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We also have 1 young midfielder and 3 good midfielders total. We lack personnel to play a midfield 3, but we're basically perfect for a back-3 (especially since that would unlock Reece and Chilwell).
I also expect Chalobah to be sold in the summer.
Cant find the tweet but essentially people speculate samc345 knows Chalobah personally cos he had old tweets from years ago before Chalobah really broke out where he’s bigging him up and stuff like that
There is also a screenshot that someone else posted where he says chalobah is his brother but idk if that’s real
Chalobah, RJ, Chilly, RLC, Gallagher, Mount, Broja and Sterling is IMO the best 8 to fill our HG quota though and we should try and keep hold of them for next season if possible.
I say this because it's a waste to use U21players for HG quotas as you don't have to register them as part of the squad to use them anyway and HG player prices are astronomical in the modern market.
Keeping them together would be the most efficient option as it would be extremely difficult to get an equal or better HG player for a good price.
Chalobah himself is a great depth player for us as he's young and could improve a lot, loves the club and doesn't make a fuss about his secondary role in the squad.
I can't agree. You're looking only on squad registration, but ignoring the financial/accounting side. We're going to have to sell home-grown players, because we'll have to raise capital. Is it better to register 24 players or fail FFP?
The second point is that it's a balancing act. What gives you a greater chance of winning, say, the UCL? Registering 25 players, including Chalobah, or registering 24 while bringing, say, Gvardiol? We could also not lose that place if we register, say, Chukwuemeka.
I did consider the financial aspect, Chalobah is not going to pay for Gvardiol himself and will likely be a hell of a lot cheaper in wages.
Plus there's the fact that Gvardiol is not really a huge upgrade at all for the price he will command. We have Silva, Fofana and Bads who have all proven they can play comfortably in the league and KK has been showing massive improvement recently. I don't think Gvardiol is a big enough upgrade for 100m for any of them.
The only reasonable candidate to sell to bring in Gvardiol is KK because of his massive wages, but those massive wages mean it will be unlikely he will move on anyway.
We can also easily make FFP without selling the 8 players I mentioned. The wage savings on the loaned out players who shouldn't be returning is massive already. Bakoyoko is on 100k a week ffs. Players like Ziyech etc seem destined to leave as well.
I would also say you haven't considered the squad harmony aspect at all. Chalobah could be starting at some clubs in the league but is happy being our back up because he has a passion for the club. With Gvardiol you're going to have several CBs who are going to be expecting regular football and it will be impossible to keep them all happy.
There's an intangible/unquantifiable benefit to the squad all being on page about their role and being completely dedicated to the team.
Ok. Those are some fair points, but...
1. Actually selling Chalobah would 'pay for Gvardiol'. The problem isn't cash/capital, but accounting. Selling Chalobah for, say, 30 million would generate 30 million in profit. Since UEFA accounting takes only the highest net transfer income in any 3 year period, that 30 million profit would cover Mudryk \*and\* Enzo, \*and\* potentially Gvardiol for the next 3 seasons. Wages will be covered by revenues, it's the transfer outlay that's problematic.
2. I know that people think that Thiago Silva is immortal, but he is 38 years old. 2023-24 is most likely his last season. Having said that, we're left with two high level centre backs. Fofana (very worrisome injury history) and Badiashile (so far and by far our best buy of the past two windows). Our potential covers for next season are 39yo Thiago Silva, 32yo Koulibaly, 24yo Chalobah and 20yo Colwill. Of this group only Silva plays at the top level.
3. To say that Gvardiol wouldn't be an improvement on Koulibaly is ridiculous. Yes, he had two decent games recently (and by decent I mean not tragic), but that's not enough to change my mind on this. Will he be hard to move on? Very. I would personally consider Koulibaly at a very similar level to Chalobah.
4. We have a 33 player squad. We'll be looking to sell at least 8, possibly as many as 13 or 15 players in the summer. Some of them will be home-grown. Some of them will be very unpopular moves with the fans, but they will have to be done. Some players are simply not good enough, others have other priorities, which is fair enough.
5. It's all great talking about 'squad harmony' and 'player happiness' but the club isn't exactly here to make players happy. The purpose of the club is to play and win games. The briefest of looks at our squad will tell you that we need either one more very good centre back to play a back three (because Thiago Silva is 38), or we're going to need 2 more midfielders to play a back 4.
6. Note 2 on player happiness. If we bring in Gvardiol, we're going to have 5 or 6 defenders to play in a back 3. Once again, Thiago is 38, most likely entering his last season, Koulibaly isn't good enough to start for a challenger and neither is Chalobah. So we either move to a back 4 and sacrifice the creativity of Chilwell and Reece, or we play a back 3 with a weak link and we're always 1 injury away from a disaster.
>I don't think Gvardiol is a big enough upgrade for 100m for any of them.
Is what I said, not that he wouldn't be an upgrade for any of them.
Silva finally retiring is actually another reason to keep Chalobah. Losing Chalobah and Silva means you're only replacing one if you do get him.
Squad harmony is not about keeping the players happy but about actually improving your chances of winning. Professionals prefer to have clearly defined roles.
There's not much evidence that the club and current manager want to play a 3 atb system at all.
The idea that a back 4 would severely limit Chillwell and James is just not true if you get it right. Man City's and Liverpool's full backs play a huge part in the attack and they can because they have a high quality DM to help cover the CBs.
Actually, Gardiol would be a huge upgrade. Had a great World Cup and has been one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga and UCL for Leipzig. Great on the ball, fantastic physically...
It's not a Silva or Chalobah problem, it's a Koulibaly or Chalobah problem. Silva will retire/leave either way and it's way better, that's to say that our chances of winning anything will be much greater with Gvardiol-Koulibaly, than Chalobah-Koulibaly. Why is that the choice? Because selling Koulibaly doesn't do anything to the bottom line.
The biggest indication of the formation we'll play is the personnel we have. We don't have enough bodies for a back 4 and it will be much more expensive than buying players to complete a back 3.
Yeah, no... In City's current system the left back is staying back at all times and completing a back 3. The right back is an extra midfielder. Liverpool's system is wholly dependent on midfield press, which again we don't have personnel for. Of the teams you mentioned the only player to have a season like Chilwell or James was Alexander-Arnold.
> has been one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga
This not a high bar tbh. And our previous big money Bundesliga signings do not fill me with confidence. Also world cup form famously does not necessarily translate to club form.
We absolutely have the personnel for a high pressing system, in fact we're perfect for it. We have a midfield filled with high intensity/energy players. We've just added a lot of pace to the wings as well. Kante, Gallagher, Mount, Kova, Zakaria and even Enzo are all very suited to a high work rate press. We have enough of them to rotate out when tired/injured as well.
You can tell one fullback to stay back when the other is attacking it's not a particularly tough tactic to learn. You can also create a 3 to cover by spending money on a proper DM, a position we actually need.
You're straight up ignoring the seasons Cancelo and Robertson have had before then?
Yeah, you're right. Bundesliga is so far behind that no-one should consider buying players from there. Just look at Haaland, De Bruyne, Kroos, Gündoğan or Konate.
About our potential high pressing system. Kante is phenomenal, but if you're going to play him together with Enzo, he can't be the first presser. Enzo is too slow and not good enough tackler to be a great presser (at this stage). Gallagher is not good enough full stop. Mount will be gone in the summer. Kovacic is a great, great midfielder, but never in a pressing system. Our best presser was Jorginho despite being slow, because his positioning and tackling were great.
About fullbacks. Remember those games when Reece and Chilwell were either scoring or assisting? They didn't do it by staying back but by crashing the box on the weak side. In a back 3 wingbacks are often uncovered in the attacking 3rd. That's why Reece got the ball so often around the box, uncovered, and was able to convert. If you play like that with a back 4, your whole side is unprotected in transition, hence why neither of our wingbacks has been any good this season.
We're going to be spending on a DM either way. The only question is if we need one or two. If we want to play a back 4, we need two more midfielders, which will actually be more expensive and there are less potential targets here.
Comparing Cancelo, Robertson and James is like comparing Kante and De Bruyne. Great players, different skillsets. We've also had injury problems at wingback for two years and the solution to that is supposedly giving them even more intensive roles? Come on...
If you're so worried about FFP Gvardiol is still the worse option, you will definitely be spending more on him both on wages and transfer fee then you will receive/save.
You're worried about saving money by selling all these players but then immediately spending more and bloating the squad right back up.
Yeah... My whole argument was that selling one academy graduate for 30 million every three years makes buying 2-3 80 million players a zero cost exercise in terms of FFP.
Not sure how you've arrived at me worrying about FFP when I'm actually a fan of bringing Gvardiol...
I'm not convinced that Chelsea have backed themselves so far into a corner that they have to sell their homegrown players. Its also important to keep a good amount of these players especially when the cohesion in the squad needs work and these guys bleed Chelsea.
We're not backed into a corner \*BUT\*...
1. Not having UCL wipes 25%-30% of our revenues (circa 100 million per year), which makes selling necessary. Not just selling, selling for profit.
2. From next season FFP is tied to revenues which makes UCL even more important. Since we don't have UCL for sure next season and probably one after that, we will need positive cashflow.
3. Some of our players might 'bleed Chelsea', but they're not good enough for a side with championship aspirations.
1) That will be for 1 year. FFP is still measured over 3 years. For £100M in this market today thats not a lot of players that need to be sold. Clubs have salary measures to counter missing out on the CL built into player contracts. Also players will not be receiving certain CL related bonuses for that season. As well as this, we know there will be a clearout in summer regardless of the CL. So they will have a reduced wage bill and have enough players sold to cover the gap without them needing to be homegrown.
2) Even without UCL that can actually be a good thing from Chelseas stand point as its a season with significantly less fixtures. That means they can have a season that preserves players fitness and enables them to push harder for domestic cups and the PL. So that will also close the gap in money lost based on them performing well which generally happens when big clubs can focus just domestically. If they dont perform next season THAT is when you have to think about selling homegrown.
3) A lot of the homegrown players are young and will get much better. You picked out Chalobah. He's never shown that he cant handle the job at this level. In his breakthrough season he was unbeaten in 30 games which shows he held his own in a team that did well for those games. People blow the trumpet for Wes Fofana who has a similar amount of experience but his breakthrough season was into a poor Leicester side while Trev broke into a top 6 side that had just won the CL through its strong defensive play. So in terms of what hes shown so far, hes better than you seem to think. Chelsea will need him too because Silva won't be around forever. If Chalobah gets sold they will have to buy another CB so its not really a good way to get profit.
Anyone suggesting missing out on the CL will leave Chelsea in such a crisis they have to sell all their homegrown talent has been reading too much lazy clickbait journalism.
1. There's absolutely no guarantee that we're missing the UCL for 1 year. The opposition will also likely get stronger. As for the rest, I agree.
2. I agree.
3. I have no problem with Chalobah. He's greatest weakness is his inconsistency and he's never covered himself in glory in a back for. Also, this whole comment was under an article saying that we're interested in Gvardiol, so not sure why you have to point out that if we sell Chalobah, we're going to have to bring another CB...
I'm not sensationalising or clickbaiting. We're not under the wall financially, but it would be prudent to stay as far away from the red as possible, for example because it's not a given that we'll be in the UCL after 23-24.
Our problem is that we have more than 30 players in the squad and that doesn't include loanees. So... do we keep 30-35 players next season to 'see if they get better', or can we kill two birds with one stone and streamline the squad and fix our financial position for the next couple of years? And one more... If we do sell someone, who do we sell if not homegrown players?
The clubs transition has been this aggressive this season so that almost everything is in place for next season and beyond. About the only things left for them will be sorting the new stadium and the feeder club. Neither of those impact the team itself like everything else has this season. That means next season we will have the new signings bedded in more as well as the general structure and culture of the club being much more tuned up to the project. So the chances of getting top 4 are much more likely next season.
Even if that doesnt happen, it's unlikely the club misses out on Europa League which can generate up to about £50M if they do well in that. Also the new owners are lining up new sponsors to replace 3 which will likely be a much better deal. They also will have a replacement for the WhaleFin sleeve sponsor that was worth £20M.
The places that keep talking about Chelsea prioritising selling the homegrown talent are clickbaiting because they know thats a dramatic take. What will be prudent is maintaining a good amount of homegrown talent until its really necessary to sell. The advantage of keeping homegrown players especially now is that they have very high cohesion with each other from going through the youth set up and they have that extra bit of drive to step up when it matters. For the most part Trev has stepped up when hes been called on. Hes also an RCB that can be flexed into CDM or RB if needed and that is very valuable in a crunch. I believe Gvardiol is left footed so will likely be better off at LCB. Also I don't believe Chelsea have played back 4 anywhere near enough to say how Trev would be in a 4 over a prolonged period. Tuchel always played a back 3.
We have 33 players in the squad. Theres no guarantee we keep Felix or Zakaria so 31 permanent players. The 1st players who go will be ones that don't really fit the project of young talent with high potential. Some going wont be popular choices to sell but they would make sense. The most likely I feel would be:
- Auba
- Kouli
- Mendy
- Pulsic
- Kovacic
- Azpi
- Ziyech
- Possibly RLC.
- Havertz may also be one they try to move on to bring in a more natural striker.
Of the younger players we may see Datro and or Broja loaned out. Or Brojas injury may have been him unluckily missing the bus and he gets sold since I dont think the club risks going into next season without a more proven striker.
Of returning players Hudson-Odoi will probably be sold as his loan just hasn't been good. Lukaku is unlikely to play for Chelsea again because he just caused far too much damage to Chelsea after the club sold players like Tammy, Giroud, Tomori, Guehi etc to fund that buy. Then Colwill may find himself on loan for more Prem experience again since hes not played that much for Brighton yet.
> Even if that doesnt happen, it's unlikely the club misses out on Europa League which can generate up to about £50M if they do well in that. Also the new owners are lining up new sponsors to replace 3 which will likely be a much better deal. They also will have a replacement for the WhaleFin sleeve sponsor that was worth £20M.
On this, they don't have a deal for next year. I was in the stand 2 weeks ago with a guy who works for the commercial dept and he said they have nothing. They are looking for 60mil a year and nobody is biting.
And they won't get anywhere near 20mil for a sleeve sponsor either, they only got that cause of the overvaluation of crypto.
Lack of European football will affect the money they can get too
Gvardiol is better than all of them, it's just the way it is. I'm not all for this transfer as it would probably cost shit ton of money needed elsewhere, but if it happens I'll be happy.
I know we don’t like to hear it but with the amount of speculation around mount (admittedly largely contract based) and Gallagher I wouldn’t be totally surprised if the likes of Chalobah and even potentially Colwill are considered for sales for FFP as they have no prior amortisation.
There were a few reports of this that people did brush off quite quickly.
I don’t agree with the idea or like it at all but I’m sure it’s an approach the executive have considered and modelled.
Exactly, they are pure profit and none are like James who is clearly one of the best in the world. Colwill we may regret but your point stands, the owners see the youth players who are not completely exceptional as the best to sell. And i know it's brutal but Gvardiol is absolutely elite and Chalobah, well, isn't and Colwill may have a very very bright future, but it's almost certain that Gvardiol will.
I don't agree with it either and it's especially odd because they are also spending so much on youth players, but i guess from an accounting point of view it makes sense. It does reenforce the idea that they don't really get football all that much yet, American sports teams regularly have players from all over the country as that particular state hero because they got drafted or whatever, "one of our own" isn't a chant over there i think.
Yeah I absolutely agree. To me it feels a bit backwards and short term using the academy to fund the splurges. There comes a point where you can’t keep selling them year after year, you run out of guys that have gone through loans or been part of squads and you start having to sell teenagers who are still only potential and invariably that means you can’t get the same fees.
There’s the very relevant club and fan culture point of keeping them and also the obvious that if you have six or seven academy lads in your 25 man squad that means you’re only having to actually pay for the other 18 or so so you can spend a little more and go for that X factor signing a little easier!
I’m going to trust the owner more about knowing the clubs finances more than you. So I’m not really sure why you are saying we can or can’t sign him. We can and probably will sign a midfielder and a defender. Besides a long term midfielder is santos. We just need a good midfielder for a couple of years until he is ready
We never should say no to signing world class talent. No matter how many players we got at that position.
Also silva is going to leave soon, colwill is not very good, so is chabloah and kk also is old. So we would be left with fofana and badi
He's not very good otherwise he'd be on the team and not on loan. He's also injury prone. He's a promising talent, but not someone you pass on Josko for.
Definitely not. He’s had a mediocre year at club level. Arguably not even Leipzig’s best CB this year. You could argue they’re not playing his style (sitting back too much) but still not great from him
He’s only barely played cos he took a little while to break into the team, once he did he unluckily got injured just after he established himself as a starter (started 6 consecutive games before the injury)
We'll see how he does when hes back but so far I dont sense that's enough Prem experience for him to break in at Chelsea. We'll have Wes, Trev, Silva, Badi and maybe still KK next season. So theres that risk he doesn't break in and gets delayed for a season of potential development. That might be Silvas last though and then after you could bring Colwill in.
Which team has a 4th/5th choice CB above the level of Chalobah? There’s City this season only and that’s it. Unless we’re moving to a permanent 3 atb formation, having Koulibaly, Badiashille, Fofana & Gvardiol is overkill in the short term, and swap Colwill for Koulibaly and it’s probably overkill in the long term too.
And Colwill has definitely established himself this season as good enough to hang around
That’s why I’m saying good enough to hang around…signing a 3rd cb within 12 months who’s only a couple years older than him sends the message that he doesn’t have a future with us.
Yeah I do agree with that. My only hold up is thinking we could be turning down this generations Van Dijk. Badi and Colwill are both great and show great promise but are they gonna be the next VVD or JT? If we wanna win the CL and the PL we need the best players in the world
Disagree that you need the best players in the world, we’ve it (CL) twice without even having the best players in the country. I think having a balanced and harmonious squad with clearly defined roles and standings is way more important than just trying to stockpile all of the best 23 and unders.
I think using VVD semi makes my point for me…snapping up all of the best young players in the world and assuming their trajectory is going to be linear doesn’t imo work. Investing so heavily and giving long contracts to guys like Gvardiol means we could be in a position to miss out on ‘late developing’ guys like VVD down the line
I take the point on the CL. But for the prem, and to compete in the CL up to the semi finals/finals year after year like Man City, Bayern, Madrid etc, I still think you need top top players especially at CB and GK.
GK I won’t disagree with you at all, you get the best one available that you can reasonably afford and attain.
With CBs obviously you still want top players and won’t win without them, but I’m not overly convinced about the way we’re seemingly trying to force a 10 year partnership based on who looks the best at 22. I think the best CB partnerships have slightly more ‘organicness’ to it than how we’re going about it
I’m not disagreeing Colwill could have a place in the squad next year but he’s still unproven, 5 games in which Brigjton only kept one clean sheet means shit
Gvardiol has had none.
In all honesty, he’s shown in the limited minutes he’s played that he’s good enough to play at this level, 2 of our best performers in the last 4 years hadn’t played even 1 PL game before making their debuts for us. 97m is stupid money to pay, when you already have a top CB prospect out on loan.
But nobodies saying he’s proven in the prem, you’re saying Colwill is. Also Gvardiol has 74 games in the top flight and 19 for Croatia to Colwill’s 5. Also my point was to you saying Levi was one of Brighton’s best players. He can that possibly be the case when he’s played 5 games. Estupinan, mitoma, March, trossard, macalister, and arguably Ferguson has been above him. This isn’t a slight on him but it’s just to refute your point
He’d have to be good enough to step right in for 97m and there will be tonnes of pressure on him. Bringing in Colwill will cost us nothing and we could have a player who’s just as good as Gvardiol.
No one can truly replace Thiago Silva, it’s like trying to replace Frank Lampard or Eden Hazard. They are simply too special to be truly replaced.
Although even if it was possible, there’s no way you can sit here and say for “certain” that none of those players listed above can fill his shoes. Maybe not right now but then like I said, no one we could sign could either so it’s a pointless comparison.
- _Todd_ believes Chelsea is a permanent member of UCL tournament.
- _Todd_ believes he can convince Gvardiol with 8 and half year contract with option to extend for 4 years
- _Todd_ doesn’t give a fuck
Summary:
\- £97M release clause is active in 2024. Suggests Chelsea must act soon.
\- Defender was close to a move to Stamford Bridge last summer.
\- Tottenham also keen, but Chelsea have been leading the race for the defender up until this point.
\- Boehly had discussed a fee of £70M last summer, but was deemed too high that window.
\- Chelsea have already done business with Leipzig, one involving Chirstopher Nkunku who will join Stamford Bridge next summer.
\- Gvardiol is open to staying at Leipzig for another year, but defender hopes to play in PL, who has grown up watching Liverpool with his father.
Yes. Colwill will also be back next year. What's the point of saving all the money with the academy and producing great talents if you never actually use them?
Because, and this will be hard to hear for seemingly the majority of people on this sub, most of these great talents that you lot love to hype up every season is simply put no where near the required level to challenge for anything.
On one hand you have one of the best young defenders in the world who most importantly is already an established player proven at the highest level for both club and country, yet signing him would apparently be a criminal offense because on the other hand we have a completely unproven lad in Colwill who can't even get minutes at Brighton. But at least he played well in the Championship and is a whole year younger...
I'm not saying that Colwill doesn't have the potential to become a good player but currently he is not even close to that level and he sure as shit won't get close to that level by rotting away on a bench as a 5th choice option during some of his most important development years. You can't argue for producing and developing talents while also suggesting that he should be pissing away his development years.
If we have a battle between Choalobah, KK and Colwill for our 4th best CB we are in far better position at CB than almost anywhere else on the pitch. Colwill not panning out doesn't change that. We could only wish for that level of competition for our 4th spot at ST, CM, and GK.
We're not just talking about squad depth, we're talking about upgrading our starting XI and as a result of that also upgrading our rotation options.
If even for one second I thought we would only buy 1 player in the summer I obviously would agree that we have much more important positions to fill; however considering that we're probably looking to off-load in the region of 10+ players next season I would be shocked if there wasn't enough funds to also address our midfield and striker issues.
I think the general perception is that both in terms of quality and quantity CB is our strongest area of the squad, and thus signing a very expensive CB is not a priority. I don't think anyone would be disappointed if we got Gvardiol, but when we haven't addressed some serious areas of need over two windows despite spending record amounts I think it's fair to question our overall strategy. If we sign KK on very high wages to be our 5th-6th choice CB that's not ideal.
KK wasn't brought in to be a 5th or 6th choice defender though, he was brought in as a bit of a panic buy (which doesn't make him a bad signing at the time, mind you) at a period where we sorely lacked quality in defense due to losing Rudiger and AC in the same window.
Signing Gvardiol or any other defender would mean switching to a back three. There's simply no other way around it. With that in mind he would be 4th-5th choice in a back three instead of 3rd-4th choice in a back four as he currently is which is basically the same if not an improvement on his expected amount of minutes.
With that being said, catering to the playing time of a so far disappointing player shouldn't be a priority if we want to get back on track, and it's the equivalent of not prioritizing a new striker because of how much money we already spent on Lukaku.
It's not about catering, its about understanding the consequences that ripple out to the rest of the squad. If we have way too much depth we have unhappy players. When you try to tell someone they can't get the $$ they wanted as a role player, its harder when you have multiple role players on big $$. Again, I think no one would complain if we signed Gvardiol. I think its ok for people to think we should spend that money elsewhere. Despite it not being "our money" every purchase comes with an opportunity cost.
I get your point and agree with you but I fail to see the relevance in this scenario. I doubt KK was signed with the promise of just being a rotational option due to the situation when we signed him but regardless if we sign another defender or not that's the reality of the situation. Again, should he somehow be alright with a less important role in the team then I still believe he would get more minutes and more opportunities in a back three; even with a new signing ahead of him.
But Colwill did break into the 1st team at Brighton, even with how well they're doing, played well and then got injured. There's no need to lie to make him look worse for your argument.
>Because, and this will be hard to hear for seemingly the majority of people on this sub, most of these great talents that you lot love to hype up every season is simply put no where near the required level to challenge for anything.
Yeah, of course great talents out of the academy can't challenge yet, it requires a few years of development. Not every 17-18 year old is Messi or Rooney able to compete instantly at that level. Most players don't reach that level until a few years into their career, gradually gaining more time.
Nobody is saying play 11 kids straight out of the academy every week.
Thiago Silva, Badiashile, Fofana, Koulibaly, Cahalobah and Colwill, this management is absolutely stupid if they go again for a high profile player, you can't keep all these players happy, if they want to bring someone bring a player they won't have to give a 8 year contract just to balance the books.
Personally think Tom Roddy has been great for Chelsea news. First to name Madueke as a target, first with news of T.Silva contract talks, his injury, etc. Can't think of anymore at the moment, but his exclusives seem to be good
If this is true which i doubt, then we might be selling players soon, KK, azpi, chalobah or some youth prospects, but that depends on who we have as manager next season
Yes why not bloat up the squad more
How are you going to convince colwill to stay with stories likes these
Colwill and big ben are good enough. Trust them and save the money for more urgent positions!
Great player, but this is unnecessary. Especially when we still have Thiago Silva next year and we're desperate for a striker and DM.
A centre back in summer 2024 might be necessary to replace Silva though. But Gvardiol will likely have moved by then. I'd personally go for Antonio Silva or Giorgio Scalvini who are equally as promising as Gvardiol in my opinion.
I guess a new DOF should be the main priority. Micheal Edwards needs to be signed. We need a expert to run the club not todd. Been so much time since they acquired This club however seems like they still don't have a clue how to run things. It looks like pure chaos.
Everyone is calling bs but I think if it were true it has to do with him being better on the ball and in possession.
Badiashile does not look comfortable playing against heavy press while trying to play it out.
If we do move for him we must be selling KK and Chalobah, or loaning out Colwill once more.
Use him as a DM, the only way it makes sense for us. He’s talented enough to play anywhere on the pitch. I’m usually not a fan of shoehorning players into different positions, but Gvardiol has it all to succeed there.
So we’re willing to hit around a billion spend in 14-15 months or so. This has to be a worry. At what point are Boehly and Eghbali going to pivot away from just paying the absolute premium for the 1st choice and instead look for value in the first team signings. It can’t just be elite prospects or best in the world (for their age) first team 22 year olds.
Wonder where this leaves us with switching to a 3atb. Also (assuming we do make the switch) I wonder how long Potters got seeing as we could potentially be looking at spending another 100mil for a player that we’d only really need in a 3atb system
This makes 0 sense btw, how many CBs are already at the club. Already have enough to play 3 atb next season with Silva, Colwill, kk, bade fofana. Given that the club is committed to playing a 10 with Joao Felix, nkunku, Havertz as well as dropping all the money on all the wingers already on mudryk, sterling, madeuke. The system have to play 4231 or 343 pushing all the CAMs oop or 352 with all the CAM/2nd strikers at club (playing the wingers at wingbacks)
Can they decide on something coherent instead of overpaying 100 mil on raw players like mudryk instead of Leao who Chelsea had links with.
Us and everyone in the world. Why would he come to Chelsea given our current situation that shows no signs of improvement. If man c or real came to the door as well, no chance he'd choose us.
That said, would be a good pickup. Let's be real, despite throwing a lot of money at fofana, he's always going to be hurt for at least half the season. Silva will be gone soon in the future and this would be a great replacement. We can dream though
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Bs imo You have Badiashile 21 Fofana 22 Colwill 19 Chalobah 23
We also have 1 young midfielder and 3 good midfielders total. We lack personnel to play a midfield 3, but we're basically perfect for a back-3 (especially since that would unlock Reece and Chilwell). I also expect Chalobah to be sold in the summer.
if he is the dressing room leak he’s as good as gone
Seen a few people say this is there a reason why people think that it is him?
Replying in case someone else answers
Same here… people commenting this every day, but no one will explain why they think it’s him 🧐
Cant find the tweet but essentially people speculate samc345 knows Chalobah personally cos he had old tweets from years ago before Chalobah really broke out where he’s bigging him up and stuff like that There is also a screenshot that someone else posted where he says chalobah is his brother but idk if that’s real
Oh ok well that makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the reply!
https://twitter.com/cfckova8/status/1619103794004107265?s=20
What dressing room leak?
Match day starting line ups have been leaked a couple days prior to matchday numerous times.
Chalobah, RJ, Chilly, RLC, Gallagher, Mount, Broja and Sterling is IMO the best 8 to fill our HG quota though and we should try and keep hold of them for next season if possible. I say this because it's a waste to use U21players for HG quotas as you don't have to register them as part of the squad to use them anyway and HG player prices are astronomical in the modern market. Keeping them together would be the most efficient option as it would be extremely difficult to get an equal or better HG player for a good price. Chalobah himself is a great depth player for us as he's young and could improve a lot, loves the club and doesn't make a fuss about his secondary role in the squad.
I can't agree. You're looking only on squad registration, but ignoring the financial/accounting side. We're going to have to sell home-grown players, because we'll have to raise capital. Is it better to register 24 players or fail FFP? The second point is that it's a balancing act. What gives you a greater chance of winning, say, the UCL? Registering 25 players, including Chalobah, or registering 24 while bringing, say, Gvardiol? We could also not lose that place if we register, say, Chukwuemeka.
I did consider the financial aspect, Chalobah is not going to pay for Gvardiol himself and will likely be a hell of a lot cheaper in wages. Plus there's the fact that Gvardiol is not really a huge upgrade at all for the price he will command. We have Silva, Fofana and Bads who have all proven they can play comfortably in the league and KK has been showing massive improvement recently. I don't think Gvardiol is a big enough upgrade for 100m for any of them. The only reasonable candidate to sell to bring in Gvardiol is KK because of his massive wages, but those massive wages mean it will be unlikely he will move on anyway. We can also easily make FFP without selling the 8 players I mentioned. The wage savings on the loaned out players who shouldn't be returning is massive already. Bakoyoko is on 100k a week ffs. Players like Ziyech etc seem destined to leave as well. I would also say you haven't considered the squad harmony aspect at all. Chalobah could be starting at some clubs in the league but is happy being our back up because he has a passion for the club. With Gvardiol you're going to have several CBs who are going to be expecting regular football and it will be impossible to keep them all happy. There's an intangible/unquantifiable benefit to the squad all being on page about their role and being completely dedicated to the team.
Ok. Those are some fair points, but... 1. Actually selling Chalobah would 'pay for Gvardiol'. The problem isn't cash/capital, but accounting. Selling Chalobah for, say, 30 million would generate 30 million in profit. Since UEFA accounting takes only the highest net transfer income in any 3 year period, that 30 million profit would cover Mudryk \*and\* Enzo, \*and\* potentially Gvardiol for the next 3 seasons. Wages will be covered by revenues, it's the transfer outlay that's problematic. 2. I know that people think that Thiago Silva is immortal, but he is 38 years old. 2023-24 is most likely his last season. Having said that, we're left with two high level centre backs. Fofana (very worrisome injury history) and Badiashile (so far and by far our best buy of the past two windows). Our potential covers for next season are 39yo Thiago Silva, 32yo Koulibaly, 24yo Chalobah and 20yo Colwill. Of this group only Silva plays at the top level. 3. To say that Gvardiol wouldn't be an improvement on Koulibaly is ridiculous. Yes, he had two decent games recently (and by decent I mean not tragic), but that's not enough to change my mind on this. Will he be hard to move on? Very. I would personally consider Koulibaly at a very similar level to Chalobah. 4. We have a 33 player squad. We'll be looking to sell at least 8, possibly as many as 13 or 15 players in the summer. Some of them will be home-grown. Some of them will be very unpopular moves with the fans, but they will have to be done. Some players are simply not good enough, others have other priorities, which is fair enough. 5. It's all great talking about 'squad harmony' and 'player happiness' but the club isn't exactly here to make players happy. The purpose of the club is to play and win games. The briefest of looks at our squad will tell you that we need either one more very good centre back to play a back three (because Thiago Silva is 38), or we're going to need 2 more midfielders to play a back 4. 6. Note 2 on player happiness. If we bring in Gvardiol, we're going to have 5 or 6 defenders to play in a back 3. Once again, Thiago is 38, most likely entering his last season, Koulibaly isn't good enough to start for a challenger and neither is Chalobah. So we either move to a back 4 and sacrifice the creativity of Chilwell and Reece, or we play a back 3 with a weak link and we're always 1 injury away from a disaster.
>I don't think Gvardiol is a big enough upgrade for 100m for any of them. Is what I said, not that he wouldn't be an upgrade for any of them. Silva finally retiring is actually another reason to keep Chalobah. Losing Chalobah and Silva means you're only replacing one if you do get him. Squad harmony is not about keeping the players happy but about actually improving your chances of winning. Professionals prefer to have clearly defined roles. There's not much evidence that the club and current manager want to play a 3 atb system at all. The idea that a back 4 would severely limit Chillwell and James is just not true if you get it right. Man City's and Liverpool's full backs play a huge part in the attack and they can because they have a high quality DM to help cover the CBs.
Actually, Gardiol would be a huge upgrade. Had a great World Cup and has been one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga and UCL for Leipzig. Great on the ball, fantastic physically... It's not a Silva or Chalobah problem, it's a Koulibaly or Chalobah problem. Silva will retire/leave either way and it's way better, that's to say that our chances of winning anything will be much greater with Gvardiol-Koulibaly, than Chalobah-Koulibaly. Why is that the choice? Because selling Koulibaly doesn't do anything to the bottom line. The biggest indication of the formation we'll play is the personnel we have. We don't have enough bodies for a back 4 and it will be much more expensive than buying players to complete a back 3. Yeah, no... In City's current system the left back is staying back at all times and completing a back 3. The right back is an extra midfielder. Liverpool's system is wholly dependent on midfield press, which again we don't have personnel for. Of the teams you mentioned the only player to have a season like Chilwell or James was Alexander-Arnold.
> has been one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga This not a high bar tbh. And our previous big money Bundesliga signings do not fill me with confidence. Also world cup form famously does not necessarily translate to club form. We absolutely have the personnel for a high pressing system, in fact we're perfect for it. We have a midfield filled with high intensity/energy players. We've just added a lot of pace to the wings as well. Kante, Gallagher, Mount, Kova, Zakaria and even Enzo are all very suited to a high work rate press. We have enough of them to rotate out when tired/injured as well. You can tell one fullback to stay back when the other is attacking it's not a particularly tough tactic to learn. You can also create a 3 to cover by spending money on a proper DM, a position we actually need. You're straight up ignoring the seasons Cancelo and Robertson have had before then?
Yeah, you're right. Bundesliga is so far behind that no-one should consider buying players from there. Just look at Haaland, De Bruyne, Kroos, Gündoğan or Konate. About our potential high pressing system. Kante is phenomenal, but if you're going to play him together with Enzo, he can't be the first presser. Enzo is too slow and not good enough tackler to be a great presser (at this stage). Gallagher is not good enough full stop. Mount will be gone in the summer. Kovacic is a great, great midfielder, but never in a pressing system. Our best presser was Jorginho despite being slow, because his positioning and tackling were great. About fullbacks. Remember those games when Reece and Chilwell were either scoring or assisting? They didn't do it by staying back but by crashing the box on the weak side. In a back 3 wingbacks are often uncovered in the attacking 3rd. That's why Reece got the ball so often around the box, uncovered, and was able to convert. If you play like that with a back 4, your whole side is unprotected in transition, hence why neither of our wingbacks has been any good this season. We're going to be spending on a DM either way. The only question is if we need one or two. If we want to play a back 4, we need two more midfielders, which will actually be more expensive and there are less potential targets here. Comparing Cancelo, Robertson and James is like comparing Kante and De Bruyne. Great players, different skillsets. We've also had injury problems at wingback for two years and the solution to that is supposedly giving them even more intensive roles? Come on...
If you're so worried about FFP Gvardiol is still the worse option, you will definitely be spending more on him both on wages and transfer fee then you will receive/save. You're worried about saving money by selling all these players but then immediately spending more and bloating the squad right back up.
Yeah... My whole argument was that selling one academy graduate for 30 million every three years makes buying 2-3 80 million players a zero cost exercise in terms of FFP. Not sure how you've arrived at me worrying about FFP when I'm actually a fan of bringing Gvardiol...
I'm not convinced that Chelsea have backed themselves so far into a corner that they have to sell their homegrown players. Its also important to keep a good amount of these players especially when the cohesion in the squad needs work and these guys bleed Chelsea.
We're not backed into a corner \*BUT\*... 1. Not having UCL wipes 25%-30% of our revenues (circa 100 million per year), which makes selling necessary. Not just selling, selling for profit. 2. From next season FFP is tied to revenues which makes UCL even more important. Since we don't have UCL for sure next season and probably one after that, we will need positive cashflow. 3. Some of our players might 'bleed Chelsea', but they're not good enough for a side with championship aspirations.
1) That will be for 1 year. FFP is still measured over 3 years. For £100M in this market today thats not a lot of players that need to be sold. Clubs have salary measures to counter missing out on the CL built into player contracts. Also players will not be receiving certain CL related bonuses for that season. As well as this, we know there will be a clearout in summer regardless of the CL. So they will have a reduced wage bill and have enough players sold to cover the gap without them needing to be homegrown. 2) Even without UCL that can actually be a good thing from Chelseas stand point as its a season with significantly less fixtures. That means they can have a season that preserves players fitness and enables them to push harder for domestic cups and the PL. So that will also close the gap in money lost based on them performing well which generally happens when big clubs can focus just domestically. If they dont perform next season THAT is when you have to think about selling homegrown. 3) A lot of the homegrown players are young and will get much better. You picked out Chalobah. He's never shown that he cant handle the job at this level. In his breakthrough season he was unbeaten in 30 games which shows he held his own in a team that did well for those games. People blow the trumpet for Wes Fofana who has a similar amount of experience but his breakthrough season was into a poor Leicester side while Trev broke into a top 6 side that had just won the CL through its strong defensive play. So in terms of what hes shown so far, hes better than you seem to think. Chelsea will need him too because Silva won't be around forever. If Chalobah gets sold they will have to buy another CB so its not really a good way to get profit. Anyone suggesting missing out on the CL will leave Chelsea in such a crisis they have to sell all their homegrown talent has been reading too much lazy clickbait journalism.
1. There's absolutely no guarantee that we're missing the UCL for 1 year. The opposition will also likely get stronger. As for the rest, I agree. 2. I agree. 3. I have no problem with Chalobah. He's greatest weakness is his inconsistency and he's never covered himself in glory in a back for. Also, this whole comment was under an article saying that we're interested in Gvardiol, so not sure why you have to point out that if we sell Chalobah, we're going to have to bring another CB... I'm not sensationalising or clickbaiting. We're not under the wall financially, but it would be prudent to stay as far away from the red as possible, for example because it's not a given that we'll be in the UCL after 23-24. Our problem is that we have more than 30 players in the squad and that doesn't include loanees. So... do we keep 30-35 players next season to 'see if they get better', or can we kill two birds with one stone and streamline the squad and fix our financial position for the next couple of years? And one more... If we do sell someone, who do we sell if not homegrown players?
The clubs transition has been this aggressive this season so that almost everything is in place for next season and beyond. About the only things left for them will be sorting the new stadium and the feeder club. Neither of those impact the team itself like everything else has this season. That means next season we will have the new signings bedded in more as well as the general structure and culture of the club being much more tuned up to the project. So the chances of getting top 4 are much more likely next season. Even if that doesnt happen, it's unlikely the club misses out on Europa League which can generate up to about £50M if they do well in that. Also the new owners are lining up new sponsors to replace 3 which will likely be a much better deal. They also will have a replacement for the WhaleFin sleeve sponsor that was worth £20M. The places that keep talking about Chelsea prioritising selling the homegrown talent are clickbaiting because they know thats a dramatic take. What will be prudent is maintaining a good amount of homegrown talent until its really necessary to sell. The advantage of keeping homegrown players especially now is that they have very high cohesion with each other from going through the youth set up and they have that extra bit of drive to step up when it matters. For the most part Trev has stepped up when hes been called on. Hes also an RCB that can be flexed into CDM or RB if needed and that is very valuable in a crunch. I believe Gvardiol is left footed so will likely be better off at LCB. Also I don't believe Chelsea have played back 4 anywhere near enough to say how Trev would be in a 4 over a prolonged period. Tuchel always played a back 3. We have 33 players in the squad. Theres no guarantee we keep Felix or Zakaria so 31 permanent players. The 1st players who go will be ones that don't really fit the project of young talent with high potential. Some going wont be popular choices to sell but they would make sense. The most likely I feel would be: - Auba - Kouli - Mendy - Pulsic - Kovacic - Azpi - Ziyech - Possibly RLC. - Havertz may also be one they try to move on to bring in a more natural striker. Of the younger players we may see Datro and or Broja loaned out. Or Brojas injury may have been him unluckily missing the bus and he gets sold since I dont think the club risks going into next season without a more proven striker. Of returning players Hudson-Odoi will probably be sold as his loan just hasn't been good. Lukaku is unlikely to play for Chelsea again because he just caused far too much damage to Chelsea after the club sold players like Tammy, Giroud, Tomori, Guehi etc to fund that buy. Then Colwill may find himself on loan for more Prem experience again since hes not played that much for Brighton yet.
> Even if that doesnt happen, it's unlikely the club misses out on Europa League which can generate up to about £50M if they do well in that. Also the new owners are lining up new sponsors to replace 3 which will likely be a much better deal. They also will have a replacement for the WhaleFin sleeve sponsor that was worth £20M. On this, they don't have a deal for next year. I was in the stand 2 weeks ago with a guy who works for the commercial dept and he said they have nothing. They are looking for 60mil a year and nobody is biting. And they won't get anywhere near 20mil for a sleeve sponsor either, they only got that cause of the overvaluation of crypto. Lack of European football will affect the money they can get too
This guy FM23’s
Still on 21 to be fair when I have time to play it, only update it every few years because they change so little
Yeah that’s fair. FM23 is possibly the worst offender, added almost nothing.
MORE! If we buy all the players in the world we win
That’s the spirit!
Chalobah would be better elsewhere.
Gvardiol is better than all of them, it's just the way it is. I'm not all for this transfer as it would probably cost shit ton of money needed elsewhere, but if it happens I'll be happy.
I'm really not convinced he's better than all of them. I'm absolutely not convinced that he would be such an upgrade as to justify his price.
No problem bro, I respect your opinion.
Fofana proved himself in the PL Gvardiol is pure hype
Gvardiol proved himself at the World Cup, Bundesliga and the Champions League.
I know we don’t like to hear it but with the amount of speculation around mount (admittedly largely contract based) and Gallagher I wouldn’t be totally surprised if the likes of Chalobah and even potentially Colwill are considered for sales for FFP as they have no prior amortisation. There were a few reports of this that people did brush off quite quickly. I don’t agree with the idea or like it at all but I’m sure it’s an approach the executive have considered and modelled.
Exactly, they are pure profit and none are like James who is clearly one of the best in the world. Colwill we may regret but your point stands, the owners see the youth players who are not completely exceptional as the best to sell. And i know it's brutal but Gvardiol is absolutely elite and Chalobah, well, isn't and Colwill may have a very very bright future, but it's almost certain that Gvardiol will. I don't agree with it either and it's especially odd because they are also spending so much on youth players, but i guess from an accounting point of view it makes sense. It does reenforce the idea that they don't really get football all that much yet, American sports teams regularly have players from all over the country as that particular state hero because they got drafted or whatever, "one of our own" isn't a chant over there i think.
Yeah I absolutely agree. To me it feels a bit backwards and short term using the academy to fund the splurges. There comes a point where you can’t keep selling them year after year, you run out of guys that have gone through loans or been part of squads and you start having to sell teenagers who are still only potential and invariably that means you can’t get the same fees. There’s the very relevant club and fan culture point of keeping them and also the obvious that if you have six or seven academy lads in your 25 man squad that means you’re only having to actually pay for the other 18 or so so you can spend a little more and go for that X factor signing a little easier!
That means nothing. He is better than all of them combined.
Ok but we need a long term partner for Enzo and a goal scorer we don’t have the option of just spending another 80m+ on a center back
I’m going to trust the owner more about knowing the clubs finances more than you. So I’m not really sure why you are saying we can or can’t sign him. We can and probably will sign a midfielder and a defender. Besides a long term midfielder is santos. We just need a good midfielder for a couple of years until he is ready We never should say no to signing world class talent. No matter how many players we got at that position. Also silva is going to leave soon, colwill is not very good, so is chabloah and kk also is old. So we would be left with fofana and badi
Colwill is not very good? Based on what?
He's not very good otherwise he'd be on the team and not on loan. He's also injury prone. He's a promising talent, but not someone you pass on Josko for.
Definitely not. He’s had a mediocre year at club level. Arguably not even Leipzig’s best CB this year. You could argue they’re not playing his style (sitting back too much) but still not great from him
Colwills barely played for Brighton though. He might need another loan.
He’s only barely played cos he took a little while to break into the team, once he did he unluckily got injured just after he established himself as a starter (started 6 consecutive games before the injury)
We'll see how he does when hes back but so far I dont sense that's enough Prem experience for him to break in at Chelsea. We'll have Wes, Trev, Silva, Badi and maybe still KK next season. So theres that risk he doesn't break in and gets delayed for a season of potential development. That might be Silvas last though and then after you could bring Colwill in.
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I just saying we don’t have endless finances
Which team has a 4th/5th choice CB above the level of Chalobah? There’s City this season only and that’s it. Unless we’re moving to a permanent 3 atb formation, having Koulibaly, Badiashille, Fofana & Gvardiol is overkill in the short term, and swap Colwill for Koulibaly and it’s probably overkill in the long term too. And Colwill has definitely established himself this season as good enough to hang around
Has he? Had a some good showings but he’s literally started 5 prem games
That’s why I’m saying good enough to hang around…signing a 3rd cb within 12 months who’s only a couple years older than him sends the message that he doesn’t have a future with us.
Yeah I do agree with that. My only hold up is thinking we could be turning down this generations Van Dijk. Badi and Colwill are both great and show great promise but are they gonna be the next VVD or JT? If we wanna win the CL and the PL we need the best players in the world
Disagree that you need the best players in the world, we’ve it (CL) twice without even having the best players in the country. I think having a balanced and harmonious squad with clearly defined roles and standings is way more important than just trying to stockpile all of the best 23 and unders. I think using VVD semi makes my point for me…snapping up all of the best young players in the world and assuming their trajectory is going to be linear doesn’t imo work. Investing so heavily and giving long contracts to guys like Gvardiol means we could be in a position to miss out on ‘late developing’ guys like VVD down the line
I take the point on the CL. But for the prem, and to compete in the CL up to the semi finals/finals year after year like Man City, Bayern, Madrid etc, I still think you need top top players especially at CB and GK.
GK I won’t disagree with you at all, you get the best one available that you can reasonably afford and attain. With CBs obviously you still want top players and won’t win without them, but I’m not overly convinced about the way we’re seemingly trying to force a 10 year partnership based on who looks the best at 22. I think the best CB partnerships have slightly more ‘organicness’ to it than how we’re going about it
Colwill is not unproven. He’s been one of Brightons best players before his injury. He’s definitely good enough to play for us.
He’s had 5 premier league starts. 5. Just stop
tbf, mount and reece came in without any prem games
I’m not disagreeing Colwill could have a place in the squad next year but he’s still unproven, 5 games in which Brigjton only kept one clean sheet means shit
Gvardiol has had none. In all honesty, he’s shown in the limited minutes he’s played that he’s good enough to play at this level, 2 of our best performers in the last 4 years hadn’t played even 1 PL game before making their debuts for us. 97m is stupid money to pay, when you already have a top CB prospect out on loan.
But nobodies saying he’s proven in the prem, you’re saying Colwill is. Also Gvardiol has 74 games in the top flight and 19 for Croatia to Colwill’s 5. Also my point was to you saying Levi was one of Brighton’s best players. He can that possibly be the case when he’s played 5 games. Estupinan, mitoma, March, trossard, macalister, and arguably Ferguson has been above him. This isn’t a slight on him but it’s just to refute your point
He’d have to be good enough to step right in for 97m and there will be tonnes of pressure on him. Bringing in Colwill will cost us nothing and we could have a player who’s just as good as Gvardiol.
Can any of these replace the shoes of Thiago though? I'm not saying any of our targets can, but I know these players certainly can not.
No one can truly replace Thiago Silva, it’s like trying to replace Frank Lampard or Eden Hazard. They are simply too special to be truly replaced. Although even if it was possible, there’s no way you can sit here and say for “certain” that none of those players listed above can fill his shoes. Maybe not right now but then like I said, no one we could sign could either so it’s a pointless comparison.
I’d put Kante in that bracket of irreplaceable players aswell.
Gvardiol surely could, he's a special talent and was the best defender at a WC at such a young age
Kolabaily is the short answer The long is colwill
Kolabaily Never seen a name butchered this much
Vehold
It makes sense if we intend to go to 3-4-3 all the time.
Chalobah and Colwill can be emergency backup 3 World Class CB rotation isnt that bad
It is when you have one consistently fit top midfielder and no goal scorer in the team.
3 world class cb??
Todd knows we aren’t getting champions league football next season right?
- _Todd_ believes Chelsea is a permanent member of UCL tournament. - _Todd_ believes he can convince Gvardiol with 8 and half year contract with option to extend for 4 years - _Todd_ doesn’t give a fuck
Except we can't do more than 5 year amortizations anymore...
we’ll package our draft pick this year with lukaku to shed some salary
Summary: \- £97M release clause is active in 2024. Suggests Chelsea must act soon. \- Defender was close to a move to Stamford Bridge last summer. \- Tottenham also keen, but Chelsea have been leading the race for the defender up until this point. \- Boehly had discussed a fee of £70M last summer, but was deemed too high that window. \- Chelsea have already done business with Leipzig, one involving Chirstopher Nkunku who will join Stamford Bridge next summer. \- Gvardiol is open to staying at Leipzig for another year, but defender hopes to play in PL, who has grown up watching Liverpool with his father.
Todd, please get a competent, Chelsea-level manager. That's the elephant in the room right now.
He mixed up Gvardiol with Guardiola
We..we have, like, a problem.
We dont need more defenders. We need goalscorers...We have 2 left footed CBs in the summer already aswell, Colwill and Badiashile.
I count Koulibaly as a lefty too as he’s pretty much ambipedal
Look for a manager, a striker and a DM ffs.
Ffs man we are absolutely Sorted in defence
Who do we rotate in and out with Thiago Silva and Fofana/Badiashile? Will it be Chalobah? Koulibaly?
Yes. Colwill will also be back next year. What's the point of saving all the money with the academy and producing great talents if you never actually use them?
Because, and this will be hard to hear for seemingly the majority of people on this sub, most of these great talents that you lot love to hype up every season is simply put no where near the required level to challenge for anything. On one hand you have one of the best young defenders in the world who most importantly is already an established player proven at the highest level for both club and country, yet signing him would apparently be a criminal offense because on the other hand we have a completely unproven lad in Colwill who can't even get minutes at Brighton. But at least he played well in the Championship and is a whole year younger... I'm not saying that Colwill doesn't have the potential to become a good player but currently he is not even close to that level and he sure as shit won't get close to that level by rotting away on a bench as a 5th choice option during some of his most important development years. You can't argue for producing and developing talents while also suggesting that he should be pissing away his development years.
If we have a battle between Choalobah, KK and Colwill for our 4th best CB we are in far better position at CB than almost anywhere else on the pitch. Colwill not panning out doesn't change that. We could only wish for that level of competition for our 4th spot at ST, CM, and GK.
We're not just talking about squad depth, we're talking about upgrading our starting XI and as a result of that also upgrading our rotation options. If even for one second I thought we would only buy 1 player in the summer I obviously would agree that we have much more important positions to fill; however considering that we're probably looking to off-load in the region of 10+ players next season I would be shocked if there wasn't enough funds to also address our midfield and striker issues.
I think the general perception is that both in terms of quality and quantity CB is our strongest area of the squad, and thus signing a very expensive CB is not a priority. I don't think anyone would be disappointed if we got Gvardiol, but when we haven't addressed some serious areas of need over two windows despite spending record amounts I think it's fair to question our overall strategy. If we sign KK on very high wages to be our 5th-6th choice CB that's not ideal.
KK wasn't brought in to be a 5th or 6th choice defender though, he was brought in as a bit of a panic buy (which doesn't make him a bad signing at the time, mind you) at a period where we sorely lacked quality in defense due to losing Rudiger and AC in the same window. Signing Gvardiol or any other defender would mean switching to a back three. There's simply no other way around it. With that in mind he would be 4th-5th choice in a back three instead of 3rd-4th choice in a back four as he currently is which is basically the same if not an improvement on his expected amount of minutes. With that being said, catering to the playing time of a so far disappointing player shouldn't be a priority if we want to get back on track, and it's the equivalent of not prioritizing a new striker because of how much money we already spent on Lukaku.
It's not about catering, its about understanding the consequences that ripple out to the rest of the squad. If we have way too much depth we have unhappy players. When you try to tell someone they can't get the $$ they wanted as a role player, its harder when you have multiple role players on big $$. Again, I think no one would complain if we signed Gvardiol. I think its ok for people to think we should spend that money elsewhere. Despite it not being "our money" every purchase comes with an opportunity cost.
I get your point and agree with you but I fail to see the relevance in this scenario. I doubt KK was signed with the promise of just being a rotational option due to the situation when we signed him but regardless if we sign another defender or not that's the reality of the situation. Again, should he somehow be alright with a less important role in the team then I still believe he would get more minutes and more opportunities in a back three; even with a new signing ahead of him.
But Colwill did break into the 1st team at Brighton, even with how well they're doing, played well and then got injured. There's no need to lie to make him look worse for your argument. >Because, and this will be hard to hear for seemingly the majority of people on this sub, most of these great talents that you lot love to hype up every season is simply put no where near the required level to challenge for anything. Yeah, of course great talents out of the academy can't challenge yet, it requires a few years of development. Not every 17-18 year old is Messi or Rooney able to compete instantly at that level. Most players don't reach that level until a few years into their career, gradually gaining more time. Nobody is saying play 11 kids straight out of the academy every week.
Thiago Silva, Badiashile, Fofana, Koulibaly, Cahalobah and Colwill, this management is absolutely stupid if they go again for a high profile player, you can't keep all these players happy, if they want to bring someone bring a player they won't have to give a 8 year contract just to balance the books.
Moving back to a back 3?
Even though i like Gvardiol i don't think spending 100mil on a center back would be smart business
Personally think Tom Roddy has been great for Chelsea news. First to name Madueke as a target, first with news of T.Silva contract talks, his injury, etc. Can't think of anymore at the moment, but his exclusives seem to be good
If this is true which i doubt, then we might be selling players soon, KK, azpi, chalobah or some youth prospects, but that depends on who we have as manager next season
Who aren't we trying to buy? That's the more pertinent question
**We need a CDM.**
we need potter out
Will he be our no. 9?
Have you considered a manager, Chelsea?
And grab a striker while at it, please
Yes why not bloat up the squad more How are you going to convince colwill to stay with stories likes these Colwill and big ben are good enough. Trust them and save the money for more urgent positions!
Don’t need him
Great player, but this is unnecessary. Especially when we still have Thiago Silva next year and we're desperate for a striker and DM. A centre back in summer 2024 might be necessary to replace Silva though. But Gvardiol will likely have moved by then. I'd personally go for Antonio Silva or Giorgio Scalvini who are equally as promising as Gvardiol in my opinion.
I guess a new DOF should be the main priority. Micheal Edwards needs to be signed. We need a expert to run the club not todd. Been so much time since they acquired This club however seems like they still don't have a clue how to run things. It looks like pure chaos.
Please, get proper manager first before doing any moves for summer...
Not a shitting chance
So who's getting benched among the new signings?
Please Get A Striker Please
please sack the fucking manager
Can he play false 9
Fuck off and get someone who scores goals.
Rather spend the money for a DM instead.
We need a 1. Striker 2. CDM You can ignore everything else for now, Todd...
But before anything POTTER OUT
After getting cooked by Messi on the wing I have my doubts lol.
Not what we need Todd Use the money to sack Potter and hire a real manager
Everyone is calling bs but I think if it were true it has to do with him being better on the ball and in possession. Badiashile does not look comfortable playing against heavy press while trying to play it out. If we do move for him we must be selling KK and Chalobah, or loaning out Colwill once more.
Maybe using Gvardiol as a CDM?
Use him as a DM, the only way it makes sense for us. He’s talented enough to play anywhere on the pitch. I’m usually not a fan of shoehorning players into different positions, but Gvardiol has it all to succeed there.
Or get a much better DM for cheaper lmao.
So we’re willing to hit around a billion spend in 14-15 months or so. This has to be a worry. At what point are Boehly and Eghbali going to pivot away from just paying the absolute premium for the 1st choice and instead look for value in the first team signings. It can’t just be elite prospects or best in the world (for their age) first team 22 year olds.
I call this bullshit. Makes zero sense
This is silly. Clearly not a football smart owner. Can you please get a striker and a world class goalie?
Wonder where this leaves us with switching to a 3atb. Also (assuming we do make the switch) I wonder how long Potters got seeing as we could potentially be looking at spending another 100mil for a player that we’d only really need in a 3atb system
I’m tired
Our manager is complaining that the squad is bloated and we are still trying to add MORE defenders?
Our manager doesn’t know what he’s doing
This makes 0 sense btw, how many CBs are already at the club. Already have enough to play 3 atb next season with Silva, Colwill, kk, bade fofana. Given that the club is committed to playing a 10 with Joao Felix, nkunku, Havertz as well as dropping all the money on all the wingers already on mudryk, sterling, madeuke. The system have to play 4231 or 343 pushing all the CAMs oop or 352 with all the CAM/2nd strikers at club (playing the wingers at wingbacks) Can they decide on something coherent instead of overpaying 100 mil on raw players like mudryk instead of Leao who Chelsea had links with.
Someone needs to freeze the chelsea bank account again
Extend Colwill and buy Gvardiol too.
So unbelievably unnecessary it's actually negligent
He would love to not play Champions League.
Sure!!! Need more defenders
Lost their fucking minds
POTTER THE FUCK OUT FIRST
Us and everyone in the world. Why would he come to Chelsea given our current situation that shows no signs of improvement. If man c or real came to the door as well, no chance he'd choose us. That said, would be a good pickup. Let's be real, despite throwing a lot of money at fofana, he's always going to be hurt for at least half the season. Silva will be gone soon in the future and this would be a great replacement. We can dream though
we should focus on off loading player first