‘Chelsea-ist transfer market’; ‘Keita deal slipping away’

Manchester United’s friendly win over Real Salt Lake raised some fans’ eyebrows and one fan complains about a “Chelsea-ist” transfer market, all in our forum.

Join in the debate here…

United friendly ‘a bit of a reality check’

Bit of a reality check for the rose tinted spectacles brigade I’d have thought.

First half was poor. But if it did tell me anything it’s that Jones, Carrick. Blind and McTominay should never play unless we’re absolutely desperate.

Jones is a complete f**king cart horse and if it’s a choice between him and Smalling I’d take Smalling every time. He started Miki out right and it just doesn’t work – only got going when he came inside and played through the middle. Finally, you can’t play Pogba with sh*te round him, he only flourishes when he’s in amongst some quality. Thought TFM played well and is a serious contender for a regular berth at right back despite his occasional mistakes.

Astonishingly, the second half was worse. Played Martial down the left where he’s just wasted. When he reverted to through the middle like the other night he looked a lot better. Rashford was poor. And I have to say, if Herrera can’t stand out against opposition that was probably on a par with the English League 1, it’s a worry.

Reinforcements required and a number of players that were on show last night need to be written off and discarded as just not good enough. Simple as that.

And it’s alright saying it’s just pre season rs83, but shit is shit mate, irrespective. And that was sh*t.

jm1502

 

Friendly criticism ‘ridiculous’

@jm1502. The only players I am watching during pre-season are Lindelof, TFM, Lukaku, and Pereira. The rest of their performances mean squat. All these fellas are doing is getting some hard yards into the legs to regain fitness.

Surely you know what all the players are about? Criticizing the performance of players like Rashford, Martial, Herrera, etc. for not exerting themselves in a friendly game is very harsh. In fact, it’s ridiculous.

hatters

 

Boll**** hatters! Rashford was good the other night and got plaudits, last night he was poor, simple as that. He needs consistency. As for Martial, I wasn’t criticizing him, I was criticizing Mourinho for starting him down the left where he reminded me of how poor he was last season.

Needs to be in a 2 up front in my opinion. Herrera was simply Herrera, average. Too many on here nominating the guy for captain when they should be looking for him to up his game. And just expecting the players to get some exercise out of these games is an excuse the apologists use for what I can only describe as a poor performance.

jm1502

 

Jones excuses ‘mystifying’

I find it equally mystifying and hilarious how the clumsy,useless,f***ing oaf that is Phil Jones still has people making excuses for him even after 6 long years of disgraceful total ineptitude at our club!.

I remember clearly @happy saying towards the end of last season that he hadn’t made any ‘big mistakes all season’,only to be shot down in flames yet again when I listed out several of his howlers that had directly resulted in goals for opposition forwards.How this clueless chump has survived 4 different managers and still hasn’t been booted out of OT is just completely mind boggling to me and many thousands of others.

In general whilst our squad still consists of the likes of him,Smalling,Fellaini,Young,Carrick,Lingard and a few others I could mention who are obviously still going to be playing regularly in the major games then we can forget a title challenge or anything much beyond the Champions League last 16 this season if we’re lucky,simple as that.

Blacky

 

‘Surprising Sturridge hasn’t been sold’

Agreed Reds. I think Klopp was unsure of Sturridge, given that he’d been turning to Origi even when he’d been fit for some time. It certainly looked like sturridge’s time at the club was up but origi’s form got worse and worse and Klopp decided to give him a chance and he didn’t let him down.

So I take the last few games that Sturridge had as an audition for next season. there were reports that Danny had spent the summer training in order to be in tip-top shape for this season, so I think Klopp has gotten through to him. I really hope this doubling down by Sturridge will have a positive effect on his bodies ability to hold off injuries.

Even with all I’ve said there and leaving out what I mentioned earlier about the positions we’re focusing on this window and what we may focus on in other windows, it’s still kinda surprising to me that Sturridge hasn’t been sold. I like that about Klopp though, he might make an initial judgment of a player but he gives them a chance to respond and step it up. We’ve seen the same thing with Mignolet and who saw that coming?

Honestly, it seemed like Klopp had made up his mind (along with most of the fans maybe) regards Simon and that was that but Mignolet’s second half of the season was the best that I’ve ever seen him play. Now, I do think he can be a little too harsh on him but that’s another story. The important thing here is that as a result of Klopp’s abilities, we’re not looking for a top striker or a GK this window and can focus on getting some top quality signings for 2-3 more positions, instead of 5-6 decent ones.

Are we gonna get Keita or not? It’s crazy because the last months have been ups and downs, in that we were hearing that he’s probably coming here then the opposite but right now we’re hearing both at the same time. Which is it! I have the pessimism and the optimist in me, fighting to the death ATM and I can’t call it.

We want Liverpool to get on with business quietly, yet I need more information to make an even slightly educated guess as to what might actually happen.

Mr Makaveli

 

‘Keita deal looks like it’s slipping away’

Origi has jumped in with some important goals over the last two years. He is a backup striker who is getting 10+ goals. Which is not bad at all.

I toally agree that he can be very frustrating but hes not as bad as ome make out. Also, when sturridge was fit in klopp1 sts season, Origi started before him. It was only when origi got injured againest everton that sturridge came in. Origi was playing really well until that injury and some of us were gutted he was missing the end of the season. Hes not a bad backup.

If sturridge stays fit, he will play mnore. he ewont be 1st choice but he seems to be happy. Its only early days but he looks sharp in pre-season. The problem is , it wont be long before he is out with some kind of niggle.

His problem is that he misses a few games here and there and cant get fit quyick enough. He then gets injured again and its like a merry go round. Still love watching him play and really hope he can oush on. He showed what hes about at the end of last season.Great option to have

Peoples opinions chnage to quickly with regards some players. Can was writted off afater two good sseasons when it was clear he wasnt fully fit and then came into some great form. He will sign his contract and is a very good player. He is baeast oin his day and will only get better under klopp. We need to give some players more time especially when they have performed at some stage in their short liverpool careers.

The keita deal looks like its slipping away. This is not the clubs fault. I berlieve we have the money but unless the players kick up a fuss then they will stay.

The worry is we havent been looking at any alternatives. We need at least another 3 players. We need more but we cant go into the season with just salah and roberston added. Conflicting reports about keita but it seems to be swinging back to him staying. Another bid is due and if they dont accept that then we need to look elsewhere.

Sean the Sailor

 

Sympathy for Leipzig

I actually sympathise with Leipzig. As we all remember from our own experience, £75 million could not replace Suarez (indeed double that would still not have replaced him). So there’s very little more we can actually do now.

It’s a case of waiting. But in any case, suppose we did get Keita for £70 million.

Is this not the exact situation FSG have been trying to avoid? i.e. having to spend huge bucks as opposed to finding the talent before the value skyrocketed? In 2014 he was identified by Salzburg for just €1.5 million. In 2015, Leicester identified Kante for just £5.6 million. In 2013/14 we identified Luis Alberto & Tiago Illori for £6 mill each.

Our strategy has clearly been failing and if we do end up spending £140 million on VVD & Keita, all such talk of us being a club that develops rather than buys goes out the window doesn’t it?

Mikus

 

‘Looks like Robertson is a done deal’

Looks like Robertson is a done deal.

Which would be good business, apparently he will cost about half what we are selling Moreno for.

From what I’ve seen, Robertson has impressive workrate and pace. Not particularly strong in the challenge, but he’s great at tracking runners, and has shown he can cut it in the EPL. Perhaps not one to get excited about but seems like a sensible and shrewd signing.

j c

 

Chelsea transfer rumours…

Latest updated transfer rumours:

KEY * = Newly added / Updated

Signed:
GK – Willy Caballero (Free)(1st July)
CB – Antonio Rudiger (£30m + £3m addons)(9th July)
CM – Tiémoué Bakayoko (£40m)(15th July)

Strong Rumours (In):
WB – Danilo (£31m)

Rumours (In):
WB – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
WB – Alex Sandro
AM – Keita Baldé Diao
ST – Andrea Belotti
ST – Alvaro Morata
ST – Fernando Llorente
ST – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
*ST – Kun Aguero

Unlikely Rumours (In):
ST – Alexis Sanchez

Rumours (Out):
CM – Nemanja Matić (£34-40m Juventus/Arsenal/Inter Milan ???)
ST – Diego Costa (£22-40m Atletico Madrid)
ST – Loic Remy (£??m Besiktas ???)

Sold:
GK – Asmir Begovic (£10m)
CB – John Terry (Free)
CB – Nathan Ake (£20m)
CM – Nathaniel Chalobah (£5m)
AM – Christian Atsu (£6.5m)
AM – Juan Cuadrado (£17m)
ST – Dominic Solanke (£3-10m)(Tribunal)
ST – Bertrand Traore (£9m)

Loaned:
*CB – Kurt Zouma (Stoke City)
WB – Ola Aina (Hull City)
*CM – Marco Van Ginkel (PSV Eindhoven)
AM – Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Crystal Palace)
ST – Tammy Abraham (Swansea City)

Rumours Removed (In):
GK – Marcus Bettinelli (Dead rumour)
CB – Jairo Riedewald (Joined Crystal Palace)
CB – Kalidou Koulibaly (Dead rumour)
CB – Kostas Manolas (Dead rumour)
CB – Virgil van Dijk (Dead rumour)
CB – Jerome Boateng (Dead rumour)
CB – Leonardo Bonucci (Joined AC Milan)
WB – Dani Alves (Joined PSG)
CM – Corentin Tolisso (Joined Bayern Munich)
AM – Domenico Berardi (Dead rumour)
AM – Ross Barkley (Dead rumour)
AM – Federico Bernardeschi (Dead rumour)
AM – Lorenzo Insigne (Dead rumour)
AM – Adama Traore (Dead rumour)
AM – James Rodriguez (Joined Bayern Munich)
ST – Antoine Griezmann (Signed a new contract)
ST – Robert Lewandowski (Dead rumour)
ST – Romelu Lukaku (Joined Manchester United)
ST – Javier Hernandez (Dead rumour)

Rumours Removed (Out):
CM – Cesc Fabregas (Dead rumour)

Bort

 

Chelsea options narrowing

phwepsi: that’s what I meant by there’s no choice. Already the options aren’t abundant: Morata, Auba, Belotti now Aguero. And we don’t want to pay inflated price neither. So we may really well start the season with Michy as our only striker. Solanke sold, Costa doesn’t come back. Very risky.

It’s not clear whether we have the money or not. If we do, why haven’t we submitted a bid for any of those mentioned strikers? Dortmund haven’t received any bid, Torino neither.

Did we really submit a bid of 75m to get Lukaku? If so: we DO have the money. And why not trying to submit those 75 m we have to Torino for example? Belotti is young.

aindro

 

 

More choice than ever

Just reading that people are saying there’s no choice.

To be fair there’s more choice than there has ever been!

Belotti, Lukaku, Aubameyang, Aguero, Sanchez and Morata.

How many other strikers do you want?

Some may prove challenging but for example if you offered Arsenal £70m for Sanchez, they would take it (well, they would be foolish not to)!

Amz

 

Letter points to ‘Chelsea-ist’ transfer market

This is an article written by a Chelsea supporters club chairman, make what you want from it.

With supporters being impatient for more summer signings it seems the Chelsea transfer committee won`t be forced, by other clubs, players or their agents into making panic buys. Not at this stage of proceedings anyway.

When Chelsea come calling for a player, across Europe, there would appear to a premium price to pay because its Chelsea. Its why we get mentioned in so much transfer speculation.

Agents only have to mention Chelsea are interested and suddenly the playersprice has gone up by £10 million. Its almost Chelsea-ist.

The reason these deals then take so long is because the club are trying to reverse the way these rival clubs, or more especially the players` agents, see us.

Chelsea FC are no longer the cash-cow we were when Roman Abramovich first took over. During the Russian`s tenure as owner the transfer policy has changed from one where ridiculous money was spent on marquee signings, ie Shevchenko and Torres, to a more prudent approach that appears reluctant to spend much more than £35 million on any player.

Whilst, as supporters, we berate the club for their slow transfer activity and the media put the boot in claiming Antonio Conte is unhappy with the lack of new players. Really the transfer committee should be applauded for not making panic buys.

At Chelsea, player power is receding, and as a result, so is the influence agents have on those players. Not letting Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa dictate where they go in this current transfer window only strengthens that argument.

There`s still 6 weeks left to sort out the deals that we want, whether they are into the club or away from it. They will do what they feel is best for the club going forward and no amount of press speculation will change it.

Notnice

 

Shocked by valuations on Arsenal fringe players

Is there anyone else as shocked as I am about the prices being mooted around for some of our fringe players. Some I think we should get rid of at any cost but Schezney for 10m, Wilshere for 9m, Chambers for 12m??

Surely these young talented players should be commanding a lot more than that given their age and potential. It seems crazy to sell them on the cheap! Personally I don’t think we should be getting rid of any of them.

Madmaxsdaddy

 

‘I would be tempted to keep Chambers’

Calum Chambers: Spending the season at Boro

I think contracts are an issue with 2 of the players you mentioned. Jack and Wojo only have until next June left to run so that will impact what we can ask for them. Also think Jack’s injury record would work against us on any funds we can raise. We have seen across a number of years that this club is hopeless when it comes to managing player contracts and usually we suffer as a result.

Chambers is slightly different. He is contracted until 2020 and has a years PL experience under his belt now. Rumours are that Palace might be willing to go to 16 million or even more for him which is more like a fair price but the market for English players is bonkers so who knows what his true value is!

Personally I am not too concerned about Jack going. I don’t see him being able to offer us anything that would improve us drastically. His fitness will always be an issue unfortunately.

Szczesny will go purely because he needs to be a starter and Wenger can’t give him that. He had a great season in Italy and I still think he can be very good but Wenger will stick with Cech and probably Martinez as back up, who to be fair, always looks fairly solid.

I would be tempted to keep Chambers but again its a question of numbers I suppose. We already have Mustafi, Kosicleny, Monreal, Gabriel, Holding and Kolasinac who can potentially play in a back 3, as well as the BFG staying for another year.

Something has to give and he would never be able to keep all of those options happy. I think I would prefer to see Chambers stay over Gabriel but Wenger obviously doesn’t see much point in keeping him.

Sounds as though we still can’t get Debuchy off the wage bill either. His move to Nice has collapsed yesterday.

Andy528