41 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Think we are in a bit of trouble with his  contract extension, just leave it too late now his agent holds all the cards. Just give him what he wants and get it over with, it's the cheaper and better option compares to a new signing.

Think if he was going to sign he would have when he said a few months back everything was looking good on a new deal.

Some club has got to him and his agent, maybe Real, and now he seems more likely to be leaving to me.

Crazy to think that we could lose him for free.

Losing this many defenders on a free would be incredibly poor.  AC is the one I want to resign most.  He has grown in stature immensely, and improving every game on the ball.

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

Crazy to think that we could lose him for free.

Yes and no. End of the day we have gotten used to clubs having the power. Sending a player to the reserves when under contract, loans, offloading him anywhere, getting aggravated when stuck with Bogardes, Bakas, Drinkwaters etc.

End of the day players have every right to see out their contracts and move on as they have fulfilled their contracts. So if AC and Toni decide to do that then fair enough is their call as they have fulfilled the contracts. 

We cannot expect every player to feel the way about the club we do.

If they do not wish to stay here and don't want to play for the club anymore that is their call.

Edited November 4, 20214 yr by axman2526

49 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Yes and no. End of the day we have gotten used to clubs having the power. Sending a player to the reserves when under contract, loans, offloading him anywhere, getting aggravated when stuck with Bogardes, Bakas, Drinkwaters etc.

End of the day players have every right to see out their contracts and move on as they have fulfilled their contracts. So if AC and Toni decide to do that then fair enough is their call as they have fulfilled the contracts. 

We cannot expect every player to feel the way about the club we do.

If they do not wish to stay here and don't want to play for the club anymore that is their call.

Would he be leaving if he didn't have a good reputation right now? I don't think so, he would go along and sign any extension.

We struggled to find quality CBs and let's be honest, everyone was wishing that he steps up but he has only done it in the most recent seasons, he had ups and downs but now that he's finally stable instead of committing to the club he would prefer to leave but in our current system he's getting the best performances in his career and I don't want to predict that he'll struggle somewhere else but if he had chosen to stay now that we're once again a more consistent team, he would have been seen as a great servant in the history books because then he would be investing his best years for the club. Obviously he's in a good spot where he will get many offers now but not everything is about money, if it's true that he's looking to join Real Madrid I can only say that the atmosphere in that club is very specific and that he might not enjoy it there. Serie A would be a good place where he would be happy I think.

But this only strengthens my opinion about Kounde, he should be our priority next summer. 

7 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Think if he was going to sign he would have when he said a few months back everything was looking good on a new deal.

Some club has got to him and his agent, maybe Real, and now he seems more likely to be leaving to me.

Not really sure of the Real links, seems it’s just his agent looking for the best deal for him. I think his contract is most likely linked to Rudiger, as he would want to get paid close to what he renews at.

15 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Not really sure of the Real links, seems it’s just his agent looking for the best deal for him. I think his contract is most likely linked to Rudiger, as he would want to get paid close to what he renews at.

Feels like his agent makes this threat every year. Almost as bad as Jorginho's.

This is the issue with paying Rudiger huge money. Next Christensen wants the same and all of a sudden you're paying for two players, who are good in a back three and less good in a back two, huge money. You're then restricting what you've got left to fund a Thiago Silva replacement (which in my view is the most important deal we have coming up)

Edited November 4, 20214 yr by Spiller86

1 hour ago, Spiller86 said:

Feels like his agent makes this threat every year. Almost as bad as Jorginho's.

This is the issue with paying Rudiger huge money. Next Christensen wants the same and all of a sudden you're paying for two players, who are good in a back three and less good in a back two, huge money. You're then restricting what you've got left to fund a Thiago Silva replacement (which in my view is the most important deal we have coming up)

Christensen have shown he's plenty good enough to become Silvas replacement. That's how good he's been since Tuchel arrived.

Getting him and Rudiger to sign new contracts is at least as important as replacing Silva in my opinion. I think Thiago will stay here for one more season anyways and keeping our defence intact is so, so important at this point. Best defence in Europe by a massive distance and losing Christensen and/or Rudiger would be a massive, massive blow.

60.000 extra a week for a four year contract is about £12 million. You better believe we would have to pay a lot more to even have a hope of replacing Christensen & Rudiger if they left over that.

 

Edited November 4, 20214 yr by Sindre

4 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Christensen have shown he's plenty good enough to become Silvas replacement. That's how good he's been since Tuchel arrived.

Getting him and Rudiger to sign new contracts is at least as important as replacing Silva in my opinion. I think Thiago will stay here for one more season anyways and keeping our defence intact is so, so important at this point. Best defence in Europe by a massive distance and losing Christensen and/or Rudiger would be a massive, massive blow.

60.000 extra a week for a four year contract is about £12 million. You better believe we would have to pay a lot more to even have a hope of replacing Christensen & Rudiger if they left over that.

All fair points. For me it's Tuchels system more so than anything else. 

I said in the Rudiger thread that 12 months ago people were willing to put him on the scrapheap. His resurgence is down to the system. I'm not sold that he (or Christensen) should get big money.

For mine you want to play for us or you don't. Take the Tibo path and move for the money if you wish, but if they think they can hold us to ransom I'd call their bluff. I'd be confident in locating players to play in the Tuchel back three. Look at how well Chalobah has done so far.

The real challenge in my view is the shift to a back two, which will happen at some point. Not convinced that Christensen or Rudiger are worth the kind of money playing in a different system which is more on individual decisions and ability rather than having a spare to cover.

4 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

The real challenge in my view is the shift to a back two, which will happen at some point.

I don't necessarily think this is going to happen as long as Tuchel is here. And hopefully he will be for a long time.

And while the system have helped Christensen & Rudiger to become better defenders I don't think we need to worry about what they may or may not be in a entirely different system. We've been burned before by not supporting the manager with the kind of players he wants/needs and I'd much rather we actually support him this time instead of worrying about how they may look in a back four if someone reverts back to that some time in the future.

15 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

All fair points. For me it's Tuchels system more so than anything else. 

I said in the Rudiger thread that 12 months ago people were willing to put him on the scrapheap. His resurgence is down to the system. I'm not sold that he (or Christensen) should get big money.

For mine you want to play for us or you don't. Take the Tibo path and move for the money if you wish, but if they think they can hold us to ransom I'd call their bluff. I'd be confident in locating players to play in the Tuchel back three. Look at how well Chalobah has done so far.

The real challenge in my view is the shift to a back two, which will happen at some point. Not convinced that Christensen or Rudiger are worth the kind of money playing in a different system which is more on individual decisions and ability rather than having a spare to cover.

You say it's Tuchel's system more than anything else that makes them look good, I say it's Lampard's sytem in his first season more than anything else that made them look bad. With AC there remain some question marks whether he's as good in a back four as he is in a back three, but I believe he has all the tools to perform there too. Rüdiger has shown multiple times under various managers that he is a very good defender in a back four.

42 minutes ago, Sindre said:

I don't necessarily think this is going to happen as long as Tuchel is here. And hopefully he will be for a long time.

And while the system have helped Christensen & Rudiger to become better defenders I don't think we need to worry about what they may or may not be in a entirely different system. We've been burned before by not supporting the manager with the kind of players he wants/needs and I'd much rather we actually support him this time instead of worrying about how they may look in a back four if someone reverts back to that some time in the future.

Yeah, I think the one thing we can be 95% certain of is that Tuchel will leave in the next 2-3 years and we'll have a back four again. We'll within the life of their next contract anyway Sad but when Carlo gets sacked after a double and Robbie after winning big ears those are just facts. Always got to have an eye on what it looks like under the next manager. 

I have every faith that Tuchel could make other player on half the wages do as well. Happy for them to resign but not fussed if they did the Tibo and took the cash. 

1 hour ago, Spiller86 said:

Yeah, I think the one thing we can be 95% certain of is that Tuchel will leave in the next 2-3 years and we'll have a back four again. We'll within the life of their next contract anyway Sad but when Carlo gets sacked after a double and Robbie after winning big ears those are just facts. Always got to have an eye on what it looks like under the next manager. 

Perhaps but my hope is that we will have realized how City's and Liverpool's long-term plan with Guardiola and Klopp have worked out for them and that we plan to do the same with Tuchel.

Roman is different these days compared to when Ancelotti was sacked. He's been prepared to give managers more time unless it's looking disasterous.

@Gol15

when both Toni and AC were not being used by Frank, both had noise around them that they wanted to leave to play more.

Now they are playing more under TT and playing very well one (Toni) is getting his last long contract before he turns 30 and wants to make sure he gets the most money for it, the other wants a bumper increase along those lines because he has become a key player.

In both scenarios both players were/are willing to leave to get what they want.

@ducavis

Can never be sure with media links but the Real one makes sense for AC, as does the Toni to PSG ones. 

PSG have been looking for finished articles of all ages, for the most part.

Real want a long term successor to Varane.

On free transfers they would be willing to pay big money as they already pay huge wages to average players, especially PSG.

 

On a replacement matter there is as much noise about Levi Colwill on loan as there was about Reece James when he was. Left sided too. Could be we have a Toni replacement ready made.

A greater concern to me is how the short term can affect the long term. 

We are entering the dreaded Nov-Jan period that has taken down many of our former managers.

On top of that if Toni and AC sign elsewhere it is possible the fans turn on them which may drag the rest of our season down, and could see TT in trouble.

The contract situation involving Christensen and Rudiger is an annoying thing that is constantly playing on my mind. I would rather know now one way or the other what is going to happen, because whichever way this plays out, it will have a massive impact on us. If they stay, fantastic, it means we have a strong and steady defence for years to come, if they both go..........well, that puts us in a horrible position. It would absolutely suck to see us bring in an experienced world class CB like Thiago Silva, see players like Christensen and Rudiger learn from him, only for them sod off to a rival or top European team to hurt us. It would feel like a waste and massive opportunity missed.

If you take those 2 out of the squad right now, it severily weakens us. It would certainly damage our hopes to compete for major honours next season, no matter who we bring in to replace them. Finding 1 CB is hard enough, but finding 2 is very unlikely, then you have to work on team chemistry which takes time. Also, as well as Chlobah and Sarr have played this season, I don't see either of them as being the answer yet. Neither are good enough to hold a regular spot in a team that wants to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League.

If neither of them sign a new contract by the new year, then we should assume that they are both gone.

Wouldn’t Andreas be a bit scared of moving to a new club with different players? It might upset his tummy the poor, wee baby!

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

The contract situation involving Christensen and Rudiger is an annoying thing that is constantly playing on my mind. I would rather know now one way or the other what is going to happen, because whichever way this plays out, it will have a massive impact on us. If they stay, fantastic, it means we have a strong and steady defence for years to come, if they both go..........well, that puts us in a horrible position. It would absolutely suck to see us bring in an experienced world class CB like Thiago Silva, see players like Christensen and Rudiger learn from him, only for them sod off to a rival or top European team to hurt us. It would feel like a waste and massive opportunity missed.

If you take those 2 out of the squad right now, it severily weakens us. It would certainly damage our hopes to compete for major honours next season, no matter who we bring in to replace them. Finding 1 CB is hard enough, but finding 2 is very unlikely, then you have to work on team chemistry which takes time. Also, as well as Chlobah and Sarr have played this season, I don't see either of them as being the answer yet. Neither are good enough to hold a regular spot in a team that wants to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League.

If neither of them sign a new contract by the new year, then we should assume that they are both gone.

Good yet a possibly depressing analysis.We need both to sign an extention to their contracts. Simple as. Make it happen Marina!

Edited November 4, 20214 yr by Valerie

1 hour ago, Munkworth said:

Wouldn’t Andreas be a bit scared of moving to a new club with different players? It might upset his tummy the poor, wee baby!

HIS tummy? MY tummy if he doesn't sign!

1 minute ago, Valerie said:

HIS tummy? MY tummy if he doesn't sign!

Nothing your friends Ben & Jerry couldn’t fix 

2 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Nothing your friends Ben & Jerry couldn’t fix 

I may call new cats Ben and Jerry 🤔 Or for a Chelsea twist Ben and Terry

50 minutes ago, Valerie said:

I may call new cats Ben and Jerry 🤔 Or for a Chelsea twist Ben and Terry

Cat names must be officially purchased via Mr Bob Mortimer…

 

11 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Cat names must be officially purchased via Mr Bob Mortimer…

 

 

My mum warned me about strange men!

9 hours ago, Valerie said:

 

My mum warned me about strange men!

If you’re referring to Mr Mortimer there I may have to report you to the proper authorities! If it’s me though, you’ve a fair point!

On 04/11/2021 at 23:08, Scott Harris said:

The contract situation involving Christensen and Rudiger is an annoying thing that is constantly playing on my mind. I would rather know now one way or the other what is going to happen, because whichever way this plays out, it will have a massive impact on us. If they stay, fantastic, it means we have a strong and steady defence for years to come, if they both go..........well, that puts us in a horrible position. It would absolutely suck to see us bring in an experienced world class CB like Thiago Silva, see players like Christensen and Rudiger learn from him, only for them sod off to a rival or top European team to hurt us. It would feel like a waste and massive opportunity missed.

If you take those 2 out of the squad right now, it severily weakens us. It would certainly damage our hopes to compete for major honours next season, no matter who we bring in to replace them. Finding 1 CB is hard enough, but finding 2 is very unlikely, then you have to work on team chemistry which takes time. Also, as well as Chlobah and Sarr have played this season, I don't see either of them as being the answer yet. Neither are good enough to hold a regular spot in a team that wants to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League.

If neither of them sign a new contract by the new year, then we should assume that they are both gone.

I expect the club to recognise this and re-sign both of them, Christensen at the very least. Not worried in the slightest.