Hakimi can play both lwb and rwb. Not to mention further forward as a traditional rm or lm. This means were we to play a 442 with Ben and Reece at full back, Hakimi could feature in front of either one of them.

I'm 100% certain TT is one of the main drivers for this deal I don't think we would be this interested without his say so. The more flexible the player the more we desire them for Tuchel's style, not enough is mentioned of Tuchel's use of total football. It's what he has based his success at this club on so far multi purpose players.

I think we`re all in agreement that Hakimi would not fundamentally threaten James but play alongside him. Now that could be as a RCB in a back 3, which James has played a lot towards the end of the season.

However, for a  long time I've been thinking James could also be a midfield powerhouse for us, physical, great delivery from the half spaces and a strong shot from a distance. I could picture James - Kanté to be amazing. I find it unfortunate that we hardly got to see him in that role last season, which would means there'd be some risk in having this assumption impact our transfer plans. But could a Hakimi transfer potentially make a Rice transfer redundant?

14 minutes ago, Luiz4Chelsea said:

I think we`re all in agreement that Hakimi would not fundamentally threaten James but play alongside him. Now that could be as a RCB in a back 3, which James has played a lot towards the end of the season.

However, for a  long time I've been thinking James could also be a midfield powerhouse for us, physical, great delivery from the half spaces and a strong shot from a distance. I could picture James - Kanté to be amazing. I find it unfortunate that we hardly got to see him in that role last season, which would means there'd be some risk in having this assumption impact our transfer plans. But could a Hakimi transfer potentially make a Rice transfer redundant?

I have concerns for James play time if we stick 343 and this deal comes about.

I imagine our back 3 of dave Silva Rudiger remaining first choice so imagine signing this player would see James dropped to the bench in the majority of games.

If we get him and Haaland, our team is going to be absolutely insane.

Mount Haaland Havertz

Chilwell Kante Kovacic Hakimi

Rudiger Silva James

Mendy

Plus there’s Werner, Ziyech, Hudson Odoi and Pulisic. Mad.

55 minutes ago, RMH said:

Yes, that is right, but I don't think that this fact invalidates @axman2526's comments. Azpi is not really a wingback, is he? Can Hakimi play as a FB? If not, we only have James there for cover. I guess Axman is worried that we are getting a specialist and not necessarily someone that could be played on a back 4.

 

49 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

 

@RMH answered it for me. 

Basically Dave is a defenders defender who can play anywhere in the back line and play it really well. You plan on succeeding him with a specialist right wing back who does not defend that well according to many who have seen him?

Above all else we have an obscene amount of games next season (even if we bomb out of all the cups in the first round we will have 48 games to play) and we have a manager who likes to make full use of his squad bar a few players.

Even if James started the season as back up (which i don't think he will) he will still have more than enough game time.

I don't think the succession plan in replacing Azpi with Hakimi it will be replacing Azpi with James, whether that's at RB or the hybrid position.

Edited June 9, 20215 yr by Argo

As long as James comes back in the right headspace from the Euros, he's a nailed on starter. 

Honestly not a single player in the world in his position who I could see displacing him. 

Simply imperious in the CL final and what a season he's had.

 

Hakimi would likely either rotate, or play alongside him. Tasty thought, that. 

TT is a big fan of players that are able to play multiple positions well. That versatility + quality is tough to beat, plus sticking it to PSG is always nice. 

If not for Inter being in a mess financially we might not have been in for him this summer.

But if an oppotunity presents itself you've got to jump all over it. 

On 02/06/2021 at 09:21, Deino said:

I'd take Hakimi to share the burden with Reece. We have a crazy amount of games next season with the Euros and World Cup coming up in 18 months.

Hakimi adds even more pace to the wingback position.

He's also Moroccan so there's the Afcon. Plenty of game time for both Reece and him to share

My view is still the same.

Reece could even be mould slowly into the RCB position a la Dave. Maybe have Hakimi push up and have Reece cross from deep

Edited June 9, 20215 yr by Deino

Inter knock back our offer as well as PSGs. Do not want players, only the full payment.

Given they are desperate for funds neither us nor PSG have to pay it as they would need to cave in the end, guess will see how desperate either side it 

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2021/6/9/22525726/inter-milan-reject-chelsea-bid-for-achraf-hakimi-want-cash-only-report

Italian clubs are so cheeky I dont know why we deal with them. 

Want our player? Full huge price or no deal.

We want your player? Loan only with buy option.

Want to buy said player? Give us a discount on the price.

Shesh.

59 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Italian clubs are so cheeky I dont know why we deal with them. 

Want our player? Full huge price or no deal.

We want your player? Loan only with buy option.

Want to buy said player? Give us a discount on the price.

Shesh.

Not sure, you're comparing 2 very specific situations now with Hakimi and Tomori. Plus, there's nothing inherently immoral or "cheeky" about any of these things.

1. Any club can demand whatever sum they like for a player with a remining contract, unless that contract includes a release clause. They might end up with a dissatisfied player and missing out on some clever business, but it's well within their right.

2. It's not necessarily cheeky to offer a club a fee lower than the agreed option to buy. The option to buy is merely an option to unilaterally buy the player at a certain price but doesn't rule out a later bilateral agreement below that price. Nothing wrong with saying "we can't / don't want to pay the full clause for xyz reason, so either you're fine with a little less or it's your player again". If the selling club comes to the conclusion that they're not gonna be able to sell the player for more than the offer they might agree. Pretty sure it's not gonna happen in Tomori's case though

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

Italian clubs are so cheeky I dont know why we deal with them. 

Want our player? Full huge price or no deal.

We want your player? Loan only with buy option.

Want to buy said player? Give us a discount on the price.

Shesh.

Napoli want Emerson, already made an offer. Think it’s around 15m but at least we can use that to our advantage.

Inter are desperate for money too so I guess that’s that, wait until end of month and they will crumble, realising they’ve f*cked up after Emerson joined Napoli and having to accept our offer or PSG.

I think the ball is in our court on this one, just got to be patient.

3 hours ago, axman2526 said:

I have concerns for James play time if we stick 343 and this deal comes about.

I imagine our back 3 of dave Silva Rudiger remaining first choice so imagine signing this player would see James dropped to the bench in the majority of games.

I don't really se a problem given how many games we are going to play, while also thinking about injuries and suspensions. Both James(RWB,RCB) and Hakimi(RWB,LWB) can play in two different position as well. I don't mind paying 65m-70m for Hakimi, we can reduce that to 30m-40m by selling Emerson and Alonso, who are no longer needed.

15 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Napoli want Emerson, already made an offer. Think it’s around 15m but at least we can use that to our advantage.

Inter are desperate for money too so I guess that’s that, wait until end of month and they will crumble, realising they’ve f*cked up after Emerson joined Napoli and having to accept our offer or PSG.

I think the ball is in our court on this one, just got to be patient.

Huh had not seen anything about Napoli offering a transfer. Only a loan with option to buy.

20 minutes ago, Luiz4Chelsea said:

Not sure, you're comparing 2 very specific situations now with Hakimi and Tomori. Plus, there's nothing inherently immoral or "cheeky" about any of these things.

1. Any club can demand whatever sum they like for a player with a remining contract, unless that contract includes a release clause. They might end up with a dissatisfied player and missing out on some clever business, but it's well within their right.

2. It's not necessarily cheeky to offer a club a fee lower than the agreed option to buy. The option to buy is merely an option to unilaterally buy the player at a certain price but doesn't rule out a later bilateral agreement below that price. Nothing wrong with saying "we can't / don't want to pay the full clause for xyz reason, so either you're fine with a little less or it's your player again". If the selling club comes to the conclusion that they're not gonna be able to sell the player for more than the offer they might agree. Pretty sure it's not gonna happen in Tomori's case though

Maybe a better club form Italy to compare is Juve. Could only loan Cuadrado before buying him, no problem finding 80mill for Ronaldo though.

2 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Maybe a better club form Italy to compare is Juve. Could only loan Cuadrado before buying him, no problem finding 80mill for Ronaldo though.

So what, apparently we considered those loans a good deal, otherwise why did we agree on them?

Cuadrado didn't work well for us, so he went to Juve. Instead of buying him, they loaned him. On the one hand, we didn't get any money, on the other hand the player remained ours. If he had suddenly exploded we could have said "thanks for achieveing that juve, welcome back to London Cuadrado" or could have sold him on for way more money. Ultimately he was only alright, so throguh the loans and the loans we only just about got our money back.

All of that happened on our own terms though, no duress or anything.

6 minutes ago, Luiz4Chelsea said:

So what, apparently we considered those loans a good deal, otherwise why did we agree on them?

Cuadrado didn't work well for us, so he went to Juve. Instead of buying him, they loaned him. On the one hand, we didn't get any money, on the other hand the player remained ours. If he had suddenly exploded we could have said "thanks for achieveing that juve, welcome back to London Cuadrado" or could have sold him on for way more money. Ultimately he was only alright, so throguh the loans and the loans we only just about got our money back.

All of that happened on our own terms though, no duress or anything.

Never said it was under duress, just said I find the italian clubs to be a bit cheeky in the way they handle bringing players in compared to how they handle letting them going, more specifically dealing with English teams.

Just an opinion nothing more.

12 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Never said it was under duress, just said I find the italian clubs to be a bit cheeky in the way they handle bringing players in compared to how they handle letting them going, more specifically dealing with English teams.

Just an opinion nothing more.

I agree. The Italians are cheapskates when it comes to buying but slap huge amounts on their players. Zappacosta, Pogba among others.

Inter needs cash and they will cave. The 3-way staring contest will end in a few weeks, it's just a question of will PSG find another target because Marina will for sure not let this one go.

Hakimi has a heck of a left foot, considering he’s right footed. I think we can spell Chilwell on the left on occasion.

Wouldnt be surprised if he was moved further up the pitch if Tuchel employs a back 4.

This guy is a hell of a player, and like @ForeverCarefree mentioned, the opportunity has presented itself and Chelsea seems to be jumping on it.

56 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

Hakimi has a heck of a left foot, considering he’s right footed. I think we can spell Chilwell on the left on occasion.

Wouldnt be surprised if he was moved further up the pitch if Tuchel employs a back 4.

This guy is a hell of a player, and like @ForeverCarefree mentioned, the opportunity has presented itself and Chelsea seems to be jumping on it.

Guess that depends on does he prefer us to PSG? Will PSG out bid us cause they can if they want to.

Looks nice doesn't it? We would need to sell all the deadwood though just to finance this. If Hakimi at best is £60m and we can bring Rice down to £70mish with add ons all that's left is Haaland £130-50m?? bringing us above the £220m we spent last summer on 5 new additions but this time only on 3.

3 hours ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Looks nice doesn't it? We would need to sell all the deadwood though just to finance this. If Hakimi at best is £60m and we can bring Rice down to £70mish with add ons all that's left is Haaland £130-50m?? bringing us above the £220m we spent last summer on 5 new additions but this time only on 3.

Where do I sign? 

10 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Italian clubs are so cheeky I dont know why we deal with them. 

Want our player? Full huge price or no deal.

We want your player? Loan only with buy option.

Want to buy said player? Give us a discount on the price.

Shesh.

No money 

4 hours ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Looks nice doesn't it? We would need to sell all the deadwood though just to finance this. If Hakimi at best is £60m and we can bring Rice down to £70mish with add ons all that's left is Haaland £130-50m?? bringing us above the £220m we spent last summer on 5 new additions but this time only on 3.

I don't know, Havertz out wide and drifiting inside didn't suit him at all last season.

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I don't know, Havertz out wide and drifiting inside didn't suit him at all last season.

The inside forward position in a 3-4-3 is different to being a winger in a 4-3-3. He played it under TT a couple times. He started there in the CL final. 

The squad depth would be impressive as well. We'd have Christensen, Azpi, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso, Pulisic, Werner and maybe even Ziyech, CHO, Giroud on the bench/in the stands.

Edited June 10, 20215 yr by True Blue23