12 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Drogba had some of his best seasons past his 30th birthday. Contributed pretty heavily in the knock out stages the first time we won old big ears for the first time when he was more than 5 years older than Lukaku is now.

I hope so but I'm mostly going off of the fact that he's played so many games being near 100kg, I think the wear and tear is going to take a toll on him sooner.

I must admit I am not keen on re-signing players although I will sit on the fence we have done this of late to great effect. 

He looked great for Belgium in the Euro's the fittest and most powerful I have ever seen him really rattled the defenses, very Drogba like

at the end of the day £100m is the going rate, he scores 10 the jury is out, if he scores 20 worth every penny simple as that. 

For such a large investment, how about bringing Drogba back on a consultancy basis to mentor him ?  there is clear some love going on there ! 

 

 

Great to see so many fully qualified experts in sport science in this thread; makes my eyes bleed reading some of the comments about his weight, age etc.

2 hours ago, sonic90 said:

Not too pleased about spending so much on a player who we probably won't get 5 years of prime performance out of.

But he is the best we can get right now and I'd be even less pleased if we didn't build on this promising squad.

Meh Lewandowski is 4 years older than him and still scoring goals at a crazy rate.  

On 08/08/2021 at 06:18, junkymunky said:

Lets come back to this in a few months and see who's laughing.

You can bring out the goal stats, but if he plays like a donkey the majority of the time it doesnt matter. Its like have a stinker for 90 mins and then just scoring a penalty to get on the score sheet

why is he a donkey? 

First part of medical done and passed, moving on to the second part today. He is expected, assuming he passes, to get out next day or 2. Also already taken covid first test. Will need to do a second 2 days after entertaining UK.

18 hours ago, STATS said:

He in his career as scored a hattrick against United. Scored goals against Liverpool, Man City, ourselves. I don't get what else people want him to do. There are games where he has struggled against big teams, but honestly if people think he has not transformed since going Italy then that is their own agenda. He is in brilliant shape and think he is as close to what we could get to a natural no.9 who guarantees goals but offers a lot. His assist record last season was also brilliant too. He literally turned into complete striker under Conte. Ran his socks off, assisted, scored and got the trophy their fans were long waiting for.

Totally transformed? 

Look at this video and tell me it isnt essentially the same player people were laughing at when he was at Utd. Some of the things in this is quite frankly embarrassing

https://twitter.com/touchlinefracas/status/1424671511948955650?s=20

 

 

Edited August 9, 20214 yr by junkymunky

2 hours ago, andy said:

I must admit I am not keen on re-signing players although I will sit on the fence we have done this of late to great effect. 

He looked great for Belgium in the Euro's the fittest and most powerful I have ever seen him really rattled the defenses, very Drogba like

at the end of the day £100m is the going rate, he scores 10 the jury is out, if he scores 20 worth every penny simple as that. 

For such a large investment, how about bringing Drogba back on a consultancy basis to mentor him ?  there is clear some love going on there ! 

 

 

If he scores a bunch of pens and tap ins against poor opposition but goes missing in the big games and when you really need him, is he worth it then?

7 minutes ago, junkymunky said:

If he scores a bunch of pens and tap ins against poor opposition but goes missing in the big games and when you really need him, is he worth it then?

Of course, that's exactly what we need!

20 minutes ago, junkymunky said:

Totally transformed? 

Look at this video and tell me it isnt essentially the same player people were laughing at when he was at Utd. Some of the things in this is quite frankly embarrassing

https://twitter.com/touchlinefracas/status/1424671511948955650?s=20

 

 

Is this all you really have? Every attacking player is going to have failed dribbles and attacking passes 😂 stop embarassing yourself.

7 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Well he's right a lot more than he's wrong. 

If you don't trust Romano, then you don't trust any journalist. 

He's no more a charlatan than anyone else. The BBC, Sky sports, guardian, every reputable outlet were all reporting all 3 of the above. 

 

Well, yeah, they all just regurgitate the same sh*te hoping some of it sticks. 

33 minutes ago, junkymunky said:

Totally transformed? 

Look at this video and tell me it isnt essentially the same player people were laughing at when he was at Utd. Some of the things in this is quite frankly embarrassing

https://twitter.com/touchlinefracas/status/1424671511948955650?s=20

 

 

He scored 22 goals more for Inter in 2 seasons in comparison to his 2 seasons while in Man United, also he has a few more assists for Inter in comparison. In total 64 goals in 95 games. He 25% better if you only look his end product, not counting that he has improved overall as well.

Nobody cares that he can lose the ball, he has been one of the most consistent scorers out there. Then he also lost weight and improved his physique, he looks like he's at his peak right now:

Here is some real analysis:

If you think he's the exact same player then you're just choosing to ignore all the evidence that proves you wrong.

31 minutes ago, ashwin said:

Is this all you really have? Every attacking player is going to have failed dribbles and attacking passes 😂 stop embarassing yourself.

I dont see much improvement from his previous time in the PL based on that video tbh. Terrible first touch and makes awful passes that cant find the man

This is the most 48 hours it’s ever been…

 

7 hours ago, Night-T said:

I doubt that. City is a big club and he loves playing with KDB. He already said several times that he will end his career at Anderlecht and will do all in his power to convince KDB to join him. So I don’t believe that if city gives what he wants it always will be a no. 
I know that he always was a Chelsea fan growing up. Because of Drogba. Not sure if that still is the case after we made him redundant. But if so then we would be his first choice. 

Its was Kristof Terreur that said it, he is usually spot on with belgian news, so I think it has some merit, even if it was just City doing their due diligence. This was apparently back in March, before Conte left. Might have not been keen on living in Manchester again. Who knows. 

36 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

This is the most 48 hours it’s ever been…

 

Flight to where though? London? Paris? We shall see

1 hour ago, junkymunky said:

I dont see much improvement from his previous time in the PL based on that video tbh. Terrible first touch and makes awful passes that cant find the man

Does this negativity ever bore you?

Plenty of fans here were not fans of this transfer, the difference is they've accepted that it's happening and are getting behind OUR player.

 

just ignore the guy

Edited August 9, 20214 yr by mojo

Yeah I honestly don’t get people still trying to justify him as a bad signing. He’s joined us now, the best we can do is support him since he’s our player. Criticizing his weight etc now that he’s he’s our player literally does nothing but make us look like fools to other fans.

3 hours ago, junkymunky said:

If he scores a bunch of pens and tap ins against poor opposition but goes missing in the big games and when you really need him, is he worth it then?

Couldn’t give a sh*t if they all come off his arse as long as they go in 

Edited August 9, 20214 yr by andy

3 hours ago, junkymunky said:

I dont see much improvement from his previous time in the PL based on that video tbh. Terrible first touch and makes awful passes that cant find the man

Clearly we've bought him to complement Timo then. 

Or

It could turn out to be really good.

When there are only 3 strikers in the market we could have ended up with fck all of course

8 hours ago, Gol15 said:

He scored 22 goals more for Inter in 2 seasons in comparison to his 2 seasons while in Man United, also he has a few more assists for Inter in comparison. In total 64 goals in 95 games. He 25% better if you only look his end product, not counting that he has improved overall as well.

Nobody cares that he can lose the ball, he has been one of the most consistent scorers out there. Then he also lost weight and improved his physique, he looks like he's at his peak right now:

Here is some real analysis:

If you think he's the exact same player then you're just choosing to ignore all the evidence that proves you wrong.

And with that I put down the bag of maltesers....  The man is built like a tank.

10 hours ago, junkymunky said:

Totally transformed? 

Look at this video and tell me it isnt essentially the same player people were laughing at when he was at Utd. Some of the things in this is quite frankly embarrassing

https://twitter.com/touchlinefracas/status/1424671511948955650?s=20

 

 

You are absolutely right he does not change much. So? 

The funny part with Lukaku is that he has moved 3 times, all 3 for crazy amounts,yet you have people who think that he is not good.

So either Mourinho, Conte and now Tuchel don't understand football or Lukaku is just a very2 good striker

Edited August 10, 20214 yr by Bob stark

Why can't we criticise him? We are smashing our transfer record on a player we know all about. He is playing in a league that is one or two levels beneath our league. He hasn't changed as a player. He might be slimmer which is very good, he might score more goals, he is much more experienced but in a sub-par league. It is much easier for Havertz at 21 to adjust to the physicality and pace for the league than 28 year old Lukaku. 

Some here just don't want us fans to look like prats who just want what we want and are not satisfied with arguably one of the best strikers in the world. Well as a club we are at that level. Almost every player is in our reach. That is something we have achieved with Roman. Real Madrid fans would argue about players as they are used to getting big names. Hazard is probably a massive talking point amongst them. 

When it comes to praising Lukaku I would think his experience in Prem and in football is a great thing, he has shown he is scoring a lot for Belgium in a similar system, he has now won something which is also a great experience. I would love nothing more than him being a big hit. I like Lukaku. I have followed him on social media since we sold him. Lukaku is rated one of the best strikers in the world. 

Still my head is only turned by hlm delivering. Not a second before. Not that is any concern of yours. 

 Soccer fans are as critical as spectators at anything. Its always a lot easier in the spectator box. I used to sit right behind the ex coach of Sydney FC and I gave him lots of good advice and the  team did really well but he never acknowledged the advice and he got all the credit. I don't mind that's the way it is as a fan, you can say what you want and no-one gives a toss.

I think there are question marks around Lukaku particularly about whether he can do as well in the Premier League at 28 as he did in Italy at 26. You can question whether he will be happy just being part of a big team rather than the biggest part of a smaller team. He will probably have to rotate at Chelsea whereas he hardly missed a game in Italy.

You can point out how average he was at ManU and ask why that was and why it will be different at Chelsea. The hopeful answer is he wasn't that fit at ManU, probably had his head turned by the money or something. What we are getting is the finished article.

You can question if he is fast enough, or whether he does enough in defence, like pressing, or whether when playing back to goal if his touch is good enough (can't be much worse than tammy's though)

You can question what it means for our system and for the other players, someone's nose will surely be out of joint.

You can ask all those questions and probably lots more. 

I'm not completely sold, but I've come to the conclusion its not a bad bet. In the end it will make Chelsea even more interesting to watch this season. Its a bloody great time to be a chelsea supporter. I way prefer our players, manager and system to the other leading contenders. If Lukaku does even moderately well and we avoid major injuries then I think we will give the Premier League a good shove. I can't think any team will want to play us.