31 minutes ago, cfr95 said:

Suspected for a while this past season might've been Kante's last with us. Didn't see the Saudi move coming though, always assumed he'd end up at PSG.

When he was fit he was absolutely sensational. Truly world class, and a steal at £35m.


Will be sad to see him go, but hard to blame him when the money being offered is so insane. He'll always have a spot in Chelsea history and I wish him well for the future.

Him and Benzema are both Muslim, makes sense for them to have them as their star signings over there. Wouldn't be surprised if Hazard got an offer to go next as a free agent. 

2 hours ago, Remodez said:

And quite frankly I don't trust the club to get it right.

I would rather take the risk on giving Kante another year or two than hope our midfield summer signings all hit the ground running without some experience to back them up. 

The cynical side of me wonders if we're (like Arsenal) dragging the average age down so we have a ready made excuse when targets don't get hit.

If true sad news and a truly special player on and off the pitch.  I've had a feeling that his time was coming to an end with him playing less and less games, he's not someone we can rely on to play constantly.  You can't blame him though the money is life changing, and if the contract is anything like Benzemas where he keeps all his image right, No taxes and any luxuries he wants, he doesn't even need to spend any of his salary while he's over there its essentially an all inclusive trip with a multi million pound wage.

It does seem like the end of an era with the likes of Kante, Jorginho, Kova , and possibly Mount all leaving.  Seems like we are transitioning too fast. Think we still need to keep some of the core Chelsea players here.  One of the problems for Potter was too many new players and here we are creating the same problem for the new manager only this time Pochettino doesn't even have his experienced players to fall back on.  At this rate are longest serving players will be Sterling and Cucurella.  

14 hours ago, Drogba1 said:

Pretty much what the Chinese were doing before their governement put regulations in. Personally I think it's good for the game to have strong leagues in other continents

Having strong leagues is one thing, throwing such incredible amounts of money though to players could boost wage inflation amongst ‘normal’ clubs and leagues to unsustainable levels and have an adverse of football. We have already seen oil money initially effected horse racing, latterly boxing. It won’t be long before they start throwing silly money at players who aren’t past their best and the super league that many don’t want is upon us.

 

1 hour ago, DarkMata said:

If true sad news and a truly special player on and off the pitch.  I've had a feeling that his time was coming to an end with him playing less and less games, he's not someone we can rely on to play constantly.  You can't blame him though the money is life changing, and if the contract is anything like Benzemas where he keeps all his image right, No taxes and any luxuries he wants, he doesn't even need to spend any of his salary while he's over there its essentially an all inclusive trip with a multi million pound wage.

It does seem like the end of an era with the likes of Kante, Jorginho, Kova , and possibly Mount all leaving.  Seems like we are transitioning too fast. Think we still need to keep some of the core Chelsea players here.  One of the problems for Potter was too many new players and here we are creating the same problem for the new manager only this time Pochettino doesn't even have his experienced players to fall back on.  At this rate are longest serving players will be Sterling and Cucurella.  

This. 

Liverpool seems to be changing their entire midfield also. 

Really sad to see him go but there hasn't been much sign of his injury record sorting itself out. 

Really hope our recruitment is on point this summer as there are an increasing number of holes that need filling (Don't lower the tone)

What a sad moment. No official goodbye, nothing. Bloke came here and showed us a level we haven't seen in midfield since peak Lampard and Makelele. 

Legend in every sense of the word. We simply have to get Caicedo now. 

Goodbye legend. 😭

 

Good  luck Kante. Fantastic player  and he has won World Cup, champions league and premiership. 

One of the best players I've ever seen when he was at his peak. With his contract up there wasn't much we could do anyway, and with his injuries/age I think its right not to throw silly money after him. Thank you for some fantastic memories, N'Golo!

2 hours ago, DarkMata said:

If true sad news and a truly special player on and off the pitch.  I've had a feeling that his time was coming to an end with him playing less and less games, he's not someone we can rely on to play constantly.  You can't blame him though the money is life changing, and if the contract is anything like Benzemas where he keeps all his image right, No taxes and any luxuries he wants, he doesn't even need to spend any of his salary while he's over there its essentially an all inclusive trip with a multi million pound wage.

It does seem like the end of an era with the likes of Kante, Jorginho, Kova , and possibly Mount all leaving.  Seems like we are transitioning too fast. Think we still need to keep some of the core Chelsea players here.  One of the problems for Potter was too many new players and here we are creating the same problem for the new manager only this time Pochettino doesn't even have his experienced players to fall back on.  At this rate are longest serving players will be Sterling and Cucurella.  

Cult heroes with the faithful.

Sigh.

I can't blame him for going, that's an unbelievable amount of money even by football standards. This is setting a worrying precedent though that is unlikely to be good for the sport on the whole.

Do we get to keep his twin?

Tell you what though, 100M couldn't go to a nicer player. I'm glad the Saudi's have offered it him over someone like Pogba. 

55 minutes ago, bluedave said:

I can't blame him for going, that's an unbelievable amount of money even by football standards. This is setting a worrying precedent though that is unlikely to be good for the sport on the whole.

Next up: Saudi FA to merge with the English FA.

Legend. The people appointed to make our signings have a serious job to do. 

So i take it the year extension to his contract we offered him was a load of old fluff in the end though

FIFA and UEFA should ban players from participating in the World Cup and European Championship if they move to Saudi Arabia 

but for Kante i get it, for his religion 

i don't see what he would do with 100 million though, maybe he will give a lot of it to charity

He publicly stated he wanted to stay

we have taken leave of our senses !

I just do not trust the club hierarchy at all at the moment 

37 minutes ago, g3.7 said:

Legend. The people appointed to make our signings have a serious job to do. 

Hard job is looking to. The deadwood so far is, unsurprisingly, not so easy to shift as clubs say no to Pulisic and Zyiech.

3 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

FIFA and UEFA should ban players from participating in the World Cup and European Championship if they move to Saudi Arabia 

What? Why?

7 minutes ago, reparto corse said:

What? Why?

because Saudi Arabia is a terrible country 

the only reason the Saudi's take these player is to boost the image of their retarded country

you don't go there for sporting reasons 

every player who plays in Saudi Arabia (and they don't only play, they also have to do PR) indirectly support all of their human rights abuses  

 

Edited June 7, 20233 yr by azpi28

1 minute ago, azpi28 said:

because Saudi Arabia is a terrible country 

the only reason the Saudi's take these player is to boost the image of their retarded country

you don't go there for sporting reasons 

every player who plays in Saudi Arabia (and they don't only play, they also have to do PR) supports all of their human rights abuses  

 

I don`t see how that is different to playing in China or the US. If you want to ban footballers for playing in countries with human rights abuses who is left to play football? The US empire has bombed countless countries since WW2 yet no one cares if we are owned by an American that is part of the ruling elite. So why make a fuss about Saudi Arabia now? Who by the way is also a close ally to the US.

10 minutes ago, reparto corse said:

I don`t see how that is different to playing in China or the US. If you want to ban footballers for playing in countries with human rights abuses who is left to play football? The US empire has bombed countless countries since WW2 yet no one cares if we are owned by an American that is part of the ruling elite. So why make a fuss about Saudi Arabia now? Who by the way is also a close ally to the US.

That's a good point

And i might be wrong, but isn't the Saudi government indirectly or directly the ones who are financing all these players? If you play in another country it's still about the sport and not so much political (except China). And it's not the government financing the players. 

they also punished Roman and not other owners who are indirectly involved in the things you mention or similar. All these American owners are donors to political parties

Also FIFA are probably big buddies with the Saudi's anyway so a ban like that would never happen

Edited June 7, 20233 yr by azpi28

Wonder servant to the club. Been one of our best players in the last decade and was influential in several of our title wins. Sad to see him go but he’s m at least happy knowing he’ll end his career with a fat pay cheque

Suck it up. The Saudis have the money to do anything they want. They even brought Golf yesterday.