Now that the takeover saga has been completed, i am interested to know what other fans dream summer transfer window would be?  Bearing in mind the Premier League allow a 25 man playing squad and 8 have to be considered home grown... what would be your ideal 25 man squad, who would go, who would you loan and who would come in.

So, If 8 need to be home grown, surely someone like RLC will be sticking around next season, Also with new international loan rules coming into effect this Summer where we can only loan 8 players abroad, a lot of the dead wood will need to be cleared out.

Son of Drogba, son of Lampard, son of Essien, son of Terry, son of Cech. I'm also positively inclined towards son of Ashley Cole and son of Joe Cole. Sons of Thiago Silva might be worth signing up, but for now they can go on loan. 

Son of Malouda and son of Torres needn't apply.

 

Based on last years squad:

1: Kepa Arrizabalaga happy to replace with anyone if offers comes, also happy for him to stay #2
2: Antonio Rudiger Replace with Kounde £60m
3: Marcos Alonso Likely to leave, replace with Emerson
4: Andreas Christensen - homegrown Likely to leave, replace with Colwill
5: Jorginho See if he'll sign a 1 year extension so we can focus funds elsewhere
6: Thiago Silva
7: N’Golo Kante See if he'll sign a 1 year extension so we can focus funds elsewhere
8: Mateo Kovacic
9: Romelu Lukaku - homegrown Happy to replace him with anyone, seems unlikely though
10: Christian Pulisic Sell for £30m, sign Sterling for £60m 
11: Timo Werner Sell for £40m to Bayern, Replace with Broja
12: Ruben Loftus-Cheek - homegrown
13: Marcus Bettinelli - homegrown
14: Trevoh Chalobah - homegrown
16: Edouard Mendy
17: Saul Niguez Replace with Gallagher
18: Ross Barkley - homegrown Replace with Gilmour
19: Mason Mount - homegrown
20: Callum Hudson-Odoi – under-21
21: Ben Chilwell - homegrown
22: Hakim Ziyech
23: Kenedy
24: Reece James - homegrown
28: Cesar Azpilicueta Activate 1 year extension
29: Kai Havertz
31: Malang Sarr Replace with Gvardiol £50m, sell for £5m

Edited May 25, 20224 yr by RIP Mourinho

Sign: Livramento, Tomori, Guehi and Rice

Wildcard signing: Neymar

Pulisic + 30m for Raphina.   Raphina would be fantastic for us and we could Saddle Leeds with Pulisic to help send them down.

2 of Dembele/Sterling/.......(Muppet time) Neymar in for Ziyech and Werner

Lukaku replaced by any striker that isn't sweating after 40 seconds and moves more than once every 10 minutes.

Kounde In,  Gvadidol in.    

Kepa replaced by a decent number 2 that doesn't have me watching between my hands and isn't on 170K a week.

Replace either Jorginho or Kante (Only 1) With a physical dynamic midfielder with some creative ability from deep.

Clear the deadwood.

Neymar ? The guy that has only played half a season for the last 5 years due to injuries, and will be 31 next birthday ?

Run !!!!!! :-) 

I'd have a punt on Dembele and Raheem Sterling though.

I also like the idea of Kounde, Gvardiol in defence. Do think we need to being in someone taller as well though, as Silva/Kounde/Gvardiol are all quite small for your stereotypical centre back. I've retained Colwill for this reason, though I think we will try and loan him again, but this time to a PL club. I've notionally got Chalobah as my DM cover rather than a centre back option, as I'm playing 4-3-3 ! 

I'm selling Pulisic and bringing in Sergino Dest as the USA marketing angle ...  

We were linked with Perisic as left wing back cover ; I think he would be a good signing for a couple of years, and he'd also fill in capably as a winger as required.

Suspect we are stuck with Lukaku, so maybe having better wingers (new signings Dembele and Sterling) either side of him will make a difference ? Definitely needs to shed at least a stone though ... 

I wanted Tchouameni for defensive midfield, but sounds like he is Madrid bound. Maybe we can hi-jack that ? The alternative is Rice or someone out of left field ... 

I think we've all lost patience with most of the current forwards. Hopefully we will get some offers for some of them

I've basically got 7 new signings, and 4 incoming from the current loan army. I'm selling 9 of the current first team squad, with another 4 leaving due to end of contract. 

Hopefully we end up with something like this :

 

 

Big fan of pretty much all of them bar Kenedy (nothing personal). Yet I wouldn't mind seeing all of them shifted. At minimum we need to lose 2 attackers and sign 2 because the current roster lacks goalscorers, elite dribblers and most importantly for me elite playmakers. 

GK: Mendy plus any two back up keepers that are competent. 

Def: James, Chillwell, Silva, Trev, Emerson, Koundé (£60m + add ons), Koulibaly (£30m), Colwill/Gvardiol (£40m) 

Mid: Jorginho (give 2 year extension), Kanté (give 2 year extension), Kovacic, Mount, Gallagher, RLC, CHO, Perisic (free)

Fwds: Havertz, Lukaku, Broja, Pulisic/Werner/Ziyech (only keep 1 from these 3) , Dembele (free), Gnabry (£50m)

Outgoings: Alonso (£15m), Azpilicueta (£8m), Barkley (£15m), Werner/Ziyech/Pulisic combined sale of two of these (£75-80m), Rudiger (free), Christensen (free) Kenedy (£10m) 

Ideal income from player sales (£120-130m)

Spenditure: if we can secure some free signings then (£120-130m)

Net spend = £0

All plausible yet I feel Gnabry and Dembele are the most unlikely to happen especially Gnabry. I think the defensive signings won't be as hard as the offensive ones. Elite goal scoring, playmaking and lots of pace should be the ideal profiles we look for. I'd also take Raheem Sterling as one of the options and potentially Nkunku although I'm sceptical about Bundesliga attacking talents. 

Finally if its a £200m war chest we would have around £70-80m left available. A lot of Chelsea fans on twitter speak about Neymar. Very unlikely to happen and if he were to come he would upset our wage structure  potentially cause unrest in the locker room due to his playboy lifestyle and he is regular injured. 

Yet if TT could get a tune out of him and he's willing to focus on his football I'd consider spending the last bit of the budget on him if he was open to moving, Tuchel wanted him and we could get him for around £75-80m. With all potential limitations that come with signing him, we have Silva who could potentially keep him in check along with Tuchel. 

Not to mention he is one of the most talented players in the world. That would be wildcard signing if we struggled to sign the main ones previously mentioned or if we had some budget left over and could send one of the other 25 members of the squad on loan like CHO or Pulisic if he stayed.

Dream signings/windows are always hard.

But if we are living in dream land, as opposed to reality, then I would say get us a new spine

Sign:

Oblak

Marquinhos/De Ligt

Rice

Vlahovic

Bonus: Chiesa

 

That would leave an 11 of:

GK: Oblak

RWB: James

CB 1: Marquinhos/DeLight

CB 2: Silva

CB 3: Kounde

LWB: Chilly

CM 1: Rice

CM 2: Kova/Kante

AM1: Mount/Kai

AM2: Chiesa

Striker: Vlahovic

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, nonotnowjim said:

Dream signings/windows are always hard.

But if we are living in dream land, as opposed to reality, then I would say get us a new spine

Sign:

Oblak

Marquinhos/De Ligt

Rice

Vlahovic

Bonus: Chiesa

 

That would leave an 11 of:

GK: Oblak

RWB: James

CB 1: Marquinhos/DeLight

CB 2: Silva

CB 3: Kounde

LWB: Chilly

CM 1: Rice

CM 2: Kova/Kante

AM1: Mount/Kai

AM2: Chiesa

Striker: Vlahovic

 

 

 

 

Is not your dream window that we sign a cloning machine so we can field a team of 11 timos?

Incdiently this would be @just

A dream window for me would be signing players who actually improve the team. Apart from Thiago Silva there hasn't been any signing who we could classify as a success in the past 3 transfer seasons.

RCB Kounde

LCB Bastoni/Koulibaly

LWB Sosa/Raum

DM Tchouameni

ATT Dembele + Nkunku/Gnabry

 

6 minutes ago, big blue said:

RCB Kounde

LCB Bastoni/Koulibaly

LWB Sosa/Raum

DM Tchouameni

ATT Dembele + Nkunku/Gnabry

 

Mine probably the same. 

I don’t see many WBs on the lists so far, and I can’t add any names, but certainly we need some quality cover for James and Chilwell to avoid a derailment of the season as we’ve seen this past one.

I'd be happy with kounde + 1 other defender..

Sign Rice and bring into the team Gallagher..

I would take Stirling over any of .. pulisic, werner or ziyech.

We do need to look at the wb situation if TT is going to play 5..

Not a dream window but Chiesa, Bissouma, Fofana.

Bring back Broja, Gilmour, Gallagher.

Would also try and buy back Lamptey. Super quick. And could function in the RWB or a winger role.

As for Neymar? Strewth. I'd rather see Grandma up front.

Edited May 25, 20224 yr by just

8 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Neymar ? The guy that has only played half a season for the last 5 years due to injuries, and will be 31 next birthday ?

Run !!!!!! 🙂

I'd have a punt on Dembele and Raheem Sterling though.

I also like the idea of Kounde, Gvardiol in defence. Do think we need to being in someone taller as well though, as Silva/Kounde/Gvardiol are all quite small for your stereotypical centre back. I've retained Colwill for this reason, though I think we will try and loan him again, but this time to a PL club. I've notionally got Chalobah as my DM cover rather than a centre back option, as I'm playing 4-3-3 ! 

I'm selling Pulisic and bringing in Sergino Dest as the USA marketing angle ...  

We were linked with Perisic as left wing back cover ; I think he would be a good signing for a couple of years, and he'd also fill in capably as a winger as required.

Suspect we are stuck with Lukaku, so maybe having better wingers (new signings Dembele and Sterling) either side of him will make a difference ? Definitely needs to shed at least a stone though ... 

I wanted Tchouameni for defensive midfield, but sounds like he is Madrid bound. Maybe we can hi-jack that ? The alternative is Rice or someone out of left field ... 

I think we've all lost patience with most of the current forwards. Hopefully we will get some offers for some of them

I've basically got 7 new signings, and 4 incoming from the current loan army. I'm selling 9 of the current first team squad, with another 4 leaving due to end of contract. 

Hopefully we end up with something like this :

 

I'd be inclined to agree with most of the above with the exception of Tchoumeni as he's agreed to join Madrid...Looks like it's either Rice (too expensive) or Sangare from PSV...still also think we need a creative midfielder or move Mount further back.... Can't see Anjorin being sold..he's still young and apparently Tuchel rates him...also isn't Rahman at the end of his contract as well?

 

7 hours ago, Trueblue76 said:

I'd be inclined to agree with most of the above with the exception of Tchoumeni as he's agreed to join Madrid...Looks like it's either Rice (too expensive) or Sangare from PSV...still also think we need a creative midfielder or move Mount further back.... Can't see Anjorin being sold..he's still young and apparently Tuchel rates him...also isn't Rahman at the end of his contract as well?

Yes - Tchouameni probably off the table, so hopefully the Boehly consortium have a few other "money ball" options mapped out.

I think Rahman had an extension to 2024.

Anjorin is a weird one ... 20 years old now,, and he's never had any sort of significant loan in terms of playing time, nor has he played much for us ... Mount at the same age had played two full seasons at Vitesse and Derby. I just can't see Anjorin being the answer to any of our current needs, and in fact I'm not even sure where he would play given the competition in attacking midfield from Mount, Gallagher, Havertz, etc. I think he's RLC Mk2 - everyone rates him, but nobody knows his best position because he doesn't play much !

I'd look to bring in Kounde and Koulibaly to sort out our defense. Assume they would cost about £100 million and hopefully we have some leftover money after that to address our headaches in midfield and attack.

 

 

Koudibaly? Is it 2018 again? 

So dream window. For me a dream use of this window would see us sell off, or move on in some way, as much of our discarded players as possible, bring back our best youth to be involved, spend our warchest sensibly and improve as many areas as we can. 

 

To that effect mine would look something like this. 

 

Already out that we know of:

Saul (loan return)

Drinkwater 

Charly Musonda

Rudiger

Christensen

 

Loan returns:

 

Gallagher

Gilmour (if he signs new deal)

Broja

Colwill

Ampadu

Sterling

Maatsen

Baxter

 

Sales:

RLC - 10mill

Gilmour - 5mill (if he won't sign a new deal)

Emerson - 10mill

Alonso - 10mill

Dave - 2mill

Kepa - 50mill (thank you Newcastle?)

Jorginho - 20mill

Werner - 25mill

Lukaku (player exchange)

Pulisic - 25mill

 

Signings:

Bastoni (player exchange)

Martinez (player exchange)

Kounde -45 mill

Phillips - 50mill

Bissouma- 35mill

David - 40mill

 

My Ideal would be Marina manages to solve Inters money problems by getting them to take back Lukaku with some cash while giving us Martinez and Bastoni. 

Assuming we remain with the 343 system would give TT this sort of squad.

 

Keepers:

Mendy

Baxter

Marcus B

 

CBs:

 

Kounde (Chalobah)

Silva (Ampadu)

Bastoni (Colwill)

 

WBs:

 

James (Sterling)

Chilwell (Maatsen)

 

DCM:

 

Philips (Gilmour/Ampadu)

 

CMs:

 

Kante (Gallagher)

Kovacic (Bissouma)

 

Forwards (all interchangeable)

 

David

Havertz

Martinez

Broja

Mount

CHO

Ziyech

 

That is one forwards too many and I am undecided who I would get to leave. If a good loan came up for Broja maybe him, or a good offer for CHO or Ziyech. 

A front 3 of a combination from Mount, Havertz, David and Martinez could be quite fun.

Would be open to replacing the likes of Ampadu, Sterling, Maatsen or Gilmour if a good replacement was suggested, just don't know of any off the top of my head.

 

 

 

Gk - Mendy, Kepa, Betinelli

Def - Chillwell, James, Maatsen, Thiago Silva, Chalobah, Kounde, De Light, Ampadu, Colwill

Mid - Rice, Kante, Kovacic, RLC, Gilmour, Gallagher

Forwards - Mount, Havertz, Werner, Broja, Hudson Odoi, Dembele, Sterling

Buy - Kounde 60m, De light 80m, Rice 80m, Sterling 50m, Dembele Free transfer - Estimated expenditure - 270m

Sell - Jorginho 30m, Lukaku 45m, Alonso 10m, Azpilicutta 5m, Pulisic 30m, Ziech 30m, Kenedy 5m, Sarr 5m, Barkley 5m - Bakayoko 5m Batshuyi 5m - Estimated total income - 175m
Formation - 3-4-3
                                
                               (Kepa)
                               Mendy

           (Chalobah) (Ampadu)  (Colwill)
               De light      Silva       Kounde
(CHO)                                                (Maatsen)
James                                                  Chilwell
                      (RLC)      (Kovacic)
                     Rice               Kante
        (Dembele)                          (Werner)
         Sterling                                 Mount
                                (Broja)
                               Havertz
(Betinelli)
(Gallagher)
(Gilmour)
(Vale)
(Clarke-Salter)
(Anjorin)
Formation - 4-3-3

                                 (Kepa)
                                 Mendy

  (CHO)     (Chalobah)   (Silva)      (Maatsen)
James      De Light        Kounde     Chilwell

                             (Gilmour)
                                Kante
           (Gallagher)             (Kovacic)
              Rice                         Mount
   (RLC)                                         (Werner)
Dembele                                       Sterling
                              (Broja)
                              Havertz



Versatility -

RLC - CB, RWB, DM, FWD
CHO - RWB, RB, LWB, FWD
Chalobah - CB, RB, RWB
Colwill - CB, LWB
James - RWB, CB, DM
Ampadu - CB, DM

On 29/05/2022 at 01:48, axman2526 said:

Gilmour - 5mill (if he won't sign a new deal)

If he contract rebels after the season he's just had then I won't lose any sleep.

It would be a shame as I do have long term hope for him (his style of player tend to be a bit behind their time in terms of when they develop/peak) but being pressured into giving a place to a player who is just off a season where he was one of the poorest performers at one of the worst ever PL teams would set an awful precedence.

Edited May 30, 20224 yr by Argo

1 hour ago, Argo said:

If he contract rebels after the season he's just had then I won't lose any sleep.

It would be a shame as I do have long term hope for him (his style of player tend to be a bit behind their time in terms of when they develop/peak) but being pressured into giving a place to a player who is just off a season where he was one of the poorest performers at one of the worst ever PL teams would set an awful precedence.

He wasn’t though; he just isn’t the type of player you start when you are fighting a relegation battle & need all sleeves rolled up. You stick Jorginho in that Norwich side and he wouldn’t do any better.

11 hours ago, ducavis said:

He wasn’t though; he just isn’t the type of player you start when you are fighting a relegation battle & need all sleeves rolled up. You stick Jorginho in that Norwich side and he wouldn’t do any better.

It isn't about him getting relegated, Gallagher went down season before last and I wanted him as part of the squad season just gone.

I try and avoid getting into comparing the two but last time Jorginho was at a similar club was Hellas Verona in Serie A and his performances were one of the biggest reasons he didn't have to "roll his sleeves up" which in turn earned him his move to Naples (and had us, Arsenal and Liverpool monitoring him).

The Norwich fans who watched him week in week out make my feelings towards Lukaku look like fanboyish. I closely follow fan opinions of all our loanees (that I think have a chance of making it) and it is by far the worst feedback I've seen in my 15 years doing such.

As I said long term I have hope for him (and I actually think the pandemic f**ked him more than anyone) but he absolutely needs another loan.

8 hours ago, Argo said:

It isn't about him getting relegated, Gallagher went down season before last and I wanted him as part of the squad season just gone.

I try and avoid getting into comparing the two but last time Jorginho was at a similar club was Hellas Verona in Serie A and his performances were one of the biggest reasons he didn't have to "roll his sleeves up" which in turn earned him his move to Naples (and had us, Arsenal and Liverpool monitoring him).

The Norwich fans who watched him week in week out make my feelings towards Lukaku look like fanboyish. I closely follow fan opinions of all our loanees (that I think have a chance of making it) and it is by far the worst feedback I've seen in my 15 years doing such.

As I said long term I have hope for him (and I actually think the pandemic f**ked him more than anyone) but he absolutely needs another loan.

Not sure what happened there, but if I remember correctly, at least he got 2 MOTM awards when Dean Smith took over (plus a previous one for Scotland against England), and I seem to remember that he got some good opinions from the Norwich supporters early in the season. Then things started to go wrong, why? No idea, but you don’t get to be the best player on the pitch twice in a row and then just become the worst player of a relegated team from one week to another without a reason.