Naitch

On 27/08/2023 at 15:32, Szumi - A Polack said:

Well that's Chelsea confirmed to sign him

Too much trauma from the last Bakayoko signing to go near another one.

Jeez, if he's costing Brighton 30m euros then how much are Chelsea going to have to pay for him next summer?

12 hours ago, Adam said:

Jenni Hermoso 'didn't consent' to Luis Rubiales kiss as 83 Spain players refuse to play

He will surely have to resign in disgrace now.

Or double down...

Luis Rubiales: Spanish FA will take legal action over Jennifer Hermoso 'lies'

6 minutes ago, stokeriño said:

Carney Chukwuemeka has had knee surgery after coming off injured against West Ham.

So we're two matches into the season and already two players - Nkunku being the other - have required knee surgery (plus James getting another injury). By the end of October we won't be able to field 11 players at this rate. 😂

Edit: Oh fuck, I forgot Fofana. THREE knee surgeries.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on knee(s). 

I absolutely agree that any permanent Hall departure needs to include a sell-on clause, I'm just not sure that selling him directly to a big money club who will most likely only get stronger, meaning he'll have to live up to his full potential for the move to be worthwhile (and certainly won't need to recoup his transfer fee if he does flop).

Livramento going to Southampton and then moving to a bigger club is a good example of what would seem to be more beneficial, to all parties involved really.

Regardless, keeping Hall to potentially fill gaps left by Cucurella and Gallagher next year (if they even last that long) would be my preference.

EDIT - Apparently Hall to Newcastle is confirmed as a loan with obligation to buy.

19 hours ago, Lineker said:

agreeing to sell Lewis Hall to Newcastle

Not happy about this. I'd much prefer to loan him out for a season and then see what the landscape looks like next summer, even if it means taking a loss on Cucurella if he ended up having another underwhelming season and Hall impressed.

Chilwell is obviously first choice but Colwill/Maatsen have proven they deserve a chance at providing cover, as well as well as offering more depth in other positions compared to Cucurella, who I can't see playing LCB in a back four given the depth available there. If they (or Cucurella) don't deliver, Hall is right there to fill the gap and still has development potential.

@9 to 5 He was previously heralded as the "next best player in the world" when Messi and Ronaldo started approaching 30, only for them to continue being far superior players for much longer than anticipated. Then he became the most expensive transfer ever, moving to the worst of the top 5 leagues, and never scored more than 20 goals in a single season again, peaking at a grand total of two across his entire career (compared to 13 each for Messi and Ronaldo, and Mbappe already has four, for comparison).

Now he's going from playing in the 5th ranked national league to the 36th, despite only being 31 years old, while Messi and Ronaldo played continued playing at that top level for a further 5 and 7 years, respectively.

Adding to that, his biggest contribution at the international level is winning the Confederations Cup back when he was still the "next big thing".

I'm not disputing that he's a "good" player in the grand scheme of things, but I genuinely can't think of a player whose career has been hyped up so much compared to his actual contributions and individual successes, particularly versus his supposed peers. He's the perfect example of a flashy, luxury player who simply isn't worth the money thrown around at or for him.

Does this cement Neymar's place as perhaps the most overrated player of all-time?

14 hours ago, METALMAN said:

You can tell when Jamie Carragher isn’t joking because he spits in little girls’ faces.

He spits in the face of people who don't want to joke...

Qualifying for "optimistic" as  Luton fan could well just be "let's make sure Derby keep their lowest-ever points tally record, eh?"

5 minutes ago, Szumi - A Polack said:

Brighton won't accept that. They'll keep him before they do that. Especially considering their current relationship with Chelsea.

As much as paying £100m for Caicedo irks me in the first place, a club can't set a valuation for a player, finally have it met after months of protracted negotiation, and then change their minds just because a new club waded in with a higher offer at the last minute. It already sounds like Caicedo has one foot out the door, so re-integrating him into the squad doesn't seem feasible now.

You can just as easily replace Brighton with Barcelona and, according to a sizeable number of online Chelsea fans right now, Inter Milan, and it still has the same validity.

Disappointed that the lion isn't also upside down in that image.

11 hours ago, Lineker said:

Southampton will struggle to hold on to their best players after relegation and are close to selling Tino Livramento to Newcastle for about £30m. The 20-year-old right-back moved to St Mary’s from Chelsea two years ago and is fit after missing much of last season with a knee injury.

Chelsea inserted a buyback clause when they sold Livramento, who can play on both flanks, but he is expected to follow Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes in joining Newcastle as Eddie Howe readies his squad for the Champions League.

Southampton are likely to lose Ward-Prowse, who could cost at least £40m

I'd take both if Cucurella were shipped out for at least half what we paid for him (so basically a straight swap for Livramento), Ward-Prowse preferably being around the same figure with the rest made up in add-ons.

Onana looks so happy to be defying both gravity and human physiology simultaneously there.

19 minutes ago, Hobo said:

Souness AFAIK hasn't done anything officially with the club since he left as manager.

Owen has been a club ambassador (and might still be?) but the one time he showed up for a legends game he was booed.

Souness does seem like he has more self-aware than Michael Owen, to be fair. The same could probably be said about a ham sandwich though.

1 hour ago, Baddar said:

 

Because I know you all love new signing announcements. 

I thought it was Aston Villa who were being sponsored by BK8? The claret and blue clubs really are interchangeable this year.

1 hour ago, stokeriño said:

I would not be surprised if, even with this injury of Fofana's, Chelsea still sell off Chalobah.

It's funny. If you look at the Chelsea squad that's just flown out to the USA for pre-season. I can't help but think it looks really fucking weak. Coloured names are my attempt at a 'strongest' First XI (blue) in a 4-2-3-1, and then seven on the bench (red).

You'll note that there is currently fuck-all depth in forwards. Lukaku, Auba, Ziyech etc. haven't traveled because their departures are in progress. TBH even some of the players I picked for the bench, like Casadei, are likely to be off on loan by the start of the real season.

Badiashile and Broja are also absent from the list above to "continue their respective recoveries from injury"... so we'll see how that goes. 

Other incomings? I assume Caicedo will eventually happen, but not yet.

Beyond that, who the fuck knows. And the clock is ticking.

I'm still waiting for evidence that these guys know how to build a squad and not just trade investments.

It's an absolutely bizarre position given how bloated the squad was until last month; we absolutely need to get some more signings through the door, otherwise I just can't see the Poch era getting off to a strong start. 5 (?!) keepers going out on a pre-season tour is just plain odd, especially when there's only 6 midfielders (unless Jamie Cumming is also a capable deep lying playmaker).

Yeah I don't like that one bit. The weird colouring on the badges doesn't work and I've never liked Nike's recent obsession with that stitching across the chest. This looks like a cheap/generic training kit that's been turned into a knockoff.

🐍

How long till Lampard follows him there?

It's less aimed at Farke and more another part of the continuing dislike of how the club is being run, to be fair. It'd be very interesting if Stuart Webber ends up going there too.

As long as he doesn't get given the #9 (assuming Aubmeyang leaves). That damn number needs to be retired at this point.

Lots of Norwich fans are unhappy about a "rival" getting Farke in.

It looks alright but the obvious reason for it tarnishes it a lot. Bloody Norwich doing it too with their away kit