markpitts

RB Leipzig have asked Chelsea about Tyrique George during club-to-club talks for Xavi Simons. Separate topic and not into same deal but George has attracted interest from Bundesliga and Leipzig are keen. A permanent move to Leipzig would be brilliant for him.

Title contenders? Not a chance. Will take Top 4. Way too many changes; we are at 6 new signings; add Hato & Simmons, and it’s almost an 11. Can’t see how he makes it work with that big a squad, can’t split the squad into 2 like he did last season. Your Caicedo, Cucurella & Palmer will play almost ever min in the CL & PL, if they are are fit. Won’t be surprised to see a couple demand a loan move away in Jan, it’s a World Cup year.

This 16yr old winger Liverpool poached from us last summer Rio Ngumoha might break into their senior team this season. Having a very good preseason, and looks like an interesting talent.

They just appointed Atalanta’s technical director, probably too late to impact this window.

Based on what though? He has a good output despite the limited minutes he has had, and let’s remember he just turned 19yrs. One thing the club fails at is “platforming” its youth talent. Clubs like Liverpool, Utd, Arsenal & even City are brilliant at doing that. George doesn’t even have to be special, you just have to make the public believe and buy into the narrative that he is brilliant and you open up a market for him. Arsenal did it last season with Nwaneri & Lewis Skelly, played it so well the latter already has 2 England caps. Both players might end up being average; but if you place either on the market now, Arsenal will demand at least £50m. We will be lucky to get £10m for Tyrique.

Not a chance..lol. He was trying to pull a fast one on PSG, but they were not having it after their prior experience with Mbappe. Won’t be surprised if his intention was to move to Madrid on a freebie. Left his childhood club on a free transfer after failing to agree a new contract, he is following the same pattern now. Can’t see him at Utd, and Chelsea shouldn’t even bother. Good shot stopper but average with his feet.

Yup.. €200k/w + €100k/w in bonuses=€300k/w. Always felt his career was weird even though it’s paid off; started out at 17yrs for his boyhood club, AC Milan and somehow moved to PSG for the money. He seems to be moving at the peak of his career again for more money; wages will be ridiculous for any interested club. Think it will be either Galatasaray (seem to be going crazy in the market) or Saudi. Sidebar: Ederson also seems to want out for City, well since last summer. Again seems to be either Galatasaray or Saudi. City have all but signed Trafford from Burnley which is a strange one, will be interesting to see if he goes or Ortega leaves.

Bayern placed a bid of €50m last Jan but we demanded €60m. Utd were also interested. We have dropped our demand to £35m but a whole season of been average means he is no longer priority for any interested party. He isn’t pushing for a move which is strange considering it’s a World Cup year, but he is on big wages. He might move at the end of the window for under our £35m asking price.

Wouldn’t be too certain about getting these add ons. He is apparently signing a 2yr deal till 2027. He is an unserious footballer managed by Mendes who doesn’t care about his career, and will keep moving him around every few years to get his agent fees.

He needs to worry about getting regular game time for his development than prioritising a CL team. If a CL is trying to make room in their squad to fit him in, then he isn’t seen as priority.

Sesko is very overrated! Didn’t he ask Arsenal to insert a release clause not greater than 20% of the transfer fee into his contract? There is no way you are keeping the trio of Delap, Pedro & Sesko all happy. I also don’t think there is much difference in the attributes of Delap & Sesko.

Chelsea's first bid for Jorrel Hato is €40m, but A**x want €55 to €60 million. The expectation is that both clubs will reach an agreement somewhere in the middle. It's said that €50 million is also a fantastic amount. That is a steep but fair price. Surely he isn’t coming in a as a backup.

Agree. Only concern is he is potentially a world class player and has been earmarked as one ever since he broke through at 16yrs. A player of that quality you just sit on the bench indefinitely or start a RB at LB ahead of him. You are guaranteed that he will demand a move away next season if he doesn’t get ample game time.

Could easily get rid of Diaz & Nunez, play Isak as 9 and Ekitike as a LW. Still feel their squad doesn’t work as things stand even without adding Isak into the mix. Can’t see how Slot fits Wirtz and Szoboszlai into the same 11.

Championship loan? If I were him I would just ask for a transfer back to Spain. Even if it’s a Levante type bottom of the table La Liga team. Pretty obvious he will just end up in a cycle of pointless loan moves till he can be sold for a reasonable profit.

Rogers is going for £80m-£100m. Simons is available for around £65m. We are here debating Simons football journey, but Rogers only has one season of top flight football. UEFA has also warned us against doing any dodgy swaps with Villa, while Leipzig are interested in signing Chukwuemeka on a permanent deal.

Thank you! Both parties were aware he was leaving in the summer when they signed him. Personally am a big fan of him. He’s got elite ball striking from outside the 18yard box which we have been missing for years, brilliant ball striking, and good footwork.

Lol.. why did they give him a 2yr contract then, it’s unheard of. And if Xavi Simons requested a 2yr contract, Leipzig could have walked away.

This isn’t what happened though. Leipzig never paid a club record fee with any intention of keeping, it was a short term profit play. The club always intended to sell him in the summer, a CL place had no bearing whatsoever.

His signing was a profit play by Leipzig. He is their record signing ever, and they only gave him a 2yr contract. All intention was/is to sell him this summer. As for the PSG move; he was signed at 17yrs as a youth team player. Stepped up to the first team in 2021; that same summer they signed Messi, with Di Maria, Neymar, Mbappe already at the club he was never going to get game time. He moved to PSV as a 19yr old in 2022, had a brilliant debut season with 19 league goals and 8 assists. PSG immediately activated his buyback clause for €5m. That summer PSG appointed Luis Enrique as their manager, and they went crazy in the market. They signed Dembele, Barcola, Asensio, Kang-In-Lee, Ekitike, Muani, and Gonçalo Ramos all for big money. They €5m signing never stood a chance so he went to Leizig on loan. Scored 8 league goals and 11 assists on loan; comes back and they signed Doue, with Kvaratskhelia coming in Jan. Never really stood a chance at PSG under Tuchel, Pochettino, Gaultier and Enrique. 4 managers in his 4-5yr period in PSG is not the right conditions for a young player. Personally think he is a much rounded player, and has shown great resilience despite his circumstances. He has been brilliant at PSV and Leipzig.

He has a release clause, and they never intended to keep him. Barca, Liverpool, and Spurs are interested parties; Barca are broke, Liverpool need to sell Diaz before buying him, and he isn’t interested in Spurs.

This isn’t the situation though; he has never pushed for a move, rather Leipzig signed him in Jan with the intention of selling in the summer. They paid €50m fixed fee plus bonuses of €30m, and inserted an €80m release clause. This is all a play to make a quick €30m (might actually be a €75m profit on their books).

He is clearly talented but we are talking about France here. He currently doesn’t make their U21 squad, how is he going to swing a World Cup place? No one is disputing this but signing him and then loaning him back to Strasbourg smacks of not having a plan. Off my head we currently have 9 first team CBs on our books here, what is the plan for a Josh, Anselminho, Sarr here. All 3 are definitely talented but will struggle to reach their full potential because the club doesn’t have a plan.

Called it when we signed him, he was bought to prevent him from going to another PL club. Sure his salary has been bumped up, but there is no long term plan for him here.

Wouldn’t touch him; sample size is just 1 PL. £80m is too much for a player that isn’t a dead cert. Find it weird City, Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal & Tottenham have all signed players in a role he plays but his name hasn’t popped up as a target. Give me Xavi Simons everyday; I know we have been burnt by duds from the Bundesliga but he isn’t just any player. Came through Barca’s La Masia, played for PSV, PSG and now Leipzig. Doesn’t get more rounded than him.