1 hour ago, dermott said:

How? He's a midfielder, played in midfield. His issues were evident on loan at Leicester. Frequently outmuscled in midfield, he looked better in the box with his height but that's not enough.

He's not a midfielder you play in a pivot and he's certainty not a DM the way Enzo was using him. 

11 minutes ago, Remodez said:

He's not a midfielder you play in a pivot and he's certainty not a DM the way Enzo was using him. 

He's basically a better-looking Fellaini

On 06/01/2025 at 23:22, PloKoon13 said:

He's basically a better-looking Fellaini

If Fellaini had a love child with Michael Ballack

On 06/01/2025 at 12:10, Remodez said:

He's not a midfielder you play in a pivot and he's certainty not a DM the way Enzo was using him. 

Neither was Mikel but he made a pretty good career out of it. He's nowhere near good enough to play one of the attacking roles and if his skill set was so limited that he couldn't adapt to a deeper role he never had a future in the Prem. 

49 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Neither was Mikel but he made a pretty good career out of it. He's nowhere near good enough to play one of the attacking roles and if his skill set was so limited that he couldn't adapt to a deeper role he never had a future in the Prem. 

Not everyone is going to adapt to a new position regardless of how talented or their skill set. 

7 minutes ago, Remodez said:

Not everyone is going to adapt to a new position regardless of how talented or their skill set. 

He wasn't good enough in his preferred position though. What was he really good at? 

On 01/12/2024 at 08:41, Ukraine Bolt said:

He's a year older than Lavia. 

The difference is head and shoulders, there's no shame not being up to the level of Chelsea. 

Some players develop later...he may be one of those late bloomers, certainly a loan to a decent league and club wouldn't be the worse thing for him or even a club in the Championship where he'd likely to find a starting place, but I'm not sure completely writing him off is the best idea unless there is a buy back clause.

Just now, CFCCAN said:

Some players develop later...he may be one of those late bloomers, certainly a loan to a decent league and club wouldn't be the worse thing for him or even a club in the Championship where he'd likely to find a starting place, but I'm not sure completely writing him off is the best idea unless there is a buy back clause.

We have FAR better players than him to worry about and we can't hoard and loan out everyone. 

Reading were in total disarray when he was there and were relegated, so I don't put much weight on his time there and he would have been what 20?   Leicester were a decent established side and while he did play a few times he was certainly not dreadful by any means.  

8 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

He wasn't good enough in his preferred position though. What was he really good at? 

What preferred position? He's never played it since he step foot in England. To my untrained eyes he is clearly best as in a 3 man midfield with less defensively responsibilities so he can get forward, similar to how Connor was used at Palace. Having looked at his time in Italy it seems this is exactly how he was used as well. 

And just to be clear, I am by no means suggesting he could become the next Lampard or something. My entire point was he hasn't been given the opportunities to show what he's best at, rather shoehorned into different roles as the team(s) seem fit. 

23 minutes ago, Remodez said:

What preferred position? He's never played it since he step foot in England. To my untrained eyes he is clearly best as in a 3 man midfield with less defensively responsibilities so he can get forward, similar to how Connor was used at Palace. Having looked at his time in Italy it seems this is exactly how he was used as well. 

And just to be clear, I am by no means suggesting he could become the next Lampard or something. My entire point was he hasn't been given the opportunities to show what he's best at, rather shoehorned into different roles as the team(s) seem fit. 

So his preferred position is the same as Chukwuemeka, who is 10x the player. 

Like i said, he's got pretty mediocre attributes for the modern game. Not got an outstanding touch, average dribbler, no clear eye for a killer pass. Has a crazy build but doesn't use it to his advantage. Meh, not bothered about him leaving at all.

7 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

So his preferred position is the same as Chukwuemeka, who is 10x the player. 

Like i said, he's got pretty mediocre attributes for the modern game. Not got an outstanding touch, average dribbler, no clear eye for a killer pass. Has a crazy build but doesn't use it to his advantage. Meh, not bothered about him leaving at all.

I agree his attributes are pretty mediocre for a now 22 year old but that's what happens when you are used as a square peg in a round hole. 

If your plan is to buy young players in to sell for profit later on it would be beneficial to ensure they are used in their actual positions/roles so they can perform and increase in value. 

Casadei and Chukwuemeka should probably have been "sold" to Strasbourg so that they could be the advanced two in a three-man midfield with loanee Andrey Santos behind them.

I'd love to see how that might have panned out. 

Shame we haven't seen more screamers like that 35 yarder he scored in the Papa Johns Trophy a couple of years ago. 

Agreement reached with Torino for £10.8m fee + sell on clause more than 20%. Pretty sure we paid £12.8m for him in 2022. Just a waste of 2yrs on both sides. 
 

4 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Agreement reached with Torino for £10.8m fee + sell on clause more than 20%. Pretty sure we paid £12.8m for him in 2022. Just a waste of 2yrs on both sides. 
 

Think we've given up on this lad too early. Should have sold him to Strasbourg and have him start there for a couple of seasons.

50 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Agreement reached with Torino for £10.8m fee + sell on clause more than 20%. Pretty sure we paid £12.8m for him in 2022. Just a waste of 2yrs on both sides. 
 

Best of luck to him if he signs for Torino, hope his time at chelsea was a good learning curve. Said on this page a while back he probably goes on to become a Luca Toni figure in Italy. Hope he kicks on and has a top career. arrivederci 

Sadly, his move underscores the transfer strategy since the owners turned up. Chaotic. Not lost out on him but we sold better to accommodate his arrival. 

Sky sports say he was signed in 2022 from Milan for 17m.

Torino are close to our 12.5m valuation.

 

Edited January 31, 20251 yr by OneTommyLangley

Consider wages etc he's effectively been sold at a loss.

Tweedle c**t & Tweedle Twat strike again.

"Good business"

 

Some of these players career really getting stunted.

 

‐-------------------

 

Clearlake Out.

Sold to Torino on a permanent deal.

15m euro's, 25% sell-on clause.

And he played all of 3 seconds for our club that somehow seems to have stopped being a football club.

I hope he'll do well in Italy and make up for the wasted time.

Wish him all the best. Bet he is delighted to be away.

I liked him. He was a big lad - surprisingly imposing in the middle (at least physically) - and I think with the right development could turn into a real player. Basically like a Mikel but who could also score a goal.

Good luck to him. 

Is this an example of a complete cycle of the commercial strategy being played out.

Bought for 17m developed then sold for 12m with a 25% sell on clause. So currently a 5m loss but if at some point he is sold for 20m having further developed  we would break even (ish). 

Not something that i would imagine is easy to present to the owners and shareholders.

Some of the other project and potentially outgoing players look like they have stalled with either no sale for profit or parked with a loan fee to push the project out until maybe the summer.

Again not an easy one ( or half a dozen instances) to present and should ring alarm bells with anyone with a commercial brain.  

Edited February 4, 20251 yr by OneTommyLangley