Chelsea banter 10

22 Aug 2026 17:26:54
I think Badiashile will do well at Napoli. I personally would have made it a straight loan and not given them the option.
He started his career with plenty of promise and then lost his and some confidence after a string of injuries.
Anyway, good luck to the lad in Italy.

22 Aug 2026 21:57:49
Agree with you, Tom.

23 Aug 2026 09:32:16
He always had ability, Tom, but confidence looked shattered. I hope he does well and comes back.

23 Aug 2026 12:22:52
Agreed, EbW and Tom. If he can regain confidence, he might regain the form he had early on for us preinjury.

22 Aug 2026 15:08:23
Man United fans not happy with Andre Santos, early days of course but looking like a nice bit of business selling him for a £40 million profit.

22 Aug 2026 16:48:38
United fans not happy with anyone in their team today, K, if you read their banter page. But they didn't single out Santos when I looked at it, they did criticise Tielemans above all, plus defenders' weakness v crosses, plus lack of bringing on Sesko and Carrick, tactics or lack of them.



Far too early for their fans or ours to judge how Santos will do at Old Trafford, surely.

22 Aug 2026 17:27:56
K

Over the summer friendlies, Santos has been praised to the hilt and UTD fans described him as a steal.

22 Aug 2026 20:29:36
Bill, it just shows how fickle fans can be, mate.

22 Aug 2026 22:01:39
K where are the United fans sayimg they are now not happy with Santos? What platform because would be interesting to see what their comments?

23 Aug 2026 09:33:49
Spurs lost as well, I see. That Brentford manager has done well.

23 Aug 2026 12:26:07
Brentford were impressive both in speed and accuracy on the counter and in very well organised and skilful defending, EbW. They could have scored several more, including the penalty they missed that hit a post. Very well organised throughout.

22 Aug 2026 09:18:15
I see Bournemouth beat our next gen 2-1. Hopefully on Monday, our this gen will have a better result against Fulham.

22 Aug 2026 09:37:55
What is your prediction, Bill? Beat Fulham? Draw? Lose?

22 Aug 2026 11:42:30
Looking for a win, G8. No reason why not.

23 Aug 2026 18:16:15
Bill, presumably the head coach of the Next Generation, is Jean-Luc Picard. Sack him.

21 Aug 2026 22:18:33.
Yes, it was against newly promoted Coventry, but such an easy win for Arsenal whose squad depth in quality is very impressive now. Not hard to understand why they are firm favourites to retain the EPL title even at competion's start.

22 Aug 2026 04:37:48
Jbs, very true, they are deserved favourites to retain the title.
First game for Lamps team in the Premiership. My early observation was that they got caught in the headlights of the occasion, if that makes sense. They have pace up front, and I like the look of the young (24) Ch. Not sure about their midfield, but, as I say, it was the first game.

22 Aug 2026 08:09:10
Arsenal will start as favourites as they have a very good squad put together over many years with the same manager in charge.

Ed01, who do you think will challenge them? and where do you think we will finish?

Same question to my fellow posters?

{Ed001's Note - I think Arsenal's biggest challenge is Arteta. They have by far the best squad and should have walked the league the last few seasons, but have only managed one title and that was a struggle. If he gives them more freedom, then no one will get near them, everyone else is busy rebuilding. If he doesn't, then it will be tight and they could throw it away to whichever teams builds up a head of steam, similar to Liverpool a couple of seasons ago.

Chelsea could end up pretty much anywhere from 2nd to 10th, I would say. There are so many teams in transition that it makes it really hard to predict with any kind of certainty. I expect you to get UCL qualification though, myself.}

22 Aug 2026 08:19:53
Thanks ED01, I totally agree with you. I will predict we finish 4th.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome mate. Going to be a very intriguing season this one, with so many new managers.}

22 Aug 2026 11:04:24
My heart says we will win the premiership and I have backed us at 10/1. My head says Arsenal will retain the title but I also fancy the spuds to finish in the top four.
I'm sorry Ed but I think Liverpool might have a disappointing season along with (I hope) City.

This could all change in the last week of the transfer window.

23 Aug 2026 09:36:06
I think Arsenal will win the league, but hopefully fall short again in Europe.
I think we will finish in the top 4 with Liverpool and one other.

23 Aug 2026 12:32:20
I would think 4th a good guess, but want to have a look at us in a few competitive games, plus after we finally know our post window squad before I decide on my season prediction. There seem to be so many sides rebuilding, and it may take many, including us, to integrate another batch of new players.

23 Aug 2026 20:06:24
I am not going to predict how we will do other than we will do better than last season. I haven't seen any of our pre-season games. I still have some concerns about the squad; not just Sanchez.

Whether or not EF leaves, I think we are lightweight in midfield, relying too much on Moises.
On a separate note, I was very impressed with Sangere: £39 million; looks like a bargain.

21 Aug 2026 14:25:37
I think it was "J" who suggested the time ov us signing Rogers was interesting as it allowed Villa to sign Jackaon on virtually the last day of the window and it not be considered a player swap.

I have a hunch that "J" could be correct and Jackson will sign for Villa on the last day of the transfer window for an already pre agreed transfer fee.

21 Aug 2026 16:21:50
If he is going, Tom, I hope so on the fee we have wanted.

21 Aug 2026 20:09:39
Bill, I don't want him sold, but fingers crossed, mate.

22 Aug 2026 08:23:38
I don't either, Tom. He gives us something different.

21 Aug 2026 14:03:50
I think I posted at the start of this window that a mate told me Liverpool had sake to kept informed about Neto and his potential availability.

I have not been told anything new by my mate but I wonder if Liverpool might come late onto the scene. I obviously have no clue if they need a wide player?

22 Aug 2026 08:24:47
If they do, it will probably be a loan request with a bag of marbles thrown in.

21 Aug 2026 08:33:56
So Spurs are paying £85 million for Savinho from Man City, 2 things come to mind, firstly, Neto is therefore correctly valued higher at £100 million and surely now they will use this to buy Enzo Fernandez.

21 Aug 2026 08:58:49
Swcfc, you make two good points. Us fans all have a tendency to overvalue their club's players, but in the case of Neto and Fernandez, our valuations are not that outrageous given this current crazy market.

21 Aug 2026 10:55:12
Tom

If you look at some of the other teams' sites, we definitely do not overvalue our players.

The Enzo one is a funny one, as at some point, even if we sell him, we won't be able to replace him, as other teams will say no to us due to the lateness in the market.

We cannot weaken our team, plus why strengthen the traitor, Maresca.

21 Aug 2026 12:35:24
Bill, this Enzo nonsense could all be stopped if he said "I want to stay." He hasn't said that.
Why would we want to keep a player who doesn't want to be here? City obviously know that to be the case, and believe, because of that, we will drop our price. I would now raise the price to £130m.
Of course, this is only me guessing.

21 Aug 2026 16:23:29
Maybe he has told Slonso that he wants to stay, Tom. That's all that matters.

21 Aug 2026 16:38:29
Personally, I don't think Neto is worth £100 million. As you will have gathered from my previous posts, I don't rate him, and if we can make a decent profit on him, all well and good.

21 Aug 2026 19:29:23
Bill, it may well be the case that Enzo has told Alonso that he wants to stay, but I have my doubts. If that was the case, I'm guessing it would be easier just to tell everyone.

Jimbo, I rate Neto, but agree the £100m valuation is bonkers, but maybe not in this window's crazy valuations.

I guess it also depends on how other clubs value him, and how desperate they are to sign him.

21 Aug 2026 07:39:13
{Ed's Note - Bear1872! has posted a new article entitled, Rangers Still Waiting for Marquee Quality

20 Aug 2026 21:23:03
Neto cost £51 million 2 seasons ago.
Chelsea prepared to sell for no less than £100 million.
I have read quotes about "blowing" millions.
The reality is the club are "making" millions.
I have said it before, the owners might know little about "soccer" but sure know their way around a pound note.

21 Aug 2026 06:50:42
Dk, they? Just wondering why so many players are going on loans, because we can't sell them if that is the case.

By all means, highlight the positive transfers, but also mention the many negatives.

21 Aug 2026 07:11:35
Bill, I agree. Too many loans for senior players. I accept it trims the squad, but it is just kicking the can down the road. There certainly should be no loans for Jackson or Delap!

21 Aug 2026 07:44:05
And yet, Jimbo, sadly that will be the case.

Not sure why the owners did not buy a car sales company and lease cars instead, they seem good at it.

21 Aug 2026 07:53:48
Players going out on loan rather than a sale may work out to be a good thing. For me, it depends on the end of loan conditions and the loan fee itself.
I was very happy with the bonkers loan fee paid by Bm for Jackson. I was also happy with the obligation (conditions attached) for Villa to buy Garnacho.


I didn't want us to sell Jackson, but for him and Delap it's better they move on. I would prefer a loan rather than sell them dramatically under the club's (not the media's) valuation.

21 Aug 2026 08:17:18
Has it not been a fairly good mix of sales and loans this window?

Some pretty hefty fees have been picked up for players who have moved on permanently, and there have been some excellent development loans for some of our young prospects.

Garnacho pretty much counts as a sale, and was only classified as a loan to navigate UEFA rules. Datro Fofana now looks like he is off as a sale to our sister club.

21 Aug 2026 08:38:39
K,

I bet that was a difficult sale to do.

21 Aug 2026 09:01:06
Bill, the sale to our sister club could again work out well if we have a sell on clause as we did with another player recently. It doesn't have to be viewed negatively.

21 Aug 2026 09:11:51
Bill, Moreira was branded a flop at the time by many and was sold to our sister club for £2 million with a hefty sell on clause. He came good, and has just been sold with Chelsea receiving a further £23.2 million. The arrangement, financially, works.

21 Aug 2026 11:01:55
K, that one did, but how many more have failed.

Just the senior pros,

Fofana loan Strasbourg
Delap loan to Everton, Leeds, Forest
Jackson loan to A Madrid.

The latter two were supposed to be circa £100 for us, in the end we will receive small loan fees, and who knows, we might even have to pay some of the wages.



I certainly would have kept Jackson, as, apart from our other two, he has already picked up injuries.

21 Aug 2026 12:37:25
Bill, we can only guess at the loan fee, but we received bonkers money when we loaned out Jackson to Bm. If we do loan them, let's wait to see the structure of the deal.

21 Aug 2026 13:20:10
I have no idea, but maybe loans are very profitable for Chelsea. Certainly the reported £15m loan fee last year for Jackson seems a lot.

21 Aug 2026 16:28:06
Seymns2,

I'm pretty sure that loan fee was well above the norm.

21 Aug 2026 17:07:50
Great for the balance sheet..... Ended up 10th with Liam as manager for part of the season. Glad this window has focused more on who's actually going to play for the club.

21 Aug 2026 19:18:22
Yawn. K again gloating under a different name. Sounds like he's on the payroll as propogandist.

I value my 2012 ford fiesta at 1 million, I am therefore a millionaire.

21 Aug 2026 19:31:46
Kaz, that is a good point. It certainly feels slightly different.

21 Aug 2026 20:08:06
I really do not care what name a poster uses.

It's never going to happen, but if the owners sold every player they have bought, my guess is the bottom line would show a profit.

As I say, I'm only guessing, but I'm sure we haven't "blown" £1.5bn.

21 Aug 2026 22:16:35
You can see things how you like, Tom. This is a website for opinions. Boring if we all agree.

22 Aug 2026 04:14:42
It is never boring or a "yawn" when posters (no matter the name) express an opinion.

22 Aug 2026 11:16:03
Once again, missing the point.

22 Aug 2026 11:31:56
Once again, doubt it. A person/poster giving an opinion isn't boring or a "yawn."

20 Aug 2026 12:17:43
Apparently we have a reported 40% sell on for Moreira.
As it could go above £60m and we sold him for £2m, that is another £23.2 million generated this summer.

20 Aug 2026 13:43:18
K, thanks for the information. I didn't know that was the case.

20 Aug 2026 20:03:48
Yes, saw the report yesterday.