Hats of to Chelsea this summer, some amazing transfers done swiftly.
Donkai Havertz | Arsenal Watch
- Thread starter Samid
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If we get Sancho we won't care as he is the better player but if we miss out on Sancho then yeah we will look like fools.
what a transfer, lucky bastards. In a couple of years, we will all ask ourselves how did he end up at Chelsea without competition. I know because of Covid, but still, more top clubs should have been in for him.
Im amazed how they managed to get so much quality for decent money, Havertz for 80M, Werner for 50M, Ziyech for 40M, Sarr and Thiago Silva for free. All really good price vs quality signings. Chilwell for 50M is a little excesive but considering he's english the fee is pretty decent as well.
Apparently Sarr is headed to Leverkusen on loan with a £5m loan fee going to Chelsea.
Even more impressive.
Great signing, Utd will still finish above them though!
Let's get Kante from then now for 40m
Henderson.
AWB Maguire Upamecano Reguilon
Kante Pogba
Bruno
Sancho Martial Greenwood
Bench:
DDG
Lindelöf
Shaw
Matic
VdB
Rashford.
+ Give the one best offensive players from u23 a chance.
.
Spendings:.
Henderson 0m
Upamecano 50m
Reguilon 30m
Kante 40m
VdB 40m
Sancho 120m
= 280m
Sell:
Romero 10m
Jones 5m
Smalling 15m
Rojo 5m
Fred or McTominy 25m
Dalot 20m
Lingaard 15m
Mata 15m
James 15m
= 115m
= Total spent=:175m (take then money from next years summer recruits and go all in to close the gap, if this team performs well we might only need to replace Matic next year. And we will have some very interesting young lads hopefully ready for next season (by starting them this year already in cups, matches when we don't need the results etc and let 5-8 of them train with first team on a regular basis (Tendi, Majri
This window would be awesome and not that unrealistic if can sell all the deadwood first. That team would both improve our starting eleven and bench options and we can play 2-4 different formations.
This covid 19 summer is, unfortunately, a great opportunity for us to catch up on Liverpool and City just like Chelsea did, if we don't take the chance we might have rough couple of seasons ahead of us again.
Henderson.
AWB Maguire Upamecano Reguilon
Kante Pogba
Bruno
Sancho Martial Greenwood
Bench:
DDG
Lindelöf
Shaw
Matic
VdB
Rashford.
+ Give the one best offensive players from u23 a chance.
.
Spendings:.
Henderson 0m
Upamecano 50m
Reguilon 30m
Kante 40m
VdB 40m
Sancho 120m
= 280m
Sell:
Romero 10m
Jones 5m
Smalling 15m
Rojo 5m
Fred or McTominy 25m
Dalot 20m
Lingaard 15m
Mata 15m
James 15m
= 115m
= Total spent=:175m (take then money from next years summer recruits and go all in to close the gap, if this team performs well we might only need to replace Matic next year. And we will have some very interesting young lads hopefully ready for next season (by starting them this year already in cups, matches when we don't need the results etc and let 5-8 of them train with first team on a regular basis (Tendi, Majri
This window would be awesome and not that unrealistic if can sell all the deadwood first. That team would both improve our starting eleven and bench options and we can play 2-4 different formations.
This covid 19 summer is, unfortunately, a great opportunity for us to catch up on Liverpool and City just like Chelsea did, if we don't take the chance we might have rough couple of seasons ahead of us again.
No he is on the wane, don't want to fund them more
Chelsea would agree to this why exactly?
Lampard's IQ suddenly drops down from 160 to 0 if he approved that.
Killer signing, no two ways about it. Maybe Germany's most talented player at the moment, and still so young.
Pretty reliable German reports are saying 80m€ + 20m€ as bonuses, which are bonuses only on paper, because they're extremely likely (kicker: "Bonuses will be paid judging by human discretion with probability bordering certainty") to get triggered. Which would make the upfront demanded 100m€ in total. I personally find it absolutely believable that the whole deal will bring Leverkusen those quoted 100m€, as its a fair price for one of the biggest talents currently around. I just don't understand why he went to Chelsea, it's an underachievement for him but I guess being so young and signing a 5 year deal there's still lots of room to go to an elite club later on. Great player, he can improve Chelsea quite a bit.
Kicker Havertz to Chelsea article
Kicker Havertz to Chelsea article
Well it's either we don't rate him or we really are determined to land Sancho.
There might be a third possibility: Havertz not wanting to join United, but I understand this seems quite impossible as a United fan
The fact that so many transfers towards United over the last few years ended up playing worse than before will raise suspicions of structural problems within the club. This makes attracting new talent more difficult and more expensive.
I'm actually not getting all that hype about Chelsea's signings. Of course they've improved, but it's not like they instantly turned into an elite team with those signings.
Let me explain it by focusing on their two biggest transfers (since I've seen them quite often as a Bundesliga watcher):
Werner is a solid striker, but even in his Leipzig days I've never been a fan of him. He's no world-class striker like Suarez, Lewandowski etc. and most likely he'll never be one. There is a reason Bayern didn't want him. He's good when he has a lot of space, but subpar against teams that sit back deep. Take away his speed and he's always had big problems. His technique and link-up play just aren't special at all.
Havertz is a great talent and I actually rate him highly. However, I always thought that the Premier League is the one big league that fits his playing style the least. He's just not very physical and can get bullied by stronger players. Just watch the German Cup final for example. The Bayern CB's and Goretzka bullied him all game long and he was almost invisible until that last minute pen. I thought La Liga would be a better fit for him, since he's more of a technician. It's also not like he already played at a world-class level last year. He was actually really underwhelming during the first half of the season.
Those are the two signings with the biggest hype, I for one just don't see them being instant homerun hits though. Could also turn out to be wrong of course.
This season is too early for them to compete anyway. You don't win titles with a team full of kids.
Let me explain it by focusing on their two biggest transfers (since I've seen them quite often as a Bundesliga watcher):
Werner is a solid striker, but even in his Leipzig days I've never been a fan of him. He's no world-class striker like Suarez, Lewandowski etc. and most likely he'll never be one. There is a reason Bayern didn't want him. He's good when he has a lot of space, but subpar against teams that sit back deep. Take away his speed and he's always had big problems. His technique and link-up play just aren't special at all.
Havertz is a great talent and I actually rate him highly. However, I always thought that the Premier League is the one big league that fits his playing style the least. He's just not very physical and can get bullied by stronger players. Just watch the German Cup final for example. The Bayern CB's and Goretzka bullied him all game long and he was almost invisible until that last minute pen. I thought La Liga would be a better fit for him, since he's more of a technician. It's also not like he already played at a world-class level last year. He was actually really underwhelming during the first half of the season.
Those are the two signings with the biggest hype, I for one just don't see them being instant homerun hits though. Could also turn out to be wrong of course.
This season is too early for them to compete anyway. You don't win titles with a team full of kids.
Hahaha. How could you entertain such an inconceivable notion?!There might be a third possibility: Havertz not wanting to join United, but I understand this seems quite impossible as a United fan
Havertz behind Werner shits me up a bit. If there was one thing you could rely on last season with Chelsea it was Abraham or Batshuayi missing chances.
Couple this with the fact they’ve now got Thiago Silva at the other end instead of that clown Zouma and yeah I’m worried.
Couple this with the fact they’ve now got Thiago Silva at the other end instead of that clown Zouma and yeah I’m worried.
Their squad is really really good. Maybe the strongest squad in league now?
Let's face it, Chelsea is by far the biggest winner in this summer transfer window.
To be fair, Bruno turns out to be a huge bargain and he has far exceed all our expectations on him. We all know he was good, but none of us know he could make such immediate impact in Premier league, coming straight from Portugal league. (meanwhile Joao Felix still struggling in La Liga...)
On the other hand, Harvertz is rated as a bigger talent as compared to Bruno in Portugal. He is younger and performed in better league too.
I swear I've heard something like this before
Will he and Ziyech be in each other's way on the pitch?
Damn how are they getting all these wonderkids? how did Bayern let him go?
Good post, and I'm not really in disagreement. But I'll add some thoughts I've had from reading the post.
The hype about Chelsea to me comes down to them signing a lot of already good, young players who will get the time needed to acclimatize to the league and be challenged to improve.
They might not even challenge under Lampard (especially if they don't get a new keeper), but they are almost certain for top 4 again going by how they did last season and how their squad has been improved on paper over the transfer window, giving them even more time to fix holes in the squad before challenging.
Werner (24), CHO (19). Havertz (21), Pulisic (21), Chilwell (23), Tomori (22), Christensen (24), James (20), Abraham (22), Mount (21), are all before their prime years and performing at a decent level.
And then there is Kovacic (26), Ziyech (27) & Rüdiger (27) who are good and have years left in their tank.
They've got a good squad with potential for development. They won't need to sign players to increase the quality in depth as things are now, so they can focus future transfers purely on improving their first eleven with top quality.
That said I assume they'll be going for a top keeper and a top CB unless some of their younger ones develops well, either next summer or the one after depending on how much funds i held up in the transfers done now.
Some of course are thinking they'll challenge already the coming season and I agree with you that it is unrealistic.
Even for Bayern 100mio Euros is too much in these times. Especially since Müller plays in his position ( 14 goals, 26 assists ) and is so important on the pitch. He talks and organizes so much during Bayern´s game and is just too essential for their game to drop him for Havertz.You don´t want to bench a 100mio player.
Also , Chelsea is the perfect club for him to develop I believe.
Wouldnt think so ziyech will be mainly used on the right where he can be best placed to whip the ball in.
Whilst havertz will be more central.
Interchanges during a game will only be natural.
Müller plays at his position and with all due respect to Havertz, he simply wouldn't have replaced Müller in the next few years. The latter is just way too important for Bayern and still plays at a worldclass level.
Rumors are that Havertz actually wanted to join Bayern and Rummenigge explained this problem to him, which is why Havertz actually became a bit salty and settled for Chelsea.
On top of that they already brought in Sane and will likely target another defensive CM an FB.
In times of the Corona crisis, they also have to be careful with their money. They proud themselves on being nearly the only big club, that actually writes black figures year after year.
Don't think so - Ziyech prefers to drop deeper to create space for left-footed crosses whilst Havertz prefers to attack the penalty area. If you look at their shot charts they're actually very complimentary - Ziyech the long-range gunner and Havertz the late-arriving poacher.
On top of that I see Gnabry as long term "replacement" for Müller, at least it wouldn't surprise me if he is used as AM/SS once Müller isn't around anymore. Gnabry's biggest strengths are good runs into the box and his finishing so imo it's likely that we will get a winger to "replace" Müller and then move Gnabry who is already playing in such a role for the german NT too.
So yeah, Havertz simply wouldn't have had a clear role for us at the moment. Maybe we would have been more aggressive in pursuing him without Corona and the financial impact from it but he'd be a "luxury" player at this point in time and even as Bayern supporter I think Chelsea is the better place for him to develop.
Müller competed vs Götze, James and Coutinho in the last couple of years and all those players just couldn't get ahead of him. There is no chance for Havertz achieving that vs the current Müller who has become even more important as leader on the pitch under Flick.
As someone previously mentioned, it may not ‘click’ right away but the profile of the team is such that we should no longer need to buy more than 1 or 2 players a season unless we sell someone. This is a short term hit for a much larger future gain. If we can keep the core of this team together then we could potentially have another 5-10 years of being strong contenders for the league with minimal investment.
@GameOn @Hansinity cheers. Ye I don't think it would make much sense for Bayern but there's always room for talented players. I think the issue was more financial and yes Bayern had other priorities to assess.
Chelsea would agree to this why exactly?
Sorry, it was meant to be 60m. And that's because:
30 in 6 months , he has like 2-3 years left in him on the highest level since his abilities are all about his physicals, his wages are high, Chelsea have a lot of CMs now, he hasn't played that good last 2, seasons (a new club could wake him up maybe), not sure the formation Chelsea will play (if they don't build the team around him, which I doubt), they've spent a lot this summer and at least 4 of them got pretty big paycheck I assume.
Still, it's a forum to discuss. No hard feelings.
Best signing for me from any CL club so far this summer. Hugely impressed watching him for Leverkusen last season, amazed they wasn't more interest in him from other clubs.
Fair enough! Didn't mean to be a prat or anything & apologies if I came across as a dickhead.
By all accounts, if we were to sell Kante the bidding starts at €80m for clubs abroad. I can't imagine we'd agree to strengthen a direct rival for anything less than £85-90m.
Also, re: our midfield structure, when everyone has been fit at the tail end of the season, Lampard's preferred formation has been a 4-3-3 with Kante as the deep-lying 6 behind two 8s. This is a pretty major shift from where he's played previously but he's done well - we beat Man City with a midfield of Mount - Kante - Barkley.
Seems like the idea is to have Kante behind Mount and Havertz - don't think we're likely to sell him anytime soon. Even a £60m offer would get you laughed out of the room, no offense.
Most other clubs just try not to write red figures (at least not too much) and can't just do huge transfer after huge transfer like it's nothing during a pandemic.
On top of that the real elite clubs either didn't want/need him (Bayern, Real), had other problems to deal with (Barca, Juve) or were fixated on other players (United, Liverpool).
It was really like a perfect storm for Chelsea. If this was any other year, I'm really sure he wouldn't have decided to sign there. That's not even a knock on Chelsea, just the reality. When clubs like Bayern, Real or Barca were really serious, no chance he goes to Chelsea.
Noticed some people arguing over the reported fee in the Sancho thread, and just thought I'd throw this in there...
BBC & Telegraph are reporting that the total fee, including add-ons, is around £71m (The Telegraph are more specific in their report, stating that the initial fee is £62m with the add-ons potentially amounting to £8m) and they both emphasize that even if all the add-ons are realised, it still wouldn't top the club record fee for Kepa (£72m).
EDIT: Doing a bit more digging... it's worth mentioning that in this Athletic article, they say that it's hard to know the exact figures because the two clubs are claiming different numbers (Chelsea insist on the £62m + add-ons, while Leverkusen say that they will claim their full asking price (£89m) eventually when all the add-ons come to fruition)
BBC & Telegraph are reporting that the total fee, including add-ons, is around £71m (The Telegraph are more specific in their report, stating that the initial fee is £62m with the add-ons potentially amounting to £8m) and they both emphasize that even if all the add-ons are realised, it still wouldn't top the club record fee for Kepa (£72m).
EDIT: Doing a bit more digging... it's worth mentioning that in this Athletic article, they say that it's hard to know the exact figures because the two clubs are claiming different numbers (Chelsea insist on the £62m + add-ons, while Leverkusen say that they will claim their full asking price (£89m) eventually when all the add-ons come to fruition)
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That Atheltic article is a good read.Goes into how we got him signed. Deal has been worked on since last year it seems, lots of scouting and negotiations. All the big clubs looked at him and were interested, obviously covid hindered some of them. Our plan was always to spend heavily after the ban and will continue to do so. Abramovich really wanted him signed, too.
I wonder if Chelsea briefing a lower fee is having seen how Kepa may have struggled with the record fee and want Havertz to be protected rather than be known as the 100m euro signing during Covid.