On ?08?/?12?/?2019 at 17:17, the special one said:

Brighton’s Lewis Dunk is such a big Chelsea fan his dog is called ‘Didier’… after Stamford Bridge legend Drogba (Sun)

My dog is also called "Didier".

And I'm cheap.

7 hours ago, evissy said:

I think a back 3 of Rudiger, Tomori and Ake would work. With the frailities in our defence I think we will actually buy him back. It would make a lot of sense. 40m for a 24yr old Dutch international and regular for Bournemouth who knows the club inside out and has played with Frank.

If we go back to a back three at all, i really really hope one of the spaces is filled by Azpi or James for balance sake.

14 hours ago, Andy North said:

And I'm cheap.

You’re not helping us get away from the rent boy chants here... 

If we go back to a back three at all, i really really hope one of the spaces is filled by Azpi or James for balance sake.

I don't think we would, I just think those 3 would make an excellent trio at the back.

Not sure what to make of bringing back Ake.

He would be effectively only costing us £15m, considering we got £25m for him, so price wise, it is a good deal. 

I really liked him through the youth sides, he is a born leader, great left foot, aggresive in the tackle, versatile, and fairly quick aswell. 

My only concern is that he isnt dominant enough in the air, which is a major weakness with our squad at the moment. We really struggle with balls into the box, and im not sure Ake helps improve us in that respect. 

I dont see any big deal happening in January, i know people will site van dijk and and coutinho as big January deals, but both players already tried to force a move the previous summer, none of the big players we want, or who we hsve been linked with, have even looked particularly unhappy at their clubs. 

Maybe Ake would be a sensible addition, even if he doesnt fill the need for the ideal centre back, currently he is still better than Christiansen, and Tomori, and at similar level to Rudiger and Zouma, so we could sell him on again down the line for an overall profit. 

Not that I'm all for it,but it definitely looks like Ake and zahara this transfer,carrying on the mediocre transfers of lately. 

2 hours ago, Bluesince66 said:

Not that I'm all for it,but it definitely looks like Ake and zahara this transfer,carrying on the mediocre transfers of lately. 

Since when have Pulsic, Jorginho and Kovacic been mediocre?

Seems like a moan for the sake of it.

Interestingly Ake counts as homegrown.

Edited December 12, 20196 yr by the special one

1 hour ago, Argo said:

Since when have Pulsic, Jorginho and Kovacic been mediocre?

Seems like a moan for the sake of it.

Were the worst club in the world at everything remember, were just sooooo bad at it all....

4 minutes ago, dkw said:

Were the worst club in the world at everything remember, were just sooooo bad at it all....

f**king Chelsea, ruined my life, happy as a kid winning f**k all, then this Russian arrives and we win it all!!! I'm through with  you Chels, never going again!.......then again would be rude not to go Saturday, see you in the goose from 12. UTC

1 hour ago, Argo said:

Since when have Pulsic, Jorginho and Kovacic been mediocre?

Seems like a moan for the sake of it.

That's true,its one of those days and I really totally forgot those 3,I was on another planet thinking of bakayoko,zappacosta etc.

On 08/12/2019 at 06:04, Scott Harris said:

Not a significant enough upgrade for me. He's never stopped the goals going in at Bournemouth, so I don't see why that would change with us. 

Totally agree....not sure why we keep going back in for players we sold under someone else and then get one up the rear end with price.  I would like to see a couple of world class defenders in, not a lower mid table club defender that couldn't make it here in the first place. 

Hopefully this ends up being a flip deal, similar to what Real Madrid did with Morata.  Activated the buy back and sold him the next year to us for something like double what the buy back clause was.

Of course, first choice would be Ake comes back and turns into a world beater, but I don’t see that happening at this point.

A left footed central defender is an asset. Ake has always looked pretty good but whether he is a step up on say tomori is debatable. I don’t  think Christiansen is going to make the grade. Ake is more athletic at least. 

A left footed central defender is an asset. Ake has always looked pretty good but whether he is a step up on say tomori is debatable. I don’t  think Christiansen is going to make the grade. Ake is more athletic at least. 

I have never seen how good Christensen could be for us. He is no way dominant in any aspect of his game, he doesn't have great footaballing abilities, he doesn't command the airspace or doesn't possess leadership skills. He can be a good deputant with a good pair like Rudiger.

Maybe Ake is similar but he has a great left foot and has arguably more pace.

Ake for me isn't a major improvement for either Emerson or Christensen. If we need good young players as backup or to compete he is good for that money.

34 minutes ago, evissy said:

I have never seen how good Christensen could be for us. He is no way dominant in any aspect of his game, he doesn't have great footaballing abilities, he doesn't command the airspace or doesn't possess leadership skills. He can be a good deputant with a good pair like Rudiger.

Maybe Ake is similar but he has a great left foot and has arguably more pace.

Ake for me isn't a major improvement for either Emerson or Christensen. If we need good young players as backup or to compete he is good for that money.

 

I think the case in favor of Ake is that we have a buyback clause and he is in major demand. We can easily bring him back and give him the opportunity to pair him up with Zouma or Rudiger and if it doesnt work out sell him on for a profit. He is versatile so therefore can play as a fullback or even in midfield and in addition to all this he also is a major goal threat from set pieces something our other CB's seem to be struggling with since the departure of Terry and Cahill. 

I personally think that he is an upgrade on Christensen especially considering the way that Lampard wants to play with the quick transition from defense to attack and would be a welcome addition to the squad also I think Tomori probably needs a couple of more years to mature and settle as a CB for a CL level team.

If we are to strenghten our squad Ake will do that by being one more player in our defence. He is no Rudiger or a big name player by any means. Not saying he can't be that.

Dont think its a case of numbers offer strength to a squad, there needs to be some level of quality to the player that you are bringing in. If we bring in Ake I genuinely think he would have a strong case to be in the starting 11, I am not sold on Rudiger and Zouma together as they both seem very last ditch and tend to rely on pace to get out of questionable positions. Ake would be a better option on the left alongside one of them, he is someone who wont need a season or 2 to settle in and in addition the versatility is also a plus.

I think his quality is being seriously underrated

4 minutes ago, Imran_CFC said:

Dont think its a case of numbers offer strength to a squad, there needs to be some level of quality to the player that you are bringing in. If we bring in Ake I genuinely think he would have a strong case to be in the starting 11, I am not sold on Rudiger and Zouma together as they both seem very last ditch and tend to rely on pace to get out of questionable positions. Ake would be a better option on the left alongside one of them, he is someone who wont need a season or 2 to settle in and in addition the versatility is also a plus.

I think his quality is being seriously underrated

I agree with this and think he is underestimated here because he used to be a youth player here. He has been outstanding playing for Bournemouth and the balance he will bring to our defence with his left foot will be immense.

We would need to shift to out 1 or 2 CBs though to make way for him. I can see Christensen asking for a move, Pep is an admirer and Barca might consider him to be a more stable option than Umtiti. Zouma might also ask for a move if Rudiger’s body holds up with the Euros coming up. 
 

On 09/12/2019 at 23:58, Ernie_blue said:

Really dont see the point in this transfer, hardly an upgrade on the players at the club and I would rather play Tomori. We are only interested because its 40m and his versatile, not top 4 or champions league quality and will be sold again within 18months when his not playing first team foorball.

Versatility is important. 

Cb, lb and DM. If Alonso is to leave there's a need for another left back. He'd also be a natural defensive midfielder. 40m is a very good price. This one makes sense imo.

Am guessing if we wanted him and had a buy back clause in place we would have made a move for the start of the window 

It's weird, i'm not that fussed if we bought him back but at the same time i dont want him to go to another club. 

On 12/12/2019 at 19:59, CFCCAN said:

Totally agree....not sure why we keep going back in for players we sold under someone else and then get one up the rear end with price.  I would like to see a couple of world class defenders in, not a lower mid table club defender that couldn't make it here in the first place. 

I don’t fancy him he won’t improve us but we wouldn’t be getting one up the rear ended price wise, we would add 15 million to the 25 they paid, take into account the wages we would have paid him and the fact he has had all that PL experience if he was good enough to Improve us it makes sense financially 

Edited January 4, 20206 yr by SFL82

It's weird, i'm not that fussed if we bought him back but at the same time i dont want him to go to another club. 

You care for him. Not saying it is love but you have a soft spot for him.

8 minutes ago, evissy said:

11 hours ago, jack_super_class said:

It's weird, i'm not that fussed if we bought him back but at the same time i dont want him to go to another club. 

You care for him. Not saying it is love but you have a soft spot for him.

That's beautiful ?