No thanks. He'll advise the club to invest all its money in ape NFTs.

52 minutes ago, Zeta said:

No thanks. He'll advise the club to invest all its money in ape NFTs.

Those bored ape NFT'S are part of a giant sketchy 4chan troll that's mind blowing 

 

3 hours ago, dkw said:

Have they though? They have brought in a tiny, lightweight skillful midfielder, a teenage Brazilian and a reserve keeper, not even close to sorting their major problems of a lightweight midfield with no drive or backbone or a solid defence, and a lack of quality at full back. 

the only positive so far for them is a striker, who should help them but they have not fixed the massive flaws in their squad.

Not to mention they're about to make Odegaard (a player who makes Christensen look like Roy Keane and John Terry rolled into one on the leadership stakes) captain.

They had their chance to gazump us last season when we were playing a next to record amount of games and they were out of everything by January.

11 hours ago, dkw said:

Have they though? They have brought in a tiny, lightweight skillful midfielder, a teenage Brazilian and a reserve keeper, not even close to sorting their major problems of a lightweight midfield with no drive or backbone or a solid defence, and a lack of quality at full back. 

the only positive so far for them is a striker, who should help them but they have not fixed the massive flaws in their squad.

That light weight Viera guy is good passing from deep, so that will benefit the likes of Jesus who will improve them greatly, he’s not ‘top tier’ enough for our ambition but will thrive at Arsenal. The talent i.d is there in terms of bringing in system players, this season and last, they have a core of talented young players now but yes, they do lack depth. Especially in wide areas, as team dynamics go out the window when certain players are missing. Arteta it pains me to say is actually a top manager, still a lot to prove.. but he’s the better of the former-PL players bunch out there, although greatly benefitted from Edu and the general patience they’ve got in his project.

I’d agree with you on their full backs but they are in the market for Martinez from Ajax (let’s hope Untied get him, as they’re a poisoned chalice anyway). 

 

11 hours ago, ducavis said:

A savvy sporting director won’t have considered any of these players we have been looking at. We are looking at the very top of the market

What do you mean? Any sporting director worth their salt would have been extremely interested in Raheem Sterling for the £45 million we were able to sign him for. For Boehly to land him with no previous experience in football and no time at all to prepare for this transfer window is very impressive as far as i'm concerned. 

Now it sounds like we are about to land another top player in Koulibaly at a decent price with Ake looking likely to follow rather shortly.

 

I like to think that Boehly is backing Tuchel, which is what we've always hoped and wanted for previous managers. This time there is nowhere for the manager to hide if it fails. 

3 hours ago, Sindre said:

What do you mean? Any sporting director worth their salt would have been extremely interested in Raheem Sterling for the £45 million we were able to sign him for. For Boehly to land him with no previous experience in football and no time at all to prepare for this transfer window is very impressive as far as i'm concerned. 

Now it sounds like we are about to land another top player in Koulibaly at a decent price with Ake looking likely to follow rather shortly.

 

Koulibaly is an LCB

Ake is an LCB

Although Ake can also slot in as a left back if needs be, you can be sure Ake isn’t leaving the champions of England bench for the Chelsea bench. 

8 minutes ago, Term_X said:

Koulibaly is an LCB

Ake is an LCB

Although Ake can also slot in as a left back if needs be, you can be sure Ake isn’t leaving the champions of England bench for the Chelsea bench. 

Rudi played a lot at RCB and even RB for Roma only to go straight in on the left for Conte here, maybe we're doing the same in reverse for Koulibaly?

19 minutes ago, Term_X said:

Koulibaly is an LCB

Ake is an LCB

Although Ake can also slot in as a left back if needs be, you can be sure Ake isn’t leaving the champions of England bench for the Chelsea bench. 

He's leaving for a chance to leave the bench, he knows he's got no chance at City now. That and a new 5 year deal, it's a no brainer for him.

2 minutes ago, Argo said:

Rudi played a lot at RCB and even RB for Roma only to go straight in on the left for Conte here, maybe we're doing the same in reverse for Koulibaly?

Food for thought.. but as we’ve seen from De Ligt at Juve it can also backfire when they can’t transition from one to another.

Eager to see if Tuchel is going to break away from the back 3 for the pre-season tour games, as that will give us an insight into some of this transfer behaviour. 

 

 

4 hours ago, Sindre said:

What do you mean? Any sporting director worth their salt would have been extremely interested in Raheem Sterling for the £45 million we were able to sign him for. For Boehly to land him with no previous experience in football and no time at all to prepare for this transfer window is very impressive as far as i'm concerned. 

Now it sounds like we are about to land another top player in Koulibaly at a decent price with Ake looking likely to follow rather shortly.

 

Let’s see if Sterling can replicate his form here in a different formation without the Pep “tax”. I also think giving a 31yr old player a 5 year contract is madness but what do I know.
I am not impressed by the business we are doing, time will tell if I am wrong. I hope I am though. 

5 hours ago, Argo said:

Rudi played a lot at RCB and even RB for Roma only to go straight in on the left for Conte here, maybe we're doing the same in reverse for Koulibaly?

Whilst it is possible, that would be a massive assumption on our behalf that he is capable of this, the majority of CBs struggle adapting. Especially on the wage and contract length quoted. We definitely need muscle adding to the back line but appear to be using a scattergun approach.

 

9 hours ago, Sindre said:

What do you mean? Any sporting director worth their salt would have been extremely interested in Raheem Sterling for the £45 million we were able to sign him for. For Boehly to land him with no previous experience in football and no time at all to prepare for this transfer window is very impressive as far as i'm concerned. 

Now it sounds like we are about to land another top player in Koulibaly at a decent price with Ake looking likely to follow rather shortly.

 

Whilst I’m very much for signing Sterling. Making him the third top earner in the league with no other suitors, doesn’t make Boehly good at his job. It just means he’s not under financial constraints at present. 
 

Both of these players should be good business…Sterling at his age and Premier League experience is very good. Question marks though about longevity towards the end of his contract. Koulibaly has always looked a shoe in for a Premier League club, it will be interesting to see how he adapts into his thirties. This would be one of those transfers that would be extremely good, conversely a massive drain on resources if he struggles. The high wages we have offered though could be storing problems for a later date…how much do you offer Reece now?

Man City source about #Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly during Raheem Sterling negotiations:

"No games, no ego..."

[via @JacobsBen]
 

Making a good impression 

On 11/07/2022 at 17:00, bisright1 said:

EPL owners literally meet all the time, they have regular group meetings. Foreign clubs like Barca tends to be more informal, usually when the clubs play each other. Uniteds owners are in Barca at the moment too. 

Boehly is spending money though. They just bought sterling, we've officially bid on raphinha, weve been talking to lots of clubs about defenders. We will end up spending 150m this transfer window. 

Investors wants to make money. One sure fire way to lose money is to run the club for ten years with an out of date stadium. Ever hear the expression spend money to make money?

Let's hope Todd's business strategy isn't based on platitudes like the one you quoted.

Anyway, they have spent money , a £4 billion deal. There's been a baffling creation of investor holdings  and the creation of shares latey  . Blueco 22 midco  , controlled by Blueco 22 for example shares control with Blues Partners . Etc etc.

Anyway I'm not interested in a stadium that exists as a vehicle to siphon money out of our club, 

Private  Eye issue 1577

Planet football " Chelsea"  page 43 today.

can't get my head round it personally, can anyone simplify the " dizzy corporate dance " involving our investors ??

10 hours ago, JM7 said:

Man City source about #Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly during Raheem Sterling negotiations:

"No games, no ego..."

[via @JacobsBen]
 

Making a good impression 

That's promising, marina received a lot of very similar comments. 

20 hours ago, ducavis said:

Let’s see if Sterling can replicate his form here in a different formation without the Pep “tax”. I also think giving a 31yr old player a 5 year contract is madness but what do I know.
I am not impressed by the business we are doing, time will tell if I am wrong. I hope I am though. 

I think it’s fair to say Sterling was the best player for England at the Euro’s in Southgates vanilla system, it’s a tad underwhelming due to the way his City career petered out though yes. Kouliably however is a gold standard signing.. still doesn’t feel real after all the years Napoli have played hard ball over wanting £80m+ but you can analyse his game all day and find little to be sceptical about. He’s basically Thiago Silva except unlike Silva he’s elite in the air, also similar to the prime version of Van Dijk, if the longer contract is the difference to what Napoli were offering him then so be it.

I am really surprised by the negative reaction on here to Chelsea's first and soon to be second signings.  Sterling at £47.5m is a bloody steal. We have paid double this previously for players that couldn't lase Raheem's boots, his stats, performances and general demeanour are what we need. With Koulibaly, we have tried for three years to sign this guy, fees were reported to be in the £50-60m region, and we have got him for £35m. Admittedly, he is 3 years older, but at 31 he is in his prime. He is BETTER than Rudiger in every department and Thiago Silva should have told us, that age is just a number, when it comes to having pure class and ability. If we do go for and get Kimpembe, I doubt we will pursue Ake. This again strikes me as great business and a brilliant decision by the Club (Todd/TT)

Had Sterling had three years left on his contract at City we'd have to break the PL-record to sign him. Easily a £100m + player in that kind of scenario.

To land him for £45m is brilliant and I look forward to seeing him play for us.

To claim he only delivers because of Pep is ridiculous. He's been the best and most consistent player for England when he plays there as well.

5 hours ago, coombsie said:

I am really surprised by the negative reaction on here to Chelsea's first and soon to be second signings.  Sterling at £47.5m is a bloody steal. We have paid double this previously for players that couldn't lase Raheem's boots, his stats, performances and general demeanour are what we need. With Koulibaly, we have tried for three years to sign this guy, fees were reported to be in the £50-60m region, and we have got him for £35m. Admittedly, he is 3 years older, but at 31 he is in his prime. He is BETTER than Rudiger in every department and Thiago Silva should have told us, that age is just a number, when it comes to having pure class and ability. If we do go for and get Kimpembe, I doubt we will pursue Ake. This again strikes me as great business and a brilliant decision by the Club (Todd/TT)

Reading between the lines on The Atletic article he would have been avaliable last summer aswell if we made a significant push.

Makes the Lukaku deal even worse.

2 hours ago, Argo said:

Reading between the lines on The Atletic article he would have been avaliable last summer aswell if we made a significant push.

Makes the Lukaku deal even worse.

There is no way to look at the Lukaku deal to make it look any better. The worst signing in the club's history? Quite probably.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

There is no way to look at the Lukaku deal to make it look any better. The worst signing in the club's history? Quite probably.

As much as i can't stand the guy i'd still rank it as Torres given the sheer length of time and the lengths we went to to try and make it work.

Because of him we put ourselves out of the market for Falcao, Aguero, Cavani, signed players and even appointed a manager with atleast half an eye on unlocking him and even sold off competition for his place and handed it to him for months on end.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

There is no way to look at the Lukaku deal to make it look any better. The worst signing in the club's history? Quite probably.

With out a doubt.

3 minutes ago, Argo said:

As much as i can't stand the guy i'd still rank it as Torres given the sheer length of time and the lengths we went to to try and make it work.

Because of him we put ourselves out of the market for Falcao, Aguero, Cavani, signed players and even appointed a manager with atleast half an eye on unlocking him and even sold off competition for his place and handed it to him for months on end.

I don't remember Torres moping around, whinging and bitching about being here, praising the liverpool supporters, keeping in touch throughout the farce with his previous club and generally being a total c**t.

4 minutes ago, Argo said:

As much as i can't stand the guy i'd still rank it as Torres given the sheer length of time and the lengths we went to to try and make it work.

Because of him we put ourselves out of the market for Falcao, Aguero, Cavani, signed players and even appointed a manager with atleast half an eye on unlocking him and even sold off competition for his place and handed it to him for months on end.

No way! Torres's one goal was all he needed to do to easily trump a lukaku card! Torres paid all his fee back for that goal!

Lukaku did absolutely nowt for years at the club ever, Best he ever did was at everton yet torres was world class just on the way out