Now it's up to Tuchel to revive a career for a man who has kidney problems. 

Still only 26 yet has experience at the top level. Shrewd signing but has health issues. 

38 minutes ago, mad_mac said:

Ampadu off on loan to Venezia, wonder if that was waiting until the Saul deal was done.

Venezia purchased a local kid from here this summer -- Gianluca Busio -- reason number 2 to keep an eye on them now

I have seen the kidney issue bought up a lot, but it's not a recent issue, it's something that happened in 2015. It's something he has played with for 6 years now, and his stats show that he has barely missed a game since then and I have read that he has now recovered from it. So I don't think it's something that has to be managed.

I'm surprised Atletico are loaning him out. He plays in pretty much every game.

Edited August 31, 20214 yr by Scott Harris

I’ve always liked Saul from the limited amount of time I’ve seen of him, but I always assumed he had a decent goals/assist record relative to the position he plays.  However after checking it’s not much better than what we currently have in centre mid. Good luck Saul

Edited August 31, 20214 yr by DarkMata

54 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

 

On paper it can be a very effective midfield that can get through any press and carry the ball into the final third easy. Together with Jorginho and Kovacic they can keep the ball forever. But part from that, the thing is that Saul played so much for Cholo Simeone so he should be a really good defensive player as well that knows where to be and that is disciplined.

I mean even if he never scores a goal like that ever again, we just got a La Liga champion, he's clearly a reliable player.

13 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

On paper it can be a very effective midfield that can get through any press and carry the ball into the final third easy. Together with Jorginho and Kovacic they can keep the ball forever. But part from that, the thing is that Saul played so much for Cholo Simeone so he should be a really good defensive player as well that knows where to be and that is disciplined.

I mean even if he never scores a goal like that ever again, we just got a La Liga champion, he's clearly a reliable player.

Not a bad window,  the champions of Europe added one Italian league champion and one Spanish league champion. Following on from what you were saying about him being defensively sound from his time with Simeone, I think he will relish playing for Tuchel who despite bringing a solid defensive style also encourages his players to regularly contribute in attack also.

1 hour ago, chiefBlueCFC said:

Has anyone seen a Saul kit on the official website yet?

My sources tell me the big breakthrough was about his squad number. He wants #26 and the club had to promise to keep an irate JT away. So new kit imminent!

 

29 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Not a bad window,  the champions of Europe added one Italian league champion and one Spanish league champion. Following on from what you were saying about him being defensively sound from his time with Simeone, I think he will relish playing for Tuchel who despite bringing a solid defensive style also encourages his players to regularly contribute in attack also.

So long as TT is happy all is good.

In terms of the selling business Marina has done an excellent job give the duds she has had to try and move on. 

Happy to have brought some cover in midfield. Good option of loan and a quality player on paper. If it doesn’t work out, he goes back next season to Atleti, if he lives up to the quality expectations, we have landed another midfielder of quality much like we did with Kovacic’s loan. I would have kept Gilmour, but I’m happy with this loan.

 

So it's official

6 hours ago, chiefBlueCFC said:

That means the deal is off now

I have led you all astray... allow my ninja skills to repay this debt

 

very good piece of work finding loan deals for Drinkwater and Bakayoko, best news of this transfer window

4 hours ago, JM7 said:

Saúl to Chelsea, HERE WE GO! Agreement reached for €5m loan from Atletico Madrid. Personal terms agreed. Saúl will be in London soon to sign the contract. 🔵🤝 #CFC #DeadlineDay

Final details and the deal will be announced. Difficult deal but finally set to be completed.

Really happy for the deal. I think I wasn't happy with what we had before. Although sincerely I believe a Jorginho Kovacic partnership is still the best partnership for us. And I will like to see it often. But now we have options, so we can try many combinations.

18 minutes ago, carrickblue said:

very good piece of work finding loan deals for Drinkwater and Bakayoko, best news of this transfer window

Bakayoko must be the luckiest player in the world, he get's to play for all of these top teams without ever earning it. There are players playing in the Championship that are better than him, they must be wondering how he does it.

It's amazing what one overhyped season in Ligue 1 can do for your career.

Edited August 31, 20214 yr by Scott Harris

So then did we get the paperwork done in time?

11 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Bakayoko must be the luckiest player in the world, he get's to play for all of these top teams without ever earning it. There are players playing in the Championship that are better than him, they must be wondering how he does it.

It's amazing what one overhyped season in Ligue 1 can do for your career.

Amazing how the Youtube highlights from one season and a few stats on Whoscored convinced people who never watched him play that he was the best thing since slice bread. He's been living off those highlights packages ever since. Always be wary of people trumpeting the latest 21 year old defensive midfielder from France is my rule now.

As for Saul...

That's not a bad deal at all. I think he'll be a very good addition to a squad chasing the title and will quickly become a fan favourite. Let's hope the change reinvigorates him and he reaches his potential. If he does, a Saul-Kante pivot is potentially our best midfield since the days of Lampard, Ballack and Maka.

In danger of collapsing....

Apparently the Saul deal could collapse now, Greizman to Madrid is off and they have the power to scupper our deal.

There’s still an hour to go though so you never know…

Saul wasnt my 1st choice, mainly because of the system we play, but how on earth have we let it go this far down to the wire. Bizarre transfer strategy, especially for a club like ourselves that have so many players to loan out at the end of window. Fingers crossed but it is looking in the balance 

Edit, off/on  who the f**k knows

Edited August 31, 20214 yr by big blue

5 minutes ago, big blue said:

Now its off. Really really poor. Hopefully lessons learned. 

Don’t worry it’s Saul Goodman

5 minutes ago, big blue said:

Edit, off/on  who the f**k knows

Is this all coming from that bloke on Sky? 

So kounde is off because we didn’t sell zouma on time. And Saul is off because griezmann wasn’t bought on time? 
unlucky.