Chelsea are interested in signing 17-year-old Spain midfielder Gavi, who has a £42m release clause in his Barcelona contract. Pablo Martín Páez Gavira aka Gavi. Central midfielder. Huge potential in the lad. Compared to Iniesta and Xavi. Barcelona selling off players to get money and then signing free agents. But no worries - the club is NOT in financial crisis.
Shame we are coming to a close of the winter transfer window with no one in sight of helping on the left. The position issue occured in December which provided more than enough time to find a solution. Btw, im ok with selling CHO in the summer. He is nothing more than depth and should stay away from being a starter. Same goes for Z. Also random thought. Does TT have a locked in starting 11 yet? Have we seen it this season at all?
He said from the beginning that he would work with a core of 15-16 players and that an actual 11 didn't make sense in the modern game, what with all the subs, etc. on current form. I am happy to lose our entire forward line - all of them apart from Mount. Ziyech, Werner, big Rom, CHO, Pulisic . . I might keep Havertz. No, I would keep Havertz. Havertz and Mount. The rest of them can go. under-achievers all of them.
Werner for me stays but has to play up top and not on the wings. We don't provide enough service to any of our strikers so no wonder they are all underperforming. Havertz is an odd player. Good but odd. At the end of the day, our form is down, our attitude is down and aside from being out of the PL title race, we still have a lot to play for. Something has to change.
I mean, if you look at our creative attacking players and you are B Munich, PSG or Citeh, which ones would you want? That is the standard. Although B Munich did want CHO at one point. Apparently. Those managers/clubs would be interested in Mount and Havertz, the rest of them? Not so much. Werner is not going to get in the first team at PSG or citeh or B Munich now is he? We have a lot to play for, a cup final and the World Club Championship on the horizon. Our strengths are in the backline and the midfield. Which club in the world wouldn't want Kante?
Great points. Ziyech has a diamond every 10 games. We have a Barkley already. He is easily pushed off the ball, has no pace for a winger, and is far below what is required. Not quite the magician we were expecting. I've been fine with getting rid of CHO for awhile. Like I've said, wanted to get paid like a man, but is playing like a boy. Very pacy, but dribbles lead no where. Strange we decided to pay him but give up on the likes of Tomori and Abraham. CHO does score some screamers on Chelsea's social feed!
Another Barcelona player . . . .Ousmane Dembele to Chelsea in the January window? He will be on a free in the summer and impoverished Barcleona feel they deserve some money for him. Tuchel rates Dembele and has bought him in the past. So, now it is Dembele to do what Ziyech, CHO and Pulisic have failed to do.
Ronald Araujo linked to Chelsea. . . CB 22, Uruguayan, who plays for Barcelona linked to Chelsea. . . . To re-cap Barcelona players recently linked with Chelsea [bearing in mind Barcelona are experiencing no financial difficulties whatsoever] Ronald Araujo Sergino Dest Frenkie De Jong Ousmane Dembele Pablo Martín Páez Gavira aka Gavi
My left Foot Stuttgart left-back Borna Sosa [24] has been with Stuttgart since 2018 and is apparently very good at delivering crosses to big and tall centre forwards. Available for €30 million. Ajax’s Nicolás Tagliafico and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Filip Kostić. Left back on his way from Derby county. [For our development squad - not the first team] The Rams boss said of the move: ‘We’ve agreed a fee with a Premier League club for Dylan Williams – I couldn’t stand in the way of his opportunity. Dylan Williams [18] to Chelsea.
The short answer is YES. Yes, he does seem to be. which means the physical world of the Prem might not be for him. He has also been known to miss morning training sessions, because he stays up late at night playing video games. Latest is that Chelsea have contacted Dembélé's entourage, but talks are still at an early stage. He is a free agent in the summer. FREE. Barcelona want to sell him now. They want to get something for him. Him and Barca have been at war for sometime now. We could be in talks to get him in the summer for free. We could use him now maybe? Tuchel knows him and likes him. Ousmane Dembele joined Barcelona for £135 million from Borussia Dortmund. He was supposed to be the successor to Messi. He has the skills and the pace and he can drop a shoulder and glide past a player.
The thing with Barcelona is they’re incredibly close to pulling a Leeds. More so than most people realise. They gambled enormously on continuing success and then reversion-to-the-mean hit them hard. They’re now gambling again on regaining the sporting and economic success of the past but they’re in dreamland - they seem to think they can generate Messi-era revenue without Messi… and that’s just not going to happen even if they are successful on the pitch.
Sarr has shown his quality and has taken advantage of the opportunities given to him. A lot of pundits of fans suggesting he's some sort of rookie. He's not. While only 23, he has over 100 games with Nice in the first team. Signing him for free was a real coup. Just because he didn't do well in portugal last season doesn't mean much. Breaking into an established squad is hard as a loanee. Sarr is a really good, mobile defender and gives us leverage with players like Christensen. Honestly, there's very little difference between the two.
Watching them yesterday against Alaves - Barca are terrible. They only won through Alaves complete lack of finishing.
Sarr isn’t close to AC but he doesn’t need to be AC. He needs to a Rudy replacement. Their profiles are more similar. Trevoh is a closer profile to AC. Both are downgrades from Rudy and AC but both are more than competent. Those 2 plus Silva is solid. We’d just need 2 of Azpi, AC and Rudy back.
As for Az, I have a feeling we'll let him go. Incredible for a player who starts for us week in and week out without a drop in form. Amazing.
Yea I could see him returning to Spain too. I hope not but wouldn’t be the end of the world. Silva can stay on as the old head for another year or two. Really want Rudy and AC back. Those two plus Sarr and Trevoh and were set at CB for a long time.
Lots of less than reputable outlets reporting we are in advanced talks with Kounde. They have already rejected a bid from Newcastle to buy Diego Carlos (Kounde's CB partner), which is good news for us. Monchi won't want to lose two CBs at once, though any deal for Kounde would likely see him loaned back to Sevilla for the rest of the season. Kounde would be amazing business for a very reasonable fee (around 50m). He's an incredible talent.
Ousmane Dembele's agent is said to be in London. Dembele is available on a free in the summer. Barcelona are keen to get his wages off the books and to get some nominal fee for the player in this window. Tuchel and Dembele know each other from Dortmund. Is the injury prone player on his way to the bridge? I mean if he somehow is no longer injury prone then it is a no brainer as he has way more talent and ability than any of our current wingers/attacking mids. But if the lad is truly injury prone. . .it would all be rather moot. Pulisic has made 12 appearances for Chelsea this season Dembele has made 11 appearance for Barca this season Maybe between then they could do the job? Job share?
Dembele is determined to run down his contract and leave this summer on a free transfer, earning a huge signing-on fee in the process. Tuchel is fond of the player. We shall wait and see. Juventus' player Paulo Dybala also available on a summer free is being lined up by Liverpool.
The club’s captain and longest-serving player wants a long term deal - believed to be three years - when his current one expires at the end of the season. The club is only offering one year deals to the elderly.
I love Azpi but I wouldn’t give him a 3 year deal either. I’d do it if the team had options on each of the following years that had to be triggered in Jan if we were to keep it live.