2 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Paying £18m for one player for one year, plus wages in the region of £8m (if not more).

It'd be 18M. His wages don't change, he has a contract with Juventus. They're paying his wages out of the loan fee.

We've paid more than 18M for Giroud in one year. I don't think it's really THAT much money when you factor in there's no transfer fee.

4 minutes ago, Skinnedy said:

It'd be 18M. His wages don't change, he has a contract with Juventus. They're paying his wages out of the loan fee.

We've paid more than 18M for Giroud in one year. I don't think it's really THAT much money when you factor in there's no transfer fee.

I'm saying that paying his wages, which I believe we are responsible for, would be an additional £8m (based on him earning £150k a week, though some reports said he could be earning in excess of £200k a week(in which case would be £10.4m for the year)) for the year on top of the £18m loan fee. 

That we paid £18m for Giroud is kind of my point. We throwing large sums of money at the centre forward position on players who are short term fixes. 

If we do loan Higuain next season that's £36m spent in an 18 month period on strikers over 31 leaving us with no long term solution. Come the end of the 2019/20 season what happens when those two players are no longer here?  

1 minute ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I'm saying that paying his wages, which I believe we are responsible for, would be an additional £8m (based on him earning £150k a week, though some reports said he could be earning in excess of £200k a week(in which case would be £10.4m for the year)) for the year on top of the £18m loan fee. 

That we paid £18m for Giroud is kind of my point. We throwing large sums of money at the centre forward position on players who are short term fixes. 

If we do loan Higuain next season that's £36m spent in an 18 month period on strikers over 31 leaving us with no long term solution. Come the end of the 2019/20 season what happens when those two players are no longer here?  

To be fair, Morata was supposed to be a long term solution. He started off looking like he could be too. The club invested heavily in a position we needed to strengthen and we got pretty much the best available at the time.

Ultimately, that is the failed signing that has got us where we are now.

Higuaín is short term solution, but a necessary one.

1 minute ago, mclovin83 said:

To be fair, Morata was supposed to be a long term solution. He started off looking like he could be too. The club invested heavily in a position we needed to strengthen and we got pretty much the best available at the time.

Ultimately, that is the failed signing that has got us where we are now.

Higuaín is short term solution, but a necessary one.

Until the end of this season, I completely agree.

But I would like us to sign someone in the summer who will be here for money than just one season. 

Might be that we sign Higuain and another, who knows but I want us to be looking beyond the immediate when this season finishes. 

1 minute ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Until the end of this season, I completely agree.

But I would like us to sign someone in the summer who will be here for money than just one season. 

Might be that we sign Higuain and another, who knows but I want us to be looking beyond the immediate when this season finishes. 

Agree.

I think the urgency on bringing in a new striker will inevitably  depend on how well Higuaín performs this season though.

If he looks the part, then the club can afford to bind their time and not panic buy, but if he never gets going then we are going to be back to square one.

48 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I'm saying that? paying his wages, which I believe we are responsible fo???r

This is where we need clarity, because I don't think we are responsible for his wages, not in addition to the loan fee anyway.

I'm sure it's negotiable depending on the player and each deal is different, but I'd be willing to bet the 18M loan fee covers the wages, because technically, Juventus owns the contract and THEY are responsible for the wages. 

If arsenal is able to loan out Ozil for a 10M fee, then they're taking an 8M loss on him, because the fee would only cover 200k of the 350k a week he earns. 

Higuain makes roughly 8M per year, so Juventus is pocketing 10M in profit for the loan. 

 

56 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

If we do loan Higuain next season?????? that's £36m spent in an 18 month period on strikers over ?31 leaving us with no long term solution.

I agree, we need a long term solution, but 18M per year is about right for a first team player at this level when you factor in transfer fees and wages amortized over the life of the contract. 

That's about what Kepa costs across his 7 year deal. Morata was right there too. 

The key is that we've spent and haven't gotten the production.

A long term solution in the transfer market is going to cost more than 18M per season, so if and it's a big if, Higuain can be the guy we need up top, 18M per year is good value compared to bringing in someone like Icardi for 100M plus wages on a 5 year deal. Then you're looking at 30M per year for that spot. 

And of course, if you can develop from within, you're literally saving hundreds of millions 

5 minutes ago, Skinnedy said:

And of course, if you can develop from within, you're literally saving hundreds of millions 

This is why I wonder if the club will give serious consideration into Tammy Abraham being involved in the squad next season. 

The drama around CHO this month has taught us that the young players are only going to be patient for so long. Regardless of what happens with CHO I think it's going to have a domino effect on the club. 

If he stays, gets a new contract a good involvement in the team more young players are going to want the same. 

If he forces his exit, young players getting interest from other clubs are going to want out too. 

45 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

This is why I wonder if the club will give serious consideration into Tammy Abraham being involved in the squad next season.

I think he's the ideal backup striker next season. Across 4 competitions, the backup striker should be able to get 15 or so starts and plenty of substitute appearances. Would give him a year in our system rather than out on loan, and get him meaningful minutes in the cups and league. That should be enough to keep him satisfied that his career is progressing. Use him like we did CHO in the first half of this season, and who wouldn't want out?

 

 

Made so many clever runs last night and creates space for himself but our players just aren't getting it to him. Starting to wonder whether we don't sign dud strikers, it's our midfield who starve them of decent service.

5 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Made so many clever runs last night and creates space for himself but our players just aren't getting it to him. Starting to wonder whether we don't sign dud strikers, it's our midfield who starve them of decent service.

I said before we signed him, unless we start playing to a strikers strengths his signing isn't going to change anything. 

The build up play last night was exactly the same as it has been all season, too slow and not looking to play in the striker. 

Higuain was making a run, players were seeing the run but opting to play passes sideways instead. 

2 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

I said before we signed him, unless we start playing to a strikers strengths his signing isn't going to change anything. 

The build up play last night was exactly the same as it has been all season, too slow and not looking to play in the striker. 

Higuain was making a run, players were seeing the run but opting to play passes sideways instead. 

Its almost like our fullbacks have been asked not to cross the ball either. They kept getting to the byline last night then just knocking it back to a CM. Get the ball into the box and hope Higuain's movement can do something. 

5 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Its almost like our fullbacks have been asked not to cross the ball either?. They kept getting to the byline last night th?en jus?t knoc?king it back to a CM. Get the ball into the box and hope Higuain's movement can do something. ?

Not sure what match you watching but there were 34 registered crosses. Which seems about right from my perspective. How many of those hit a chelsea target?  3!!!!!!!!!

Makes very good movements, especially between defenders. If we play with more speed through the lines think he could score plenty of goals. Needs to get himself fit enough for this league though

Edited January 31, 20197 yr by jamie#8

1 goal in his last 14 appearances for Chelsea and Milan apparently. Eeeek! 

5 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

1 goal in his last 14 appearances for Chelsea and Milan apparently. Eeeek! 

Reckon if he doesn’t score by the return Malmo game we will back to False 9 v Utd

2 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Its almost like our fullbacks have been asked not to cross the ball either. They kept getting to the byline last night then just knocking it back to a CM. Get the ball into the box and hope Higuain's movement can do something. 

We played in plenty of crosses last night, well Azpilicueta did at least. He played a perfect ball into the box and Higuain and any other Chelsea player was nowhere to be seen.

The best striker In the world after Suarez. Needs to be made the focal point. 

"In the last 45 days, he played a few matches only - because of his back but also because of his involvement in the market.

This is a false statement.

4 hours ago, Blackened said:

The best striker In the world after Suarez. Needs to be made the focal point. 

Not even in the top 20, Suarez isn't the best striker either. I think you are stuck in 2015. Both Higuain and Suarez have aged in that time.

On 30/01/2019 at 14:02, mclovin83 said:

To be fair, Morata was supposed to be a long term solution. He started off looking like he could be too. The club invested heavily in a position we needed to strengthen and we got pretty much the best available at the time.

Ultimately, that is the failed signing that has got us where we are now.

Higuaín is short term solution, but a necessary one.

I disagree. It is just shortsighted imo.

Of course Sarri wants Higuain because he doesnt really care about the club. It might improve our chances this season but will decrease our chances over a longer period of time. 

It is no coincidence that Gazidis first move in Milan was to send Higuain away and bring in 23 year old Piatek instead. Gazidis did not care that Milans manager Gattuso still wanted Higuain. Piatek scored two goals in his first game from start in Milan btw.

This is why a club needs policies against older players so that a strong manager cant run over the club, like Sarri did in this Higuain deal.

Stop gap til Abraham in the summer.

Superb performance today, really fought the whole 90 minutes and he looks HUNGRY for goals.

His movement off the ball and inside the box is brilliant. He also works hard for the team.

Been a long time since there has been a striker that wants to score up front. Hope he performs like this for the rest of the season and especially in the big games