Chelsea Transfers

[Special Juan 27,394]

Just now, Strike said:

Wouldn't he be wary of going to City when they play with a lone DM and there is already Rodri and (hopefully) Kovacic joining?

Kalvin Phillips is going to WHU apparently as part of the deal, plus Kovacic will not play every game, injuries etc

[Reddish-Blue 2,327]

9 minutes ago, Strike said:

Wouldn't he be wary of going to City when they play with a lone DM and there is already Rodri and (hopefully) Kovacic joining?

Exactly, seems like Arsenal would be the better fit for him (especially with Partey being shopped around and Xhaka has apparently agreed a deal back to Bundesliga but Arsenal won't sell until they get their key additions which are Rice/Lavia). 

9 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

Kalvin Phillips is going to WHU apparently as part of the deal, plus Kovacic will not play every game, injuries etc

Phillips barely played at City, Rice would have to agree to be a rotational player for Pep as he's not displacing Rodri anytime soon

[Special Juan 27,394]

Just now, Reddish-Blue said:

Exactly, seems like Arsenal would be the better fit for him (especially with Partey being shopped around and Xhaka has apparently agreed a deal back to Bundesliga but Arsenal won't sell until they get their key additions which are Rice/Lavia). 

Phillips barely played at City, Rice would have to agree to be a rotational player for Pep as he's not displacing Rodri anytime soon

Pep doesn't go in for players at the standard of Rice for a laugh, there will be a clear plan for what he wants.

He will probably mould him into a centre back

[OneMoSalah 8,754]

1 minute ago, Vesper said:

completely disagree

and the events that transpired have proved me correct when I called it

I am proactive, not reactive

So tell me then whats the masterplan now then? All well and good saying lets be proactive and not reactive on Kante but by the sounds of things, there is a very good chance Rice and Caicedo will likely be City and Arsenal players (well you would assume Arsenal would just give Brighton the £90m they offered for Rice if Rice goes to City - any competent club would). Then we’ve lost/are losing 2 good players with experience and who out of the midfielders we have should of been nowhere the top of the chopping block whilst Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek are at the club.

Are we going to rely on Andrey Santos, Enzo Fernandez, Connor Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek all season? Is signing another prospect in Lavia really going to yield results that will undoubtedly be needed in the short term to get next season and the project back on track? We’ve already missed out on Ugarte. Rice & Caicedo go next then there aren’t a lot of options. 

Really don’t see how shopping around for 3rd/4th/5th choice midfield options is a good thing. I would say its ridiculous in fact. If we were being proactive the Caicedo deal would already be agreed and done but we’ve hamstrung ourselves by spending hundreds of millions in the summer & January windows by the looks of it, meaning our budget and targets are really at the mercy of other clubs. Or we have to prioritise certain signings.

It is looking likely that other than Nkunku which was done in January, we could not sign anybody until we see a few sales (Mendy, KK, Ziyech, Mount, Havertz). Who knows who will be where by then? 

6 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

Nah it will be fine we have the Havertz carrot we are dangling in front of them, they won't go near Caicedo with us having Havertz to them

Yeah but if we pulled the Havertz deal we would just be shooting ourselves in the foot. I mean think about it, who is realistically going to pay the £60-65m for him we want? Bayern wont. Madrid refused already to go over £45-50m. It is clear we need to sell to buy too.

[Strike 7,206]

32 minutes ago, Hamilton said:

Then why not use him..

I mean, Courtois came in the Genk squad at 16 by accident and never left the goal. I understand it’s one of a kind thing to happen, but how old is Slonina? 22? Just use him, give him a chance..

Even experienced goalies make big mistakes.

Courtois went on loan for three seasons to Atletico where he played regular football before he was integrated at Chelsea. Asking Slonina, who's only 19, to start Premier League games now could destroy his confidence. He needs regular gametime on loan before we can decide to use him.

[Reddish-Blue 2,327]

1 minute ago, Special Juan said:

Pep doesn't go in for players at the standard of Rice for a laugh, there will be a clear plan for what he wants.

He will probably mould him into a centre back

Fair enough but with City being linked to the likes of Gvardiol, not sure why you'd go and splash another 90 million to make Rice play CB.  

Feel like Pep is just letting Arteta know that he's still the master.  

[Special Juan 27,394]

1 minute ago, OneMoSalah said:

So tell me then whats the masterplan now then? All well and good saying lets be proactive and not reactive on Kante but by the sounds of things, there is a very good chance Rice and Caicedo will likely be City and Arsenal players (well you would assume Arsenal would just give Brighton the £90m they offered for Rice if Rice goes to City - any competent club would). Then we’ve lost/are losing 2 good players with experience and who out of the midfielders we have should of been nowhere the top of the chopping block whilst Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek are at the club.

Are we going to rely on Andrey Santos, Enzo Fernandez, Connor Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek all season? Is signing another prospect in Lavia really going to yield results that will undoubtedly be needed in the short term to get next season and the project back on track? We’ve already missed out on Ugarte. Rice & Caicedo go next then there aren’t a lot of options. 

Really don’t see how shopping around for 3rd/4th/5th choice midfield options is a good thing. I would say its ridiculous in fact. If we were being proactive the Caicedo deal would already be agreed and done but we’ve hamstrung ourselves by spending hundreds of millions in the summer & January windows by the looks of it, meaning our budget and targets are really at the mercy of other clubs. Or we have to prioritise certain signings.

It is looking likely that other than Nkunku which was done in January, we could not sign anybody until we see a few sales (Mendy, KK, Ziyech, Mount, Havertz). Who knows who will be where by then? 

Yeah but if we pulled the Havertz deal we would just be shooting ourselves in the foot. I mean think about it, who is realistically going to pay the £60-65m for him we want? Bayern wont. Madrid refused already to go over £45-50m. It is clear we need to sell to buy too.

It won't come to that, these deals are finely structured and the discussions that take place.

[Artandur 939]

Even if the club is quick with Caicedo, Brighton ain't dumb either. They'll stall until Arse is back in

[Reddish-Blue 2,327]

37 minutes ago, Hamilton said:

Then why not use him..

I mean, Courtois came in the Genk squad at 16 by accident and never left the goal. I understand it’s one of a kind thing to happen, but how old is Slonina? 22? Just use him, give him a chance..

Even experienced goalies make big mistakes.

He's 19, not 22.   

I would think the club has a similar idea to how they developed Courtois for Slonina, get him a 2 year loan in a competitive league and if he develops to the level expected, he should be back at Chelsea in 2025 ready to take over the GK spot...

[Mário César 970]

4 minutes ago, Artandur said:

Even if the club is quick with Caicedo, Brighton ain't dumb either. They'll stall until Arse is back in

yeah we needed to finish this deal a few days ago

[Mário César 970]

 

 

[Pizy 18,345]

Arse will be desperate to save face after chasing Rice HARD for months now. If we haven’t already sorted Caicedo I think we’ll miss out now. Us playing the patient game with him will probably bite us in the ass here.

Better go to Inter and offer £80m or more for Barella. 

[Special Juan 27,394]

Rice is open to the move to City, that's the cue for them to bid and you damn better it will be higher and much better structured than Arsenal, plus a guarantee of trophies

[Stats 7,032]

Can see Arsenal avenging what happened with Mudryk for Caicedo. It seems we won't officially put a bid in for Caicedo until we get rid of the players to Saudi Arabia and Havertz and Mount also. I would like to think with Caicedo he goes with the team who made him first choice and not a team who made him their sloppy seconds.

I wonder what move Rice will want to do. City obviously are the better team and competing for titles but he doesn't walk in their team. Arsenal, he stays in London and walks in their team. City's team is also ageing in certain aspects so he may see himself as a long term fit. Interesting one.

[Pizy 18,345]

How do Rice and Rodri mesh together, btw? The both play in the same area and have similar roles in their teams.

Personally, I think him going to City is better for us and other rivals. I don’t think he really moves the needle for them at all. Essentially swapping our Gündogan in their best XI for Rice is a step back. Whereas he’s a massive upgrade and game changer for Arse’s midfield.

 

[OneMoSalah 8,754]

40 minutes ago, Pizy said:

How do Rice and Rodri mesh together, btw? The both play in the same area and have similar roles in their teams.

Personally, I think him going to City is better for us and other rivals. I don’t think he really moves the needle for them at all. Essentially swapping our Gündogan in their best XI for Rice is a step back. Whereas he’s a massive upgrade and game changer for Arse’s midfield.

 

Rice is certainly more than just a holding midfielder though, as is Rodri who has popped up with some big goals in this new formation they’ve been playing.

Rice can easily play box to box and has started adding ball carries, goals and assists to his game. Where he fits in at City is hard to tell but if they continue with their formation they used this season, he could easily play with Rodri in that 2 and they could use the likes of Stones in their backline again as opposed to in MF.

It definitely again adds quality into an already quality team - which again, I wouldn’t be surprised if City evolve again tactically.

Edited June 22, 2023 by OneMoSalah

[Vesper 28,434]

David Datro Fofana will likely be sold, says Simon Phillips. Has not impressed.

Sorry to hear he is apparently a bust.

Oh well.

https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/transfer-news/Chelsea-would-prefer-to-sell-20-year-old-this-summer-than-send-on-loan-hes-not-impressed-in-training-journalist/

 

 

[Cosmin 2,484]

3 minutes ago, Vesper said:

David Datro Fofana will likely be sold, says Simon Phillips. Has not impressed.

Indeed, Lampard never used him even when he was giving everyone a chance. 

Even Aubameyang played more than Fofana.