5 minutes ago, the special one said:

Exactly, it just doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm. We'll keep the ball but still do f**k all with it.

If our strikers and attackers score and the whole team plays as a fluid machine no need for Jorg to score. 

2 minutes ago, the special one said:

Gerrard scored goals for Liverpool, they still won f**k all. A midfield with Barella isn't much better than Liverpool's 10/11 squad imho.

We have a Napoli fan above who I'm sure watches a lot more Italian football than both of us, and he rates Barella very highly. And he's not the only one. He's already a starter for the Italian national team and also only 21 so he has loads of time to improve. I'd personally be happy with the signing.

I always wanted to register and post here because I'm a Chelsea fan since I was a kid even thought I live in Italy, but I only lurked a lot. There seems to be a lot of confusion about Barella: some words come in my mind about him. PASSING I read he makes only short passing like Jorginho, this guy has a sick long passing even thought he may miss that last pass between the defences that we need right now. SHOOTING o my god barella coordination and shooting is unbelievable, he reminds (not only in shooting) Dejan Stankovic. The only reason he scored not so many goals is because he plays for the less offensive team in Serie A, Cagliari team is in the offensive half of the pitch maybe 10 minutes per games, yet he scored a lot of goals for a 20 year old mf. PERSONALITY he sweat bloods for his team like no one else in serie A, that's the reason I think he will do well in premier league. YOUNG i don't think he's already mature, he sometimes get stupid red card and usually can't read the game phase very well. Considering all of this he will be a great sign, but my concerns as a lot of you mentioned is that I can't see him in a midfield with Jorginho Kante, we still miss that offensive midfielder. 

Edited January 9, 20197 yr by Giorgio

2 minutes ago, Giorgio said:

I always wanted to register and post here because I'm a Chelsea fan since I was a kid even thought I live in Italy, but I only lurked a lot. There seems to be a lot of confusion about Barella: some words come in my mind about him. PASSING I read he makes only short passing like Jorginho, this guy has a sick long passing even thought he may miss that last pass between the defences that we need right now. SHOOTING o my god barella coordination and shooting is unbelievable, he reminds (not only in shooting) Dejan Stankovic. The only reason he scored not so many goals is because he plays for the less offensive team in Serie A, Cagliari team is in the offensive half of the pitch maybe 10 minutes per games, yet he scored a lot of goals for a 20 year old mf. PERSONALITY he sweat bloods for his team like no one else in serie A, that's the reason I think he will do well in premier league. YOUNG i don't think he's already mature, he sometimes get stupid red card and usually can't read the game phase very well. Considering all of this he will be a great sign he's definitely the best young Italian midfielder and in Serie A, yet in a generation with a lack of talent, but my concerns as a lot of you mentioned is that I can't see him in a midfield with Jorginho Kante, we still miss that offensive midfielder. 

 

Sign him immediately

14 minutes ago, Giorgio said:

I always wanted to register and post here because I'm a Chelsea fan since I was a kid even thought I live in Italy, but I only lurked a lot. There seems to be a lot of confusion about Barella: some words come in my mind about him. PASSING I read he makes only short passing like Jorginho, this guy has a sick long passing even thought he may miss that last pass between the defences that we need right now. SHOOTING o my god barella coordination and shooting is unbelievable, he reminds (not only in shooting) Dejan Stankovic. The only reason he scored not so many goals is because he plays for the less offensive team in Serie A, Cagliari team is in the offensive half of the pitch maybe 10 minutes per games, yet he scored a lot of goals for a 20 year old mf. PERSONALITY he sweat bloods for his team like no one else in serie A, that's the reason I think he will do well in premier league. YOUNG i don't think he's already mature, he sometimes get stupid red card and usually can't read the game phase very well. Considering all of this he will be a great sign, but my concerns as a lot of you mentioned is that I can't see him in a midfield with Jorginho Kante, we still miss that offensive midfielder. 

Thanks for posting Giorgio, welcome to the forum (ignore me and my pessimism haha)

Edited January 9, 20197 yr by the special one

14 hours ago, Giorgio said:

I always wanted to register and post here because I'm a Chelsea fan since I was a kid even thought I live in Italy, but I only lurked a lot. There seems to be a lot of confusion about Barella: some words come in my mind about him. PASSING I read he makes only short passing like Jorginho, this guy has a sick long passing even thought he may miss that last pass between the defences that we need right now. SHOOTING o my god barella coordination and shooting is unbelievable, he reminds (not only in shooting) Dejan Stankovic. The only reason he scored not so many goals is because he plays for the less offensive team in Serie A, Cagliari team is in the offensive half of the pitch maybe 10 minutes per games, yet he scored a lot of goals for a 20 year old mf. PERSONALITY he sweat bloods for his team like no one else in serie A, that's the reason I think he will do well in premier league. YOUNG i don't think he's already mature, he sometimes get stupid red card and usually can't read the game phase very well. Considering all of this he will be a great sign, but my concerns as a lot of you mentioned is that I can't see him in a midfield with Jorginho Kante, we still miss that offensive midfielder.

Thanks for posting! I think he is very exciting player but just to deputise Jorginho I'm not sure if 21 yr old player should do that. 

If we don't sign Kovacic maybe signing Barella makes sense. I like that he is sort of lion on the pitch. Kind of like Gattuso. 

47 minutes ago, evissy said:

Thanks for posting! I think he is very exciting player but just to deputise Jorginho I'm not sure if 21 yr old player should do that. 

If we don't sign Kovacic maybe signing Barella makes sense. I like that he is sort of lion on the pitch. Kind of like Gattuso. 

I agree, from watching some of his highlights, he looks to be more fit for the LCM role replacing Kovacic.  But it looks like he has good work rate and tackling ability, so it's possible he could play Kante's role too.

 

12 hours ago, the special one said:

 

looks like he would be a good signing for a palace or Southampton level team. 

Gianfranco Zola claims Chelsea were ‘so close’ to signing Cagliari’s Nicolo Barella, who still ‘must grow’ before he can play for a big team.

Chelsea were heavily linked with Barella in January after they lost Cesc Fabregas, and Zola revealed just how near the Blues were to getting a deal over the line for the midfielder.

“We were so close,” Maurizio Sarri’s No 2 told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“He’s strong and Sarri has always liked him, but then things fell through.”

Zola gave the 22-year-old his senior debut in January 2015, when he was Cagliari Coach, and he was asked about his fellow Sardinian.

"I gave Nicolo his debut at Parma in the Coppa Italia,” he explained.

“At 17 he had the tools and character of the great player, but to play for a big club he must grow. His attitude isn’t lacking.”

14 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

Gianfranco Zola claims Chelsea were ‘so close’ to signing Cagliari’s Nicolo Barella, who still ‘must grow’ before he can play for a big team.

Chelsea were heavily linked with Barella in January after they lost Cesc Fabregas, and Zola revealed just how near the Blues were to getting a deal over the line for the midfielder.

“We were so close,” Maurizio Sarri’s No 2 told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“He’s strong and Sarri has always liked him, but then things fell through.”

Zola gave the 22-year-old his senior debut in January 2015, when he was Cagliari Coach, and he was asked about his fellow Sardinian.

"I gave Nicolo his debut at Parma in the Coppa Italia,” he explained.

“At 17 he had the tools and character of the great player, but to play for a big club he must grow. His attitude isn’t lacking.”

Frustrating. It certainly would make a good book all the deals that have fallen through at the last minute. I think we should still go for him. Seems he can play either the 6 or 8 role comfortably and is not afraid to put a challenge in.

21 minutes ago, rtwelch said:

Frustrating. It certainly would make a good book all the deals that have fallen through at the last minute. I think we should still go for him. Seems he can play either the 6 or 8 role comfortably and is not afraid to put a challenge in.

It would be interesting to know why the deal fell through.  Was it because the player wanted to play?  Or was there an issue with the fee?

Isn't Inter or Juventus in for him?  Could be it fell through because they were sniffing about and he wants to stay in Italy.

5 hours ago, Boston Blue said:

It would be interesting to know why the deal fell through.  Was it because the player wanted to play?  Or was there an issue with the fee?

 

3 hours ago, mwblue10 said:

Isn't Inter or Juventus in for him?  Could be it fell through because they were sniffing about and he wants to stay in Italy.

His wife was 6 months pregnant and that was thought to be a major reason. Too much disruption etc. Hopefully we can revisit in the summer.

Gee I look forward to the day where we are not being linked with bog average Italian squad fillers.

It's no surprise the success of our recruitment has gone down at the same time we started to source more players from Italy.

Look at the contrasting fortunes of Jorginho and Bakayoko this season to see the difference between the leagues.

8 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Gee I look forward to the day where we are not being linked with bog average Italian squad fillers.

It's no surprise the success of our recruitment has gone down at the same time we started to source more players from Italy.

Look at the contrasting fortunes of Jorginho and Bakayoko this season to see the difference between the leagues.

Not keen on him after seeing stats of 1 goal & 2 assists in 31 league games. Our midfielders currently contribute too little as things stand.

26 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Not keen on him after seeing stats of 1 goal & 2 assists in 31 league games. Our midfielders currently contribute too little as things stand.

Just another functional all rounder without anything special physically or technically. He's got no European experience and has played a handful of matches for a very poor Italian team. Not the kind of experience profile that says he'll adapt well to England.

There are 10 better candidates at least to improve our midfield.