Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 28,711]

1 minute ago, cosmicway said:

It's like I said above.
Of course it may be due to AEK being a poor house but the reasons for the collapse were as I state above.
£20m do not exist to buy the player. The discussions were about a loan.

you made it sound like we were the ones who tried to do some dodgy shite

when it was the Greeks

[cosmicway 1,313]

31 minutes ago, Vesper said:

you made it sound like we were the ones who tried to do some dodgy shite

when it was the Greeks

It's not dodgy shite.
Clownlake said "we give the player for three months" the other side said no.
But I doubt AEK money was enough to get them a better deal (always assuming the player is of some value).

[Vesper 28,711]

Euro Paper Talk: Real Madrid ready to sell megastar to Saudi Arabia as replacement named

https://www.teamtalk.com/news/real-madrid-ready-sell-megastar-saudi-arabia-replacement-named-man-utd-midfielder-demands-change

VINICIUS JR OUT, NICO WILLIAMS IN

Real Madrid are prepared to sanction what could be a world record transfer by selling Vinicius Jr to Saudi Arabia, with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams eyed as his replacement.

Vinicus Jr, 24, is unquestionably one of world football’s leading stars at present. Indeed, hs is currently the favourite to scoop the 2024 Ballon d’Or award ahead of Man City and Spain midfielder Rodri.

Vinicius has been on Real Madrid’s books since 2018 and has broken the 20 goals per season barrier in each of his last three campaigns.

He took his game to new heights last term when bagging 35 goals and assists combined in just 39 appearances. His exploits helped fire Real Madrid to a LaLiga and Champions League double.

However, despite his lofty status within the game and his spectacular displays for Los Blancos, all is not well in Madrid.

Vinicius has been the target of repeated racist abuse during his time in Spain. Three Valencia fans were jailed for eight months each in June for racially abusing the Real Madrid forward back in May of 2023.

In a recent interview with CNN, Vinicius cast doubt on Spain’s suitability to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco.

“I think we have to move the location” – Vinicius Jr

“Until 2030, we have a lot of room to evolve,” said the Brazilian. “I hope that Spain can evolve, and understand how serious it is to insult someone because of the colour of their skin.

“If by 2030 things don’t improve, I think we have to move the location, because if a player doesn’t feel comfortable and safe playing in a country where they can suffer racism, it’s a bit difficult.”

Those comments have reportedly gone down like a lead balloon at Real Madrid, not least because it is in their stadium where the World Cup final would likely be held.

Furthermore, there has been backlash from within the city of Madrid and outside of football circles.

Indeed, Madrid mayor, Jose Luis Martínez-Almeida, claimed it is unfair to categorise the city of Madrid and country of Spain as racist.

“We are aware that there are racist episodes in society and that we must work hard to put an end to them,” Martínez-Almeida said. “It’s unfair with Spain and with Madrid to say that we are a racist society.”

And according to a stunning new update from Spanish outlet AS, Real Madrid are quickly warming to the idea of offloading Vinicius.

Real Madrid ready to move on from Vinicius Jr

The article began: ‘Vinicius Junior is unstoppable on and off the pitch. Controversy follows him on the pitch, where he puts on a show in every game, whether with his rivals, the referees or the opposing team’s fans.

‘Added to this are his outbursts off the pitch, with statements such as those in which he calls Spain racist and questions the suitability of it being able to organise the 2030 World Cup by depriving the Bernabeu of hosting the final.

‘Words that have not gone down well with the club and even less so with the fans, who are starting to get fed up with him.

‘His future in Madrid is starting to be questioned and Madrid are no longer ruling out his departure.’

AS acknowledged Real Madrid are publicly pushing the narrative that Vinicius is not for sale. However, they then state that behind the scenes the actuality is Vinicius is no longer untouchable.

Following the arrivals of superstars such as Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe, the club believe they are well positioned to thrive with or without Vinicius.

As such, Real Madrid ‘do not rule out’ selling Vinicius to Saudi Arabia in 2025 in a deal which could smash the world record for the highest transfer fee ever paid.

The current record remains the €222m (£198m / $246.7m) PSG paid to sign Neymar from Barcelona back in 2017.

Adding further fuel to the fire are AS’s claims ‘Vinicius’ character clashes with the image that the club wants to project to the world, controversial, challenging and harmful to predispose rivals and referees against the team.’

It’s even stated Vinicius’ fellow Real Madrid teammates have begun to take a dim view of his alleged poor attitude and even ‘read him the riot act’ following Real Madrid’s shock 1-1 draw with Las Palmas on August 29.

Blockbuster sale would fund Nico Williams, Rodri signings

The fact Real Madrid would also be able to recoup an astronomical fee is reportedly enhancing the club’s willingness to cash in.

On that front, it’s claimed Los Blancos would likely move for Euro 2024 winner, Nico Williams, as Vinicius’ replacement.

The Athletic Bilbao ace was Barcelona’s No 1 attacking target over the summer. However, Barcelona were unable to complete a move despite Williams’ deal containing a relatively modest €58m release clause.

AS concluded Real Madrid could sell Vinicius, sign Williams with the funds received and still have a monstrous war chest left over to strengthen other positions.

Manchester City ace Rodri is understood to be the club’s No 1 midfield target ahead of the 2025 summer transfer window.

The dual signings of Williams and Rodri would comfortably be covered by the vast windfall secured from a Vinicius sale to the Saudi Pro League.

LOL

 

 

[Vesper 28,711]

https://football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost471

The 471st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 of players worldwide who did not yet turn 20 in terms of their relative experience level*. Lamine Yamal tops the list with 2.75 times more experience than the average measured for players of the same age and position. The Spaniard outranks his Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsí (x2.42) and Real Madrid’s Endrick Felipe (x2.41).

Paris St-Germain’s Warren Zaïre-Emery is fourth, ahead of Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo. The three youngest players in the top 100 are KRC Genk's Belgian Konstantinos Karetsas (16.8 years; 71st), LOSC Lille's Frenchman Ayyoub Bouaddi (16.9 years; 54th) and River Plate's Argentinian Franco Mastantuono (17.1 years; 22nd).

Outside the European big-5, the top three are Ecuador's Kendry Páez (Independiente del Valle, on loan from Chelsea), Brazil's Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, also on loan from Chelsea) and Turkey's Yasin Özcan (Kasimpaşa). In total, 38 leagues are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 13 players for the English Premier League, followed by 10 for the French Ligue 1.

* The level of experience is calculated on the basis of last year’s official game minutes, weighted by the sporting level of matches played.

Experience level relative to age and position

Top 100 worldwide, U20 players, 11/09/2024

[Vesper 28,711]

Lol, Paul Merson is on the lash again.

Says we missed a trick by not buying Niclas Füllkrug (soon to be 32yo in several months btw) for the £27m West Ham paid.

He also slated Nico, says we do not have a proper CF.

 

Paul Merson says Chelsea dropped a clanger letting West Ham sign new star but were right to avoid Hammers teammate

 

[DH1988 1,273]

3 hours ago, Vesper said:

Lol, Paul Merson is on the lash again.

Says we missed a trick by not buying Niclas Füllkrug (soon to be 32yo in several months btw) for the £27m West Ham paid.

He also slated Nico, says we do not have a proper CF.

 

Paul Merson says Chelsea dropped a clanger letting West Ham sign new star but were right to avoid Hammers teammate

 

Somewhat agree, plan B has been an issue for us since Giroud left, not that Niclas was the answer, and possibly neither was Vlah a few years ago (When Poch first came in) but I saw the Llorente vibes there, was just crazy money at the time.

[milka 3,344]

Michael Jackson not only he is not a proper striker he is not Chelsea level if we have proper managment  like City or Liverpool but we are Clownlake FC and we love to propin  the mediocrity .Compare him to Diego Costa and you'll get an idea of how much the level has fallen in the last years. Osimhen was that type monster player  but they can't pay wages for top players. Apart of Palmer no one of these ''super talents'' we buy can't sneak into  teams who battle for trophies .

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

1 hour ago, DH1988 said:

Somewhat agree, plan B has been an issue for us since Giroud left, not that Niclas was the answer, and possibly neither was Vlah a few years ago (When Poch first came in) but I saw the Llorente vibes there, was just crazy money at the time.

When we hired Maresca it got pretty clear that he does not want a plan B and thus the idea of signing someone like Fülle was always a nonstarter. Personally I like old fashioned big man  CFs and their ability to unlock deep defences like Giroud did so many times for us. 
However, Fülle is not exactly the same quality as Giroud when he was in a similar age range and also not that ice cold a finisher as I would have hoped at the euros so I am not too disappointed here

 

Still, in general I do think we would greatly profit from someone like him but the market is just not that rich in quality atm.
history shows that only very smart or very technical big man CFs make it in this league at top six clubs.
They were a dying breed for the last few years but there is some re emergence esp in PL with new ones like Larsen, Igor Thiago, fülle etc. joining. Let’s observe  how they adapt. Maybe even  Maresca or more likely his successor sees the light soon enough 

Edited September 13 by Magic Lamps

[Vesper 28,711]

41 minutes ago, milka said:

Michael Jackson not only he is not a proper striker

but he sure could dance!

[NikkiCFC 7,927]

On 12/09/2024 at 13:04, cosmicway said:

Chelsea wanted Fofana to start in two thirds of the matches or there would be a punishung clause doubling the price.
Also to take him back in January if they wanted.
It was impossible with these conditions.
 

For Turkish spies it was possible!

 

[LAM09 6,735]

On 12/09/2024 at 12:04, cosmicway said:

Chelsea wanted Fofana to start in two thirds of the matches or there would be a punishung clause doubling the price.
Also to take him back in January if they wanted.
It was impossible with these conditions.
 

These types of conditions just emphasise the fact whoever is putting these deals together is worried about the financial side rather than player growth. If a club really wants a player and believes they can improve their squad, they'll play. Inserting these idiotic clauses like the one Broja had at Fulham does little to nothing for the player.

[cosmicway 1,313]

2 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

For Turkish spies it was possible!

 

AEK rating is 1590 for better or worse.
Goztepe is 1355 ! One cinch above Pitcairn island, Samoa.
However the Turks have money - remember before Boehly there was a Turk who placed a bid to take Chelsea.

[NikkiCFC 7,927]

3 hours ago, cosmicway said:

However the Turks have money 

From where is money coming from? 🤔

Greek priority is basketball. No one spends more in Europe than Panathinaikos and Olympiakos. PAO owner is especially interesting guy. 

[OhForAGreavsie 5,890]

5 hours ago, LAM09 said:

These types of conditions just emphasise the fact whoever is putting these deals together is worried about the financial side rather than player growth. If a club really wants a player and believes they can improve their squad, they'll play. Inserting these idiotic clauses like the one Broja had at Fulham does little to nothing for the player.

These clauses are nothing new and are in fact standard. The characterising of something as 'punishing' drives clicks I suppose, but it don't reflect the reality of loans. When players of development age are loaned, it is absolutely normal that the fee is inversely linked to the number of games they play. More games - lower fee, fewer games - higher fee.

Edited September 13 by OhForAGreavsie

[cosmicway 1,313]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

From where is money coming from? 🤔

Greek priority is basketball. No one spends more in Europe than Panathinaikos and Olympiakos. PAO owner is especially interesting guy. 

Well the clubs of Turkey seem to have money.
They signed players like Icardi, Bats, two or three of the good Greeks also.
Those who seem to have gone abysmal are the once respected Bulgaria.
Greeks are poor but you know something strange ?
In the early seventies Greek budgets were about 50% of those of Europe (and Real Madrid - Italians had a brief lean spell those years it seems).
The world record transfer of 1972 was Alan Hudson from Chelsea to Stoke City for 220,000 pounds and the record Greek transfer was Greek-Argentinian Nicolaou for about half that amount.
This did not last of course as well as the Italians and Madrid returned in strength.
Now the difference is big and especially after the economic crisis of 2010 it is really huge.

If a talent appears in Greece like Mimis Domazos how long will he stay ?
Domazos (the undisputed all time Greek superstar) came to Panathinaikos in 1959 from a lowly neighbourhood side.
The Panathinaikos manager was Harry Game and from the first season Domazos was nicknamed "the general".
If the football world was like today's football world would he have stayed in Greece after January 1960 ? Likely. After summer 1960 ? Unlikely.
Today we would n't even remember him as a Panathinaikos legend. We 'd probably not even remember his Greek club.

[LAM09 6,735]

1 hour ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

These clauses are nothing new and are in fact standard. The characterising of something as 'punishing' drives clicks I suppose, but it don't reflect the reality of loans. When players of development age are loaned, it is absolutely normal that the fee is inversely linked to the number of games they play. More games - lower fee, fewer games - higher fee.

I'm aware such clauses exist, but they really shouldn't be a worry if both parties are keen on the move. Fulham reportedly had to pay us an additional £4 million for Broja's loan term on top of his wages. In any case, wouldn't it be better to loan players to clubs in need of them & have a high chance of getting game time?

Just look at the farce that was Santos' loan to Forest. He might as well have been on a holiday for 6 months.

Edited September 13 by LAM09

[Reddish-Blue 2,341]

37 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

In any case, wouldn't it be better to loan players to clubs in need of them & have a high chance of getting game time?

To be fair, Broja hasn't looked like a PL level striker since those injuries wrecked his development.   A bit of financial security was definitely helpful in that situation. 

38 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

Just look at the farce that was Santos' loan to Forest. He might as well have been on a holiday for 6 months

Funny how he had multiple offers but his agents chose Forest and the Forest manager at the time came out and said something along the lines of we like him as cheap squad depth but he won't be getting minutes. 

At least it's good to see Santos playing more regularly in France and developing his skills!

[Reddish-Blue 2,341]

1 hour ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

These clauses are nothing new and are in fact standard. The characterising of something as 'punishing' drives clicks I suppose, but it don't reflect the reality of loans. When players of development age are loaned, it is absolutely normal that the fee is inversely linked to the number of games they play. More games - lower fee, fewer games - higher fee.

Exactly.  I've seen United, Liverpool and a few other clubs loan out players and they all have penalty clauses for lack of game time.  

It's just easier to write bad when it comes to Chelsea because we get way more clicks on X and other platforms!