Pavard who can play centre / rb / rwb makes huge sense.  Pavard would be an Azpilicueta replacement.

Kounde to Chelsea soon, as Barcelona do not look like pulling any more levers at this point. Although, they will be pulling another lever soon. . . .there are further plans for Barca to sell 49.9% of the club's merchandising operation in the very near future.

Barca are going to be screwed in a few years time. They’re selling off revenue streams. What are they hoping will happen by the ? Super league?

2 hours ago, mojo said:

meanwhile fatf**k has been forced on a diet. why did we allow it in the 1st place? Thomas & co should be more strict

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11038941/Romelu-Lukaku-returned-Inter-Milan-OVERWEIGHT-previously-best-shape-life.html

 

Yet more evidence he did not make the effort to be success here.

1 minute ago, JM7 said:

Barca are going to be screwed in a few years time. They’re selling off revenue streams. What are they hoping will happen by the ? Super league?

. . . they are TOO BIG to fail. 

It would be fun IF Chelsea bought their merchandising though 😁  Barcelona shirts with "cheating c***" written on the back.  I mean Barca have been cheating ON and OFF the pitch for the last 40 years it would be wonderful to see them go down.  The current short-term gamble for Barcelona is hugely precarious.  How does a club with debts of £1bn spend in the transfer market?  FFP? is a joke.

20 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Barcelona and Iñigo Martínez have reached an agreement on personal terms over a four-year contract.

(Source: @Sport)
 

Hopefully this is good news. £60m they’ve spent. 

 

17 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Confidence growing that Kounde will join Chelsea at long last. Word from Spain is that Barcelona are close to giving up as they don’t have the funds to meet Sevilla’s asking price #cfc
 

35mins ago

Spend the same amount on Martinez that could get them Kounde?...

 

Also if reports are true that Kounde would be given 250k a week after we put Sterling on 325k a week I fear out wage structure is going to blow up and we will need Glick to be pulling our own levers.

3 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

 

Spend the same amount on Martinez that could get them Kounde?...

Martinez to Barca in 2023. Next Summer on a FREE.  If he is good, we could easily make a move at that point. A solid offer of wages. We can tell him that we will pay his wages and we won't force him to take a pay cut.

9 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

. . . they are TOO BIG to fail. 

It would be fun IF Chelsea bought their merchandising though 😁  Barcelona shirts with "cheating c***" written on the back.  I mean Barca have been cheating ON and OFF the pitch for the last 40 years it would be wonderful to see them go down.  The current short-term gamble for Barcelona is hugely precarious.  How does a club with debts of £1bn spend in the transfer market?  FFP? is a joke.

Many big companies in the past though the same thing, no company, whether its a sports one or not, is too big to fail. There is a limit at which financiers will accept poor returns, when thats hit, and its likely to be when all these future can kicking things come to pass, then all it will take is one backer to demand payment and the rest will rush in to get their pound of flesh, leaving this bunch of shysters in the dirt.

13 minutes ago, dkw said:

Many big companies in the past though the same thing, no company, whether its a sports one or not, is too big to fail. There is a limit at which financiers will accept poor returns, when thats hit, and its likely to be when all these future can kicking things come to pass, then all it will take is one backer to demand payment and the rest will rush in to get their pound of flesh, leaving this bunch of shysters in the dirt.

the Spanish government will back them

they are already getting a huge tax break by being classified as a "non-profit"

59 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Let's wait and see. 

I for one don't buy the whole "Joining the first team because he doesn't want to train alone" narrative. Reports Kounde and his agent were waiting out until Barcelona approached Sevilla, but reports in Spain are now saying Laporta is focusing on registering the millions of new signings they brought in instead of signing anyone else. 

 

If Kounde really wanted to join us this would of been done already. Koulibaly literally took a matter of hours. 

 

Would love to hear how you know Koulibaly took a matter of hours. We’ve been after him for 6 years, so I don’t believe that for one second.

To the bolded point, I disagree. It was Chelsea that stopped talks and prioritized other signings. Have people forgotten that Kounde had a surgery recently too? To me, that spells an easy reason for the delay in him signing anywhere.

5 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

the Spanish government will back them

they are already getting a huge tax break by being classified as a "non-profit"

They cant back them indefinitely, they will have elections to win and the rest of the country will be asking questions if they just throw money away, especially as things are in the world right now.

Theres not a single entity in this world with share holders or financial backing thats too big to fail.

2 hours ago, drjonesy1994 said:

Agree with this to a point, but is it too much to ask to expect a top flight supposedly world class striker to keep himself fit and in shape?

Why didn't we put him on a diet?

5 minutes ago, Backbiter said:

Why didn't we put him on a diet?

Apparently we did, or at least our nutritionist tried to, but Lukaku ate him after 2 days of eating healthily.

Edited July 22, 20223 yr by dkw

1 minute ago, Backbiter said:

Why didn't we put him on a diet?

He was fairly fit up until he got injured in October and then his fitness seemingly went off a cliff after that. Maybe the club could've helped him more but the bare minimum I expect from any professional athlete who's paid 100's of thousands every week is to get himself fit, and then keep himself fit. 

51 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Kounde to Chelsea soon, as Barcelona do not look like pulling any more levers at this point. Although, they will be pulling another lever soon. . . .there are further plans for Barca to sell 49.9% of the club's merchandising operation in the very near future.

 

Jesus christ, soon we will all have to wear one of their bl00dy shirts

5 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

Would love to hear how you know Koulibaly took a matter of hours. We’ve been after him for 6 years, so I don’t believe that for one second.

To the bolded point, I disagree. It was Chelsea that stopped talks and prioritized other signings. Have people forgotten that Kounde had a surgery recently too? To me, that spells an easy reason for the delay in him signing anywhere.

I'd like you to revisit July 12th and let me know if Koulibaly's situation wasn't solved in a matter of hours. Bid was proposed, personal terms agreed, player then admitted publicly he wants to move and that the deal is in place to go through. 

What happened with Kounde? Bid was proposed, personal terms agreed, player stalls and leaves to join the first team amid speculation Barcelona were preparing a bid vs accepting ours. 

 

44 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

. . . they are TOO BIG to fail. 

It would be fun IF Chelsea bought their merchandising though 😁  Barcelona shirts with "cheating c***" written on the back.  I mean Barca have been cheating ON and OFF the pitch for the last 40 years it would be wonderful to see them go down.  The current short-term gamble for Barcelona is hugely precarious.  How does a club with debts of £1bn spend in the transfer market?  FFP? is a joke.

Over and above this lot, it perfectly illustrates that you can prosecute and sanction Blatter and Platini, oh and then clear them later, but the reality is the whole of Uefa and FIFa is bent and riddled to the core.

14 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I'd like you to revisit July 12th and let me know if Koulibaly's situation wasn't solved in a matter of hours. Bid was proposed, personal terms agreed, player then admitted publicly he wants to move and that the deal is in place to go through. 

What happened with Kounde? Bid was proposed, personal terms agreed, player stalls and leaves to join the first team amid speculation Barcelona were preparing a bid vs accepting ours. 

 

You really think we signed a player of that level in a matter of hours after our first contact?  Absolutely not a chance in hell.

remember the times when they were too big for a sponsor? f**king despicable club

 

FC Barcelona, founded in 1899, did not have a main shirt sponsor until 2006 when the club came to an agreement with UNICEF.

2 minutes ago, dkw said:

You really think we signed a player of that level in a matter of hours after our first contact?  Absolutely not a chance in hell.

I think my point is primarily based on what happened after the bid. One player publicly stated they want the move done ASAP amid Barcelona interest, the other stalled on it and left to join his club amid Barcelona interest. 

Now reports Barcelona can't afford it he all of a sudden wants to come. 

4 minutes ago, mojo said:

remember the times when they were too big for a sponsor? f**king despicable club

 

FC Barcelona, founded in 1899, did not have a main shirt sponsor until 2006 when the club came to an agreement with UNICEF.

that's the barcelona you could still have some respect for, now they are just a joke

 

Exclusive: Jules Kounde to Chelsea is a done deal. Full agreement in place with Sevilla for around £55m including add ons. Barcelona were unable to match a strong Chelsea offer.

Personal terms are agreed, 5 year contract. Official announcement following medical in London #CFC

 

Not an official or concrete source mind..

Edited July 22, 20223 yr by JM7

1 minute ago, JM7 said:

Exclusive: Jules Kounde to Chelsea is a done deal. Full agreement in place with Sevilla for around £55m including add ons. Barcelona were unable to match a strong Chelsea offer.

Personal terms are agreed, 5 year contract. Official announcement following medical in London #CFC

 

Not an official or concrete source mind..

Until Longtime Lurkers Source confirms it, I am not convinced.

So,  apart from Barca having no offer/ lower offer than Chelsea

& their payment terms being less attractive

& the personal terms being also less attractive

Their deal was the best and Kounde would be crazy not to join them?

Man the cannons, Lets sink these conquistadors!