Ousmane is going nowhere this summer. I hope we're confident in signing Rom, because it looks like Morata's gonna be out of reach soon. As for wingers/forwards, I haven't really seen a lot of rumors. Who are we supposedly linked to?
GK- someone homegrown to backup courtois RWB- alves or maybe a young up and comer. andrea conti, Nelson semedo, serge aurier and Jeremy toljan names I have also seen thrown around. CB- VVD rumored but looking like Liverpool. If not him I think you add Christensen and only loan one of zouma/ake. LWB Alex Sandro or possibly young guy to backup Alonso. Could keep ake as backup here and LCB until Baba is healthy and have baba as backup CM- bakayako the main name and tolisso the second. Verrati would be the dream but it seems far fetched. Lewis baker should also get a shot in the summer. Matic and possibly cesc could leave Wing/inside forward- Alexis is the only name I have seen and is doubt we get him. I think this signals the switch to 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-1 in formation Forward- lukaku the main name but morata and belotti also mentioned a good bit
Hopefully we can get big money for Costa but outside of China who is gonna pay? Lukaku seems more and more likely
Maybe he realizes the money in China and takes it. Honestly I've been saying this since the end of the year. We will not replace an in-form, focused costa because no one we can buy is as good as he can be. It's becoming harder and harder for anyone to get through to him and I really don't see the dance with costa v conte being anything but a disaster next year. Bring in someone new and get more stability at that critical position and then just upgrade other parts of the roster.
My concerns about lukaku stem from his scoring record against top sides, his holdup play, his work rate and ability to press from the top and his ability to consistently score when team are playing 8 or 9 behind the ball. I've been watching a good amount of tape on him the last week and I am less concerned and more excited at the prospect of getting him than I was before I did a deep dive. I think his link up play and ability to hold up are underrated. I think he will do fine there. I can't say for certain why he doesn't seem to score against top sides but I don't think that alone is a reason not to sign someone. To me the biggest question marks are actually his work rate when the other team is in possession and his ability to stay onside. He has consistently been offside far too often in his career. He's not perfect. For the money being thrown around you would want a bit more of a finished product but you cannot win the league without a top striker and there are not many available. I still like PEA from Dortmund more but if we cannot get him, I'm not sure we can get a better striker. Keep in mind too that lukaku is considered homegrown. For a team that shuns youth, homegrown guys like lukaku and cesc give us flexibility in other areas.
Chelsea better hope that costa moves to AC Milan rather quickly because this saga could really have a negative impact on our summer. We need to rid ourselves of costa and move forward with bringing in another option. I don't see us being content with giving michy and/or Tammy a shot so we need to bring in a big name. I say we bring in one guy (like a lukaku), keep michy around as a backup and start to incorporate some 3-5-2 and then loan Tammy out to get a full season of premier league action. Assuming to loan goes smoothly we can sell michy next summer, bring back Tammy and hopefully have a team building with a 3-5-2 where Tammy can look to earn that spot. Conte loves the tall, skilled forward and I think Tammy is tailor made for what he wants. Also don't discount the idea of Chelsea playing some 4 at the back this year. The team struggled when teams lined up with 3 at the back against us at the end of the year and we might need to maintain tactical flexibility next season if we don't improve as much as we should this summer
Looks like it. I kind of think tolisso would have been better after spending some time looking T both but I like bakayoko a lot more than matic
Don't really like hearing this. Especially since tolisso is Bayern bound. I wonder if we possibly look to scrap the deal on a medical issue. I guess we should know in the next day or so. Verrati now looks like an option if we will pay for it
James rumors are back. I don't buy it but happy to take really good players that are Real/Barca rejects.
James and hazard would be a really lethal duo of number 10s playing behind a striker in the current system. Signing james would signal that we plan to stick with the current formation because I think it suits him perfectly. He is a great number 10 but he doesn't quite have the pace to be an elite winger. He could probably play forward but I really like him as the RF in a 3-4-2-1 and would also help us to not rely on counter attack as much. Like you said still skeptical though. Costa shit, lukaku transfer inevitably dragging and the fact that we haven't closed down one deal yet starting to have me a bit concerned.
little concerned as well, doesn't seem like we have much of a plan to this point. After how the transfer season went after winning 2 years ago I'm definitely paranoid
We will be fine. Fully expect us to start announcing deals after the Nike deal starts which is July 1
We have signed our top target at a position once in the last 5 transfer windows in Ngolo Kante and the last time we won we had the worst transfer window since at least Roman took over. I don't think there is anything wrong with being a tad skeptical until we see some great players or good players that are young with potential to be great actually get signed.
Absolute fucking joke of a fixture list with the hazard injury and the transfer business possibly not getting done until late. Burnley home Tottenham away Everton home Leicester away Arsenal home
Rumors coming in that conte is making a powerplay and won't sign contract extension until the board delivers his transfer targets and if they don't deliver them he walks. No transfer business and the fact that he hasn't signed the extension lend credence to the story. I am not buying it but that will most likely be the top story the next 2-3 days
Simon Johnson, who is usually very good on Chelsea, says nothing to the Conte rumors and that Caballero is done. Don't think it's as dramatic as some have said but something is amiss.
Board dragging their feet and conte knows a repeat of 2015 summer would be catostrophic. He isn't leaving though. Not buying that.
Lol at all this bullshit. Yes, the guy that just moved his family to London is going to walk over transfers not getting done in the first two weeks of the window.
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation...onte-control-concerns-power-struggle-paranoia This is a good breakdown of what is going on. Conte is up to something if the Chelsea board feel like they need to issue these reminders of who is in charge. Hopefully it can be patched up. I cannot wait for Diego costa football club to become Chelsea football club again though. That piece of shit needs to kick rocks.
Sounds like we could basically be trading Oscar and matic for bakayoko and Alex Sandro. Fees seem to add up. I'll take that.
Where are you guys at at Virgil van dyk? On one hand he's a stud. Would be our best true CB and second best defender (azpi is kind of a hybrid in my mind). On one hand I am a big fan and think he would be a long term upgrade on Luiz but I would be nervous replacing Luiz from a team morale standpoint. VVD could play on the right if you move Azpi to RWB. Would depend on if conte is ready to do that. You also would need to find a place for Christensen. If we drop the big fee on Sandro I would be perfectly happy integrating Christensen into the first team. Could always shift into a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 with Alonso and Azpi as fullbacks and move Sandro up to LM while playing Willian/Pedro at RM and hazard as the off striker. I think our summer beyond the likely trio of Sandro, lukaku and bakayoko will depend on Where conte views Azpi playing next year and what formation he is looking at. Conte originally wanted to play 4-2-4/4-4-2 and I wouldn't be shocked if he looked at Trying it again.
I really don't think we need a central defender and will be irate if either Christensen or Ake (who it sounds like we're selling) aren't with the first team this season. I like Zouma too but he might need a season on loan. Very excited about Sandro though.
I really like ake but in a 3 man defense with the world class but small Azpi on the right side the LCB needs to be bigger and that's not ake.
Dave is our best defender and kind of sucks at wing back. I don't get the fascination with moving him.
Euro u21 semifinal England v Germany on right now. England up 2-1. Second goal was chalobah to Tammy Abraham. Was pretty.
I think wingback was new to him. He joined the attack a bit more from RCB late in the year. I could see him at wingback against teams we will play more of a 5-2-2-1 against and then RCB when we play against teams where we push the fullbacks up a bit. I honestly don't know what to make of the VVD rumors. We are bringing back Christensen and have the 3 from last year Plus ake/zouma. At this point I want to see Sandro, Bakayako and lukaku wrapped up and then a younger RWB who can push moses. Unless a really good player comes up I think that is a good and realistic window.
Yes, I said another one. If anyone goes down, we are extremely thin back there to be playing well in both competitions. We aren't fucking Tottenham, we should expect to have a squad capable of competing on both fronts. I like Ake, but he isn't the quality of player to have Chelsea at that level.
How many CBs would actually improve us? If anyone goes down we have Cahill who won the league for us last year. I am not his biggest fan but he would be the best/most experienced backup CB in the league. I don't think we need the top 2 backup CBs in the league. If we sign someone to start in front of Christensen then him and his dad have made it clear they will demand a transfer. Personally, I would like to sign someone to start over Luiz but I don't think benching last years captain in cahill and last years most popular player in Luiz is a recipe for player happiness. I could see that decision working in FIFA but in real life looking a lot closer to our last title defense. If it's VVD then you pay the money and figure it out because he's truly world class and has success in the league but he's the only one. If we don't get him we role with our current defense adding in christsensen and focus on improvements at wingback and up front.
Apparently we fucked up the Kostas Manolas deal to Zenit, put in a phone call at the last minute that changed some minds.
Not sure what he brings to the table that we don't have in our other guys but who knows. So many rumors and bullshit (even more than normal) that we will just have to be patient and see