To further this Sevilla are said to be quite interested in Reals Jovic especially as a new lead to their forward line. Him plus a decent amount of cash or possibly a second player from a list of Vallejo, Ceballos or Nacho is possible.

4 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

If Varane costs £40m in the current market then Zouma is probably somewhere between £20-25m.

I'd be very surprised if anyone was willing to any more than that for him. 

Zouma should be around 35m+.

Zouma's smile alone is worth 5 mill.

Wouldnt have been my first choice CB that we go for, but he's definitely one with some potential and i will be excited to see how Tuchel coaches him because he has a high ceiling imo, and higher than almost all our current CB's.

Zouma going the other way is also a good way to get rid of some fringe players whilst also spending less money so its a win win all round.

All the traits of a modern Chelsea signing. Young, high potential, with resale value. Looks to be a very good player that would work in a three man defense. Can bring the ball out, and most importantly be a player that can break the first line by passing or dribbling.

For some reason reminds me of a player like Marquinhos. Only drawback is his height, but appears to have a good jump, and Dave is only 5’10” also and has not held us back at all. 
 

 

22 hours ago, royce987 said:

According to my friends who are big Real fans (I know we can choose our friends, ... but at least they aren't cheering for tottenham) and watch a lot of La Liga.

They replied with the following when I asked them who they rate higher on short and long term: Varane or Kounde. 

 

Hard to say at this point. 

Varane won everything with Real. 3 or 4 times CL and WC. 
Varane was for a long time a monster, but he was less good the last 2 years. A lot of mistakes mainly because of nonchalance. 

Maybe also because he played less with Ramos around him.  (a bit like our Tiago, he also makes the others play 20-30% better). 

Kounde has got a  lot of potential, but still has to prove it on a higher level. 
Kounde doesn't always play as a CB when he plays for Sevilla. Plays sometimes as a back or on the side when they play with 3 at the back.
He was long time seen as the follow up for Ramos.  

I guess the stats prove both, that Varane didn't had his best year (still a top transfer for Man utd) and might also explain some of the numbers for Kounde and why certain numbers as chances created are higher. 

Also, having someone as Ramos or Tiago next to you will always make others better. 

 

P.S. on the real note. they are not happy at all that they now have Nacho and Militao at the back now that ramos and varane are gone 😄 that cracked me up 😄 (altough they also have Alaba now). 
 

2 hours ago, Night-T said:

According to my friends who are big Real fans (I know we can choose our friends, ... but at least they aren't cheering for tottenham) and watch a lot of La Liga.

They replied with the following when I asked them who they rate higher on short and long term: Varane or Kounde. 

 

Hard to say at this point. 

Varane won everything with Real. 3 or 4 times CL and WC. 
Varane was for a long time a monster, but he was less good the last 2 years. A lot of mistakes mainly because of nonchalance. 

Maybe also because he played less with Ramos around him.  (a bit like our Tiago, he also makes the others play 20-30% better). 

Kounde has got a  lot of potential, but still has to prove it on a higher level. 
Kounde doesn't always play as a CB when he plays for Sevilla. Plays sometimes as a back or on the side when they play with 3 at the back.
He was long time seen as the follow up for Ramos.  

I guess the stats prove both, that Varane didn't had his best year (still a top transfer for Man utd) and might also explain some of the numbers for Kounde and why certain numbers as chances created are higher. 

Also, having someone as Ramos or Tiago next to you will always make others better. 

 

P.S. on the real note. they are not happy at all that they now have Nacho and Militao at the back now that ramos and varane are gone 😄 that cracked me up 😄 (altough they also have Alaba now). 
 

 

Not sure what Madrid are thinking getting rid of their 2 best CB's in 1 window! Real and Barca are such woefully run clubs

10 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

All the traits of a modern Chelsea signing. Young, high potential, with resale value. Looks to be a very good player that would work in a three man defense. Can bring the ball out, and most importantly be a player that can break the first line by passing or dribbling.

For some reason reminds me of a player like Marquinhos. Only drawback is his height, but appears to have a good jump, and Dave is only 5’10” also and has not held us back at all. 

You're right when you say all the traits of a modern Chelsea signing. This is another where we could get caught looking at the trimmings and not the key function, which is defending.

Truth is he is too short to be a truly dominant CB in England. So many goals are scored from set pieces alone in England. It is a huge negative. 

But much like Kepa we'll hear all sorts of things about vertical leap this and distribution stats that. We should remember how that worked out. We should also remember what happened when we recruited a keeper with the proper physical attributes for the role ie 195cm plus. 

We need to adhere to the basics of centre back recruitment here and pass on this. 

5 hours ago, Night-T said:

According to my friends who are big Real fans (I know we can choose our friends, ... but at least they aren't cheering for tottenham) and watch a lot of La Liga.

They replied with the following when I asked them who they rate higher on short and long term: Varane or Kounde. 

 

Hard to say at this point. 

Varane won everything with Real. 3 or 4 times CL and WC. 
Varane was for a long time a monster, but he was less good the last 2 years. A lot of mistakes mainly because of nonchalance. 

Maybe also because he played less with Ramos around him.  (a bit like our Tiago, he also makes the others play 20-30% better). 

Kounde has got a  lot of potential, but still has to prove it on a higher level. 
Kounde doesn't always play as a CB when he plays for Sevilla. Plays sometimes as a back or on the side when they play with 3 at the back.
He was long time seen as the follow up for Ramos.  

I guess the stats prove both, that Varane didn't had his best year (still a top transfer for Man utd) and might also explain some of the numbers for Kounde and why certain numbers as chances created are higher. 

Also, having someone as Ramos or Tiago next to you will always make others better. 

 

P.S. on the real note. they are not happy at all that they now have Nacho and Militao at the back now that ramos and varane are gone 😄 that cracked me up 😄 (altough they also have Alaba now). 
 

Varane's a confusing one. Was his last 2 seasons at Real so mediocre because he wasn't very good, or was it because he had already won everything and wasn't as motivated as he used to be? After the world cup in 2018, I thought he was one of the best CB's around, so it does seem odd that he would suddenly start playing so poor so soon after. Personally, I think he just needed to move clubs, and now that United are set to sign him, it pretty much completes their defence. They are going to be very hard to break down now.

2 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Varane's a confusing one. Was his last 2 seasons at Real so mediocre because he wasn't very good, or was it because he had already won everything and wasn't as motivated as he used to be? After the world cup in 2018, I thought he was one of the best CB's around, so it does seem odd that he would suddenly start playing so poor so soon after. Personally, I think he just needed to move clubs, and now that United are set to sign him, it pretty much completes their defence. They are going to be very hard to break down now.

Thats if they hit their best form, and given how Maguire was at the beginning of last season and how Varane has been for 2 years it may not happen

Mendy helps a lot to make up for our lack of height defending set pieces. 

Him missing for 2 months next season will give sides a field day against us on set plays.

3 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

You're right when you say all the traits of a modern Chelsea signing. This is another where we could get caught looking at the trimmings and not the key function, which is defending.

Truth is he is too short to be a truly dominant CB in England. So many goals are scored from set pieces alone in England. It is a huge negative. 

But much like Kepa we'll hear all sorts of things about vertical leap this and distribution stats that. We should remember how that worked out. We should also remember what happened when we recruited a keeper with the proper physical attributes for the role ie 195cm plus. 

We need to adhere to the basics of centre back recruitment here and pass on this. 

On the contary, if Kepa became what we thought/tried to convince ourselves he would become I'd happily have took the trade off that he wasn't a Courtois/Mendy in the air. Just like I'm happy to accept Mendy being woeful at facing penalties giving what he does offer.

If Kounde is as good as reported and gets even better from here, then any ariel weakness should be worked around same way we worked around Terry's non existent pace.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

Mendy helps a lot to make up for our lack of height defending set pieces. 

Him missing for 2 months next season will give sides a field day against us on set plays.

We'll see, with Tuchel it looks more like we are strong because of the system and not because of a particular player, Kepa did play under Tuchel and it took some games for him to concede the first goal, I think the first one he conceded under Tuchel was the crazy goal in the last minute vs Porto?

3 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

We'll see, with Tuchel it looks more like we are strong because of the system and not because of a particular player, Kepa did play under Tuchel and it took some games for him to concede the first goal, I think the first one he conceded under Tuchel was the crazy goal in the last minute vs Porto?

That was Mendy.

Just now, axman2526 said:

That was Mendy.

I'm bored in a train but still too lazy to check, I do remember that Kepa didn't concede a goal under Tuchel in the first few games though...

@axman2526 Well I check, turns out he played in around 3-4 games so it's a pretty weak sample. I'm sure the coaches are aware of the weakness of Kepa.

Deal has hit a snap, apparently Kurt has found out West ham want him and he wants to go there rather than Sevilla.

However they have lowballed us at 20mill just as they lowballed us at 25mill for Tammy.

All while supposedly saying Rice is worth 100mill lol.

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

Deal has hit a snap, apparently Kurt has found out West ham want him and he wants to go there rather than Sevilla.

However they have lowballed us at 20mill just as they lowballed us at 25mill for Tammy.

All while supposedly saying Rice is worth 100mill lol.

They can do one, the bubble blowing bastards. 😆

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Deal has hit a snap, apparently Kurt has found out West ham want him and he wants to go there rather than Sevilla.

However they have lowballed us at 20mill just as they lowballed us at 25mill for Tammy.

All while supposedly saying Rice is worth 100mill lol.

Classic Sevilla transfer play insisting on including Zouma. They get a player equally well regarded by France and 30-40m Euro from us. That's why they consistently punch above their weight in Europe. Similar to Leicester in their transfer work.

To the normal person it would seem insane to trade out a 6'5 athletic centre back for one 6 inches shorter and slower and pay a premium to do that because of passing.

Lots will say oh but we play a back 3 under Tuchel, his height doesn't matter. Which will be great until you consider this will likely be a five year deal and the average managerial tenure at Chelsea is two years. So when Tuchel is inevitably moved on and the next manager plays a back four, we'll have paid a fortune for a guy who will either be a very short CB in a back two or a backup RB to James. 

4 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Classic Sevilla transfer play insisting on including Zouma. They get a player equally well regarded by France and 30-40m Euro from us. That's why they consistently punch above their weight in Europe. Similar to Leicester in their transfer work.

To the normal person it would seem insane to trade out a 6'5 athletic centre back for one 6 inches shorter and slower and pay a premium to do that because of passing.

Lots will say oh but we play a back 3 under Tuchel, his height doesn't matter. Which will be great until you consider this will likely be a five year deal and the average managerial tenure at Chelsea is two years. So when Tuchel is inevitably moved on and the next manager plays a back four, we'll have paid a fortune for a guy who will either be a very short CB in a back two or a backup RB to James. 

Very pessimistic view. Traditionally 15-20% of goals scored for headers but last season was 14%. So you give up a bit in the air but do better on the ground than big Zouma and big Rudigier both of whom slightly clumsy feet and the odds are in your favour. 

Edited July 29, 20214 yr by ozboy

Just now, ozboy said:

Very pessimistic view

I'm very pessimistic on this transfer 😉 and a realist on how long managers stay with Chelsea.

When our best ever player is sacked 6 weeks after being top of the league then we have to plan to have a new man in the chair at least every two to three seasons.

Apparently Sevilla want 45mill and Zouma. 

Think we should give him a miss to be honest. That makes him a 70-80mill player depending on how much you value Kurt at. 

Seems a lot for a CB.

Not to mention they took only 25mill plus Lamela who is sh*t for Gil 

Edited July 29, 20214 yr by axman2526

36 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Apparently Sevilla want 45mill and Zouma. 

Think we should give him a miss to be honest. That makes him a 70-80mill player depending on how much you value Kurt at. 

Seems a lot for a CB.

Not to mention they took only 25mill plus Lamela who is sh*t for Gil 

Plus we’re going to need that moolah when we sign Haaland, aren’t we Axman, aren’t we!?

 

80 million for a midget centre half in the premier league? The French Nathan Ake.

 

 

45 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Apparently Sevilla want 45mill and Zouma. 

Think we should give him a miss to be honest. That makes him a 70-80mill player depending on how much you value Kurt at. 

Seems a lot for a CB.

Not to mention they took only 25mill plus Lamela who is sh*t for Gil 

Marina will calm them down for 30m + Zouma. If Tuchel wants him and if he's fine with replacing Zouma in order to get him then let's go, finish this fast because Kounde is a great pure defender and pretty good on the ball.

Also thesooner we sign him the sooner we can sign a striker, be it Haaland or anyone else.

8 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Marina will calm them down for 30m + Zouma. If Tuchel wants him and if he's fine with replacing Zouma in order to get him then let's go, finish this fast because Kounde is a great pure defender and pretty good on the ball.

Also thesooner we sign him the sooner we can sign a striker, be it Haaland or anyone else.

Got to be sensible too though. That sort of money should be for a generational talent like Havertz