2 hours ago, Nick05 said:

40 mill ain't cheap for 99% clubs around Europe. Add to that the management's new found fetish of selling players outside the PL. What we end up with are 3-4 customer clubs(Barca, Real, PSG, Bayern) willing to pay more than this to buy players.

Boehly and his guys are catering for the high rollers of football, just running an oversized Brighton🤔 

2 hours ago, Nick05 said:

40 mill ain't cheap for 99% clubs around Europe. Add to that the management's new found fetish of selling players outside the PL. What we end up with are 3-4 customer clubs(Barca, Real, PSG, Bayern) willing to pay more than this to buy players.

Its a terrible business model. You are supposed to buy low and sell high. We are buying high. We are over spending on mediocre unknown players. Unless we are offloading them all to Saudi Pro League the business model is seriously flawed.

10 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

It's not like there is that one example. I've watched this guy a few times for Atletico and he's always look really poor. 

The only reason why we are signing him at all is so Atletico could generate the funds for Gallagher and Alvarez. 

Considering he has never played for Atletico because he went straight on loan to Alaves I'd suggest you were watching a different player mate. 

1 hour ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Its a terrible business model. You are supposed to buy low and sell high. We are buying high. We are over spending on mediocre unknown players. Unless we are offloading them all to Saudi Pro League the business model is seriously flawed.

This is the problem. I can understand the Geui signing because he’s cheap. But £35m for Samu?

5 hours ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Apparently there are other clubs after him, but nobody put up a real bid until we put 35M in, talk about beating the competitions at a closed auction 😎 He's a shining example of what the owners want to achieve at Chelsea. Buy a young player on the cheap, send out on loan for a season , some some big spenders come in paying an obscene amount , big profits without doing anything apart from sign a couple of checks

That's Chelsea PR justification. the sounds of "Fake News" is just in earshot 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adebayo_Akinfenwa We have basically just bought £35 million on a younger version of him 😂 are board have spent fortunes and bought bang average players . 

I hope he does well for us like I hope Maresca hits the ground running and proves everyone wrong. I really hope that if it does go tits up we don't blame the players or the manager and solely blame the people who make the decisions upstairs.

The buck stops with the ownership.

6 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

My obvious bias aside, I genuinely have no idea how anyone can rate Jackson.

Did you guys actually watch him? He is useless. 

Bring on Samu....cant be any worse than Wacko Jacko.

Actually reminds me an awful lot of Drogba first season. Yes, missed far too many chances but i've not seen a striker carry the ball and dominate CB's so often as i did with Jackson.

He's still very young and inexperienced and he's likely only going to get better with game time. Should be leading the line again this season imo. 

13 hours ago, timetowaste said:

Well i know he isn't what people wanted name wise but he's pretty highly rated and he gives us an option up top. I'd suggest that he gets given a chance rather than writing him off because some chronically online fan account made a video of him looking sh*t.

Couldn't care less about a name, i'm massively against the Osimhen signing too. 

My issue is the profile and lack of ability. £35m for a player that no other team would pay more than about £15m for. We need experience and ability up top, not a teenage Lukaku without the finishing. 

Show me a chronically online fan that's made a video of him looking good pls. 

3 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Couldn't care less about a name, i'm massively against the Osimhen signing too. 

My issue is the profile and lack of ability. £35m for a player that no other team would pay more than about £15m for. We need experience and ability up top, not a teenage Lukaku without the finishing. 

Show me a chronically online fan that's made a video of him looking good pls. 

So if not Osimhen, then who? Are you happy with Jackson leading the line again or is there somebody out there who we could get and would be an instant upgrade? I'm genuinely interested.

3 minutes ago, abramovich said:

So if not Osimhen, then who? Are you happy with Jackson leading the line again or is there somebody out there who we could get and would be an instant upgrade? I'm genuinely interested.

Jackson / Guiu / Nkunku

Osimhen isn't a £100m upgrade and Samu isn't an upgrade at all. If we're spending stupid money like the Osimhen deal then go all out for Isak. Hell i'd take Solanke over both of them. 

3 minutes ago, abramovich said:

So if not Osimhen, then who? Are you happy with Jackson leading the line again or is there somebody out there who we could get and would be an instant upgrade? I'm genuinely interested.

Lautaro Martinez perhaps? Until recently he had a £100 million release clause so he'd have been expensive but he's someone who could have catapulted us to the next level.

6 minutes ago, OriginalS said:

Lautaro Martinez perhaps? Until recently he had a £100 million release clause so he'd have been expensive but he's someone who could have catapulted us to the next level.

I rarely watch Serie A so can't say I saw a lot of him, but whenever I did, he failed to impress. Is he really that good?

10 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Jackson / Guiu / Nkunku

Osimhen isn't a £100m upgrade and Samu isn't an upgrade at all. If we're spending stupid money like the Osimhen deal then go all out for Isak. Hell i'd take Solanke over both of them. 

What if Osimhen cost less, like 60-70m? Would it be worth it or you just don't rate him at all?

Personally I'd stay away from Solanke, especially for the money quoted. He's not that good, nowhere near.

Surprised no one's made a move for Toney so far. He's probably the best vailable option out there, plus he's PL proven and still good age. 

15 minutes ago, OriginalS said:

Lautaro Martinez perhaps? Until recently he had a £100 million release clause so he'd have been expensive but he's someone who could have catapulted us to the next level.

Meh, don't think his overall game is great either

3 minutes ago, abramovich said:

What if Osimhen cost less, like 60-70m? Would it be worth it or you just don't rate him at all?

Personally I'd stay away from Solanke, especially for the money quoted. He's not that good, nowhere near.

Surprised no one's made a move for Toney so far. He's probably the best vailable option out there, plus he's PL proven and still good age. 

Depends what his wages are. If Osimhen was £50m and on £200k a week or less it would be worse the risk. 

Solanke has been class for a while, far better technically than Osimhen. 

I'd go with Solanke over Toney as well. 

Ignoring the price, and the overall state of our approach in the transfer market, he sounds like a very likeable young guy who has come very very humble beginnings. So I hope he's able to come good just as much for himself as for Chelsea.

It sounds like he works very hard on the pitch and is at least guaranteed to cause defences issues with his physicality, both of which should be enough for the match day fans to get behind and root for him. 

35 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Meh, don't think his overall game is great either

Depends what his wages are. If Osimhen was £50m and on £200k a week or less it would be worse the risk. 

Solanke has been class for a while, far better technically than Osimhen. 

I'd go with Solanke over Toney as well. 

Apparently Solanke's release clause is 65m. I know he's coming off the best season of his career so far, but I just don't think he's a starter in a top side.

Toney is more prolific in front of goal and a better all around player, imo.

9 minutes ago, Hessleboink said:

Ignoring the price, and the overall state of our approach in the transfer market, he sounds like a very likeable young guy who has come very very humble beginnings. So I hope he's able to come good just as much for himself as for Chelsea.

It sounds like he works very hard on the pitch and is at least guaranteed to cause defences issues with his physicality, both of which should be enough for the match day fans to get behind and root for him. 

That's equivalent to saying because Connor Gallagher is a very likeable young man who has come from humble beginnings and works very hard on the pitch so he is guaranteed to cause defences issues with his physicality. That alone should be enough to see Connor guaranteed an important role in the team right? Oh wait...

20 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Apparently Solanke's release clause is 65m. I know he's coming off the best season of his career so far, but I just don't think he's a starter in a top side.

Toney is more prolific in front of goal and a better all around player, imo.

hell nah

 Solanke is a player I am surprised the directors haven't been actively monitoring. 

4 hours ago, OriginalS said:

Lautaro Martinez perhaps? Until recently he had a £100 million release clause so he'd have been expensive but he's someone who could have catapulted us to the next level.

Martinez has looked better than Alvarez when i have watched Argentina in the Copa.  But we are really seeking a more robust striker non?

3 hours ago, abramovich said:

 

Toney is more prolific in front of goal and a better all around player, imo.

232 breaches of the FA's betting rules. I bet Toney might be a problem in the dressing room. We could take a gamble on him though. Might be worth a punt.

Toney might corrupt all our generational talent.  Are our players even old enough to gamble?

 

Edited August 8, 20241 yr by TheCeleryKing

4 hours ago, Erik said:

That's equivalent to saying because Connor Gallagher is a very likeable young man who has come from humble beginnings and works very hard on the pitch so he is guaranteed to cause defences issues with his physicality. That alone should be enough to see Connor guaranteed an important role in the team right? Oh wait...

I like Conor Gallagher, I wanted him to stay. You do realise I'm not one of the MD of Chelsea right? I'm just saying, rather than everyone throwing a tantrum because they don't like how the club's being run, let's give the kid a chance and get behind him and the team. 

There is clearly a dearth of known world class strikers out there. When Lukaku is being talked about at £30-40m, then it is clear that there are not all that many exciting options.

Which top names are there?

Haaland/Mbappe -  not happening

Morata/Lukaku - been there done that. 

Lewa/Kane - both are past it for the EPL

Martinez/Alvarez - Martinez flatters to deceive. Alvarez is way overpriced .

Oshimen/Tammy/Solanke - None of these are good enough long term or offer good value.

Watkins/ Toney - Personally I would like either of them - but both would be expensive and a big risk. 

No doubt I am missing some players - but it just shows the lack of genuine talent up top at the moment. I think the same of other positions as well. 

So - rather than looking for the established names, I am content to take a step back and look at those more under the radar. Cech, Tobo, Azpi, Drogba, Robben, Carvalho, Lamps - none of these were genuine big names when we got them. 
 

The transfer market is mad - value just isn't there. 

8 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

There is clearly a dearth of known world class strikers out there. When Lukaku is being talked about at £30-40m, then it is clear that there are not all that many exciting options.

Which top names are there?

Haaland/Mbappe -  not happening

Morata/Lukaku - been there done that. 

Lewa/Kane - both are past it for the EPL

Martinez/Alvarez - Martinez flatters to deceive. Alvarez is way overpriced .

Oshimen/Tammy/Solanke - None of these are good enough long term or offer good value.

Watkins/ Toney - Personally I would like either of them - but both would be expensive and a big risk. 

No doubt I am missing some players - but it just shows the lack of genuine talent up top at the moment. I think the same of other positions as well. 

So - rather than looking for the established names, I am content to take a step back and look at those more under the radar. Cech, Tobo, Azpi, Drogba, Robben, Carvalho, Lamps - none of these were genuine big names when we got them. 
 

The transfer market is mad - value just isn't there. 

I would say the number 9 had a revival in the Premier league last season with a number of strikers hitting double digits.  However there definitely has been a lack of top number 9s for about 20 years now.
 

The lack of top strikers is something of a problem but you need to take a punt at some point.  Whether that’s a highly rated striker from a weaker league like Osimhen, one established in the premier league like a Solanke, or a punt on an unknown, they all could be seen as risky.  The fact we seem to have an age limit of about 23  makes the risk factor even higher.  
 

Don’t think this is a Chelsea only problem.  Looking at Man Utd, Spurs, Liverpool etc.  all in the same boat.  With most of, if not all of the best strikers locked up at their clubs and a dearth in upcoming number nines it’s even more important to grab the next hot prospect and lock him up for 10 years safe at Stamford Bridge.  Maybe one of the plethora of strikers we buy will turn out to be the one and that’s the plan?  Or maybe when the one arrives we won’t have the money or the status to sign him. 
 

The problem is this is all reliant on the scouting and directors!