Chelsea Rumours

11 Feb 2025 17:12:45
Does anyone - perghaps one of the Eds? - know whether there is any truth in the rumour that CFC may be wanting/ willing to sell Santos in the summer to the highest bidder for 'pure profit?

I hope it isn't true - and that is just paper news stiirring things up - given AS's great performances for Strasbourg and of course for Brazil youth teams. He seems to have worldy potential. Also because one fears that Lavia may never be fit for very long.

{Ed001's Note - I don't know about wanting, but they will sell him if the right offer comes along. You could probably say the same about any of the players to be honest, from what I have heard.}

11 Feb 2025 17:41:48
JBS, there was a rumour pre January window that a club (no name given) was prepared to offer £160m for Palmer.

I personally don’t like the term commodities to describe a person but that’s how I think they are considered.

11 Feb 2025 18:30:50
And that's why Tom, we will not be successful. We needed a settled squad to grow together.

If we wanted to sell players, I would put the ones who are forever injured, first.

11 Feb 2025 19:42:42
Bill, you may well be correct but it’s not as if we didn’t buy and sell players under the RA ownership.

All clubs get injuries but it’s when the same players keep getting injured it becomes a concern. As I said a few weeks ago, it’s a tough decision to draw stumps on a players Chelsea career but making those decisions is why they get paid the big bucks.

11 Feb 2025 20:46:50
Tom yes players have been commodities for a long time now in terms of being traded by clubs. What worries me with new owners is that this trading has not only been surcharged in terms of volume but also that it does not seem to have prioritised creating a winning side any time soon. Instead it's become as much if not more about trading for for bottom line accounting sake. We sell Gallagher and buy Felix to then loan him out. Maresca belatedly says he wanted to keep him and perhaps he did but then why give him so little EPL game time? We buy Veiga then sideline Chilwell then loan out Veiga removing cover for Cucurella at LB then spend money on bringing in a 16 yr old striker from Kazakhstan. An investment in the future? Vision 2030 again? Who knows but how about 2025?

I can just see so little logic in far too much of our transfer business.

Was loaning out Santos in CFC interest or other owners' club Strasbourg?

Is Sanchez who Poch didn't particularly rate better than Petrovich who he did but then gets loaned to Strasbourg where he shines?

Bottom line is do the new owners care as much about success on the pitch as Roman A. Or more about success with the bottom line in accounting terms itself

Yes but do they not know that GETTING ECL football would likely do more for bottom. line playersvhan tradingng in kids?

11 Feb 2025 21:16:08
Really good points JBS.

11 Feb 2025 22:07:58
JBS, I have said many times that in my opinion the owners have gone too quickly in taking on what is a complete rebuild of not only the first team squad but also the supporting structure but I will maintain that the club was overdue that restructuring.

I am absolutely convinced that our current owners not only care about success but also crave it. I cannot for one moment believe that they don’t want to increase the value of there investment and the best way to do that is to be consistent winners and habitual champions league qualifiers.

I’m not sure I like the idea of buying/ investing in 16 year old kids but that is a different subject. In the last window I think the spuds signed three (one from us) academy players from other clubs. As is often the case clubs act like sheep and it would appear that a significant percentage of clubs are looking more and more at youth as the way forward. Maybe it’s a PSR thing but as I said in a recent post how many premiership clubs have paid a transfer fee for a player over the age of 25 in this last window? I’m struggling to think of any!

Time will tell if the owners approach pays dividends but generally in the world of football ownership these are early days and remember they made a complete horlicks of virtually everything at the beginning of there tenure.

12 Feb 2025 10:05:38
Tom

I agree that we have sold youngsters in the past. However, we had a large number of experienced players as a nucleus of our first team.

Likewise, other teams are bringing in youth as you say., However, they have a number of experience in their first team squad, that is the difference.

12 Feb 2025 10:55:38
Bill. I’m not saying that the current trend is correct or that having a mixture of youth and experience wouldn’t be a better way to go. I’m just pointing out what appears to be a pattern.

12 Feb 2025 11:59:18
Spot on Bill we have got rid of all our experienced players bar James - and some sidelined on loan.

Belayted thanks Ed001 for your comment and Tom I am sure the owners want the club to succeed as they have made a huge investment in it but one is questioning whether they've got the right ideas about achieving this in last few seasons where we crying out to have experience in key -spine of team of you like - positions alongside youth. Look, with right decisions in the summer - and if we have qualified for ECL so we can attract the best we need eg top striker and retain the best we have - we could move faster in right direction.

Right now and with ECL v far from guaranteed my feeling is our medium term fate in the balance. It could all go well with ECL qualification and good summer transfer dealings. But if we don't get ECL qualification perhaps we will have to sell the likes of Santos or - as you have suggested - even Palmer and it will feel like a struggle all obver again to get back to chgallenging for big trophies and to have really got 'our Chelsea back' that we were singing lustily in the Southampton away game.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome JBS. I do think I should point out that you might have different ideas about what success is than the owners though. They are looking at it as an investment to make money, I am not so sure they see success on the pitch as all that vital. Which I disagree with personally, but it does seem that it is about trading players to make a profitable enterprise, rather than about putting the best players possible on the pitch to win trophies.}

12 Feb 2025 12:15:59
Good point to emphasise Ed001 and thanks for it. Yes if owners care more about trading to gain profit rather than success on the pitch - though you would think that they should realise success on the pitch would help with profits and dealings - then we have to be very worried as fans.

{Ed001's Note - these are not football people though JBS, they are investors who are new to the sport and see it from an American sports perspective. US sports franchises are money-making machines regardless of results.}

12 Feb 2025 12:16:55
JBS, I haven’t suggested we will sell Palmer, I have said there was “rumoured interest. ”

I keep saying and this is only my view that the players are a commodity and I believe we have to get used to our favourite players being available for sale.

I also assume that the club will make more revenue if it wins trophies and that’s why I think our current owners would also like to win competitions.

12 Feb 2025 14:14:17
Tom I think we all hope you are right. But what do you think of ED001's additional point - one it is hard to disagree with from myn perspective - that our woners are not footballing people ie so may not have the passion that owners who are have for success on the pitch above all?

12 Feb 2025 15:31:10
JBS, as usual us fans are only guessing but they are a very rich group of people who seem to have a passion for sports investments and making money.

I have no idea if they are truly in love with “soccer” but my guess is they are truly in love with money. Again just me guessing but if they win trophies with Chelsea for example the potential increases in revenues are huge. The club also becomes globally more appealing if it wins trophies and that again brings in more revenue.

03 Feb 2025 17:12:48
Seems as though we may still be paying half of Chilly's wages at Palace (ie 100, 000 of the 200, 000 pounds per week) .

03 Feb 2025 17:54:04
I suppose the alternative was to pay him full wages and get splinters. Personally I would have kept him in the squad as Cucarella cover.

03 Feb 2025 18:13:03
Tom

Maresca would not have played him even if we only had nine players to choose from, that's how stubborn the man is.

03 Feb 2025 19:21:25
I'd have kept him in the squad and played him Tom. His experience surely useful to youngsters.

03 Feb 2025 20:15:23
It's just bad business imo. Surely at that point you'd just keep him? This is another thing that annoys me with the 7 year contracts. What happens when this happens and the player still has 5 years remaining on x wage? The bomb squad didn't work, just had adverse affects imo.

Sad to see chilly go, injury prone but when fit the best left back in the epl imo.

03 Feb 2025 23:16:16
I would have kept Chilly as cover only for Cucarella. I think fans should remember how bad Cucarella was when he joined our club and for whatever reason it took him time to find his feet. In my opinion he is now one of the best left sided defenders in Europe and a long way in front of Chilly.

04 Feb 2025 08:41:08
I agree tom. I think he put in some of the worst chelsea performances ever, worse than bakayoko. He's fantastic now.

04 Feb 2025 09:15:47
He is a very good example (me included) of why its beat not to rush to judge.

04 Feb 2025 17:55:58
Absolutely tom. And I do think you told me that when I was criticising his performances. Very glad he was able to find some performances, and he's exceeding my expectations.

06 Feb 2025 08:38:59
Cucurella was always a good player but did put in some bad performances as did many of the squad. However, I am a great believer in the saying “ You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”.

06 Feb 2025 09:07:40
But you can make a sows ear out of a silk purse!

11 Feb 2025 09:09:09
I disagree that cucurella is a long way in front of Chilwell. Chilwell is better in offensive position, final third.

03 Feb 2025 10:10:40
We are alsa said to be pusihing for 19 yr old Turkish striker Kenan Yildz of Juventus for c 75 million who is described as a forward (mainly left winger) and attacking midfielder and one of the most promising talent in then world.

Any legs in this one? Do any of the Eds have any info on CFC likely dealings today (we are all thinking of ED02 of course at this time, bless him) .

03 Feb 2025 10:25:45
JBS, I think if that amount of money was available in this window we would have signed Tel. We apparently offered BM a loan with an “obligation” to buy. That for me tells a story.

03 Feb 2025 10:36:49
Interesting Tom, if not very encouraging in terms of our fortunes right now and how we might be seen by talented players with options like Tel. If we want success in terms fe being genuine EPL challengers and really competitive in ECL any time soon we clearly need to qualify for ECL this season as we all thought we would come emnd of last one.

Hugely hope we can and will as you think we will Tom. But am sticking with my miserable 5th to 9th position at the moment and just praying its 5th and that will be enough! Mind you a hammering of the Hammers tonight plus trabsfer window uncertainties over tomorrow might just set us on right course again for last fourteen games after this one.

03 Feb 2025 12:21:48
JBS, as I said in a previous post, I’m not very optimistic about getting a result tonight.

I would rather the club get the right player than do what it has been doing and from the outside it’s like doing transfers because we can.

I think we may well sign a midfielder in the last mins of this window but for me that in some ways is crazy when we could just have brought back Santos.

Anyway only a few more hours of transfer rumours. Hooray!

03 Feb 2025 12:43:45
Couldn't agree more Tom. Almost every reported transfer seems to hinge on, or at least involve, a Chelsea player going the other way. We can read between the lines.

Despite what Maresca might say, Champions League qualification is an absolute necessity this season.

27 Jan 2025 21:41:53
I wonder if we are one of the supposed ten plus clubs interested in taking Ferguson on loan?

28 Jan 2025 10:02:01
We seemed to be linked to almost everyonme rumoured to be potentially moving this January.

28 Jan 2025 11:23:47
Dry loan makes sense for us, could see Jackson play on the left a bit too, has Ferguson been injured a lot this season or just not been in manager’s plans?

28 Jan 2025 14:55:14
Matt, yes he has missed games through injury and my guess is he will go to a club with guaranteed game time.

He started against us a while ago and totally destroyed us at the back before going off with an injury.

26 Jan 2025 15:04:29
I love the debate/ banter on this site but I have just finished having a very long discussion with a fellow season ticket holder who says we may well still sign Tel from BM.

Clips always show the positive side of a player but I would be astonished if BM let this lad leave.

26 Jan 2025 17:38:44
Agreed Tom however I suppose it depends on how much they want Nukunku.

27 Jan 2025 09:57:14
I understand that Nkunku wants to leave and the club want him gone, but at some point the powers that be need to prioritise improving the first team rather than continuing on the path of speculative purchases.

Tel is fantastic talent but we need to have conversation about whether these young players are being set up to fail at Chelsea, by joining a team that is in a constant state of flux, with no success now for approaching 3 years.

The SDs need to accept that they can't hoover up every highly rated u23 player in world football. They are going to miss out on some players, that is ok.

My final point would be what does this say about their judgement of players they have purchased for the wide roles? 60m Mudryk, 60m Neto, 65m Felix, 27m Madueke, 25m Sancho. None of them, perhaps bar Madueke who is frustrating in his own right, have delivered. Food for thought.

27 Jan 2025 10:34:50
RBD, just a few points. The pressure should always be on the SD’s to deliver players who can bring success/ trophies to the club. I also have no idea who has or is setting the agenda for the signing of young talent. As far as I know they could be acting under the instructions of the board/ owners.

I think Sancho is proving my initial concerns to be misplaced.

From everything that I have read the club do not want Nkunku to leave. I think if he leaves it could well be that the player wants to.

27 Jan 2025 12:40:19
Tom, its great to be back and chatting Chels with you.

I admit I have no smoking gun to use as proof, but the actions of the SDs so far have suggested that they see any player signed before their time as surplus to requirements. Nkunku was signed prior to them coming on board and was by all accounts a signing driven by Vivell, who has since left the club. We can also reasonably assume that his wage is considered too high by the club, due to the numerous briefs released about bringing wages down at the club. I think it is therefore likely that they would very much prefer to move on Nkunku, not to mention that unlike the vast majority of the squad, he seems to actually be in demand.

As for him pushing to leave - can you blame him? He was given the first game of the season to play in his preferred role, and since then has been shoehorned in as a 9, limited to appearances when we are chasing a game.

I am in agreement that Sancho appears to be an astute signing, but I am basing that entirely on his price. He has certainly not brought dynamic wing play to the Bridge and his output in terms of goals and assists is paltry. Of all the players I listed, none have been a dramatic improvement on CHO, which for circa £230m is extremely disappointing.

27 Jan 2025 14:14:38
RBD, I’m can’t be bothered to look for a “smoking gun” but I am happy to make guesses and probably come up with the wrong conclusion.

I have said so many times I have no problems with players wanting to leave and if the reason is they believe they are being treated unfairly it’s seems perfectly reasonable to me that they move to another club. As I’ve said it would appear to me it’s Nkunku who may want to leave not club wanting him to leave, that would hardly suggest that his wages are an issue for the club.

I repeat I have no idea what job the SD’s have been asked to do at Chelsea but like all SD’s involved in recruitment at any club, if they get it wrong then they deserve criticism.

The winger question is interesting. I’ve stated that every day of the week and twice on Sundays I would have signed Neto, sadly he hasn’t hit the ground running and against Fulham him and Gusto were a disaster. He might well play better with James behind him. Noni is a mystery to me. He seem to have some questions to answer about his professionalism but I find myself swinging from fantastic to woeful. Mudryk was just showing a glimmer of ability and then the wheels fall off, maybe if his own making and that will be very sad. Sancho for me has a touch of class. He is always willing to receive the ball in tight situations and although he prefers to move inside with the ball he can go both ways. If I was looking to sell any of them and putting aside Mudryk it would be Noni if only because it would partially stop me swearing at the TV.

27 Jan 2025 17:18:28
I think Sanch has shown quick feet and some good passing but will hopefully push on into backing himself to ghet into the box more and shoot and hopefully score more.

27 Jan 2025 18:30:52
Tom, my hope for quality wing play died when we somehow deigned not to sign Olise. No matter what the reason, it was a complete slam dunk of a signing and would have set us up for 5 years at a minimum.

I full expect Noni will be sent to the bomb squad - another Vivell signing and he's in the way of the SDs latest pet project Estevao. As for Neto, after fudging said Olise transfer it's clear they did a deal with the devil Mendes and thought they just needed to get someone in through the door. I wasn't impressed with the player, the circumstances, the treatment of Gallagher and Samu, and especially that he came as a package deal with Felix.

How are they going to be able to break even on some of these players, let alone profit is beyond me. There are two fairly predictable outcomes, lots of loans (Veiga, Disasi, Sterling) or sales of anyone they can (Nkunku, Gallagher) . My fear is that the latter will eventually extend to Palmer, Colwill, Jackson, Santos etc.

27 Jan 2025 20:02:38
RBD, what does “designed” it for that matter “slam dunk” mean in the context of Olise? As far as I know we didn’t make a bid for the player.

There is nothing clear about making some sort of deal with a “devil” agent as you suggest. This just all made up stuff but then we all just fans just guessing.

I would have liked CG to stay. He was offered a contract (according to Ed002) and turned it down. He was obviously entitled to turn it down. From what I can remember, I think from Ed001, the manager didn’t want Felix (neither did I) but the SD’s did.

If they don’t sell a player then “breaking even, ” making a loss or making a profit isn’t an issue. The loan deal for Veiga looks like a no brainer and I haven’t got a clue is Disasi will be a loan or a sale but there are apparently several clubs interested. I personally hope he is sold.

Sterling, was a strange episode but I think the club just ran out of road having decided very late in the last window he wasn’t part of there plans. I was hoping he might do reasonably well for the gooners so as to create some interest but as yet that hasn’t happened.

Your comment about Palmer, Santos, Colwill, Jackson being sold at some stage is in my opinion reasonable. In fact there was a rumour of an offer of £160m for Palmer and I asked the question from fellow posters, would they take that offer. If I remember correctly only one person said No but then only person said Yes and that was me. I gave up feeling precious about any player a long time ago.

28 Jan 2025 08:48:07
We tapped up Olise for over year, and then didn't sign him. He was clearly one of the best wingers in the league, moved for less money than we spent on Neto, and has been brilliant for Bayern.

We can read between the lines.

28 Jan 2025 09:49:48
The trouble is that all of this is exposing the apparent lack of careful planning and cool considered minds behind Vision 2023.

It is quite possible that Gallagher a) was offered a not v good contract; or b) it was a reasonable contract but with Poch departing he fekt his game time going forward was in jeaopardy in terms of SD antipathy to Poch and possible replacement manager not favouring some those Poch favoured. Perhaps Poch told him as much?! Who knows.

28 Jan 2025 11:36:38
I don’t recall any rumour that we “tapped up” Olise. I seem to remember Ed002 saying he was in a list of targets. I also find it hard to believe that as our owners self reported an issue that they would sanction a breach of protocol. Leave that approach to Klopp. haha.

I assume reading between the lines is just another term for guessing and we all do that. I’m afraid I don’t have a very suspicious mind.

28 Jan 2025 11:39:21
JBS, you are correct that “rumours” suggested there was a split at various levels about Poch. That sort of split can happen in most corporates. If I was Poch it wouldn’t have given me a very warm feeling.