For second summer in a row, the hierarchy have made a complete balls up of the transfer window, so much so they're making desperate bits for anyone left, right and centre..,it's just not good enough...whether it's Emenalo's targets or granovskaia's negotiating tactics, questions should be asked...it's all very well sacking managers for not getting results, but if they're being let down by those supposedly in charge of transfers, then the blame should be pointed elsewhere...you only have to look at what Mourinho is benefitting from at Utd now - they may have paid over the odds, but Utd have got him the four targets he wanted...in contrast last year our board gave Jose fcuk all and we all know how that season turned out...bet conte is pissed too

Who chose to loan out players like baba, Traore and sell Papy, before we actually got players in...not saying that trio are chelsea quality (though I think Traore is), but they're better than nothing!

And just remember the board had a late change of heart to give Jt a new deal...imagine how fcuked we'd be if Jt had been allowed to go...

Roman should be asking some serious questions of people who are getting paid a lot of money to make big decisions but are getting them consistently wrong

Edited August 25, 20168 yr by The Brit

It's all get a little embarrassing now.

Clubs releasing statements basically telling us to bugger off.

6 days left of the window and our back 4 is weaker than it was last season.....

I agree that we shouldn't be letting players leave without getting their replacements in first, it doesn't make much sense in terms of squad building and it leaves us in a weaker negotiating position for their replacements.

 

I don't really care to compare us to man united, they are a club that can afford to sign any player in the world- they'll get no congratulation from me for paying mino raiola more than £30m in total this summer. without abramovich we can't do that and I hope we never go back to him writing blank cheques because that has given us a reputation as a soft touch in the market (and I want to see a club that is not dependent on any one person).

 

batshuayi looks like he could be good and kante is a great signing given his price and the other clubs that were surely interested. but at present we have 6 defenders in the squad, 3 of them are 30 or older, 2 of them have a year left on their contract, one of them is out with a long term injury and one of them has played one game in his senior career. that needs to change- ideally we'd get them in before pre season, but so long as we make the signings I don't think heads need to roll...

 

p.s. it is ridiculous that the transfer window is open two weeks after the season has started. that needs to change, whether the season starts later or the window closes earlier.

Tarzan didn't let go of a branch until he had another branch in his other mit, we must be up to something.

Or else we will plummet to our death...

I agree that we are currently light on options in defence, but I would say that we are one full-back away from having a very good transfer window. If that full-back is Rodriguez it would be a real coup.

 

Bear in mind that we've stolen last season's best player (in my opinion) from the champions, and we've signed a top-rated young centre-forward who has hit the ground running.

 

I suppose a lot of the problem is the lack of transparency which is inevitable with transfer dealings. If we don't manage to sign our targets, it looks like we've simply sat on our hands throughout the entire window, when instead it's entirely possible that the transfer was basically impossible and we didn't want to compromise and risk another Djilobodji-style farce. If we don't manage to sign our targets and instead go for players who are significantly less good, it looks like we've sat on our hands and grabbed someone at random out of the crowd. If we actually had detailed knowledge of what I imagine is the huge amount of work and complexity which is involved in transferring a footballer, we might not be inclined to react so negatively.

 

Obviously there is still a week to go, and I think the vast majority of us would agree that there are still improvements which can be made. I think, at this stage, some concerns are justified, but I wouldn't say that panicking is.

Someone's trolling Antonio hard.. he will quit soon unfortunately. Some people don't like "The Arsene way". 

People need to get their head out of the FIFA mentality, we can't just sign anyone, we are in a stupidly competive market.

Also other factors too consider is some players don't become available till late in the window, James Rodriquez the example.

Some years business gets done early, other times it will come late, people expecting things to be like 2012 and 2014 every summer in the nicest possible way don't have the slightest clue on how football and transfers work.

The club have been working on a CB all summer, first choice was Bonnuci, who made it clear (probably to Antonio's face during an international meet up) he weren't coming so then we moved on to Rudiger, who unfortunately done his ACL meaning we had to move to plan C which was Koulibaly.

The problem with Kalidou is he is under a contract with De Laurentis, so was always going to be drawn out, that isn't the clubs fault, even hostage negotiators would struggle to break him, we are also keeping other options open just incase it doesn't happen, hence the Maskmovic links.

Chelsea are getting like Arsenal which is embarrassing.

Every club in the world knows Chelsea badly need defenders so will obviously bump up the price, even more so now it's the end of the window.

If you can't get the signings which are better than the current players which by the way there are plenty of CBs better than Cahill and better LBs than Ivan to move Dave to RB.

I wouldn't just throw money at any signing now in a desperate attempt, I would look at maybe players like Fonte just to improve the squad for the season.

Go back next season for better players. 40m for defenders from Europe who could completely flop in the prem, too desperate and too much of a risk.

Williams only cost 12m

People need to get their head out of the FIFA mentality, we can't just sign anyone, we are in a stupidly competive market.

Also other factors too consider is some players don't become available till late in the window, James Rodriquez the example.

Some years business gets done early, other times it will come late, people expecting things to be like 2012 and 2014 every summer in the nicest possible way don't have the slightest clue on how football and transfers work.

The club have been working on a CB all summer, first choice was Bonnuci, who made it clear (probably to Antonio's face during an international meet up) he weren't coming so then we moved on to Rudiger, who unfortunately done his ACL meaning we had to move to plan C which was Koulibaly.

The problem with Kalidou is he is under a contract with De Laurentis, so was always going to be drawn out, that isn't the clubs fault, even hostage negotiators would struggle to break him, we are also keeping other options open just incase it doesn't happen, hence the Maskmovic links.

You say the club have been working on a CB all summer but there's a big gap from Bonucci telling Conte no on international call up to now. All I hear is desperate bids from Chelsea to try and sign CBs at the end of the window. I'm sorry but it's bad business and now they will have to pay well over the odds to get anyone.

Loaning Pasalic to Milan is a weird one given that their twitter account has posted that Chelsea have made an offer for Romagnoli but he's not for sale.

 

Win win for Milan, and we're onto centre back target number 3, whoever that is.

You say the club have been working on a CB all summer but there's a big gap from Bonucci telling Conte no on international call up to now. All I hear is desperate bids from Chelsea to try and sign CBs at the end of the window. I'm sorry but it's bad business and now they will have to pay well over the odds to get anyone.

When Leonardo said no we went after Rudiger (I love how you conviently ignored what I said about him), and by all accounts that deal was as good as done before he did his ACL.

Then there's plan C, which is Koulibaly, when you deal with chairman as stubborn as ADL deals are going to be a long drawn saga no matter who the other club is and how good the negotiation team is, Daniel Levy is a chairman quite similar to ADL, do you remember when the Berbatov, Modric and Bale deals to leave Tottenham were sealed? I'll give you a clue it was a lot closer to this time of the window than it was the start of pre season.

I don't for one second believe we have just started a scatter gun approach now and started wildly bidding for Maskmovic and the Milan lad and anyone who does are thinking in to much a simple way (I blame fifa), I believe they have been on our agenda for weeks just incase the Kalidou chase failed and initial enquires were made weeks ago.

Also let's not fail to mention the business we have already done this summer, we have filled two positions that have been a huge problem for a long, long time.

When Leonardo said no we went after Rudiger (I love how you conviently ignored what I said about him), and by all accounts that deal was as good as done before he did his ACL.

Then there's plan C, which is Koulibaly, when you deal with chairman as stubborn as ADL deals are going to be a long drawn saga no matter who the other club is and how good the negotiation team is, Daniel Levy is a chairman quite similar to ADL, do you remember when the Berbatov, Modric and Bale deals to leave Tottenham were sealed? I'll give you a clue it was a lot closer to this time of the window than it was the start of pre season.

I don't for one second believe we have just started a scatter gun approach now and started wildly bidding for Maskmovic and the Milan lad and anyone who does are thinking in to much a simple way (I blame fifa), I believe they have been on our agenda for weeks just incase the Kalidou chase failed and initial enquires were made weeks ago.

Also let's not fail to mention the business we have already done this summer, we have filled two positions that have been a huge problem for a long, long time.

Nah didnt conviently ignore Rudiger, it was just another rumour and never heard or saw anything that made me believe that deal was as good as done. But the injury which put that rumour to be bed was before the Euros, so what happened between there and now?

Are you Emenalo's right hand man because you seem to be in with all the Chelsea business and seem to be pretty defending of him. You blame FIFA or the Fifa game? Lol

I know about Levy and his transfers. Don't need a reminder of you. Of course there's talks and enquires already made but to leave it all to last minute for over inflated bids is still bad business where every club knows your desperate. At the end of the day why pay 40+ m for a defender who could easily flop in the prem when you can just buy Williams who is proven prem quality for 12m.

You both make good points but I notice we are all getting a little bit lemon over this transfer window and how we feel the club should proceed.

Nah didnt conviently ignore Rudiger, it was just another rumour and never heard or saw anything that made me believe that deal was as good as done. But the injury which put that rumour to be bed was before the Euros, so what happened between there and now?

Are you Emenalo's right hand man because you seem to be in with all the Chelsea business and seem to be pretty defending of him. You blame FIFA or the Fifa game? Lol

I know about Levy and his transfers. Don't need a reminder of you. Of course there's talks and enquires already made but to leave it all to last minute for over inflated bids is still bad business where every club knows your desperate. At the end of the day why pay 40+ m for a defender who could easily flop in the prem when you can just buy Williams who is proven prem quality for 12m.

Ahh the old premier league proven line, that lost any mettle after signing "PL proven" Torres over Aguero.

What has happened since then and now is we have been actively chasing the best CB that could be available on the market, and like I have already stated, it hasn't been left to the last minute, we have probably had half an eye of Maskmovic for weeks, but we aren't going to sign plan D when plan C is still a possibility, that would be lunacy.

And yes, I'm comparing to FIFA because on that game you make a bid, it's accepted and its done pretty quickly, and people think that is what should happen for real and if not the board are incompetant idiots, which quite frankly makes for cringeworthy reading.

Im not Emenalos right hand man (although you need to do a bit more research if you think he's the one negotiating transfer prices) but I have had family and freindsthat have worked in football and also recently qualified as a coach, so yes I know enough to know things are not as simplistic as people try and make it sound, be that transfers or tactics/selections.

Ahh the old premier league proven line, that lost any mettle after signing "PL proven" Torres over Aguero.

What has happened since then and now is we have been actively chasing the best CB that could be available on the market, and like I have already stated, it hasn't been left to the last minute, we have probably had half an eye of Maskmovic for weeks, but we aren't going to sign plan D when plan C is still a possibility, that would be lunacy.

And yes, I'm comparing to FIFA because on that game you make a bid, it's accepted and its done pretty quickly, and people think that is what should happen for real and if not the board are incompetant idiots, which quite frankly makes for cringeworthy reading.

Im not Emenalos right hand man (although you need to do a bit more research if you think he's the one negotiating transfer prices) but I have had family and freindsthat have worked in football and also recently qualified as a coach, so yes I know enough to know things are not as simplistic as people try and make it sound, be that transfers or tactics/selections.

Your talking BS now. Proven premier league quality generally makes a difference but comparing Torres to Aguero when they was signed in different Windows is pointless.

Who's this best CB on the market Chelsea have been chasing?

Of course the initial contact generally isn't last minute but the bids certainly have been. I imagine only 10 yr olds think FIFA is like real life.

Edited August 25, 20168 yr by Ernie_blue

Is it worth pointing out that most of the major player moves are to clubs that have champions league commitments. I fully expected us to be down the pecking order for players and would have had to try to either "unearth" new talent or go for the more unfashionable players. I do find it ridiculous that we lend players to clubs that we are talking to about signing players only for them to turn us down. We should then cancel our loan player, f*** em!

Edited August 25, 20168 yr by WhiteWall

Yeah I think being out of the CL hurts us more than most people realize.

But then why don't we take a few risks if that's the case. Payet, Kante come to mind straight away.

But then why don't we take a few risks if that's the case. Payet, Kante come to mind straight away.

 

We don't do that though.We don't even take a risk on our own players let alone go into the market for new potential star players.

 

Even the players we get now, everybody knows are third or fourth choice players for the club, so this doesn't have the appearance of insight, it smacks more of desperation.

We don't do that though.We don't even take a risk on our own players let alone go into the market for new potential star players.

 

Even the players we get now, everybody knows are third or fourth choice players for the club, so this doesn't have the appearance of insight, it smacks more of desperation.

Very true. Hope Zouma comes back from his injury in good shape, prefer him to Cahill and he needs to play next to Terry.

At this late stage in the window, i'd rather we bought no-one than panic buy another Papy, Hector, Cuadrado or Salah, that will take years of loaning to get rid of when they prove to be sh*te.

Edited August 25, 20168 yr by Zeta Orionis

I just think so often we miss a trick at our club. We have so many players, why can't we develop on all fronts simultaneously. Whether it is the truth or just perception it looks like we're in the same position as last year, or maybe worse, with an ageing defence that needs replacing with an immobile, wooden Matic in front. The perception could have been so different if we were positively pushing some of the youngsters, Chalobah, Christensen, etc, whilst going after some of the market targets, or maybe plucking a raw talent from somewhere. It could so easily have been more upbeat during this window.

Some people have missed the point...I'm a realist, I don't expect us to be buying Pogba for £89m...but I don't expect us to loan out squad players before we have brought people in either...at the moment our squad is weaker, not stronger.

We chase Koulibaly for months and then as we finally see the writing in the wall, start making desperate bids for romagnali? This is what we did this time last year when we moved for Marquinhos after Everton pulled the plug in stones...too little too late, clubs don't like to sell late when they have little time to buy replacements.

one of the main reasons we were so poor last season was a failure to properly strengthen the squad...we are in danger of making the same mistake twice...yes Kante and Batshuayi are good buys, but defensively we are poorer than at any point in the Abramovich era...

Your talking BS now. Proven premier league quality generally makes a difference but comparing Torres to Aguero when they was signed in different Windows is pointless.

Who's this best CB on the market Chelsea have been chasing?

Of course the initial contact generally isn't last minute but the bids certainly have been. I imagine only 10 yr olds think FIFA is like real life.

Did you see some of Sergio's quotes around 2010 ish? He was practically whoring himself to us and we passed him up.

This PL proven thing is a myth, many examples of the players unable to cope with a step up.

The safest place to shop for PL clubs is Ligue Un.

Some people have missed the point...I'm a realist, I don't expect us to be buying Pogba for £89m...but I don't expect us to loan out squad players before we have brought people in either...at the moment our squad is weaker, not stronger.

We chase Koulibaly for months and then as we finally see the writing in the wall, start making desperate bids for romagnali? This is what we did this time last year when we moved for Marquinhos after Everton pulled the plug in stones...too little too late, clubs don't like to sell late when they have little time to buy replacements.

one of the main reasons we were so poor last season was a failure to properly strengthen the squad...we are in danger of making the same mistake twice...yes Kante and Batshuayi are good buys, but defensively we are poorer than at any point in the Abramovich era...

No we are not, last season was our lowest ebb defensively, Kante arrival and Conte's tactics instantly boost the defense without a new defender being signed.