Transfer: 2024 Summer Transfer Window - Open Window Discussion

[Peen]

I agree he hasn't looked good for Chelsea but I've seen him boss a U-20 final tournament two years ago

Maybe it's a Veiga situation for him where I don't have him in the final 25 man squad as things stand, but that could change with potential outgoings. Suspect they'd want to keep an extra body in each 3rd of the pitch.

I think my other point here is the absurd way they are following this only u25 investment banking signings thing means you cannot easily have 3rd choices. For the investment to grow, they need to play somewhere. And even from a development standpoint, they need to play. Gone are the days of rotating through 30 year old journeymen/cult-hero backups, which is a shame.

You shouldn't have guys like Guiu, Casadei, Veiga, Chukwuemeka, Ugochukwu being your 24/25th men in your squad. Those roles are meant for guys like Barkley, Drinkwater, Emerson.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

to be honest, I wonder if Poch would have utilized him frequently had he not gotten injured. The enzo/caicedo pivot sucked. it never worked. And poch wanted ugarte because he wanted a physical profile next to Enzo.

guess we'll never know

One injury-plagued, spot minute year and flogged off never to be seen again. So much for “one for the future”.

Lesley, we hardly knew ye.

Listen, you guys sometimes trip over yourselves trying to explain the unexplainable. There was no “critical profile”, Ugochukwu wasn’t playing even when he was healthy, and there was never any “plan” for him. It’s all throwing shit at the all. And now here we are - one year later, he’s healthy, and they’re shunting him out the door anyway. I could probably find similar comments about Casadei if I really wanted to look.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I agree he hasn't looked good for Chelsea but I've seen him boss a U-20 final tournament two years ago

He looked good in limited minutes, IMO. The issue was that they were limited even though his loan was stupidly ended. I like him and would prefer not to sell.

Winning one game against Wolves seems like a pretty low bar to set.

No, you don’t understand, it’s about winning two games against Wolves.

 

[bleedblue1223]

One injury-plagued, spot minute year and flogged off never to be seen again. So much for “one for the future”.

Lesley, we hardly knew ye.

Listen, you guys sometimes trip over yourselves trying to explain the unexplainable. There was no “critical profile”, Ugochukwu wasn’t playing even when he was healthy, and there was never any “plan” for him. It’s all throwing shit at the all. And now here we are - one year later, he’s healthy, and they’re shunting him out the door anyway. I could probably find similar comments about Casadei if I really wanted to look.

He absolutely was playing when he was healthy. He played the typical Mikel role that we had in the past. Appeared in 9 of the first 13 games of the season, along with a few cup matches in that stretch. He absolutely fit the big and physical profile that Poch wanted off the bench.

The issue with his future is our constant change in systems and play style. If Maresca wants a deep lying playmaker has our #6, then his future is limited. That's life at Chelsea where every 18 months you'll have a completely different system and style to play.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

He absolutely was playing when he was healthy. He played the typical Mikel role that we had in the past. Appeared in 9 of the first 13 games of the season, along with a few cup matches in that stretch. He absolutely fit the big and physical profile that Poch wanted off the bench.

The issue with his future is our constant change in systems and play style. If Maresca wants a deep lying playmaker has our #6, then his future is limited. That's life at Chelsea where every 18 months you'll have a completely different system and style to play.

He played one full 90' and nine minutes or less in five of those remaining eight games. He was a bit-part afterthought. Not sure who it was I had a similar convo with the last time, but calling "stoppage-time defender" a well-defined, critical role is a stretch.

Your second paragraph is kind of what I'm talking about. It's better to pretend none of these guy's have any planned role or defined future at Chelsea than trying to convince other people, and potentially yourselves, that these guys will play. The revolving door of guys this applies to are long - Hall, Maatsen, Chukwumeka, Ugochukwu, Cadadei, etc.

 

[bleedblue1223]

He played one full 90' and nine minutes or less in five of those remaining eight games. He was a bit-part afterthought. Not sure who it was I had a similar convo with the last time, but calling "stoppage-time defender" a well-defined, critical role is a stretch.

Your second paragraph is kind of what I'm talking about. It's better to pretend none of these guy's have any planned role or defined future at Chelsea than trying to convince other people, and potentially yourselves, that these guys will play. The revolving door of guys this applies to are long - Hall, Maatsen, Chukwumeka, Ugochukwu, Cadadei, etc.

It was me, and you are adding words like critical, which I never used, but he was purchased with a clear role in mind for Poch, he was playing in that role, and then he got hurt. None Chelsea fans on here like to pretend that all of the CMs we've purchased are the exact same profile, when they aren't, hell some like to pretend that purchases that aren't even CMs are CMs that will play up the pitch.

You can say the role isn't necessary, you can say we had players to fill that role, but that's not true. We lacked someone like Ugochukwu and he's someone that fit what Poch wanted. Since Poch left and we completely changed the system, Ugo's future is up in the air.

 

[Peen]

Should have never sold Hall. Even if his first season with Newcastle didn’t go as expected, he showed so much potential in 22-23.

Would be a perfect tactical fit for Maresca’s system too.

 

[Savant]

Should have never sold Hall. Even if his first season with Newcastle didn’t go as expected, he showed so much potential in 22-23.

Would be a perfect tactical fit for Maresca’s system too.

It’s okay. Maresca will probably be gone this time next year so won’t have to worry about tactical fit

 

[Blender]

They are going to need to sell themselves a larger locker room at this point.

The thing is that based on how the rules work, the £35m Gallagher deal can fund about £175m in purchases.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

The thing is that based on how the rules work, the £35m Gallagher deal can fund about £175m in purchases.

That seems crazy to me. Taking into account the Rice money and West Ham business over whatever the reporting period is, the talk was West Ham could spend up to £160M this summer. I have a hard time believing Gallagher translates to £175M in purchases? I fully grant I don’t understand the calculus for arriving at these numbers.

 

[Blender]

That seems crazy to me. Taking into account the Rice money and West Ham business over whatever the reporting period is, the talk was West Ham could spend up to £160M this summer. I have a hard time believing Gallagher translates to £175M in purchases? I fully grant I don’t understand the calculus for arriving at these numbers.

Gallagher is pure profit since he is homegrown, and you can amortize purchases over up to 5 years now. £175m / 5 = £35m. So they get +£35m to the accounts this season they can then spend on purchases with their costs spread out over the next 5 seasons.

Now this is just a straight swap for Gallagher and doesn't include any other purchases and sales which all matter to compliance. The dangerous problem with this is that the purchase hit is on the books every season for the next 5 years as well...

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Gallagher is pure profit since he is homegrown, and you can amortize purchases over up to 5 years now. £175m / 5 = £35m. So they get +£35m to the accounts this season they can then spend on purchases with their costs spread out over the next 5 seasons.

Now this is just a straight swap for Gallagher and doesn't include any other purchases and sales which all matter to compliance. The dangerous problem with this is that the purchase hit is on the books every season for the next 5 years as well...

Guess wherever I saw the West Ham numbers was way off then - Rice alone sounds like it buys ~£500M in transfers.

 

[Blender]

Guess wherever I saw the West Ham numbers was way off then - Rice alone sounds like it buys ~£500M in transfers.

It could, but if they already had a lot of transfer debt they may have needed it to pay that off. Chelsea also has higher revenue than West Ham so they are allowed to lose more money.

 

[Live in the Now]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1821937036237935008

Mad money...now spend the same on Eze and that's a nice window

This is the worst signing I have ever seen in my life.

 

[Eye of Ra]

[Fabrizio Romano] Wolves target Ajax winger Carlos Forbes as replacement for Pedro Neto in case Chelsea deal will be completed. Forbes, on Wolverhampton shortlist as they start exploring options in case of Neto’s exit.

 

[les Habs]

Julian Araujo sold to Bournemouth for 10M€

OK, so do you think Pubill was too high, Araujo too low or both just right? I think Araujo too low compared to Pubill if you go %.

Going to be a busy Friday

Wow, 40 million for the loan alone. That’s crazy! In all seriousness though, looking forward to seeing what he does in the Premiership.

Speaking of West Ham, I feel as though Lopetegui is getting supported with signings more than Moyes was.

Bryan Zaragoza is back in La Liga, after being loaned out by Bayern to Osasuna

He was linked with a number of clubs, including us. Never understood why Bayern bought him in the first place.

It’s not even funny anymore.

The bullshit shell games they used to evade financial restrictions just make it more ridiculous.

Yeah, I was thinking about this. Crazy how much they’re spending. I can’t help but think that without some sort of rule change it’ll come back to haunt them sooner or later.

10m per point against Wolves, cost of doing business

That’d actually be a curious thing to see, how much Chelsea spend per point.

This is the worst signing I have ever seen in my life.

Even worse than the dude with the ponytail that Liverpool signed to replace Torres?

[Fabrizio Romano] Wolves target Ajax winger Carlos Forbes as replacement for Pedro Neto in case Chelsea deal will be completed. Forbes, on Wolverhampton shortlist as they start exploring options in case of Neto’s exit.

I kind of figured that Gomes was his replacement. I know he played WB with Estoril, but he can also play as a wing and I know he’s scored a few goals in preseason thus far.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

This is the worst signing I have ever seen in my life.

Think you are being a bit hyperbolic right now.

 

[Blender]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1821931844939514347

https://x.com/i/web/status/1822014577913065934

https://x.com/i/web/status/1822221724970025043

Neto could either be a steal if he manages to stay healthy or an absolute disaster.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

OK, so do you think Pubill was too high, Araujo too low or both just right? I think Araujo too low compared to Pubill if you go %.

Araujo right price.
Pubill a bit expensive, but he has more hype.

That's my opinion. If we go by previous moves of RB, Araujo could have been sold for more

 

[luiginb]

Buonanotte loaned to Leicester by Brighton.

 

[Savant]

Even worse than the dude with the ponytail that Liverpool signed to replace Torres?

You know I think LFC have made worse signings than Carroll. Heck, I think the Benteke signing was worse, yes it’s a very low bar.

 

[Brunkmeister]

De Ligt and Mazraoui to United.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

 

[Jussi]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1822246583779365243

https://x.com/i/web/status/1822256531397660969

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Todibo and Wan-Bissaka both confirmed for West Ham.

Interesting back line shaping up with:

Emerson - Kilman - Todibo - Wan-Bissaka

Coufal has really been on a downswing since his first big year. While AWB might not provide the offense Lopetegui likes in his fullbacks, at least he can be a plus defender.