3-1 win: Felix @FelixJohnston_ Gaga Slonina conceded his 1st goal in Chelsea colours today, making it only one goal conceded in 4 games. Still, from people who were at the game, he made a number of great saves Match report: https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/pl2-report-manchester-united-1-chelsea-3
Enwerem Chibuike Alexander #BroddTalk @SymplyBrodd Gabriel Slonina maintains a strict daily regime; bed by 10pm every night, and rising by 7am at the latest. He genuinely is one of the first players into the Cobham complex each day, and one of the last to leave. [via @SJohnsonSport] #Chelsea #KTBFFH #BroddTalk #GabrielSlonina
Starts: Chelsea: Slonina, Williams, Hughes, Sturge, Hall, Webster, Hutchinson, Elliott, Burstow, Vale, Rankine.Subs: Mothersille, Campbell, Castledine, Thomas, Abu. pic.twitter.com/E2oinZbTTx— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) April 3, 2023
Starts against Monaco U21s: Slonina, Abu, Hughes, Sturge, Castillo, Elliott, Thomas, Tauriainen, Mothersille, Castledine, Vale.https://t.co/5tAb0nXXQP— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) April 19, 2023
Starts: Chelsea: Slonina, Rankine, Hughes, Gilchrist, Hall, Webster, Hutchinson, Elliott, Burstow, Castledine, Vale.Subs: Sturge, Merrick, Tauriainen, Williams, Mothersille. pic.twitter.com/KjY9VPwE6n— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) April 24, 2023
The commentary here is fairly straightforward, but a German publication put him on a "Future 11." Der 18-jährige US-Amerikaner war im Sommer mit acht Millionen Euro, die an den MLS-Club Chicago Fire überwiesen wurden, eine weitere Investition des FC Chelsea in die Zukunft. Der Tormann erhielt einen Sechsjahresvertrag. Zu einem Einsatz für die „Blues“ in der Premier League kam es für das Toptalent, an dem auch Real Madrid dran war, aber noch nicht. Mit Edouard Mendy (24 Mio.) und Kepa Arrizabalaga, dem mit 80 Mio. teuersten Goalie aller Zeiten, hat Slonina harte und vor allem kostspielige Konkurrenz im Tor. https://www.fr.de/eintracht-frankfu...teresse-talente-transfer-sommer-92234626.html
On Chelsea Twitter, there are a number of fans who insist that he's already good for the 1st team. Of course, they know nothing about him other than calling him "the American keeper."
Starts: Chelsea: Slonina, Hughes, Gilchrist, Sturge, Williams, Webster, Rankine, Elliott, Burstow, Castledine, Vale.Subs: Gee, Merrick, Tauriainen, McNeilly, Fiabema. pic.twitter.com/UVVsBVAxMs— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) April 28, 2023
Headed to KAS Eupen (Belgium) for the season on loan! I’m excited! I’ve been looking forward to seeing his loan destination. Hopefully he kills it.
Looks like a loan to Belgium is close: EXCL: Belgian side KAS Eupen closing in on deal to sign Gabriel Slonina on loan from Chelsea, here we go soon 🔵🇺🇸🇧🇪 Understand agreement on the verge of being reached on one-year loan valid until June 2024.Slonina will play regularly and he’s key part of #CFC future plans. pic.twitter.com/62Arj4Jhg4— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 28, 2023
Does Eupen have a former keeper now losing favor at his EPL club who wants to come home for one last hurrah? Asking for a friend..
If Slonina is going to Eupen, he will see lots of shots! The team had a -35 goal differential last season. They barely stayed up last season, despite losing by 7 goals on the last day. Good news is that ESPN + carries three Juplier League matches a week. Normally one on Friday and two on Sunday mornings. They also carry select Cronky Cup matches. Eupen starts their season tomorrow with a home match to Westerlo. Matches on Saturday's are not streamed on ESPN + so no stream. If he goes there, I am not sure how long it will take for him to be integrated into the team. Here is an English language team preview. Other random fact, Eupen is a city in a bi-lingual country where the main language is neither French nor Dutch. It is actually German.
It's Eupen, not Brugge. I'm not too worried about there being a surplus. If they're acquiring him, it's w/ the expectation he'll start initially. And Fab says he'll play regularly. I'm OK w/ this move. It's along the lines of what I expected, league-wise at least. Not bothered it's a relegation-battler since he's defense-oriented. If he was an attacker, we'd have a problem. Also, only 1 keeper gets to play, so you have to be conservative to ensure minutes, especially if you're an unestablished player, at least in Europe. This is about being a stepping stone. Maybe he could have tried the bottom of the Championship for that. But we'd have legit concerns if he'd be trusted in a relegation battle given their means and stakes in that system. It might be reality the highest he could ensure playing at was League One, which is worse than the one he already was established in - MLS. I think from this, if it goes well, he could be in line for some exploratory caps and backup roles for the senior USMNT. That could catapult him further. And if he looked good in both, then he'd project to play for a top Championship side who could get promoted, or a random club in another top 4-5 league. Then if he's retained, and does well there, either they make a full transfer for 30 million, or he vies for Chelsea's starting job. This is the path. Speaking of promotion, couldn't this thread be on the main forum? He's a senior int'l who was established in MLS. People have more than a passing interest. @TheFalseNine @dark knight
Considering the rules of the forum, he will be playing for a 1st Division club, thus that would entail a promotion.
The problem with using that as the criteria is he hasn't played yet. It's just almost assured he will. But that criteria isn't based on future projection. I just think the criteria lacks common sense application or proper exception for guys who already played for the senior nat'l team, or even MLS, which is better than many of the leagues which gets you on the main forum.
It's kinda weird to have a player not meeting criteria for promotion AND being a USMNT player, but let's see if the loan goes through so we don't have to edit the thread more than once.
I thought he'd started the Mexico friendly too. But he was also even on a competitive roster. So he's someone very much in the mix. This is not Chituru Odunze.
Eupen just signed Victor Palsson from DC United today. That could potentially lesson the shots that Slonina would see.
Starts in friendly against Fulham in the US: Your Chelsea today. 🔵@ParimatchUK | #BluesInTheUSA pic.twitter.com/vJrcCK5mzA— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 30, 2023