Romelu Lukaku back to Chelsea - and gone again!

[The Don Antonio]

16 minutes ago, abister1 said:

When I hear people croon about why settle for 2nd choice because Haaland is unavailable, I laugh. 

Isn't that what life and affordability is all about? You want something but cannot afford it, you cut coat according to size and get what you can afford. 

Haalands ridiculous munbers are only as ridiculous as the fact that people want their club to buy him no matter what financial impact it will have. 

If there haven't been heavy investments recently you could say okay.... 

Yes we had a transfer ban and saved up some money but last season we saw the better part of £1b spent. Geez

Same people shirk and cry jealousy when accused of buying up league titles and inflating markets (which I don't agree with). Its insane money for a player proven at Norwegian, Austrian and German football level. 

Some transfers are not just worth the disruption they are likely to cause to the squad balance ultimately. 

      I don't think people are angry because Lukaku was second choice. If we had gotten Kane as our second choice instead of Halaand people wud be over the moon. Most people just don't rate Lukaku and then add the transfer fee and it feels like we are wasting money. if Lukaku was gotten for 50M i am sure people would say WHAT A STEAL and build Marina a statue. 

I am not a big Lukaku  fan but i believe Tuchel has earned the right to get the players he wants, if that is Lukaku and Kounde then so be it. On the plus side Lukaku is an upgrade on Abraham and Giroud who Tuchel had absolutely no faith in.

[ForeverCarefree]

11 hours ago, junkymunky said:

100m for someone who will be 29 soon, very little resale value and has done pretty poorly at most the clubs hes been at (barring last season with inter) 

When you say almost 29, do you mean in May, almost a years time? Because generally that's how birthdays work. 

Top goalscorer in Europe was Lewandowski who is about to turn 33. Meanwhile everyone is currently glued to what a 34 year old Messi is about to do. 

A 36 year old Ronaldo meanwhile continues to score goals for fun for club and Country. 

Age is but a number. 

[Eight Times]

He's gonna be an absolute rock for us!

 

Chin up folks! This will be a good move.

[junkymunky]

8 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

When you say almost 29, do you mean in May, almost a years time? Because generally that's how birthdays work. 

Top goalscorer in Europe was Lewandowski who is about to turn 33. Meanwhile everyone is currently glued to what a 34 year old Messi is about to do. 

A 36 year old Ronaldo meanwhile continues to score goals for fun for club and Country. 

Age is but a number. 

By the end of the season he will be 29. 

Lewandowski, Ronaldo and Messi have been world class throughout their entire careers, whereas Lukaku hasnt even been 1 tenth of the level they have been so dont compare him to the likes of them.

 

Age is but a number for technically gifted players, not flat track bullies who rely on pace and power

 

[junkymunky]

3 hours ago, ashwin said:

What goes through your head when you make statements like "for someone who will be 29 soon"? Do you feel a voice somewhere inside that tells you to verify what you type? Or do such thoughts not cross your mind? 😄 

When you make statements like "Why on earth did we not pay a bit more to get Haaland who is only 20", please spare a moment to reflect on how incredibly little you know both about the negotiations that happened and about the finances at the club.

The club has been terrible with incoming transfers recently, has it? Yet we have one of the best rounded squads in the league. How did that happen?

What a bizzare illogical and ignorant post.

Spending this amount of money on a player who's quite "old" now is quite insane as within a couple years he will be finished? 

It is you that apparently knows very little about the club finances as we just spunked 100m on a premier league flop when a Haaland was availlable at the right price. 

And yes the club has been terrible with transfers? Look back at the past 5 years and who has really stood out as marquee signings? Kante, maybe Jorginho (loads of people still dont rate him) and who else? I certainly cant think of anyone.. Please enlighten me. Even looking back at last summers Frank signings they've all been underwhelming for the majority of the season? Havertz and possibly Chilwell definitely have some potential but the vast majority of our signings have been quite poor. 

[junkymunky]

4 hours ago, STATS said:

Lukaku scored 17 league goals at WBA who are a relegation battling team. 15 league goals in his first season at Everton. In his last 2 seasons at Everton he got 18 league goals then 25 league goals the following season then. It was only his last season at United, where he looked a bit of the boil. How can you say he has done poorly at most clubs he has been? His goalscoring record is sensational.

His problem was never strictly scoring goals, it was that hes a flat track bully who can sometimes bully poor teams but fails against anyone remotely decent 

 

[abister1]

10 minutes ago, The Don Antonio said:

      I don't think people are angry because Lukaku was second choice. If we had gotten Kane as our second choice instead of Halaand people wud be over the moon. Most people just don't rate Lukaku and then add the transfer fee and it feels like we are wasting money. if Lukaku was gotten for 50M i am sure people would say WHAT A STEAL and build Marina a statue. 

I am not a big Lukaku  fan but i believe Tuchel has earned the right to get the players he wants, if that is Lukaku and Kounde then so be it. On the plus side Lukaku is an upgrade on Abraham and Giroud who Tuchel had absolutely no faith in.

And that's fair enough. Football is a results business and if we look at his stats, it shows he produces results. Still won't convince everyone though. 

Football is not a one man game and where some say a particular player fails on the big stage, my view is others should pick up the slack especially if that player has contributed in other instances. Pressure is a funny thing and manifests in different ways in different people. 

Everyone ready to give Werner a pass after fluffing his lines repeatedly and on the biggest stage of all last season, someone else turned up. It's not talked about of course I understand because we won and he wasn't the biggest expense for us. 

As for Kane as second choice, hmmmm, I think he's even more unattainable than Haaland. For a combination of factors but the main 2 for me, he won't switch to a London rival and ditto Levy wouldn't sanction a sale to a rival. 

[junkymunky]

10 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I'm not his biggest fan, but it's unfair to say he has been poor at most clubs he has played for. Man United is the only club he has played for where it didn't work out for him.

He was okay at Everton and WBA, but certainly not 100m worthy or anywhere near that. He was poor at United. He's only really looked pretty good at his 2 seasons at Inter, but even then you could argue that hes definitely had quite a few poor moments whilst he was there and the fact it is Serie A which is a worse league than the Bundesliga. And we know how Werner has faired for us this past year.

Anyway whats done is done now, id happily be proven wrong and Lukaku comes in and dominates the league like a prime Drogba, but sadly cant see it happening based on what ive seen and past experience

[junkymunky]

10 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

We had a pretty decent transfer record last season. all of 

Havertz

Mendy

Chilwell

Werner

Silva

Started the UCL FINAL and Ziyech looks like he might be coming into his own this season judging from Pre season

That window looks okay, but its still a bit early to tell on a few of them tbh.

Silva was definitely a world class signing and has been nothing but stellar. Mendy has been quality at times but definitely shaky at points and the likkes of Werner, Havertz, Chilwell the jury's still out as for large parts of last season they looked pretty poor - Though they did improve massively under Tuchel so I hope it carries on.

Ziyech has been poor for the majority and I wouldnt judge him just based on a couple pre season games

[junkymunky]

10 hours ago, TomCFC85 said:

"100m for someone is who is 29 soon"

Mate, he turned 28 in May ahaha

I'm sorry but saying Lukaku has done poorly at most of the clubs he's been at, as Nigel Pearson would say, you must be an ostrich with your hand in the sand.

He's scored consistently at every club he's been at, he has more Premier league goals than Drogba. His worse days where at United, which I feel says more about United than Lukaku.

This isn't FIFA career mode, we're not dealing with just the transfer fee for Halaand, it's Mino Raiola and other costs too.

Maybe it was harsh to say "poorly" but he hasnt exactly shown hes worth this amount of money. He was good for Inter, but given his age its far too much money imo.

[junkymunky]

10 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

I’m not sure that it accurate. No denying Haalands ability, albeit over a smaller sample than Lukaku. Reality is they were not accepting any bid less than 150M, then add in his agents fee 30M+ on top. Wages would have been doable I’m sure. Big difference. 
 

Im not sure on the exact sum of money, but if it really was going to be 200m then fair enough. 

But 100m on someone who's 28, and probably only has a few years left at this level? Seems like a lot of money that could have been spent elsewhere imo. 

[ForeverCarefree]

3 minutes ago, junkymunky said:

His problem was never strictly scoring goals, it was that hes a flat track bully who can sometimes bully poor teams but fails against anyone remotely decent 

4 goals in the Milan derby in his 2 seasons in Italy. Also had goals against Napoi, Roma, Lazio and Juventus. 

In the Premier League he's recorded goals against Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Leicester. 

[dkw]

38 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

You are giving him way too much credit if you think he is "finding and disseminating information". Romano is a willing conduit for club and agent PR who is, to his credit, able to monetize this information to an audience eager for entertainment. If anyone is naive enough to believe that Romano has carefully curated sources at almost every large club in the world, I have a bridge to sell them!

Even clubs in the lowly A-League follow the same tactic of curated media release; imagine what billion-dollar European clubs (many of which are bound to private equity) do to manage PR?

I realise that in 2021 we should not have high expectations for what passes as journalism, but this is a bridge too far. There is no investigation, no analysis or critical comment, just endless pursuit of mindless entertainment. I'm not saying that he isn't credible, i'm saying that his credibility stems from the fact he is a club/agent mouthpiece.

I'd love for him to engage in player analysis or critique of transfer strategy - you know, actual sports journalism - but gossip is far more profitable.

PS hope you're doing okay with lockdown etc.

I think it will be hilarious when it turns out "Romano" is Trevor from Croydon taking the piss.

[junkymunky]

Just now, ForeverCarefree said:

4 goals in the Milan derby in his 2 seasons in Italy. Also had goals against Napoi, Roma, Lazio and Juventus. 

In the Premier League he's recorded goals against Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Leicester. 

Serie A isnt the best league to compare to, but if you looked at his overall performance some of those games it wasnt great. 

Same goes for the prem.

 

Anyway whats done is done now, I hope he proves me wrong so lets see

[ForeverCarefree]

15 minutes ago, junkymunky said:

We just spunked 100m on a premier league flop 

113 goals in 252 goals in the Premier League. 

Hopefully he continues to flop like that at Chelsea. 

[junkymunky]

Just now, ForeverCarefree said:

113 goals in 252 goals in the Premier League. 

Hopefully he continues to flop like that at Chelsea. 

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

[coco]

2 minutes ago, 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

Your'e starting to sound like your'e not really a Chelsea fan, if he fails none of us will be laughing.

I'm not that keen on this move, but i have said throughout you cant argue with his scoring record, i am only concerned with how the rest of the team plays with Lukaku in it.

[junkymunky]

1 minute ago, coco said:

Your'e starting to sound like your'e not really a Chelsea fan, if he fails none of us will be laughing.

I'm not that keen on this move, but i have said throughout you cant argue with his scoring record, i am only concerned with how the rest of the team plays with Lukaku in it.

I will HAPPILY be proven wrong, its not like I want him to fail? If he comes in and has shown he's a massively improved player in the prem compared to how he was at United and is scoring goals for fun then i will more than happily say I was wrong about him.

He does have a pretty decent scoring record, but I want him to play well overall as well. If he offers nothing to the team except score a few tap ins here and there thats not enough for me. 

Only time will tell anyway, just hoping it goes well despite my pessimistic view on it

[The Don Antonio]

4 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

4 goals in the Milan derby in his 2 seasons in Italy. Also had goals against Napoi, Roma, Lazio and Juventus. 

In the Premier League he's recorded goals against Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Leicester. 

I agree with you that he scored in the big games in Seria A but honestly besides Juve and Milan those other teams are just the best of a terrible bunch. 

He spent 8 years in England so of course he would have scored at least a goal against the big 6. The problem was the frequency of the goals in the big games . I refuse to judge him for his goals in the big games for Westbrom and Everton but for Man u he scored 1 goal and 4 assists in 14 games against the so called big 6. 

Thankfully we are not buying the Man U version of Lukaku but the improved version from Inter Milan. Hopefully he hits the ground running. Also with us playing Arsenal, Liverpool Man city and Spurs in 4 of our first 6 league games he has a chance to show that he can produce in the big games.

I wish him luck and I pray he can turn me over the same way Andres Christensen did last season. 

[junkymunky]

1 minute ago, The Don Antonio said:

I agree with you that he scored in the big games in Seria A but honestly besides Juve and Milan those other teams are just the best of a terrible bunch. 

He spent 8 years in England so of course he would have scored at least a goal against the big 6. The problem was the frequency of the goals in the big games . I refuse to judge him for his goals in the big games for Westbrom and Everton but for Man u he scored 1 goal and 4 assists in 14 games against the so called big 6. 

Thankfully we are not buying the Man U version of Lukaku but the improved version from Inter Milan. Hopefully he hits the ground running. Also with us playing Arsenal, Liverpool Man city and Spurs in 4 of our first 6 league games he has a chance to show that he can produce in the big games.

I wish him luck and I pray he can turn me over the same way Andres Christensen did last season. 

Spot on. 

Also in fairness to Christensen, he's always shown that hes technically brilliant and had the potential to be elite, but confidence and sometimes physicality was his main problem

[petre ispirescu]

You know I thought RAWK is the ultimate source of delusion you can find on a football related board on the internet, but f**k me RedCafe soon going to be the undisputed no.1 in that department - that place is simply unbearable during summer days when the players that United sign are the best bargains in European football and the stars of the transfer market, whereas other clubs' transfers are the worst and not worth the money.

They have not won the league in almost a decade, nor could beat Villarreal to win the Europa League, but for some reason they are now favourites to win the PL and the CL and apparently have a free run at Haaland next summer because supposedly United is the obvious choice for him lol. 

Think I will go back there come October when they are usually 10 points behind the league leaders and all these obnoxious guys that were saying there was no better transfers than Alexis Sanchez, Di Maria, Martial, Mata, Fellaini, Ander Herrera, Depay, Mkhitaryan, Fred etc. make a complete u turn and say they are sh*te and cannot wait for the season to be over and start tens of thousands of new threads "What do we still need?"

[ozboy]

1 hour ago, SydneyChelsea said:

You are giving him way too much credit if you think he is "finding and disseminating information". Romano is a willing conduit for club and agent PR who is, to his credit, able to monetize this information to an audience eager for entertainment. If anyone is naive enough to believe that Romano has carefully curated sources at almost every large club in the world, I have a bridge to sell them!

Even clubs in the lowly A-League follow the same tactic of curated media release; imagine what billion-dollar European clubs (many of which are bound to private equity) do to manage PR?

I realise that in 2021 we should not have high expectations for what passes as journalism, but this is a bridge too far. There is no investigation, no analysis or critical comment, just endless pursuit of mindless entertainment. I'm not saying that he isn't credible, i'm saying that his credibility stems from the fact he is a club/agent mouthpiece.

I'd love for him to engage in player analysis or critique of transfer strategy - you know, actual sports journalism - but gossip is far more profitable.

PS hope you're doing okay with lockdown etc.

I am doing ok thanks digger. Trust you also.  My comments may have been over the top, but I think you materially underestimate what he does and the value he has. Never mind to each their own. 

[DarkMata]

Ok I’ve got a confession to make, I may have called Lukaku a few names over the years, like donkey, bottler, useless, and others, but I’m hear now to say I’m sorry big Rom, I hope you have a tremendous season and help us win some trophies.  Welcome back to the club we both love.

[ozboy]

28 minutes ago, The Don Antonio said:

IHopefully he hits the ground running. Also with us playing Arsenal, Liverpool Man city and Spurs in 4 of our first 6 league games he has a chance to show that he can produce in the big games.

I wish him luck and I pray he can turn me over the same way Andres Christensen did last season. 

You make a good point that he won’t have settled in  for those big games. Will he have to quarantine?

[The Don Antonio]

4 minutes ago, ozboy said:

You make a good point that he won’t have settled in  for those big games. Will he have to quarantine?

I have no clue about the Quarantine rules in England. I just hope he isn't shoe horned  into the line up the same way Frank did with Kai because of his record fee . We have a UCL winning team and i believe Lukaku should have to force his way into it . I remember us forcing Shevchenko and Torres into the line up before they got used to their mates and we all know how that ended