54 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

That year under Ancelotti though, oh what could have been...

I watched him completely dominate a friendly at Ibrox and was certain we had something really special, was going to batter the premier league. Then like all good teenagers, he found women.....and the rest was history. Like me really, only with actual skill, athleticism and footballing talent.

5 minutes ago, dkw said:

I watched him completely dominate a friendly at Ibrox and was certain we had something really special, was going to batter the premier league. Then like all good teenagers, he found women.....and the rest was history. Like me really, only with actual skill, athleticism and footballing talent.

Thought his issue was confidence after experiencing such highs at a young age to then being sent out on loan constantly.

Really exciting start for Estevao. His link up with Cole is going to cause destruction. If he turns out to be as good as projected and the same with this Quenda lad, we could get what was devastatingly taken away from us in Hazard, De Bruyne, and Salah in the same team.

We already have a Kante regen, just need Joao to be the new Drogba, Penders the new Cech and Colwill the new Terry and we are back.

5 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

That year under Ancelotti though, oh what could have been...

One of the most talented youth players I've seen at this club, I genuinely believed he was going to be our Xavi.

I used to tell people he was going to be far better than Wilshere at the time when he was the big wonderkid, oh how that fell flat in my face, and Wilshere's as well in the end.

But learned a hard lesson with him and Kakuta not to get too carried away with youth players and wonderkids.

13 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Musonda and Boga were magical to watch.

That Youth team was incredible. Aina, Solanke, Tammy, RLC, Tomori, Christensen. All gone on to have great careers.

I’m with you on Boga. The way he dribbled past players was breathtaking, I was convinced he was going to be a superstar.

We had Loftus Cheek, Lewis Baker, striker from Rangers, Feruz? playing at the same time but Boga was the one for me.

2 hours ago, dansubrosa said:

I’m with you on Boga. The way he dribbled past players was breathtaking, I was convinced he was going to be a superstar.

We had Loftus Cheek, Lewis Baker, striker from Rangers, Feruz? playing at the same time but Boga was the one for me.

Yeah, Boga was fantastic. Was always my favourite youth player and I always would be extra excited to watch the Youth/U21 especially when he was in action. He had the ability to dribble past players so effortlessly like Hazard and had the same amazing upper body strength. I remember when he got his first start against Burnley, which was ruined when Cahill got sent off, and I was so excited to see him on the teamsheet. Boga used to get kicked all over the pitch like Hazard.

I remember one funny time when Chelsea TV used to be on the Sky channel and we played Norwich U21 around 10 years ago. We beat them 5-0. Boga was getting kicked all over the pitch by their players and one occasion he glided through so many of their players and then got chopped down and one of their players kicked the ball away in frustration which hit Boga's head whilst he was on the floor and he understandably reacted furiously and the other player in return was giving it the biggun. From the resulting free kick Boga, scored a magnificent free kick which put egg on the opponent's face and I remember hearing Adi Viveash (our U21 manager at the time) shout out a taunt when Boga scored. Good old times eh.

Feruz was signed from Celtic. Does not play football, the last I heard. He defo had a poor attitude off the pitch which did not help but yeah some of the talent we had in the youth teams over the years was on another level.

6 hours ago, Bebe1980 said:

That’s great, Infinite Athlete was a one year deal though. Multi year deals aren’t the only option and anything is better than nothing.

On 11/08/2025 at 19:52, The Rising Sun said:

So according to you , and I've no Idea how you know , we had a plan B . Which you say was actually our plan A. And your take on the shirt sponsor is that we are holding out for £60million. Which makes sense if true... But then you add ...they ( the owners) are "milking even more from our current market value" and "projection as a club" . What's wrong with this" ? you ask .

I'll leave aside the shirt thing , but I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you are getting at with the other stuff ? You know, the "milking even more." ..etc etc stuff?

I'm genuinely puzzled mate , and trying to understand it . Cheers

I'm still trying to get over that "projection as a club". Never thought that would be a thing when I bought my first Chelsea t-shirt for about 15 quid from what looked like a spruced up barn next to the stadium 😄

8 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

That’s great, Infinite Athlete was a one year deal though. Multi year deals aren’t the only option and anything is better than nothing.

Hmm... I think I understand.

What happens if Chelsea take the 1 year deal of £40m like you said and then the long term prospects of £60m get pissed off and decide to look elsewhere ?

And then the following year the 1 year deal decide to call it a day too ?

Do Chelsea just keep chopping and changing their shirts ?

Does any of this really matter?

We have access to hardly any of the actual finances but we're not going to go out of business if we can't secure a £60m sponsor.

On 12/08/2025 at 11:31, Ukraine Bolt said:

Musonda and Boga were magical to watch.

That Youth team was incredible. Aina, Solanke, Tammy, RLC, Tomori, Christensen. All gone on to have great careers.

Solanke not so much. He ended up at Tottenham.

3 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Does any of this really matter?

We have access to hardly any of the actual finances but we're not going to go out of business if we can't secure a £60m sponsor.

It matters a lot. It's like selling a player for £60m every season. We also have a small stadium, so receive less money in that area too. It's leaving money on the table for no good reason. Maybe if we had a sponsor, we wouldn't have been fined by UEFA. If we had a sponsor, players like Simons possibly would have already been signed.

Estêvão may only be 18 but he should be ready for the 1st team.

Ray Wilkins was captain of Chelsea at 18

Re Shirt Sponsorship

There will be something behind the scenes that we are not aware of which will be bigger than this figure, a loophole, a variation on the sponsorship scheme, something no one else has done yet, but there will be something. Maybe a re issue of shares/ part ownership who knows.

Probably working on a scheme to ensure the FA & UEFA cant discount it from FFP etc

40mill appears to be small beer 60 mill + might be closer to the mark

Edited August 13, 2025Aug 13 by OneTommyLangley

5 hours ago, Bebe1980 said:

Hmm... I think I understand.

What happens if Chelsea take the 1 year deal of £40m like you said and then the long term prospects of £60m get pissed off and decide to look elsewhere ?

And then the following year the 1 year deal decide to call it a day too ?

Do Chelsea just keep chopping and changing their shirts ?

Why would the long term prospects get pissed off that a club is sponsoring us in a year that they don't want to sponsor us?

This is one of the most insane takes i've read on here...

5 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

It matters a lot. It's like selling a player for £60m every season. We also have a small stadium, so receive less money in that area too. It's leaving money on the table for no good reason. Maybe if we had a sponsor, we wouldn't have been fined by UEFA. If we had a sponsor, players like Simons possibly would have already been signed.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Finances aren't completely transparent

There's so much we don't and can't know. It's incredibly complicated. And to this point, we haven't been banned from a competition, we've been able to play every game. So for as long as that is the case, I'm happy with our fianances.

I just think we should worry on what matters, which is the stuff that happens on the pitch.

5 hours ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Estêvão may only be 18 but he should be ready for the 1st team.

Ray Wilkins was captain of Chelsea at 18

This is what matters.

I think we're starting with Palmer, Neto and Enzo on Sunday.

But I hope Esteveo is the first off the bench and gets his chance

6 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Does any of this really matter?

We have access to hardly any of the actual finances but we're not going to go out of business if we can't secure a £60m sponsor.

From a money aspect I don't care, that's for the club to sort out, but from a football fan point of view it's coming across as an absolutely amateur operation that we are now heading into another season without a front of shirt sponsor, no other prem team has this issue. Whoever is in charge of the sponsorship needs to be massively looked at, we are one of the biggest clubs in the world and this cowboy can't even get a front of shirt sponsor in time for the start of the season, it's pathetic.

6 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Does any of this really matter?

We have access to hardly any of the actual finances but we're not going to go out of business if we can't secure a £60m sponsor.

Losing out on 60M a year is huge, losing out on a 300M/5yr deal is massive. Especially when 60M can help us skirt PSR and reducing our fines.

I agree, we should stick to football but as evidenced by CP, a little slip by those in management and the fans suffer

4 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Why would the long term prospects get pissed off that a club is sponsoring us in a year that they don't want to sponsor us?

This is one of the most insane takes i've read on here...

Yes, totally insane.

I can see why many people, particularly these days, would view it that way...

Maybe an analogy: do you mind if I dick around with this easy girl (whoever she is) for a year before we get into this long term serious relationship thing ?

2 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Maybe. Maybe not.

Finances aren't completely transparent

There's so much we don't and can't know. It's incredibly complicated. And to this point, we haven't been banned from a competition, we've been able to play every game. So for as long as that is the case, I'm happy with our fianances.

I just think we should worry on what matters, which is the stuff that happens on the pitch.

This isn't the thread for this discussion, but it's very condescending and ignorant to simply say "we can't possibly know". Actual corporate financial information is not available but the parts relevant to football (for FFP/PSR purposes) and the outcome of governing body investigations are public.

You don't need to know a thing about "finances" to know that UEFA has explicitly said we cannot make a net loss on squad costs for the next two seasons. This is a sanction that has come about as a result of our failure to comply with FFP rules, which in turn means it is a direct consequence of the decision not to get a shirt sponsor.

So, we need to either spend less or generate more revenue. As people have already pointed out, that is either through the sale of players or by increasing commercial revenue.

5 hours ago, Bebe1980 said:

Yes, totally insane.

I can see why many people, particularly these days, would view it that way...

Maybe an analogy: do you mind if I dick around with this easy girl (whoever she is) for a year before we get into this long term serious relationship thing ?

I guess the club were wrong to use Infinite Athlete for a year then, maybe that’s why they can’t find a deal now. So they have done something wrong.

Don't think there is a right or wrong answer to it...

I thought we'd be better with Tuchel or Pochettino but we're in the CL, won the CWC with Maresca, did some very sharp business with the transfers of Delap and Pedro and hopefully getting rid of that prat Jackson... etc.

So I'm inclined to take the view the board know a few things I don't

2 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

I guess the club were wrong to use Infinite Athlete for a year then, maybe that’s why they can’t find a deal now. So they have done something wrong.

I thought it was realistic to have a sponsor in place for the start of the 25 /6 season however unless something pops up over the next two days that won’t be the case.

There was an update from an industry expert ( supposedly)on 1/8, which I can’t now find,stating that the club had narrowed down the numbers down to three companies one of which was a Middle Eastern company.

It was suggested that the three came from Riyadh air, Oman Air, Turkish air, a technology company from Vietnam and an US company.

I still think it will be Riyadh Air