Much more like it from Chelsea. Very shrewd business at £22m. Barcelona and Juventus were interested in him but looks like we've pipped them to it. Been very impressive at the World Cup and for CSKA.

 

 

Fabrizio Romano?Verified account @FabrizioRomano

Chelsea have started talks for #Golovin from CSKA Moscow. Juventus don't want to make a new bid for the Russian. @DiMarzio #CFC #transfers #Chelsea

23 minutes ago, JMaher94 said:

Much more like it from Chelsea. Very shrewd business at £22m. Barcelona and Juventus were interested in him but looks like we've pipped them to it. Been very impressive at the World Cup and for CSKA.

 

 

Fabrizio Romano?Verified account @FabrizioRomano

Chelsea have started talks for #Golovin from CSKA Moscow. Juventus don't want to make a new bid for the Russian. @DiMarzio #CFC #transfers #Chelsea

Looks to be a decisive player, I like what I’ve seen with his quick passing.  Wasn’t great in the second match of the WC but outstanding in the first against a bad team.  Would be a good young player to add to the mix.

Roman has always wanted a Russian to star in our team. Could he be the one? 

Great performance against United

Twitter reports the deal is essentially done and Juve are backing off. He'll be the first signing of the season

If he does sign you can only assume that spells the end for Drinkwater's stay at Chelsea. 

Can't say I've seen much if anything of Golovin but good to see the club trying to address the midfield problem. 

I agree. Haven't been following the Russian League that much - but Golovins statistics are decent. It'll be interesting to see how much we can get for a player like Drinkwater, if we decide to sell him. Doubt we'll get anywhere near as much as we paid a year ago.

Can't say I'm impressed by this rumour. Our needs are deeper in midfield, we already have Fabregas, Barkley and Loftus Cheek lining up for that more attacking midfield role. When money was flowing freely sure we could make luxury buys but it's not anymore and this will potentially make 4 midfielders at a cost of approx. 110m we have bought in 12 months without improving the first team. 

 

£27m according to the Guardian;
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/29/chelsea-aleksandr-golovin-talks-russia

16 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Can't say I'm impressed by this rumour. Our needs are deeper in midfield, we already have Fabregas, Barkley and Loftus Cheek lining up for that more attacking midfield role. When money was flowing freely sure we could make luxury buys but it's not anymore and this will potentially make 4 midfielders at a cost of approx. 110m we have bought in 12 months without improving the first team. 

True, but Barkley and RLC are arguably worth £50m combined and Fabregas only has 1 year remaining on his contract. If Golovin forces Barkley/RLC out the team (which for me isn't inconceivable if they fail to live up to expectation) we could potentially make a net profit.

Edited June 29, 20188 yr by the special one

Exactly. Furthermore Golovin seems to do a lot of hard work defensively. Could turn up as a great addition for the wider central positions. According to Sky it's around €25M. In todays market that could turn out to be an absolute bargain. 

He is a very talented player and can potentialy turn into a top class signing. For the money quoted he's absolutely worth the risk. Plus, Sarri wanted him back at Napoli so he knows how to use him.

I would expect Barkley to be gone this time next year. I don't think he's what we need.

Really excited to be linked with Golovin, hope we can pull this one off! In the top 5 best  u23 central midfield talents in world football.

If he’s competent he’s better than what we’ve got (outside of Kante obviously) 

Don't know a lot about him, but what I do know, there is reason to be happy about this.

Young, dynamic, in form, and previously wanted by Sarri. 

If we get him for circa £25M and move on Drinkwater for £15M or thereabouts then I don't see how this can be a bad thing. 

I would be happy to move Barkley on as well and recover another £15-20M. Let's just recover what we can and get rid of some of the dead wood which is padding out the squad. 

Edited June 29, 20188 yr by mclovin83

Long term replacement for Fabregas.

I like his workrate at both ends of the pitch and hopefully he has that Russian grit with him. A bit skinny but so was Modric.

It'd be good if Golovin is goal-loving as well. 

Still has to prove himself in Europe, it's a huge risk to sign him now. He has talent, but he showed his class only against Saudi and Egypt, let's see what he can offer against better teams.

Anyways, he worth a proper scout on him, but I believe we can find better players and upgrade the team better than that.

19 minutes ago, IliyaKrostin said:

Still has to prove himself in Europe, it's a huge risk to sign him now. He has talent, but he showed his class only against Saudi and Egypt, let's see what he can offer against better teams.

Anyways, he worth a proper scout on him, but I believe we can find better players and upgrade the team better than that.

I thought he was good against Utd in last season's CL. Low sample size, I know.

edit: Was decent against Arsenal in the Europa League too.

 

Edited June 29, 20188 yr by Deino

He's only 22 but we do have good players from our loan army and academy so why would we need to sign another unproven talent like Bakayoko that will need a full season to adapt...

6 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

He's only 22 but we do have good players from our loan army and academy so why would we need to sign another unproven talent like Bakayoko that will need a full season to adapt...

At least Golovin is a good footballer, so he has some skills to fall back on.  Baka can’t even dribble or make a simple pass, so I think Golovin is better suited to adapt more quickly.

18 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

He's only 22 but we do have good players from our loan army and academy so why would we need to sign another unproven talent like Bakayoko that will need a full season to adapt...

I'd agree if Bakayoko was a hardworking playmaker like Golovin.

11 hours ago, the special one said:

True, but Barkley and RLC are arguably worth £50m combined and Fabregas only has 1 year remaining on his contract. If Golovin forces Barkley/RLC out the team (which for me isn't inconceivable if they fail to live up to expectation) we could potentially make a net profit.

Take your point. I've said before that six central midfielders is the ideal number. For me Golovin, RLC, Barkley and Fabregas don't go into 6 midfielders when perhaps only one really could play in the deeper two slots in a midfield three. 

That is before we turn our minds to the signing blocking pathways for both RLC and Mount. 

He is a good player, but this is haphazard squad management and 20 something million that could be spent better elsewhere.