Chelsea Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2015/16

HalloweenJack

I wouldn't mind Higuain. He always struck me as a decent striker when he was at Madrid and he has a very good record for them, considering for a long time that he wasn't first choice and was being pushed out by Perez.

GavRedKing

HalloweenJack wrote: »

I wouldn't mind Higuain. He always struck me as a decent striker when he was at Madrid and he has a very good record for them, considering for a long time that he wasn't first choice and was being pushed out by Perez.

He'd be expensive but would also provide real competition, perfect age too, 27. Only possible downside is that he may not be physical enough for the EPL.

If theres a chance to get it done though, I'd prefer him over Falcao.

HalloweenJack

Same here. A guy who's scored over a 100 goals at the circus that is Madrid shows a lot more ability to handle pressure than Falcao does.

I know I said just yesterday when you mentioned Ibra but if this season has shown anything, it's that Falcao has really struggled with the pressure of being at a top-tier club. I don't want us to be the ones to take a chance on him, let it be someone else.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

He'd be expensive but would also provide real competition, perfect age too, 27. Only possible downside is that he may not be physical enough for the EPL.

If theres a chance to get it done though, I'd prefer him over Falcao.

There's a whiff of the Soldados about him imo, love seeing him play when I get the chance to watch Serie A highlights though, not sure he'd take to the pace/competitiveness of the prem...

GavRedKing

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Same here. A guy who's scored over a 100 goals at the circus that is Madrid shows a lot more ability to handle pressure than Falcao does.

I know I said just yesterday when you mentioned Ibra but if this season has shown anything, it's that Falcao has really struggled with the pressure of being at a top-tier club. I don't want us to be the ones to take a chance on him, let it be someone else.

Utd gambled on him and it was a disaster, that knee injury killed any chance of him making it with a big club IMO. We'd be mad to go and pay Monaco for him anyway, I just dint think he'll turn it around. If he is signed I'll get behind him but I'd prefer not to take the gamble.

hots wrote: »

There's a whiff of the Soldados about him imo, love seeing him play when I get the chance to watch Serie A highlights though, not sure he'd take to the pace/competitiveness of the prem...

I like Higuain but there is a chance he'd fail, of course any player can fail but when ya look at our records with CFs through the yeras it sonly natural to be nervous about a new big money player that might struggle in the league.

Costa was different, hes a warrior, theres not many like him around the place.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

Utd gambled on him and it was a disaster, that knee injury killed any chance of him making it with a big club IMO. We'd be mad to go and pay Monaco for him anyway, I just dint think he'll turn it around. If he is signed I'll get behind him but I'd prefer not to take the gamble.



I like Higuain but there is a chance he'd fail, of course any player can fail but when ya look at our records with CFs through the yeras it sonly natural to be nervous about a new big money player that might struggle in the league.

Costa was different, hes a warrior, theres not many like him around the place.

I'd love to see us take a chance on a small tricky stiker I think, we play almost all of our open play stuff on the floor so the days of needing a physical presence a a bit more limited. For some reason I have Di Natale in my head or someone similar (just need him to get about 15 years younger first).

Would be great to have someone even half as gifted as Hazard with the ball coming into his feet at pace but with an eye for goals too.

GavRedKing

hots wrote: »

I'd love to see us take a chance on a small tricky stiker I think, we play almost all of our open play stuff on the floor so the days of needing a physical presence a a bit more limited. For some reason I have Di Natale in my head or someone similar (just need him to get about 15 years younger first).

Would be great to have someone even half as gifted as Hazard with the ball coming into his feet at pace but with an eye for goals too.

The ideal situation is to give Hazard ultimate freedom, Azp is such a good FB and Matic plays from the left of centre mid that Hazard should have enough protection from both of them that he doesnt have to worry about tracking back.

I also think he needs to up his goal tally, he did this year but he really needs to be a better finisher, more clinical and more selfish.

duploelabs

GavRedKing wrote: »

Higuain is the latest CF linked now.

For 30m and falco is quoted for the same figure. I know which one I'd choose

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

The ideal situation is to give Hazard ultimate freedom, Azp is such a good FB and Matic plays from the left of centre mid that Hazard should have enough protection from both of them that he doesnt have to worry about tracking back.

I also think he needs to up his goal tally, he did this year but he really needs to be a better finisher, more clinical and more selfish.

He doesn't have the natural ball striking that some of the others have, far more scuffed and dragged shots. It doesn't help that he gets no space to work with due to being double marked so a striker that actually offers movement for him at times would be great...

Our #10s tend not to and sit a little deeper waiting for Haz to have to turn around, if he had more defenders being dragged away ahead of him it would help a lot.

GavRedKing

duploelabs wrote: »

For 30m and falco is quoted for the same figure. I know which one I'd choose

Its a no brainer. If Falcao was signed for 25m it would probably be a 3 or 4 year deal at say 200k which roughly works out at about 19m a year on the FFP books for a 3 year period or 16m on a 4 year deal.

Higauin would cost 30m and we'll say 200k over 5 years would set us back about 16m and hes 2 years younger.

GavRedKing

hots wrote: »

He doesn't have the natural ball striking that some of the others have, far more scuffed and dragged shots. It doesn't help that he gets no space to work with due to being double marked so a striker that actually offers movement for him at times would be great...

Our #10s tend not to and sit a little deeper waiting for Haz to have to turn around, if he had more defenders being dragged away ahead of him it would help a lot.

Its an issue that in open play, neither of the support 3 are very good at scoring goals. Oscar is probably the most likely, Willian the least likely.

To stop some of the double marking a LB thats allowed to join the attack would force one of Hazards markers to at least think about the over lapping run.

what a day

Las just read some of yesterdays post regarding our squad depth. Personally i hink our squad is very thin when you compare us to the other 5/6 big european clubs.

As mentions we are not too far off winning the CL but when we play more/tougher games then the likes of Barca/Bayern every year we need more depth and quality to keep up with their energy.

Back to our club we again have huge dead weight players which we need to cash in on this summer. We have about 80m to 100m worth of players waiting to cash in on.

I say cash in and upgrade with at least 3 top quality players .ie Greizman/Varane.

Every year i see the same players come through our youth ranks that dont get a chance/arnt good enough and loaned out. Sell them all that dont offer us any thing.

GavRedKing

what a day wrote: »

Las just read some of yesterdays post regarding our squad depth. Personally i hink our squad is very thin when you compare us to the other 5/6 big european clubs.

As mentions we are not too far off winning the CL but when we play more/tougher games then the likes of Barca/Bayern every year we need more depth and quality to keep up with their energy.

Back to our club we again have huge dead weight players which we need to cash in on this summer. We have about 80m to 100m worth of players waiting to cash in on.

I say cash in and upgrade with at least 3 top quality players .ie Greizman/Varane.

Every year i see the same players come through our youth ranks that dont get a chance/arnt good enough and loaned out. Sell them all that dont offer us any thing.

I said it yesterday that we need about 4 or 5 top quality players as theres certainly areas of the starting XI we can upgrade, whether or not we can or will is another matter.

It will cost a lot of money whihc is why I think we'll see 2 big money players arrive this summer and 2 more next summer, I dont think we'll sign the quality we need in 1 summer window. What I want to see stop is the wasting of January funds. Cuadrado and Salah are two prime examples of this.

I'd disagree about the youths mainly because if they go away on loan and perform, they'll get a career and Chelsea will get more money.

I would agree about the deadweight though, theres a lot of players to be culled from this Chelsea side and should supply us with a decent wedge for the summer. I reckon we'll start getting deals done after the International games this weekend. The less South Americans the better, the Copa America will eat into their pre-season.

what a day

I know who i would like us to sign and thats different to what Mou would probably sign but who would you guys like to see us sign in the double pivot beside Matic?

Would you all like to keep Fab there and use RLC as back up? Or Keep Mikel Ramires??

Personally id like to revolve Oscar with Fab as our number 10.

Depending on who we are playing id use Fab and RLC but i would like us to sign some one else to revolve with Matic. Who would you suggest??

GavRedKing

what a day wrote: »

I know who i would like us to sign and thats different to what Mou would probably sign but who would you guys like to see us sign in the double pivot beside Matic?

Would you all like to keep Fab there and use RLC as back up? Or Keep Mikel Ramires??

Personally id like to revolve Oscar with Fab as our number 10.

Depending on who we are playing id use Fab and RLC but i would like us to sign some one else to revolve with Matic. Who would you suggest??

I think Cesc is the perfect foil in CM for Matic and we need an upgrade on Oscar. Matic and Cesc have been exceptional for Chelsea this year while Oscar has been very hit or miss.

Its hard to tell what CM we could partner Matic with to allow Cesc go into to a#10 role though, everyone seems to be after Schenederlin (sp), I thought we'd go for Khedira on the cheap.

I hope RLC comes back raring to go as it might hopefully mean that Mikel is finally shipped out or Ramires but we'd still need a CM, the dream signings would be Pogba or Veratti for me.

Its going to be an interesting summer anyway as the squad has some issues that will hopefully be addressed this summer and we'll cement our place at the top of the league for the very short term, its Europe we have to do better in.

GavRedKing

We could bring back Van Ginkel too, whether or not Jose will is another story but hes an option and upgrade on Mikle and Ramires I feel, when hes fit anyway.

Duck Soup

You want Hazard? Yours for just £100m.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3116646/Eden-Hazard-worth-Cristiano-Ronaldo-Harry-Kane-valued-higher-Gareth-Bale-features-list-valuable-players-Europe.html

GavRedKing

Hazards contract is the main reason hes valued that highly.

Still though, good to see hes not going to be leaving on the cheap anytime soon.

GavRedKing

Theres some rumblings around the net that later in the summer Chelsea will be announcing a plan to knock Stamford Bridge and overhaul the ground including larger exits and new exits that incoporate the cemetry and exits over the train lines to allow for the extra capacity and to meet health & safety standards.

Apparently and its all to be taken with a heap of salt until anything concrete is announced, is that its expected to start after the 2016/17 season and would probably take 2 years to complete, where we go is anyones guess but Twickenham seems to be the destination that everyone is mentioning.

It would be the best news we could hear in a long time for the club, the stadium capacity really does need to be expanded.

kev1.3s

Stadium is too small but I'll be sad to see it go, try to make a couple of trips with my little fella a year and it's the highlight of the year.
But we can't stand in the way of progress in these ffp times.

GavRedKing

Goes through who we could face in the UCL group stages.

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/06/champions-league-2015-16--possible-opponents.html

TimRiggins

Twickenham is a fantastic alternative for a year too imo, Easy to get too on the tube, 82,000 Capacity and not a bad view in the ground.

GavRedKing

TimRiggins wrote: »

Twickenham is a fantastic alternative for a year too imo, Easy to get too on the tube, 82,000 Capacity and not a bad view in the ground.

Depending on the price of tickets, I reckon we'll struggle to get even to 55/60k unless we do go to Twickenham and the ERFU, and try and negoiate a deal where we can release more tickets in the so called bleachers for like £25 an adult an £15 a kid that would increase the attendances at Twickenham and might make renting the place cheaper in the log run, it would increase the revenue of the stalls too with extra people spending more money.

what a day

Id like to see Oriel come back and play a season with us TBH.
And i think your right Gav about us needing another alternative to Oscar.
May be we would have enough atacking midfielders if we signed Griezman and Willian can play in the center some times instead of Oscar/Fab.

On Van Ginkel i really fear for him, very injury prone at such a young age.

Scheiderlin would be a good shout but i think Jose will want a more powerfull DM to rotate with Matic.

Would be great if we could get Traore a WP, him self and RLC IMO are well worth a crack at 1st team action

grumpymunster

GavRedKing wrote: »

Theres some rumblings around the net that later in the summer Chelsea will be announcing a plan to knock Stamford Bridge and overhaul the ground including larger exits and new exits that incoporate the cemetry and exits over the train lines to allow for the extra capacity and to meet health & safety standards.

Apparently and its all to be taken with a heap of salt until anything concrete is announced, is that its expected to start after the 2016/17 season and would probably take 2 years to complete, where we go is anyones guess but Twickenham seems to be the destination that everyone is mentioning.

It would be the best news we could hear in a long time for the club, the stadium capacity really does need to be expanded.

Twickenham is a soulless miserable stadium that even most English rugby fans hate. The rumours that the Bridge will close for two years is getting stronger and stronger all the time and that getting agreement from the local council and people in Twickenham for a minimum of 42 matches over 2 years will not be forthcoming. Also Twickenham will be closed to Chelsea for the entire months of November whilst the Autumn rugby internationals take place - these are a RFU cash cow which will not be moved.
Wembley is a much better venue on a much better tube line as well, the strongest possibility at the moment is a ground share with Twickenham and Wembley to take the pressure of people living near the grounds. That would be great for me as my sister lives in Ruislip dead handy for Wembley :pac::pac:

The rumours are also very strong that the Bridge will be closed by the end of the year for redevelopment to commence.

GavRedKing

what a day wrote: »

Id like to see Oriel come back and play a season with us TBH.
And i think your right Gav about us needing another alternative to Oscar.
May be we would have enough atacking midfielders if we signed Griezman and Willian can play in the center some times instead of Oscar/Fab.

On Van Ginkel i really fear for him, very injury prone at such a young age.

Scheiderlin would be a good shout but i think Jose will want a more powerfull DM to rotate with Matic.

Would be great if we could get Traore a WP, him self and RLC IMO are well worth a crack at 1st team action

I think nearly all our support players can play #10, except maybe Cuadrado. Hazard and Willian would both be better there but their defensive work rate isnt matched by any other options so they wont be shifted infield anytime soon.

RLC will hopefully be a proper 1st teamer next year, Traore would be nice too but if the WP is an issue hopefully a better loan next year can be organised for the lad.

If it was Romeu or MVG, Romeu is better defensive option but MVG looks more rounded and hes younger, remains to be seen but at least 1 will be sold.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Twickenham is a soulless miserable stadium that even most English rugby fans hate. The rumours that the Bridge will close for two years is getting stronger and stronger all the time and that getting agreement from the local council and people in Twickenham for a minimum of 42 matches over 2 years will not be forthcoming. Also Twickenham will be closed to Chelsea for the entire months of November whilst the Autumn rugby internationals take place - these are a RFU cash cow which will not be moved.
Wembley is a much better venue on a much better tube line as well, the strongest possibility at the moment is a ground share with Twickenham and Wembley to take the pressure of people living near the grounds. That would be great for me as my sister lives in Ruislip dead handy for Wembley :pac::pac:

The rumours are also very strong that the Bridge will be closed by the end of the year for redevelopment to commence.

Wembley would be a better work around as you mentioned the Autumn internationals and the 6 nations too so its likely that Twickenham wouldnt be accomadating to our needs.

Wembley is a very impressive stadium and I'm sure the FA would love the extra revenue too by renting it out to us, apart from domestic finals across all the leagues, I cant see any other reason a game would clash with a Chelsea weekday/weekend match schedule, except for concerts and the NFL games they host.

Which would lead to another concern, the playing surface, it really isnt used to the 30 odd games we'd put ikt under in the space of 9/10 months and thats before factoring in England games and domestic cups.

GavRedKing

Khedira to Juve is finally official, they only signed Dybala the other week too. Considering what theyve done in Italy and on the European stage I reckon thats another side who on paper right now is probably stronger than us.

No time to panic though, its still only June but we're easily in the top 5 or 6 clubs in Europe but a signing or two could push us on massively.

Sign Jose to an extension shortly and get in 2 excellent players and we're sorted I reckon. Of course we'll probably end up signing 4 or 5 players but whether or not they improve the XI is another thing.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

Wembley would be a better work around as you mentioned the Autumn internationals and the 6 nations too so its likely that Twickenham wouldnt be accomadating to our needs.

Wembley is a very impressive stadium and I'm sure the FA would love the extra revenue too by renting it out to us, apart from domestic finals across all the leagues, I cant see any other reason a game would clash with a Chelsea weekday/weekend match schedule, except for concerts and the NFL games they host.

Which would lead to another concern, the playing surface, it really isnt used to the 30 odd games we'd put ikt under in the space of 9/10 months and thats before factoring in England games and domestic cups.

Surface is a good point actually... would they move the internationals around the country maybe? With the NFL games tearing up the pitch and a few concerts causing hassle too as well as the friendlies it would come under a lot of pressure. Are there any options outside of Wembley and Twickenham?

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

Khedira to Juve is finally official, they only signed Dybala the other week too. Considering what theyve done in Italy and on the European stage I reckon thats another side who on paper right now is probably stronger than us.

No time to panic though, its still only June but we're easily in the top 5 or 6 clubs in Europe but a signing or two could push us on massively.

Sign Jose to an extension shortly and get in 2 excellent players and we're sorted I reckon. Of course we'll probably end up signing 4 or 5 players but whether or not they improve the XI is another thing.

Solid signing for Juve but where does he fit in? All the CL final screamed was that they were overloaded with CM talent.

GavRedKing

hots wrote: »

Surface is a good point actually... would they move the internationals around the country maybe? With the NFL games tearing up the pitch and a few concerts causing hassle too as well as the friendlies it would come under a lot of pressure. Are there any options outside of Wembley and Twickenham?

I'd say not, they still have to pay for Wembley so any extra revenue is welcome. The English games can stay, its the concert and NFL games that would be dropped if Chelsea moved in I'd hope. There is a period of 2 months in the summer though that it could be free after the FA cup final and before the community shield, plenty of opportunity to stage as many concerts as locals will allow before objecting.

GavRedKing

hots wrote: »

Solid signing for Juve but where does he fit in? All the CL final screamed was that they were overloaded with CM talent.

To replace the Chelsea bound Pogba :pac:

Lukker-

hots wrote: »

Solid signing for Juve but where does he fit in? All the CL final screamed was that they were overloaded with CM talent.

Pogba or Vidal are leaving. Possibly both. Could also be Pirlos last year.

Pogba is going to Barca or Psg.

GavRedKing

Celtic have been granted permission from the council to put in safe standing style rail seating for 2.6k fans or roughly 5% of the 60k capacity.

Basically means for league games they'll have 2.6k guys standing and for the UEFA games or internationals they will have seats in place as the rail has the seat built in and secured when standing is allowed.

Its a great idea and given that nearly everyone in the Shed stands, the new stadium, if it is to be announced should have rail seats for a % of the capacity IMO.

Would make the atmosphere much better too.

GavRedKing

Lukker- wrote: »

Pogba or Vidal are leaving. Possibly both. Could also be Pirlos last year.

Pogba is going to Barca or Psg.

Lies. :P

They do need a slight overhaul, Khedira is probably a direct replacement for Pirlo in an anchor role though.

peteeeed

3 in . Defender. Midfielder. Striker .....common sense Jose

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/2483/9879816/Chelsea-boss-Jose-Mourinho-targets-three-summer-signings

GavRedKing

peteeeed wrote: »

3 in . Defender. Midfielder. Striker .....common sense Jose

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/2483/9879816/Chelsea-boss-Jose-Mourinho-targets-three-summer-signings

So Cech is staying? Either that ir we can add a GK to that list very shortly.

hots

peteeeed wrote: »

3 in . Defender. Midfielder. Striker .....common sense Jose

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/2483/9879816/Chelsea-boss-Jose-Mourinho-targets-three-summer-signings

Interesting that he calls out Ivan in the list, obviously not a concern for an immediate replacement for Jose anyway.

GavRedKing

hots wrote: »

Interesting that he calls out Ivan in the list, obviously not a concern for an immediate replacement for Jose anyway.

Defender, Midfielder and CF is very vague, well apart from the CF, we know what we need from a CF.

The other two positions could be anything, LB, RB, CB?

CDM, CM, CAM, Winger? Pogba? :pac:

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

MaroonAndGreen

We had Fabregas and Costa basically wrapped up this time last year didnt we?

rottie 11

We definitely need signings to successfully defend our title imo and if we want to get to at least the champions league final. Realistically who should we buy.

Falcao on loan but if remy is leaving then we're going to need another striker.

Could do with a cm but I'm all for promoting RLC so if Jose does that then I'm happy enough with matic, cesc, RLC, oscar. Although if we do sell mikel and ramires then we probably do need a new cm

What ye think?

GavRedKing

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

We had Fabregas and Costa basically wrapped up this time last year didnt we?

Ya, both were bought before the WC kicked off I'm sure.

rottie 11 wrote: »

We definitely need signings to successfully defend our title imo and if we want to get to at least the champions league final. Realistically who should we buy.

Falcao on loan but if remy is leaving then we're going to need another striker.

Could do with a cm but I'm all for promoting RLC so if Jose does that then I'm happy enough with matic, cesc, RLC, oscar. Although if we do sell mikel and ramires then we probably do need a new cm

What ye think?

I agree, if we do sell Ramires and Mikel we'll need cover. I reckon the guys like Romeu and MVG will be sold before those two though.

Our CM options as it stands are Cesc, Matic, MVG, Romeu, Mikel, Ramires, RLC, Ake, Baker, Swift, Colkett, Macechran, Chalobah.

I think the above bolded will leave on loan or be sold. That leaves us with 4 1st team CMs and mot much depth, I reckon we'll be bringing one in anyway.

I didnt include Zouma whos played there for us a few times last year, I dont think he'll feature at CM barring a serious crisis.

GavRedKing

Main rumours today is Higuain.

Also mentioned is Benteke (lol), Alderwield (good option to have), Imbula (god signing if true).

Out going, well Cuadrado is being mentioned, back to Italy or maybe Spain, Remy to West Ham, Palace or Swansea and Luis back to Spain.

hots

GavRedKing wrote: »

Main rumours today is Higuain.

Also mentioned is Benteke (lol), Alderwield (good option to have), Imbula (god signing if true).

Out going, well Cuadrado is being mentioned, back to Italy or maybe Spain, Remy to West Ham, Palace or Swansea and Luis back to Spain.

I'd be disappointed to see Remy go, 2nd string strikers are tough to find!

GavRedKing

hots wrote: »

I'd be disappointed to see Remy go, 2nd string strikers are tough to find!

Its tough to find a good quality 2nd CF anyway.

A fit Remy, something we rarely seen has the ability to get goals.

Johner

hots wrote: »

I'd be disappointed to see Remy go, 2nd string strikers are tough to find!

Yeah Remy is brilliant for the job he does, he seems happy enough with the role given although bringing in another top striker could see that change.

GavRedKing

Johner wrote: »

Yeah Remy is brilliant for the job he does, he seems happy enough with the role given although bringing in another top striker could see that change.

If Remy was sold we'd likely make a few million on him. He was bought for what, 8m? Thats a bargain really, we'd easily sell for north of 10m but the issue is where do you buy a guy for 8m that when fit, will get you 10 league goals a year?

Pretty big ask, unless Bamford is coming back.

GavRedKing

The Fiorentina game is on general sale too at the moment.

8pm k/o 5th August.

cadaliac

GavRedKing wrote: »

If Remy was sold we'd likely make a few million on him. He was bought for what, 8m? Thats a bargain really, we'd easily sell for north of 10m but the issue is where do you buy a guy for 8m that when fit, will get you 10 league goals a year?

Pretty big ask, unless Bamford is coming back.

This is where the scouts earn their money. You need to be looking for players that want exposure in a bigger club. Buying for slightly less than market value, offering career advancement due to big exposure in a big club like Chelsea.
We have massive exposure, like all the other big clubs to be fair but its the recipe that they use to get some players for slightly less than market value and sell them on a year / two later. Remy being a prime example.
If you were a player being sold for 10m. French side (not PSG) offers 9m.
premiership big club offers 7m - I'd be taking the 7m for the exposure.
The selling club might have something different to say alright but.....