Conor Gallagher is ready to leave Chelsea after being deemed surplus to requirements, with Tottenham and West Ham leading the race. Mauricio Pochettino is a fan of Gallagher but also accepts the club's decision. via @NizaarKinsella I’m glad the club agree he’s not good enough but if CG were to leave it leaves us very short on midfield numbers. Even assuming we can agree a deal for Caicedo we look very short in central midfield options compared to 6 months ago. OUT: Jorginho, Kovacic, Mount, *Gallagher, Kante, RLC, Zakaria IN: Enzo, Santos, *Casadei (most likely heading out on loan), *Caicedo (looks like might not even happen), Chukwuemeka (is he good enough yet?) Granted we had too many options before but it feels like we need some experience in this squad.
Casadei Has done well so far in pre season I’m surprised that he will be going out on loan. I still can see the Caicedo deal happening. Brighton have put a to higher a price on him. Imo I think they’re looking elsewhere. If they were looking to sell Gallagher I don’t think he would be playing in case of injury.
Think its too early to have a clear indication on what will happen. Gallagher leaving was always going to happen though.
More reports of Chalobah being sold to Inter Milan, despite the player wanting to stay. For a HG player who’s probably the 5th choice CB and can fill in at RB and DM it feels a bit unnecessary with all the other changes that have gone on this summer. I do think he’s an option we can upgrade on but I don’t see it as essential business.
I would be very surprised if we did sell him. Especially this season. With Fofana out for most of the season he is the only right footed centre back. As Gal said he can play in various positions.
Either or. I expect both Caicedo (if it even happens) and Enzo to drop deep for build up. Don't agree with selling Chalobah when you consider if we want to improve on him we will have the issue of having 4 top CBs wanting to start. Always fit, plays across the entire back 4, and seems content with his current role.
Probably will, Caicedo showed he's the type to kick up a fuss in January when Arsenal bid for him. What an idiot signing a new contract BTW, the lad got conned!
Think Emiliano Martinez would be such a smart buy for us. Experienced, leadership qualities, great shot stopper, better progressive passing metrics than Kepa, and commands his box very well. Would give Slonina enough time to develop too.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of eccentric goalkeepers (and especially those that seem to relish in being ‘the class clown’ of the team). It’s the same reason I’ve never rated Hart or Szczesny. Similar to the striker market it feels like there’s a bit of a shortage of goalkeeping talent during this era (probably as we’ve quickly moved to ball playing goalkeepers) but if I were to gamble on one right now I’d probably go with the Porto keeper.
It’s been announced now it’s 3.5 months until he can begin training. Awful news. At least the window is still open I guess.
Sad news, he was lined up to be one of the stars of the season. Chelsea need to be more careful though. Fofana was an obvious red flag with his knee problems, but Nkunku was pretty injury prone himself missing 13 games and had a knee issue last season. I think you lot will arrive at the point we did where we're swerving anyone risky and making availability a priority. It ruins your season. When even previously healthy players develop unforeseen issues you can be asking for trouble. Still, on balance, for the fee Nkunku was a deal worth doing, unlike the Fofana one. As long as he's not too much of a crock.
