Don´t think any players are desperate to join Chelsea in 2026. Xabi Alonso can be an incentive for some but not counting players like gittens who are happy collecting a paycheck and not playing.. there are better situations to dream about

1 hour ago, DarkMata said:

Rod and Jane are still kicking about not so much Freddy

We have a few Bungles to sell!!

No idea why Xabi is okay with this, we've sold someone who's likely to be Brazil's starting midfielder for the next 5-10 years for barely anything. Even worse if we're replacing him with a 33 year old Xhaka

Not to mention Santos has only missed 3 games in his entire career through injury, a far cry from the rest of our squad

10 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

No idea why Xabi is okay with this, we've sold someone who's likely to be Brazil's starting midfielder for the next 5-10 years for barely anything. Even worse if we're replacing him with a 33 year old Xhaka

Not to mention Santos has only missed 3 games in his entire career through injury, a far cry from the rest of our squad

Think many of us expected a breakout season from him.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Sconnie Blue

Another summer where we actively participate in making our rivals stronger.

15 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

Another summer where we actively participate in making our rivals stronger.

15 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

Another summer where we actively participate in making our rivals stronger.

Couldn't make it up could you. We give them a crazy £40 million for the talentless, lazy Garnacho, who they were desparate to get shot of, and they give us just £10 million more for a vastly superior player who has generally shown the right attitude, skill and determination in his time on the pitch.

18 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

Another summer where we actively participate in making our rivals stronger.

Blue Co and thier stupid trading belief that you buy or sell to anyone.

We have sold players to Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal and allowed one of our best youngsters to leave and go to Liverpool.

And who have we got in return from these clubs........ Garnacho.

Although in the interest of fairness you could add Palmer, but City have since said never again (proved when we made an enquiry for O'Reily).

We need to fleece these clubs if we are selling to them.

Money is more important than sport for Blue Co.

Can we realistically replace Santos with a player just as good or better for only £50m? That's the real question here.

And if the goal all along is to use those funds to get a clear upgrade in midfield, we are still going to be weaker in depth and are yet again in a situation where if Caicedo is injured we are f**ked given how unreliable Lavia is and how unknown both Barco/Essugo are.

21 hours ago, bisright1 said:

I'm fine with saying "we don't know" but it's a lot more likely Alonso signed off on this than saying Alonso is going to very unhappy with this.

21 hours ago, bisright1 said:

I'm fine with saying "we don't know" but it's a lot more likely Alonso signed off on this than saying Alonso is going to very unhappy with this.

Who knows?

We paid Vasco de Gama in 2023 a figure of around 15 million. Hes been decent and weve sold him for around 48 million in 2026. It could be worse, i dont think Blue Co has done badly here, its not like he was the first name on the team sheet, theyve hardly got rid of an essential team member.

Im just amazed that they have done such a deal although i accept the market price for medium quality midfielders is rising.

IF Blue Co were normal and competent in the transfer market Alonso shouldnt have a say in selling a player for three times what we paid. But alas we are not normal. This sadly is the exception rather than the rule.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by OTL

16 minutes ago, OTL said:

We paid Vasco de Gama in 2023 a figure of around 15 million. Hes been decent and weve sold him for around 48 million in 2026. It could be worse, i dont think Blue Co has done badly here, its not like he was the first name on the team sheet, theyve hardly got rid of an essential team member.

Im just amazed that they have done such a deal although i accept the market price for medium quality midfielders is rising.

IF Blue Co were normal and competent in the transfer market Alonso shouldnt have a say in selling a player for three times what we paid. But alas we are not normal. This sadly is the exception rather than the rule.

Its good business on paper, bad for us on the pitch.