Chelsea Transfers

[1chelsea 864]

I just hope this is not a joke because this will improve our playing style. Make it happen

[OneMoSalah 8,750]

3 hours ago, Tomo said:

It's not always about getting the big names, as Liverpool have shown, it's about getting players to suit their system. 

And who will be at a "different level altogether"? City and Liverpool will drop off within the next 2-3 years especially the latter, Jose will set Spurs back years, Arsenal aren't very good, won't spend the money and don't have a very good youth set up, United look on the up but we have a big advantage with the academy boys which are better than there's.

I think our elite prospects naturally growing plus decent recruitment we've seen under Sarri/Lampard and we will build a challenging team.

I think City and Liverpool will continue to build even if they change managers. They have probably had the best recruitment in the last 3 or 4 years in the PL imo and thats not all just down to their managers. City's recruitment has been pretty good since under Mancini bar the few players like Javi Garcia etc that they got who were obviously second or third choice. Everytime they sign players they suit the managers idea of football to a tee. If they keep the two Spanish boys in suits at the club, theyll continue to build, they've overseen it from Pellegrini to Pep and I would imagine when Pep goes theyll get someone in a similar mould and carry on that way.

Spurs might get set back but their squad needs a refresh anyway. You look at the age of key parts of their side, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Sissoko, Lloris, all aging and although it doesnt mean anything about their ability at present you could see from when the season started the whole team looked flat and thats dragged on. 

Arsenal have a soft center, as theyve always has but have got a chance if they give Arteta time. To say their young system isnt very good is a bit harsh when you consider Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah are all recent graduates and will become good players. Okay they arent maybe as highly regarded or their youth system might not have won the trophies ours has but I must admit I really like the look of Saka if I am honest he looks like he could be a top full back in a few seasons and also think Eddie Nketiah has the potential to be a very dangerous striker. There will be others in and around there and it would seem Arteta is commited to younger players if they impress him like Frank is. They do need to improve in other areas but I think Arteta, ironically, as inexperienced as he may be, can get them better. Theyve shown in spells in matches they can be very good.

You are right though, its not always the big name players. Players who suit a system or the a style regardless of if their a player with a well renowned name or not are vital to a club progressing in a certain manner. I really do think Ziyech is a top signing in that regard. For that money as well, even more impressive. 

I would also suggest that we cannot just hang out coat on the academy crop for definite as a reason for competing for titles. You need to have the right mix and good pros and a top top players in and around them to bail them out at times or help their game come on and all the other things. I think it we can get another 3 or 4 players in who suit the team, are at a good level and those boys can take the neccessery steps as well as the guys who are already here like Ngolo, Jorginho, Mateo, Rudi, Andreas, Pulisic we can compete if we get more consistent. 

I know the gap looks very big and its always mentioned on sky etc but I would say, realistically, we are a top CF who can get 20-25 goals a season, another midfielder/wide player who can get 10+ goals and assists a season, a good left full back and good central defender off competing. We have the bones of a good team, consistency has been an issue, a lack of goals has also been an issue.

If Willian and Pedro go, Ziyech wont be enough although he will probably better their numbers, we will need another wide player/attacking midfielder.

 

[Superblue 6,370]

23 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

I think City and Liverpool will continue to build even if they change managers. They have probably had the best recruitment in the last 3 or 4 years in the PL imo and thats not all just down to their managers. City's recruitment has been pretty good since under Mancini bar the few players like Javi Garcia etc that they got who were obviously second or third choice. Everytime they sign players they suit the managers idea of football to a tee. If they keep the two Spanish boys in suits at the club, theyll continue to build, they've overseen it from Pellegrini to Pep and I would imagine when Pep goes theyll get someone in a similar mould and carry on that way.

Spurs might get set back but their squad needs a refresh anyway. You look at the age of key parts of their side, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Sissoko, Lloris, all aging and although it doesnt mean anything about their ability at present you could see from when the season started the whole team looked flat and thats dragged on. 

Arsenal have a soft center, as theyve always has but have got a chance if they give Arteta time. To say their young system isnt very good is a bit harsh when you consider Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah are all recent graduates and will become good players. Okay they arent maybe as highly regarded or their youth system might not have won the trophies ours has but I must admit I really like the look of Saka if I am honest he looks like he could be a top full back in a few seasons and also think Eddie Nketiah has the potential to be a very dangerous striker. There will be others in and around there and it would seem Arteta is commited to younger players if they impress him like Frank is. They do need to improve in other areas but I think Arteta, ironically, as inexperienced as he may be, can get them better. Theyve shown in spells in matches they can be very good.

You are right though, its not always the big name players. Players who suit a system or the a style regardless of if their a player with a well renowned name or not are vital to a club progressing in a certain manner. I really do think Ziyech is a top signing in that regard. For that money as well, even more impressive. 

I would also suggest that we cannot just hang out coat on the academy crop for definite as a reason for competing for titles. You need to have the right mix and good pros and a top top players in and around them to bail them out at times or help their game come on and all the other things. I think it we can get another 3 or 4 players in who suit the team, are at a good level and those boys can take the neccessery steps as well as the guys who are already here like Ngolo, Jorginho, Mateo, Rudi, Andreas, Pulisic we can compete if we get more consistent. 

I know the gap looks very big and its always mentioned on sky etc but I would say, realistically, we are a top CF who can get 20-25 goals a season, another midfielder/wide player who can get 10+ goals and assists a season, a good left full back and good central defender off competing. We have the bones of a good team, consistency has been an issue, a lack of goals has also been an issue.

If Willian and Pedro go, Ziyech wont be enough although he will probably better their numbers, we will need another wide player/attacking midfielder.

 

I actually think City may struggle in a couple of years time. They're not going to go away but I think they may have similar problems to what we've experienced at times over the last few seasons with regards to refreshing the team.

Not all of Guardiola's signings have been great and he's relied massively on a core group of players during his tenure that were already at the club before him (Kompany, Fernandinho, Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero). The same can be said about his time at Barca and Bayern, where both times he relied heavily on players already at the club and not all of his signings were successful.

Agree with what you've said about us. It's important to not be reliant on the academy only, but it's also important now to embrace it and not move back away from aiming to get some of these players into the squad. I've said for years that the club should have only been looking to buy players that would make up the first 16 players in the first team and when looking to refresh the squad fill around this should have been done with the academy. If we keep doing that and ensuring there is always space for one or two to get a look in and breakthrough we should still get a steady flow coming in, so long as they're good enough whilst allowing us to focus our budgets on players who can come in and make a much more expected immediate impact on the first team.

If we had more goals in our team, either a 20-25 goal striker or a 10-15 goal midfielder to share the burden with Tammy this season I think we'd be sat in 2nd place right now. That gap looks big at the moment, but it can be bridged and done pretty quickly if the club are clinical with their decision making at the end of the season. It's been done before.

[Vesper 28,270]

The story of Andre Onana — one of Europe’s most wanted goalkeepers

https://theathletic.com/1751222/2020/04/21/andre-onana-ajax-barcelona-spurs-chelsea-psg/

Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana faces the biggest decision of his career to date over the coming months, with the 24-year-old very likely to move clubs and his options including leading lights in the Premier League and continental Europe.

Lots of factors are being weighed up, with Onana and his advisors having plenty of time on their hands during the current pandemic-enforced break in football. The Cameroon international already has experience of making major career choices which turn out well, such as when he annoyed Barcelona, his first European club, by turning down a new contract to join Ajax when aged just 18.

“The decision to leave Barca and go to Ajax was a big one,” Onana’s friend and former team-mate Clyde Essomba tells The Athletic. “Because if you leave Barca and it does not work out, there will be recriminations. But mentally Andre is very strong, and he knew what he wanted to do.”

That strength of mind helped Onana establish himself at Ajax, playing his part in the Dutch giants’ thrilling run to last season’s Champions League semi-finals, after previously coming in useful as he worked his way to the top.

---

Few people know Onana better than Essomba, as their paths first crossed when they were kids together at the Samuel Eto’o foundation back in their home country, where the pair were being specially prepared for moves to La Liga.

“The foundation always looked for the best players throughout the country and brought them together in Douala [Cameroon’s largest city],” says Essomba, who is a couple of years older than Onana and plays in midfield for Spanish fourth-tier club Socuellamos. “Five or six from our time are now in the national team of Cameroon, including Andre. We trained every day, although studies were also very important. The focus was all on preparing us for winter and summer tournaments in Spain. And if you stood out, and a club was interested in you, then you stayed.”

Onana impressed sufficiently at a summer 2010 tournament in the Canary Islands to seal a move to Barcelona aged just 14. So he left his family behind and moved to La Masia. Sergi Ucles was among his first goalkeeping coaches in Catalonia.

“When he arrived we could see he had something different,” Ucles tells The Athletic. “It’s true that the lads who join Barcelona tend to be very good, but we could all see that Andre had a lot of potential. He was obviously coming from another country and a very different culture and it is normal for the adaptation to be a little bit difficult when they are very young. But he had a very strong character, which allowed him to overcome the different hurdles in his path to get where he is today.”

Another Eto’o Foundation graduate at La Masia at that time was forward Alexis Meva, currently at Swiss club FC Fully. Meva tells The Athletic that African players needed to be extra-strong mentally to succeed in the competitive environment at Barcelona.

“Andre is very ambitious, he believes a lot in himself,” he says. “I remember there were games when he made a mistake with his feet, but he kept calm and kept playing. He had a faith in himself that is very difficult, especially for a keeper — and a keeper of colour. At Barca it is very tough, when you come from Africa, you always have to be three or four times better than the Catalan who was there first. They will always look to those they have at home.”

The biggest challenge faced by Onana and others who had come to La Masia from abroad was the punishment imposed on Barcelona by FIFA in April 2014 for breaking the rules regarding signing foreign youngsters, keeping them out of any competitive games for 18 months. That interrupted the development of many excellent prospects, although Onana “exploded” into everyone’s consciousness on his return to action.

“He was practically a year and a half, until he reached his 18th birthday, without being able to play,” says Ucles. “Then came the year of his explosion with the Juvenil A team, his performances were unbelievable. During the first weeks of the season we played the ‘derbi’ against Espanyol at home. They created many chances but Andre was spectacular and made six, seven, eight saves and we won 1-0. Everybody then knew about him.”

Goalkeepers at La Masia are developed with an eye to the singular demands of Barcelona’s first team, which means they must be confident with the ball at their feet, quick to sweep off their line and possess the athletic ability to deal with one-on-ones when opponents break the high defensive line.

The teenage Onana could have fit a prototype for what was required, says Ucles, who worked at La Masia for 11 years and is now goalkeeper coach and goalkeeper coordinator at Guangzhou Evergrande Football School in China.

“It is true that there is a certain, determined type of goalkeeper at Barcelona,” he says. “And in La Masia they work to strengthen the virtues of the youngsters which are necessary to make the first team. Andre has always stood out for his ability with both feet and that is something we worked on a lot, left and right. At the start maybe he found it more difficult to find the right passes, to see where there was [numerical] superiority on the pitch. Also he stood out a lot in one-on-one situations. He is a keeper who is very big, and manages these types of situations very well. And he is very powerful, his lower body, that spring, the physical qualities that mean he can do things others can’t.”

November 2014 saw Barcelona’s Under-19 team playing away to Ajax in the UEFA Youth League and a performance from Onana which was to be hugely important for his career. “We lost 1-0, but Andre was the man of the match, gave a ‘recital’ of all aspects of the game — with his feet, showed his personality, and made his saves,” says Ucles. “The Ajax scouts were obviously at that game, and other teams around Europe opened their eyes too. ”

Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Madrid were among the other clubs monitoring his situation and were aware that Onana’s contract was running out the following summer. Meanwhile, the 18-year-old was growing frustrated at not being called up for the Barcelona B team, where the competition included his cousin Fabrice Ondoa, who is just three months older and had also come through the Eto’o Foundation.

There was no clear path to the first team anyway with Claudio Bravo and Marc Andre ter Stegen having both been signed the previous summer. Onana also knew that that the last goalkeeper to come through La Masia and secure a regular first team starting place was Victor Valdes, and that was more than a decade earlier.

Ucles insists that Barcelona’s goalkeeping department did see Onana as a potential first team player and wanted to keep him. But Ajax managed the situation best, and in early January announced he would be joining them that summer.

“We were delighted with him and the reports were all positive, for him to continue at the club,” Ucles says. “It is true that the final step to make the first team is very difficult, the demands are very high. Barca did make him an offer to extend his contract, although I was not involved in those details. Maybe Ajax were a bit quicker, a bit cleverer, and he ended up there.”

Then-sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, a former goalkeeper himself, was so upset when Ajax surprised Barcelona by announcing a deal that he publicly complained about a “lack of respect”. It was eventually decided to complete the deal during the winter window for a fee of €150,000 which could rise to €500,000 if he made the Ajax first team.

---

Onana immediately got games at a senior level with Ajax B in the Dutch second tier. When Jasper Cillessen moved the other way to Barcelona in August 2016, first-team coach Peter Bosz placed his trust in the now 20-year-old.

Onana saved a penalty with the score at 0-0 against Go Ahead Eagles in just his second ever Eredivisie game. Ajax went on to win 3-0 that day, and the youngster became established as first choice as they missed out on the title by just one point to Feyenoord, conceding just 20 goals in his 32 games, before reaching the Europa League final against Manchester United.

Another benefit of moving to Ajax is the guidance from former Manchester United and Holland goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, now the Amsterdam club’s chief executive.

“Andre listens a lot to everyone, whether they are older or younger, as he wants to learn,” Essomba says. “He has had the good fortune to have Van der Sar with him at Ajax, a role model, someone who has won so much. He tells him what he is doing right, and corrects mistakes he is making. They are always talking.”

The 2018-19 season was an outstanding one for Ajax, with coach Erik ten Hag’s team winning the title and Dutch Cup to go with an exhilarating Champions League campaign that brought victories over Real Madrid and Juventus on the way to an agonising  semi-final exit against Tottenham Hotspur.

“The game against Real Madrid was something else,” says Essomba of the 4-1 last-16 win in the Bernabeu. “Andre did not take part that much in the play, but he made saves in important moments. More than anything he transmitted that calm to his team-mates, even when Raphael Varane’s header hit the crossbar [at 0-0]. His philosophy is he wants to enjoy these games, doesn’t feel he has anything to lose. That confidence is his greatest strength, as well as the saves he makes.”

The current season has not been so spectacular for Ajax collectively, with Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt having moved to Barcelona and Juventus respectively, and Ten Hag’s side being eliminated from a tough Champions League group including Chelsea and Valencia. Onana has continued to impress though, as a leader of the team, insists Essomba.

“The game against Valencia he stood out with four spectacular saves,” he says. “And the penalty which Dani Parejo missed, he wasted time, went to talk to the referee, dried his hands, which made Parejo get more nervous. He controlled that game for his team, from the goal. He says that he must transmit that serenity to his team-mates. And he had that since he was small, this incredible calm.”

Ucles agrees that the experience of 178 senior games already for Ajax, plus 15 Cameroon caps, has helped his former protege become a top senior goalkeeper.

“Andre is now a pretty complete goalkeeper,” he says. “Maybe when he was younger he really wanted to show what he could do and took many risks. But playing regularly in the Ajax first team these years, he has also made a jump in quality with experience — his positioning, keeping calm, knowing how to manage different moments of the game.”

---

In March last year, Onana extended his Ajax contract through to June 2022, but always with the understanding that it was unlikely he would see out all three further years. And there is a feeling among those who know him that, given the uncertainty over when football will return, he may have already played his last game for them.

Sources have told The Athletic that Chelsea and Tottenham have both enquired about his situation, and that Paris Saint-Germain and former club Barcelona are also monitoring his situation.

“For sure, Andre has shown that he is ready to play at a really big team,” says Ucles. “Ajax is a big team, of course, but maybe another step up, in another league with a bit higher level. At the moment Barcelona have the best goalkeeper they can have in Ter Stegen. He has shown that he is one of the best in the world and for sure he can cover that position for many years, hopefully. But Andre is capable of playing for the biggest teams, no doubt.”

Ajax’s €35 million asking price would put Onana among the world’s top 10 most expensive goalkeepers. However that is unlikely to be a problem for an ambitious and confident character who has taken every step up in his stride so far.

“Onana can play for any team in the world,” says La Masia contemporary Alexis Meva. “He is young, a modern keeper, who plays very well with his feet, and makes top saves. For me he could play for Chelsea or Barca, no problem. As the pressure does not bother him, he would fit there without any doubt.”

The decision on what Onana does next will, of course, also depend on which of the clubs showing interest firm it up with an offer acceptable to him and to Ajax. But whichever side he does join will be getting a goalkeeper who knows exactly what he wants and where he is headed.

[milka 3,334]

 

[Blues Forever 1,232]

 

[Vesper 28,270]

Ornstein and many others spanking a troll, lol

[Vesper 28,270]

Player Analysis: Watford and Osasuna left-back Pervis Estupinan

https://www.soccity.net/la-liga/player-analysis-watford-osasuna-pervis-estupinan/

Pervis Estupinan is a player that could become a target for big clubs soon. Currently at Osasuna in La Liga, the left-back has been loaned out by Watford. Strangely, this isn’t the first time the Hornets have sent him out on a temporary deal. This is his fifth loan deal and this is perhaps, his best one so far.

He had joined Watford from Ecuadorian club LDU Quito in the summer of 2016. He’s not made a single first-team appearance for them since, having spent five seasons on loan in Spain. The first two loan stints came at Granada. The one in the 2017-18 campaign came at Almeria and the next one came at Mallorca.

He’s been a regular at each of the clubs- like he has been for Los Rojillos this season. In the current campaign, he has made 29 appearances in all competitions. In La Liga, he’s played all but one game. He boasts of a tally of one goal and five assists in all competitions, becoming their regular left-back.

Delving further into his performances will show how good he has been. In absolute terms, he has certainly been good for a left-back. He has an XA per 90 minutes of 0.09, with his XG + XA per 90 minutes metric of 0.13 as well. That is certainly good for a left-back.

Over time, he has become a complete full-back. Unlike the modern-day players in his position, his defensive abilities go hand in hand with his attacking intent. He has tackled 72 percent of dribblers– clear proof of how he isn’t the one to go past easily.

As per Soccerment, Estupinan is adept at winning the ball back in the defensive third too. He’s made as many as 8.16 recoveries per 90 minutes and that is almost double the average for a full-back in the game today.

The metric above is a clear indication of how he is a well-balanced full-back. He constantly runs up and down the pitch, covering a lot of ground on the left side of the pitch. And a Wyscout heatmap shows how he’s heavily involved in both halves of the pitch as well.

Osasuna playing regularly in a 4-4-2 system would ideally hand Estupinan some defensive support from usual left-winger Ruben Garcia, but he’s contributed to eight goals so far. He does help out defensively and can often drop deep, but Estupinan’s defensive output in individual terms is very good indeed.

In fact, he’s been one of the club’s best players in a defensive sense and in an attacking sense too. As compared to other Osasuna players, Estupinan is on another planet and hardly anyone comes close to him. It is also crucial to bear in mind that the Ecuadorian is the second-best recovery-maker in the side, only behind Sergio Herrera.

It is very rare in the game today to have a left-back as the best defensive performance. The game is heading towards a stage where full-backs are intensive attacking wing-backs and enjoy the support of a defensive midfielder sitting in the centre-back areas. But Estupinan presents an unlikely case of not relying on a midfielder dropping in to help him. Osasuna playing in a 4-4-2 more often is perhaps complementary to that.

But it isn’t just attacking wise that Estupinan thrives. He is adept going forward- as mentioned above and he’s also one of the best-attacking contributors at the club.

Estupinan is towards the far right, thriving on his dribbling ability from the left side of the pitch. He isn’t bad in terms of creation and does second-best in that regard behind his left-side partner Ruben Garcia.

It is a collection of these abilities that make Estupinan stand out in the current team. These numbers weren’t as lofty in the previous stints and even though he hasn’t been a winger in the past, he still conjures up very impressive attacking stats for a full-back.

And talking of where he stands in the European circuit, he’s not doing badly in that regard either. Being a complete full-back certainly puts him high up in his age group of Under-23s full-backs in the top five European leagues.

While Alphonso Davies and Youcef Atal are prolific creators who perform defensive actions in brilliant fashion too, Aaron Wan-Bissaka thrives on tackling and recoveries on the ball. Real Madrid loanee Achraf Hakimi has been used in advanced positions by Lucien Favre to maximise his attacking inputs.

As for Estupinan, he’s a bit on the defensive side- slanting towards Wan-Bissaka. But his attacking input is close to Milan’s Theo Hernandez, who was the Rossoneri’s highest goalscorer at one point. Even Trent Alexander-Arnold is only just pipping Estupinan in a creative sense as it doesn’t involve crossing.

But the best thing about it is that Estupinan has done so well in the graph despite not playing for a traditional big club. Atal doesn’t either, but the youngster has been linked with multiple big clubs like Barcelona and Tottenham. There is a chance he ends up there soon.

There is every possibility that Estupinan does even better if he plays in a team that is better than Osasuna. He’ll get more of the ball and will have the openness to use it better. Despite having so less of it playing for a lesser Spanish team, he’s done well in the attacking regard. And it will only go up.

As for Watford, they’ve uncovered another talent from South America. Richarlison was one and they sold him to Everton. In Estupinan, they have a player who’s played away from the club so many times. A season in the Premier League will only help him.

[Vesper 28,270]

‘Ready for the next step’ – Canadian star Jonathan David suits Barcelona perfectly

https://www.soccity.net/la-liga/barcelona/canadian-star-david-suits-barcelona-gent/

Barcelona have often taken criticism for having a flawed transfer policy. The club has been sticking to short-term buying and it has been a case of putting on a blindfold, throwing paint at a canvas and hoping they end up with Monalisa. They have taken stick for being random and lacking a plan. But the recent links to Jonathan David show that maybe, the policy might be changing a bit for the Catalans.

The Belgian league has become a rather undervalued place for poaching talents. From Sergey Milinkovic-Savic and Kalidou Koulibaly to Wilfried Ndidi, many players have silently got their first major breakthrough in Belgium. The next one could be David and there is a reason why big clubs want the striker.

David has been in impressive form for his club Gent. In just 27 Jupiler League games for the club, the Canadian forward has scored 18 goals with three of them being penalties. If that isn’t enough, the 20-year-old has also racked up seven assists during this time. In total, he has contributed to as many as 25 goals.

This is the highest goalscoring tally for David in a single season. Last season, he had scored only eight league goals and this season has been a massive improvement for him.

David brings a high shooting accuracy to the plate. The average shooting accuracy for a striker (per Soccerment) is 34.1 percent. But that metric for David stands at an impressive 55 percent. He benefits from having 12 percent of his touches come in the opposition’s box, allowing him to play close to goal.

As a result, he has a very healthy goalscoring tally while taking only 2.3 shots on target per 90 minutes (per Wyscout). He completes 1.7 dribbles per 90 minutes and does that with very good accuracy of 61 percent.  What paints him as a complete striker is that he completes five recoveries per 90 minutes, with four coming in the opposition’s half.

This shows that despite being a prolific goalscorer, he also possesses very good abilities on and off the ball. That is perhaps why many clubs (apart from Barca) want to sign the Brooklyn-born striker in the summer of 2020.

The sort of player David is, he seems very much in the Luis Suarez mould. Like the Uruguayan, David is adept at linking up play and often taking on defenders. He is prolific at goalscoring and thrives on being as close to goal as possible.

The comparison via Soccerment brings up very stark similarities. Both aren’t just very good at assisting, they are equally good at every possible aspect on the pitch. And that is what makes David such a suitable replacement for the ageing Suarez.

David’s agent has made it clear that he can leave Gent soon, providing encouragement to many clubs about signing him. While he’s said that David is eyeing a Bundesliga move, his comments are certainly a sign that he might be leaving soon.

He said (via BuliNews): “Jonathan is now ready for the next step. He wants to play in the Bundesliga. Realistically, Jonathan is only playing his first full season as a professional. His leaps in development are enormous.”

A move for David would be a rare achievement for Barcelona. Many deals of the past- those like Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Malcom haven’t gone down well. David would be the perfect fit and a long-term deal that they need to replace Suarez in the near future.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

Negotations between PSG and Porto for Alex Telles are advanced. Chelsea is interested and made a push for the player in February, but talks eventually cooled down due to COVID19. If the player is sold, it will be for €25M and could go up to €30M with add ons.

[Superblue 6,370]

Been reading today that Arsenal could be one of the biggest teams impacted in the wake of Covid-19 and their owner is feeling the pinch because his new stadium for the Rams is massively over budget and development is behind.

With this in mind, and really depending on just how bad Arsenal's situation may be, but a left field option may be to look at Saka. He's not an orthodox left back but neither was Alphonso Davies. I've been extremely impressed with him this season and he's at an age where the defensive aspect of his game can be worked on and improved significantly. Arsenal already have Tierney if they can get him fit, so if they received a good offer they may be receptive to it.

[NikkiCFC 7,881]

23 hours ago, Tomo said:

but we have a big advantage with the academy boys which are better than there's.

This is still open. Rashford, Greenwood, Williams, McTominay all look very good and all can be world class players.

[Tomo 21,730]

17 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

This is still open. Rashford, Greenwood, Williams, McTominay all look very good and all can be world class players.

In terms of volume of players we are miles ahead, as demonstrated by the contrast in results at youth level. For example Lamptey is a bigger talent than Williams, the latter is considered one of United's big hopes while Lamptey left us because there was no room for him.

And that's before I mention the chemistry our guys share, youth teams with Sancho, Foden, Saka, Trent amoung others couldn't get near us.

If the football financial situation mutates to the point the strength of academy sides becomes the key player to build top teams, we have a huge (borderline unfair) advantage.

[NikkiCFC 7,881]

19 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

 It's important to not be reliant on the academy only, but it's also important now to embrace it and not move back away from aiming to get some of these players into the squad. I've said for years that the club should have only been looking to buy players that would make up the first 16 players in the first team and when looking to refresh the squad fill around this should have been done with the academy. If we keep doing that and ensuring there is always space for one or two to get a look in and breakthrough we should still get a steady flow coming in, so long as they're good enough whilst allowing us to focus our budgets on players who can come in and make a much more expected immediate impact on the first team.

Agree with this. Even if our academy players do not become top players it is still great to have them all because they fill the squad numbers. Basically 1/3 of our squad can be filled with academy players no matter what.

This system is saving us a lot of money. So no more spending 25m, 35m for squad players like Zappacosta, Drinkwater...

But now speaking of improvement we need to be careful. Easiest way to improve and reach City and Liverpool level is with buying world class players. With our academy we can focus on buying them. 

Instead of buying four 40m players it is better to buy two worth 80m. 

Look what Alisson and VVD did for Liverpool? 

So for example our CBs...

It is expected that we sell one of our CBs and buy new one.

Fans want Zouma or Rudiger sold and we may buy Gabriel. So that is risky and long term project we do not know how would end.

Instead I think we need to operate like City or Liverpool. Frank needs to decide who of our 4 CBs is the worst and replace him with someone who is better than all we have like Romagnoli or KK...

 

 

[Jase 43,479]

5 hours ago, Blues Forever said:

Negotations between PSG and Porto for Alex Telles are advanced. Chelsea is interested and made a push for the player in February, but talks eventually cooled down due to COVID19. If the player is sold, it will be for €25M and could go up to €30M with add ons.

Chilwell it is then!

[Pizy 18,316]

It feels like we've been without football for 6 months. I've nearly forgotten where we even left off.

Hard to really get excited about transfer rumors when everything is so up in the air.

[MoroccanBlue 5,280]

60 million for Chilwell. Bloody hell. We’ll see him get cut in over and over again and the club will scratch their heads wondering why the fuck they  got him. 
 

I pray this is still speculation. 

[NikkiCFC 7,881]

I rate this dude over Tammy and Dembele. If not Werner we should try with him.

He suits our style. I think big future ahead.

Cech, Drogba, Essien, Malouda, Azpi all came from Ligue1.