11 hours ago, Zeta said:

I've got it from a reliable source that Chelsea's real striking target this window is Darren Bent.

You’ve misquoted there, I think you mean Marcus Bent. 

Seri apparently being chased by Man United. I could see him really improving the creativity in their midfield. He could be a good replacement for Fabregas here possibly.  Only 25-30m as well. 

 

Matic Pogba Seri

Martial Lukaku Sanchez

 

Pretty strong. Has a bit of everything (on paper.)

 

25 minutes ago, Sun zhi said:

Seri apparently being chased by Man United. I could see him really improving the creativity in their midfield. He could be a good replacement for Fabregas here possibly.  Only 25-30m as well. 

 

Matic Pogba Seri

Martial Lukaku Sanchez

 

Pretty strong. Has a bit of everything (on paper.)

 

Have we been linked with him by a reliable source?  Someone else mentioned (might have been a different thread) that we have been linked with Seri.

6 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

Have we been linked with him by a reliable source?  Someone else mentioned (might have been a different thread) that we have been linked with Seri.

I don't believe so, tbh. Not recently anyway. 

Any top quality midfielder, more of an all-rounder than Fabregas... That would really strengthen the team if you've got him alongside Kante.

 

Rudiger :) (30m?)

Morata :| (60m?)

Zappacosta :| (24m?)

Drinkwater :| (35m?)

Bakayoko :( (£40m)

Barkley :| 

Dzeko :| (£35m)

Emerson :| (£20m)

 

That would be £250m more or less on players, and how much would the squad really have improved from last season? 

When...

Zouma could've been kept and done a similar job to Rudiger... It seems like a lot of sideways and backwards steps.

The one real bright spot has been Christensen. 

 

 

 

 Have  you guys seen this??

Assuming the lineup is:

 

Courtois

Azpi | Christensen | Cahill

Moses | Kante | Bakayoko | Alonso

Willian | Morata | Hazard

 

Bench:

Cabellaro

Rudiger

Zappacosta

Fabregas

Pedro

Barkley

Dzeko

 

Reserves

Luiz

Emerson

Drinkwater

 

 

Admittedly, you'd have a some good depth, even some variety,, but overall a lot of similar level, average, slightly above average players. 

Edited January 24, 20188 yr by Sun zhi

23 minutes ago, Lucashm said:

 

 Have  you guys seen this??

Looks a real talent if youtube is anything to go by...

I'd have Emerson on the bench over Zappa. 

4 hours ago, Sun zhi said:

I don't believe so, tbh. Not recently anyway. 

Any top quality midfielder, more of an all-rounder than Fabregas... That would really strengthen the team if you've got him alongside Kante.

 

Rudiger :) (30m?)

Morata :| (60m?)

Zappacosta :| (24m?)

Drinkwater :| (35m?)

Bakayoko :( (£40m)

Barkley :| 

Dzeko :| (£35m)

Emerson :| (£20m)

 

That would be £250m more or less on players, and how much would the squad really have improved from last season? 

When...

Zouma could've been kept and done a similar job to Rudiger... It seems like a lot of sideways and backwards steps.

The one real bright spot has been Christensen. 

 

 

250 doesn’t buy what it used to 

24 minutes ago, BleedBlue92 said:

250 doesn’t buy what it used to 

True of course, but it should still get you 5 or six, very good to top level players... For other squad roles, there are (were) players on loan, in the youth team and others that can be bought in for cheap at a good price with scouts doing their job. 

There are places, other leagues with talented players who don't cost ridiculous amounts...

 

 

Positions needed to be strengthened.

2 Wingbacks - 

 

2 Central midfielders - (At least one of those could have been filled by Loftus-Cheek, Van Ginkel, Chalobah, Ake - if the latter two would have been given playing time.)

 

2 Forwards (one striker, one winger/inside forward?)

The winger could have been Traore. He's scored 6 goals from 16 starts, mainly as a right winger for Lyon. 

 

 

So really... 2 Wingbacks, a quality central midfielder and a quality striker for 250m.

62.5m a player on average

 

 

35 minutes ago, Sun zhi said:

True of course, but it should still get you 5 or six, very good to top level players... For other squad roles, there are (were) players on loan, in the youth team and others that can be bought in for cheap at a good price with scouts doing their job. 

There are places, other leagues with talented players who don't cost ridiculous amounts...

Positions needed to be strengthened.

2 Wingbacks - 

2 Central midfielders - (At least one of those could have been filled by Loftus-Cheek, Van Ginkel, Chalobah, Ake - if the latter two would have been given playing time.)

2 Forwards (one striker, one winger/inside forward?)

The winger could have been Traore. He's scored 6 goals from 16 starts, mainly as a right winger for Lyon. 

So really... 2 Wingbacks, a quality central midfielder and a quality striker for 250m.

62.5m a player on average

It pretty much gets to how much we are willing to trust the youth (manager and board-wise).

I honestly don't think it's the board's fault here (re. Giving youth the chance). It seems there are certain players Conte just doesn't trust enough to do what he expects of them (which seems a bit of a silly thing to say given the Baka situation), while others like Christensen and Ampadu he's taken a liking to.

Morata looked like a great buy, but all of a sudden there are some pretty big question marks over him. That's one you can't really fault the club for. He was one of the few top young striker's about who were available. 

Batshuayi - if Conte had such little faith in him, he really ought to have left the club over the summer and someone else bought in. There was interest from Marseille or Lyon if I recall, with a decent fee quoted.

Frustrating thing is all the areas of weakness remain. Maybe the Dzeko and Emerson deals (and Barkley) will prove better business... We'll just have to wait and see.

 

 

 

Edited January 24, 20188 yr by Sun zhi

2 hours ago, BleedBlue92 said:

250 doesn’t buy what it used to 

Pogba (£90m)

Tolisso (£35m) - 41.5€

Belotti (£88m release clause)

Walker (£50m)

= £263m (slightly over but still)

Then there’s players if you’re looking at potential like Youri Tielemans who Monaco bought for £20m, when you consider what we paid for Bakayoko, it makes you wonder why we didn’t go for a better player at half the price.

 

£250m can buy you plenty, it just depends on what you want to spend it on. All of these figures are relatively accurate as three of the players were reportedly sold for that value and the other (Belotti) has a release clause.

 

Granted, I’m not saying they’d sign for us or they wouldn’t have been lined up already these players were just examples of players who IMO would play significant roles in our first team and we’d still have improved the squad depth significantly IMO. 

Also, I appreciate their wages would need to be taken in to account but as I’ve said before. If you take DD and Bakayokos wages and put them together, you’re probably not a million miles away from Pogbas wages for example.

 

Edited January 24, 20188 yr by EdinburghBlue

Rumours that the hold up over Dzeko's transfer is to do with him getting a visa...negotiations still taking place over the phone...he wants at least a 2 year deal which matches his current one at Roma...

21:30 - Sunderland enquirer about LuaLua

22:30 - Sunderland sign LuaLua

————

01/01/18 Chelsea enquiry about player

31/01/18 Chelsea sign overpriced crappy alternative to original 7 targets

Rumors we are looking at Kurzawa at PSG and have asked about Giroud lol

There is clearly only one man for the job. Fits the bill perfectly, he is both hilarious and too old:

Rumours linking is with a loan for Giroud now. I’d have him but there’s no way Arsenal would loan or sell him to us.

1 hour ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Rumours linking is with a loan for Giroud now. I’d have him but there’s no way Arsenal would loan or sell him to us.

Exactly, why on earth would arsenal help us like that. 

1 hour ago, Bobbywoodhogan said:

Rumours linking is with a loan for Giroud now. I’d have him but there’s no way Arsenal would loan or sell him to us.

On loan, to sit on our bench 

 

Scraping the Barrel now.

Arsenal's bench striker

woeful

When will it end, oh please just let this window end. I don't even think Giroud is a bad player I just can't stand waking up each morning to hear about our 'next target'. Never known of such a headless pursuit or 'depicted' headless pursuit. Who knows what's going on.. 

apparently we are looking at Rondon now....

could it get any worse 

On a lesser note, why didn’t we try signing Iheanacho from Man City?

The guy can score, can play as a lead striker and a support striker too.

maybe nobody at Chelsea rates him, perhaps.

4 hours ago, CFCCAN said:

apparently we are looking at Rondon now....

could it get any worse 

I quite like Rondon! I'm of the opinion that their are certain players in the Premier League, that play for certain clubs that are definitely holding them back. Rondon is one of them. Playing for a mundane team with a static midfield like West Brom, how's he going to get good service? Another one is Jordan Ayew of Swansea. Definitely deserves to be in a better team than that mob.