he was wanted by Thomas Tuchel and he planned to have him as a starter. Still, under Graham Potter he’s not playing, he’s not even on the bench. This is why the clubs and player will speak again, because at the moment this deal makes no sense for anyone involved.

And let’s see what Chelsea will do in midfielders in January or next summer. They wanted Frenkie de Jong in the summer and Jude Bellingham will be on the market next summer, with many clubs interested.

[King Kante 1,643]

31 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Fabrizio Romano

39 mins ago

Talks to be held over difficult Denis Zakaria situation

It’s not been easy for Denis Zakaria - he looked set to stay at Juventus before Chelsea decided to go for him in the final few hours of the transfer market. Chelsea signed him on loan with a purchase option of €20m, plus €4m in add-ons.

I’m told this deal will be discussed again because the situation is worrying - he’s not playing, he was wanted by Thomas Tuchel and he planned to have him as a starter. Still, under Graham Potter he’s not playing, he’s not even on the bench. This is why the clubs and player will speak again, because at the moment this deal makes no sense for anyone involved.

And let’s see what Chelsea will do in midfielders in January or next summer. They wanted Frenkie de Jong in the summer and Jude Bellingham will be on the market next summer, with many clubs interested.

Was a strange signing. If Bellingham is an option in the Summer than. I doubt he will be here very long. That said, as an emergency CM he is a reasonable option. 

[Reddish-Blue 2,489]

19 minutes ago, King Kante said:

Was a strange signing. If Bellingham is an option in the Summer than. I doubt he will be here very long. That said, as an emergency CM he is a reasonable option. 

I don't think it was a strange signing, in the sense that the club & Tuchel knew about Kante's injury worries and Kovacic is only just returning from a nasty injury himself.  Zakaria fits the bill of dynamic box to box midfielder (that's what I've seen him do in the Bundesliga as well as for his national team), it's surprising that he hasn't featured yet but there will be plenty of time to change that with the amount of games we are about to play. 

[Superblue 6,372]

4 hours ago, Vesper said:

others answered it (my question)

we are getting a sporting director as well

which I am very happy about

I absolutely trust Boehly/Behdad Eghbali, José Feliciano + the rest of Clearlake/Wyss/Walter/Goldstein etc to build a WC organisation

My personal opinion is that they will go back in for Michael Edwards. Reports suggest he was there first choice in the summer and that he was personally very impressed with the pitch but wanted a sabbatical.

I think having come out of last summer, you wouldn't expect huge work done in the January window and seemingly with the new Technical Director coming in, alongside the new manager and his own recruitment/scouting advisor there are at least some pieces now in place that we perhaps didn't have in the summer.

I mentioned it too at the time and stand by it that Boehly and Eghbali will be far better served in the future for having had to step in during the summer to fulfil that sporting director/recruitment role. It will have been a real crash course test for them but will have helped them gain a far greater understanding of the mechanics involved with transfer deals, and developed relationships with other clubs, agents, etc that wouldn't have been there. They themselves will have a much better understanding of the role of a sporting director and what steps they can make in the future to ensure that whomever it ends up being to take that role is supported in the best way possible to thrive in that position at Chelsea.

I think if they could get a commitment from Edwards to perhaps start at some point next year then they'd go with that. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,375]

Yeah since the best option atm is that bloke from Bayer we are better off waiting until Edwards is available. 

Especially now we are on the verge of appointing that one bloke as technical director. 

[Vesper 30,091]

AC Milan star Rafael Leao labelled Reece James as the "toughest opponent" he has faced in his career following his side's 3-0 loss to Chelsea on Wednesday.

[King Kante 1,643]

Need to be keeping tabs on that A.Silva kid at Benfica. Looks uber promising for a 18 y.o. CB. 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

4 hours ago, King Kante said:

Need to be keeping tabs on that A.Silva kid at Benfica. Looks uber promising for a 18 y.o. CB. 

He has €100m release clause.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Vesper 30,091]

54 minutes ago, Blues Forever said:

He has €100m release clause.

other reports say only £13m, so who knows

[Blues Forever 1,232]

8 minutes ago, Vesper said:

other reports say only £13m, so who knows

I saw it from transfermarkt. Benfica put a high release clause on him, Fernandez, and Ramos.

Antonio Silva: €100m

Enzo Fernandez: €120m

Goncalo Ramos: €120m

Edited October 11, 2022 by Blues Forever

[King Kante 1,643]

Guys, just discovered who our new Sporting Director is going to be!!

https://twitter.com/LucasNavarreteM/status/1579827309929934848?s=20&t=oxB-sSp88RyTSvzm52FUEw

 

[Vesper 30,091]

Chelsea are already prepared to terminate Denis Zakaria’s loan deal, while Hakim Ziyech will also be allowed to leave 

 

https://www.90min.com/posts/denis-zakaria-hakim-ziyech-free-to-leave-Chelsea-in-january

 

Chelsea are looking to terminate Denis Zakaria's loan move in January, 90min understands, with the Blues also ready to listen to offers for winger Hakim Ziyech as well.

Zakaria joined Chelsea on deadline day during the summer but is yet to play a single minute for the club and has not featured in a single Premier League matchday squad thus far.

Sources have confirmed to 90min that Zakaria does not feature in the plans of current boss Graham Potter, who even handed a debut to young Carney Chukwuemeka ahead of naming the Swiss international on his bench for the recent 3-0 victory over Wolves.

The dilemma for Chelsea is, however, that Zakaria made two appearances for Juventus this season before moving to Stamford Bridge and FIFA rules dictate that a player cannot represent more than two teams across one campaign. Should he play a minute for the Blues, he will be unable to join a third side.

Chelsea hope to return Zakaria to parent club Juventus but the Serie A side have no obligation to take him, and so the Blues are hopeful that current Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri is relieved of his duties before the January transfer window and his hypothetical replacement wants Zakaria back.

While that matter is largely out of their hands, Chelsea are also understood to be looking to offload Ziyech once the January transfer window opens.

---

The Morocco international was on the fringes under former manager Thomas Tuchel and has struggled for minutes under Potter, and sources have confirmed that he is once again free to leave the club in January.

As was the case last summer, both Ajax and AC Milan are interested in pursuing a deal. Chelsea are prepared to allow Ziyech to leave on loan, perhaps for 18 months, but co-owner Todd Boehly is pushing for a permanent departure to raise funds and free up space in the squad.

Boehly is looking to overhaul the team's forward line and is already deep in talks with Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig, while he has also asked the Bundesliga side about incoming striker Benjamin Sesko, who will join from Red Bull Salzburg next summer.