On 25/10/2021 at 16:42, Jangz said:

 

i dont want to look at other leagues.. the kind of football played in PL is different and direct... And i struggle to think of a single defender who has dominated in the modern era and been around the 5'10' mark.

VVD - 6'4",  Kompany - 6'4" , Terry - 6'2",  Ricky (shortest of them) - 6'0" , Vidic  - 6'3" , Rio - 6'2" , Sol Campbel - 6'2" ... i can keep going .. 

Azpi at RCB.

On 25/10/2021 at 11:38, Spiller86 said:

All about who you are partnered with in the PL. Riccy worked because he had JT next to him on one side, often Gallas or later Ivan playing LB or RB to cover on set pieces and Pete in behind who was also quite tall and much better in the air than many gave him credit for.

I think Rudiger is currently the physical/tall presence in the backline, not sure you'd replace Rudiger with Kounde. They might work in a pairing together perhaps.

And we have Chalobah who can play the so-called Rudiger physical role. Kounde taking over from Azpi.

Athletic reporting we won't go higher than £140k, personally I think we may end up going to £150-75k and are just low baling before he starts negotiating with other clubs. 

Something will have to give here, he's a valued member of the squad arguably a leader since TT came in. TT loves him the fans are back on his side at this point it may come down to a simple matter of money. He wants to stay but, wants a paycheck that reflects his status.

I'd be interested to know how many years We are offering on this £140k not to mention what he's on currently 

9 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Athletic reporting we won't go higher than £140k, personally I think we may end up going to £150-75k and are just low baling before he starts negotiating with other clubs. 

Something will have to give here, he's a valued member of the squad arguably a leader since TT came in. TT loves him the fans are back on his side at this point it may come down to a simple matter of money. He wants to stay but, wants a paycheck that reflects his status.

I'd be interested to know how many years We are offering on this £140k not to mention what he's on currently 

All the while PSG are said to have put down 420k lol

27 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

All the while PSG are said to have put down 420k lol

Fair play to them mate, one day they'll probably end up like Barca and to a lesser extent Madrid High wage players mediocrity throughout the squad and an average coach (definitely not Madrid rn)

11 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Azpi at RCB.

Only 2 seasons in a back 3 .. I am assuming when we buy we think long term which includes ability to play a season in a back 4 too.

f**k off antonio, zero loyality and only cashcashcash

*loyalty

11 hours ago, Jangz said:

Only 2 seasons in a back 3 .. I am assuming when we buy we think long term which includes ability to play a season in a back 4 too.

And Kounde has shown he can play a back 4 at an elite level in a back 4. Azpi has been better in a back 3 than a 4.

10 hours ago, Werner said:

f**k off antonio, zero loyality and only cashcashcash

Always laugh when any fans moan about loyalty. We'd happily demand any player not good enough to gtfo but demand cast iron loyalty from the players who are.

And the ironic thing in Rudi's case is his contract has got down to this situation because most of our fanbase pegged him into the former group under the previous management.

We will be hard pressed to find an equal or better replacement for anywhere near the contract renewal price.  Hard to know what to believe, but 200K seems reasonable for what he delivers every week.

Stupid comparison, but if United pay Maguire 189K per week and willing to increase to near 300K, well, I've never seen such a no brainer as Rudi.

Before height, etc2 can Kounde play lcb? 

I hate to be this guy but until he can consistently perform in a back 4 against strong opposition, we should really not be labelling him as this 'page turned' potnetial World Class centre half. At the moment he has an easy run because he essentially gets to be a 3rd defensive midfielder and press opposition players without worrying about leaving a massive hole in the back. Don't forget before a turn to a back 3, he was a headless chicken and cost us a vast amount of goals because he just can't command a back line. I'd read between the lines; Tuchel and the board are not idiots. There's a reason this has taken so long and it will probably be because they have reservations on his ability in that area. At the moment we can't change from a back 3 because it works for us. The time will come when we do need to and if he then proves that he really is a different player, throw the money at him. He has every attribute you'd want in a centre half but he's proved time and time again, the mental and positional attributes in a back 4 are far from his physical.

On 27/10/2021 at 03:38, Werner said:

f**k off antonio, zero loyality and only cashcashcash

This is his lively-hood and he has a short window to make as much money as he can so he can live on it the rest of his life.

I don't blame him for taking the best offer available to him anymore than I would blame a co-worker for leaving our company and taking a job elsewhere that offered them more money.

 

Rudiger does not owe us anything.   Fans really have to stop thinking that athletes owe them or the club something other than to play out their contract (which Rudiger is)

 

“Rudiger does not owe us anything“

what hat about the millions from the club and thousands of children who proudly wear their chelsea jersey? 

4 hours ago, thebluekid said:

I hate to be this guy but until he can consistently perform in a back 4 against strong opposition, we should really not be labelling him as this 'page turned' potnetial World Class centre half. At the moment he has an easy run because he essentially gets to be a 3rd defensive midfielder and press opposition players without worrying about leaving a massive hole in the back. Don't forget before a turn to a back 3, he was a headless chicken and cost us a vast amount of goals because he just can't command a back line. I'd read between the lines; Tuchel and the board are not idiots. There's a reason this has taken so long and it will probably be because they have reservations on his ability in that area. At the moment we can't change from a back 3 because it works for us. The time will come when we do need to and if he then proves that he really is a different player, throw the money at him. He has every attribute you'd want in a centre half but he's proved time and time again, the mental and positional attributes in a back 4 are far from his physical.

I'd disagree that you'd have to be equally as good in two positions to be considered world class. I think it's obvious he's a perfect fit for LCB and he's been immense there.

You'd also have to think twice about judging him on his performances for Lampard. Yes, he was absymal but so was Christensen and both of them have been absolutely brilliant under Tuchel. Lampard didn't know how to set up a team to protect the CB's unfortunately and everyone suffered.

I can slightly understand the hesitation when it comes to bowing to Rudiger's demands.

His play style especially as an outside CB relies a lot on his athletic qualities remaining high, one bad injury could trigger a massive nosedive. All in all I want him to sign but I can understand why the club would want to make the wage more reasonable (in other words small enough so it's not hard to justify dropping him then finding him a new club in worst case scenario).

Christensen however we absolutely must find a solution, his style of player tends to last well into their 30s these days.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

I can slightly understand the hesitation when it comes to bowing to Rudiger's demands.

His play style especially as an outside CB relies a lot on his athletic qualities remaining high, one bad injury could trigger a massive nosedive. All in all I want him to sign but I can understand why the club would want to make the wage more reasonable (in other words small enough so it's not hard to justify dropping him then finding him a new club in worst case scenario).

Christensen however we absolutely must find a solution, his style of player tends to last well into their 30s these days.

Have seen a few articles saying we won't given Toni more than 150k a week as if we do Christensen and our other defenders will want the same or more.

9 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Have seen a few articles saying we won't given Toni more than 150k a week as if we do Christensen and our other defenders will want the same or more.

Yes but not paying the rate of other top clubs (ok PSG are just taking the piss with their rumoured offer) means they’ll all piss off on a free anyway and we’ll end up spending on transfer fees. 
 

Could Christensen be holding off to see if Rudi signs for a bit more leverage financially?

14 hours ago, Sindre said:

I'd disagree that you'd have to be equally as good in two positions to be considered world class. I think it's obvious he's a perfect fit for LCB and he's been immense there.

You'd also have to think twice about judging him on his performances for Lampard. Yes, he was absymal but so was Christensen and both of them have been absolutely brilliant under Tuchel. Lampard didn't know how to set up a team to protect the CB's unfortunately and everyone suffered.

Valid points, however I’d argue that he has only looked good because he’s had the vast majority of his responsibilities as a CB taken away from him in a back 4. The way I see it, Tuchel has identified his physical qualities are exceptional and the best way to get Toni Rudiger using them without it necessarily costing him too much positionally is by playing him in a 3. I really believe that he HAS to prove he can now play in a 4 at the back consistently before we start blowing him up.

 

Christensen is completely different, he has proven himself to have all the qualities on show to make the step under a manager who believes in him.

Read recent rumours his agent has been talking with Real Madrid. Now they won't be able to match the rumoured 420k PSG are supposed to be offering, however be interesting to see if they offer Toni the combination of a large salary increase with sporting prestige to blow off PSGs offer.

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Read recent rumours his agent has been talking with Real Madrid. Now they won't be able to match the rumoured 420k PSG are supposed to be offering, however be interesting to see if they offer Toni the combination of a large salary increase with sporting prestige to blow off PSGs offer.

Can’t see Madrid switching to a back 3 to accommodate him though, PSG I can see because it would help move Hakimi further upfield. Issue with moving to PSG is there are a few cliques in that team; Wijnaldum was in his exact position last season, took the money at PSG and now wants out. 

8 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Can’t see Madrid switching to a back 3 to accommodate him though, PSG I can see because it would help move Hakimi further upfield. Issue with moving to PSG is there are a few cliques in that team; Wijnaldum was in his exact position last season, took the money at PSG and now wants out. 

Not with Carlo. Who knows what system the next manager will want to play. Besides that would imply real have a plan before signing star players.

Could this be the player to replace Toni next season and allow Sarr to go on loan this season:

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2021/11/11/22775980/turkish-media-convinced-chelsea-already-agreed-attila-szalai-transfer-fee-with-fenerbahce

Reports suggests that we're offering him 8m/year but he wants 12m/year.

250k/week salary for a CB is a bit bonkers to be honest. That's an unnecessary bump to everyone's salary if we sign him on that