11 hours ago, General said:

Love the way the narrative with some punters has shifted from a year of piss poor decision making to Clearlake inherited a financial mess caused by RA's regime. Do you all vote for the Conservative Party as well by any chance  ?

one window of piss poor spending and since then one excellent transfer window and so far another good window. Clearlake have clearly worked out their errors from the first window with a proper footballing hierarchy employed, hence the narrative shift. Not sure about the link to tories though. 

 

Won't miss him, never really lived up to his potential.

Nothing to miss, decent fee for a mediocre player. Our midfield has been awful the last few years in consistency & quality.

Edited June 21, 20233 yr by Malcolm9

45 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

 

Presumably only the up front £25m counts towards our FFP now though

22 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Won't miss him, never really lived up to his potential.

Again Premier League is not for technically gifter players. If you are, you also need legs and Forrest Gump mentality. Walker is a perfect example of a star status player that would struggle massively in La Liga for example.

Thank you Kovacic. Brilliant person and magically gifted player. 

I officially have to change my favourite player now 😞

I think £25/30m for Kovacic is a steal. He is still in his 20s, a national team regular and oozes quality. Leicester got relegated and are quoting £50m for Barnes and Maddison and Maddison also has also 1 year left on his contract and they are quoting double the price. I think that is brilliant business for City tbh. We are short on CM as well. Struggled with injuries last season but on form, brilliant player to watch. Will miss him. I would rather him go City than any other English team, that being said though.

Edited June 21, 20233 yr by STATS

Just now, STATS said:

I officially have to change my favourite player now 😞

I think £25/30m for Kovacic is a steal. He is still in his 20s, a national team regular and oozes quality. Leicester got relegated and are quoting £50m for Barnes and Maddison and Maddison also has also 1 year left on his contract and they are quoting double the price. I think that is brilliant business for City tbh. We are short on CM as well. Struggled with injuries last season but on form, brilliant player to watch. Will miss him. I would rather him go City than any other English team, that being said though.

What will you miss the most?

His quality of passing backwards and sideways? Dribbling into areas then losing the ability to create chances? His lack of goals from midfield?

Just now, Malcolm9 said:

What will you miss the most?

His quality of passing backwards and sideways? Dribbling into areas then losing the ability to create chances? His lack of goals from midfield?

His close-ball control, ability to manoeuvre himself out of tight situations. Was our only CM who was able to do this. Always think he has been an underrated player. The position he plays for us, I don't expect him to score much. I also think we played some of the best football when he was partnered with Jorginho under Lamps. Like I say, I think he will be a quality addition to City.  

15 hours ago, General said:

Love the way the narrative with some punters has shifted from a year of piss poor decision making to Clearlake inherited a financial mess caused by RA's regime. Do you all vote for the Conservative Party as well by any chance  ?

We were poorly run in the last few years of Roman and Clearlake have made some errors.

Both can be true.

31 minutes ago, evissy said:

Again Premier League is not for technically gifter players. If you are, you also need legs and Forrest Gump mentality. Walker is a perfect example of a star status player that would struggle massively in La Liga for example.

Thank you Kovacic. Brilliant person and magically gifted player. 

Meh, he's never really shone for us. Never really rated him as he is a pass sideways and backwards type of midfielder. His output has been well below what I'd expect for a top team.

Kante was and is 3 times the player. He is the magic one 

4 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

Meh, he's never really shone for us. Never really rated him as he is a pass sideways and backwards type of midfielder. His output has been well below what I'd expect for a top team.

That's crazy. He's always been one of the more progressive midfielders in the entire league, especially when driving the ball forward.

Kovacic is perhaps the last player i'd call a backwards type of midfielder.

Just now, Chelsbear said:

Meh, he's never really shone for us. Never really rated him as he is a pass sideways and backwards type of midfielder. His output has been well below what I'd expect for a top team.

Kante was and is 3 times the player. He is the magic one 

Kante is perfect for a counter attacking team, as it makes the most of all the things he is superb at. He is not the best fit however for a side playing possession football. In reality, we've all complained about our midfield being unable to shield the defence, or contribute enough in attack, for several seasons now, and both Kovacic and Kante have been a big factor in that .... a succession of managers have tried to shoehorn Kante into the line up, starting with Sarri, who tied to push him up into attacking midfield. The only manager he has been a natural fit for was Conte in my opinion. 

Just now, OriginalS said:

That's crazy. He's always been one of the more progressive midfielders in the entire league, especially when driving the ball forward.

Kovacic is perhaps the last player i'd call a backwards type of midfielder.

Agree. He is an unbelievably talented player who appears to be undervalued by much of our fanbase. He's been a shadow of his true self for most of the past season (especially since the World Cup), but you can say the same for the vast majority of our squad.

I will miss him and will hate to see him in a City shirt, but it is pretty clear his career with us had run its course and that we need to rebuild the entire team. As we are doing.

Here's hoping for a 1983-style rebirth.

Seeing the difference in the effort he puts in for Croatia compared to us the last 6 months or so is pretty stark. I liked him, but have no problem at all seeing him leave.

4 minutes ago, Backbiter said:

Agree. He is an unbelievably talented player who appears to be undervalued by much of our fanbase. He's been a shadow of his true self for most of the past season (especially since the World Cup), but you can say the same for the vast majority of our squad.

I will miss him and will hate to see him in a City shirt, but it is pretty clear his career with us had run its course and that we need to rebuild the entire team. As we are doing.

Here's hoping for a 1983-style rebirth.

Agreed.

Nagging injuries was the big drawback with him but in form he's one of the very best midfielders in the league. In form he always reminded me of Michael Essien, that's how good he can be.

3 minutes ago, Backbiter said:

Agree. He is an unbelievably talented player who appears to be undervalued by much of our fanbase. He's been a shadow of his true self for most of the past season (especially since the World Cup), but you can say the same for the vast majority of our squad.

I will miss him and will hate to see him in a City shirt, but it is pretty clear his career with us had run its course and that we need to rebuild the entire team. As we are doing.

Here's hoping for a 1983-style rebirth.

He was rarely fully fit last season, carrying knee and calf problems, but was selected regardless. The WC flattened him. Great servant, I wish him well.

Good luck to him.  I like Kova, his drive and energy, although he lacked a regular goal threat, however, those he did score were memorable. 

Our midfield needs a rebuild round Enzo, let's hope that the replacements are being lined up, if not announced until after 1st July.

1 hour ago, STATS said:

I officially have to change my favourite player now 😞

I think £25/30m for Kovacic is a steal. He is still in his 20s, a national team regular and oozes quality. Leicester got relegated and are quoting £50m for Barnes and Maddison and Maddison also has also 1 year left on his contract and they are quoting double the price. I think that is brilliant business for City tbh. We are short on CM as well. Struggled with injuries last season but on form, brilliant player to watch. Will miss him. I would rather him go City than any other English team, that being said though.

Isn't everyones default favourite player now Reece James?  No one else has been here long enough to have any sort of connection with the fans, unless you happen to be a Kepa fan that is.

16 minutes ago, fester said:

Good luck to him.  I like Kova, his drive and energy, although he lacked a regular goal threat, however, those he did score were memorable. 

Our midfield needs a rebuild round Enzo, let's hope that the replacements are being lined up, if not announced until after 1st July.

"Lacked a regular goal threat... " I can never get my head around this - the amount they are paid - a regular in Chelsea 1st team - but unable to put ball in net???

I do hope we start signing players who can kick it in the net...

He's a baller, still got it too as shown at the World cup.

I will miss him, He suits City and Pep like a glove.

Suits City more than he did us and it's for this reason that I wish we got a bit more money from City. They won't need him to be their most creative player. Hated his work rate this season, seemed like he gave up from the moment the season started and put all of his focus on the World Cup.

25 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

Isn't everyones default favourite player now Reece James?  No one else has been here long enough to have any sort of connection with the fans, unless you happen to be a Kepa fan that is.

Kepa and Kova arrived around the same time. Kova has been here for 5 years. Been me favourite player for a while.

29 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

Isn't everyones default favourite player now Reece James?  No one else has been here long enough to have any sort of connection with the fans, unless you happen to be a Kepa fan that is.

Thiago Silva. I've loved watching him at the club, wish we got him before PSG did.

Edited June 21, 20233 yr by Scott Harris

54 minutes ago, OriginalS said:

Agreed.

Nagging injuries was the big drawback with him but in form he's one of the very best midfielders in the league. In form he always reminded me of Michael Essien, that's how good he can be.

Blimey! I can't think of a player less like Michael Essien.

After a very, very shaky first season I grew to like Kova. Obviously never been at the world class level of a prime Kante or Modric. Was good at carrying the ball and wasn't bad defensively. Wish him well. Think he will be a bench filler for Pep the same way Jorgi was a bench filler for Arteta.