2 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Lot of media reporting we're making a big push to bring Rudiger back to the club for experience in the back line. Part of me thinks its a good idea but the other part of me remembers Rudiger as being incredibly rash and needed another cool head next to him to be able to play his best footballer.

We need experience but is it really Rudiger that should bring it?

Got another one for you @Mod

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Chelsea are considering a move to re-sign Rudiger.

8 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Got another one for you @Mod

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Chelsea are considering a move to re-sign Rudiger.

lol at the rumour police !😂🤣😂

11 minutes ago, OTL said:

lol at the rumour police !😂🤣😂

Fichajes is a wanted man on this forum board.

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Got another one for you @Mod

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Chelsea are considering a move to re-sign Rudiger.

I quoted no such source and i find this post borderline libel, you will hear from my lawyer.

On 17/11/2025 at 08:03, dkw said:

Yep, historically its never happened, its been close as we nearly had a few back in the day (Neymar apparently was close) but Estavao is now massively in the public eye. I just hope people a the club know how best to handle him, dont exploit him etc. He seems to be a sensible lad and have a good family group with him so hopefully they look after him.

EPL clubs now direct far more resources into scouting and building relationships with South American clubs.

I’d imagine that historically it would have been very difficult to compete with the big Spanish and Portuguese clubs for the best players but the South American clubs aren’t daft. They know they’ll get top dollar from England.

Estevao could make us a club to rival Madrid/Barcelona as the preferred club for the top talent from South America in the future.

No pressure young man.

7 hours ago, 19seventyone said:

EPL clubs now direct far more resources into scouting and building relationships with South American clubs.

I’d imagine that historically it would have been very difficult to compete with the big Spanish and Portuguese clubs for the best players but the South American clubs aren’t daft. They know they’ll get top dollar from England.

Estevao could make us a club to rival Madrid/Barcelona as the preferred club for the top talent from South America in the future.

No pressure young man.

The main problem has always been around visa`s and entry, Spain, Italy and Portugal had much more lax issues around that, so they could ship players in anytime. Portugese clubs especially have historically seen this as an asset programme, get loads in young, find a start here and there, sell for big bucks.

21 hours ago, 19seventyone said:

EPL clubs now direct far more resources into scouting and building relationships with South American clubs.

I’d imagine that historically it would have been very difficult to compete with the big Spanish and Portuguese clubs for the best players but the South American clubs aren’t daft. They know they’ll get top dollar from England.

Estevao could make us a club to rival Madrid/Barcelona as the preferred club for the top talent from South America in the future.

No pressure young man.

It was always visa issues. England's work permit scheme was prohibitive, requiring players to have played in up to 75% of their country's international matches to quality or having to face an expert panel to determine an exception, which was largely based on league minutes. The FA even tightened up the rules in 2015 to make it harder for the panels to grant exceptions. The net result was that it was very hard for English clubs to sign young non-EU players at the start of their careers, where they were still playing U-21 international football and weren't already playing the PL or Champions League. Neither Estevao nor Andrey Santos would have been able to play for Chelsea under the previous rules.

The Home Office and the FA have since relaxed the rules in 2023, making it easier to acquire work permits via exceptions. We may not have been able to sign Estevao without this rule change and certainly would not have been able to sign Santos.

16 hours ago, dkw said:

The main problem has always been around visa`s and entry, Spain, Italy and Portugal had much more lax issues around that, so they could ship players in anytime. Portugese clubs especially have historically seen this as an asset programme, get loads in young, find a start here and there, sell for big bucks.

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

It was always visa issues. England's work permit scheme was prohibitive, requiring players to have played in up to 75% of their country's international matches to quality or having to face an expert panel to determine an exception, which was largely based on league minutes. The FA even tightened up the rules in 2015 to make it harder for the panels to grant exceptions. The net result was that it was very hard for English clubs to sign young non-EU players at the start of their careers, where they were still playing U-21 international football and weren't already playing the PL or Champions League. Neither Estevao nor Andrey Santos would have been able to play for Chelsea under the previous rules.

The Home Office and the FA have since relaxed the rules in 2023, making it easier to acquire work permits via exceptions. We may not have been able to sign Estevao without this rule change and certainly would not have been able to sign Santos.

Cheers for clarifying. I’d forgotten about the visa issues.

Hard to see Valentin Barco going elsewhere other than us. Seems like the perfect partner for Caicedo. He is both industrial and sprays Hollywood passes for fun. Superb midfielder.

Edited November 28, 2025Nov 28 by petre ispirescu

6 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

Hard to see Valentin Barco going elsewhere other than us. Seems like the perfect partner for Caicedo. He is both industrial and sprays Hollywood passes for fun. Superb midfielder.

Brilliant player, he is what we all imagined and want Enzo to be. Has a bit of Pirlo to his game, and probably worth £50m as things stand. Made Wharton look like a championship player.

Moreira also looks like a quality player who could play the Cucurella role, or whatever Maresca is trying to do with Gusto. Both player will be in high demand come the summer, Strasbourg already turned down an offer from Juve for Moreira last summer.

I would keep both players at Strasbourg for one more season to gain more experience playing Europa/Champions league which should be attainable on current form, and try and bring both in for 2027 summer.

Im hearing Mudryk could be back in January and could also be sent to Strasbourg with a view to elevate his value prior to a sale. Sevilla also interested in a loan.

Edited December 8, 2025Dec 8 by OTL

38 minutes ago, OTL said:

Im hearing Mudryk could be back in January and could also be sent to Strasbourg with a view to elevate his value prior to a sale. Sevilla also interested in a loan.

No point keeping him now that we've got a choice of another two left wingers who are even worse LOL

Ramos on a free anyone 😂

20 hours ago, OTL said:

Im hearing Mudryk could be back in January and could also be sent to Strasbourg with a view to elevate his value prior to a sale. Sevilla also interested in a loan.

Where are you hearing this? Mudryck has been in stealth mode since Nov 2024.

24 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Ramos on a free anyone 😂

I wonder if we will start signing older players - maybe as part of a breeding program? Football eugenics

Reliable Newcastle Journalist.

Could always have time for a KDB regen.

A bit of noise around Kobbie Mainoo right now (his brother's "Free Kobbie Mainoo" tee shirt in the media today ... side note: what is it about United players and their hanger-on brothers ?)

So anyway, now I'm half expecting Dumb and Dumber to sign Mainoo in January and offload Andrey Santos ...

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

A bit of noise around Kobbie Mainoo right now (his brother's "Free Kobbie Mainoo" tee shirt in the media today ... side note: what is it about United players and their hanger-on brothers ?)

So anyway, now I'm half expecting Dumb and Dumber to sign Mainoo in January and offload Andrey Santos ...

4 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

A bit of noise around Kobbie Mainoo right now (his brother's "Free Kobbie Mainoo" tee shirt in the media today ... side note: what is it about United players and their hanger-on brothers ?)

So anyway, now I'm half expecting Dumb and Dumber to sign Mainoo in January and offload Andrey Santos ...

I don’t get the hype around him, he is even slower than Enzo Fernandez and is another player that will be forced into the “10” role because of a lack of mobility

Yeah he's very slow. Napoli I thought were interested, and like many players from the Prem he will likely do well in Italy.

21 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Yeah he's very slow. Napoli I thought were interested, and like many players from the Prem he will likely do well in Italy.

I hope you are right.

This one has the foul stench of "opportunistic transfer" all over it though ... so hopefully S&W are upwind !

Loads of random kids being linked again, so looking more of thr same.

Bouaddi - 18 year old. <50 apps top flight

Jaquet 20 year old <50 apps top flight

Karetsas 18 year old 0 apps in top 5 league

This is where we are now as a club. Instead of Osimhen, Semenyo, or Rogers, we go for players like Gittens and Delap who really need to he out on loan.

On the plus side we have been linked with Murillo from Forest who i think is a top player, but we have seen with Gibbs-White that this Forest owner is a nightmare to deal with.

Also seen some rumours of Wharton or Anderson, the latter we have to deal with Forest, and we couldnt even get Olise off Palace when he had a buy out clause, so Wharton will be neqr on impossible.

On 21/12/2025 at 17:40, big blue said:

Loads of random kids being linked again, so looking more of thr same.

Bouaddi - 18 year old. <50 apps top flight

Jaquet 20 year old <50 apps top flight

Karetsas 18 year old 0 apps in top 5 league

This is where we are now as a club. Instead of Osimhen, Semenyo, or Rogers, we go for players like Gittens and Delap who really need to he out on loan.

On the plus side we have been linked with Murillo from Forest who i think is a top player, but we have seen with Gibbs-White that this Forest owner is a nightmare to deal with.

Also seen some rumours of Wharton or Anderson, the latter we have to deal with Forest, and we couldnt even get Olise off Palace when he had a buy out clause, so Wharton will be neqr on impossible.

The Bouaddi link is just silly if we are actually interested. He is another DM, highly rated but has just signed a new contract and has a €45m release clause. If the media are to be believed, we intend to sign him from Lille and then loan him out to Strasbourg. That is just brainless IMO.

Former Man United chief scout Mick Brown:

🗣️" "Chelsea are long-term admirers of Mainoo. So yes, I think if he was allowed to leave Man United in January, they’ll be among the contenders because they see him as a top midfield option. He could come into that team and improve them.

& play where? If he is leaving Utd for game time, we are the last team he should be considering. Personally I don’t see it, and he is another Gittens/Garnacho.

"Market Opportunity"