Chelsea

[Roboklopp]

Yeah. Instead we get no one of note.

[Irishnev]

Linked to Oblak now also......as well as Havertz

[Irishnev]

From the Athletic

Chelsea guaranteed themselves an exciting end to the season as they beat Manchester United to reach the FA Cup final — and life may soon get even better for the Blues because they are understood to be closing in on the signing of Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen.

Frank Lampard’s side were expected to face strong competition for the 21-year-old’s signature, but they have emerged as the only club ready to pay what it will take to secure him and are also thought to be nearing an agreement on the proposed personal terms.

Following his team’s loss to Bayern Munich in the DFB Cup final on July 4, Havertz decided that he would be seeking a departure from the BayArena in the upcoming window.

That is said to have accelerated a process which might have played out over the coming months and the attacking midfielder seemingly now wants his future to be settled swiftly. It puts Chelsea in an advantageous position because they are currently alone in being prepared to offer a fee for the Germany international that should be acceptable to Bayer.

Sources have indicated it will most probably be about €80 million after add-ons, whether that takes the form of €65 million plus €15 million, €70 million plus €10 million or a similar arrangement around that region. The Blues would naturally favour a lower initial outlay.

As for the personal terms with the player, who is keen on moving to Stamford Bridge, his salary does not present a problem and it is merely final details that would need to be sorted.

Havertz previously imagined representing Real Madrid, but the Spaniards made clear they could not do the deal at present. Despite his camp planning to allow a short period for other suitors to show their hand, as things stand it is developing into a one-horse race. Chelsea’s pursuit of Havertz, the project they are embarking upon, the vision they have for his role, a promising young squad and Lampard’s presence were elements that appealed.

The attraction was formed during dialogue with Lampard and nothing suggests Havertz’s desire will be affected by whether Chelsea qualify for next season’s Champions League.

It is a situation with parallels to their acquisition of his international colleague Timo Werner from RB Leipzig. Werner had a release clause but Chelsea were ultimately the sole takers at the selling price and speaking with Lampard proved key to determining the outcome.

Bayern Munich’s admiration for Havertz is not supported by the necessary funds at the moment after they spent heavily on Leroy Sane of Manchester City, while conversations with Manchester United have not advanced given they are well-stocked centrally and will require major finance if they are to recruit top target Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern are willing to deposit a modest amount for Havertz up front with the rest arriving at a later date. But in such a scenario Bayer would have insisted on keeping the attacker, who is under contract until 2022, for an extra year and he is reluctant to consider that. Barcelona lack the money, Manchester City have not entered the frame and although Paris Saint-Germain possess the wealth to challenge Chelsea, they are not on Havertz’s radar.

Chelsea’s business is being overseen by director Marina Granovskaia. A registration ban last summer and zero investment in January means they have cash in the bank. But the Blues must adhere to Financial Fair Play rules and aim to avoid relying on the resources of owner Roman Abramovich, meaning Granovskaia is tasked with balancing the books. There are, therefore, certain to be experienced and young players leaving in the months ahead.

[Tribute]

Some spending spree from the Chavs - Ziyech, Werner, Havertz and maybe Oblak... blimey. Some top notch signings there - can only make them stronger for next season. Reckon they'll have to bin off Kepa for Oblak's price tag but the rest of those signings will replace a fair few of the mediocre first team squad.
They'll be closer to us than Utd for sure if they land all them. Utd just need an injury to Fernandapen and then they're back to mid-table...

[Alex]

Kepas price is looking more and more like an absolute robbery.



He is terrible.

[Maxiedge]

Chelsea have spent so much money recently its unreal. I think we've been over this on the forum but its a bit of a fallacy that they haven't spent due to transfer ban as they managed to get some business done before the ban came into place. Just off the top of my head they have recently acquired:

Jorginho, Kovacic, Pulisic, Werner and Ziyech : all around £50m mark
Kepa = £80m

With Havertz costing £70m, I just don't see how that sort of spending is within the framework. It's completely at odds with what they have achieved on the pitch and it just sounds like they are being bankrolled with unaccounted funds.

They say the will balance the book with sales, but who have they got of value who they will sell? Maybe Kante? (I don't think he's quite at home there). Otherwise the rest are young players and or past their peak (e.g Willian).

EDIT: Ok I've just seen they managed to sell a 32 year old Diego Costa for £60m and Morata for £50m. F*ck me. I mean is this some sort of money laundering game between the two clubs.

[labourRed]

OK, so while Chelsea have bought well, lets not be dramatic. Maddock has written loads about this recently. They've essentially swapped Morata for Werner. AM are due them £58m this summer. Hazard fee went on the rest.

But they don't have masses in the bank (they've had a bridging loan to cover losses this year from Abramovich although that was a weighty 250m).

They are getting rid of some big earners in the summer so that has very much freed up money to spend further (remembering that players are amortised on the balance sheet). Pedro, Willian, and don't forget Hazard was also big earner.

They could probably get Havertz in at a push although i'd say that'd be a FFP gamble on its own. I don't see how they can get Olbak though unless someone is daft enough to take Kepa off their hands, same with United and De Gea.

[Exiled_red]

Kepas price is looking more and more like an absolute robbery.



He is terrible.

[Maxiedge]

OK, so while Chelsea have bought well, lets not be dramatic. Maddock has written loads about this recently. They've essentially swapped Morata for Werner. AM are due them £58m this summer. Hazard fee went on the rest.

But they don't have masses in the bank (they've had a bridging loan to cover losses this year from Abramovich although that was a weighty 250m).

They are getting rid of some big earners in the summer so that has very much freed up money to spend further (remembering that players are amortised on the balance sheet). Pedro, Willian, and don't forget Hazard was also big earner.

They could probably get Havertz in at a push although i'd say that'd be a FFP gamble on its own. I don't see how they can get Olbak though unless someone is daft enough to take Kepa off their hands, same with United and De Gea.

It's not just the FFP thing, it's the fact that most clubs are not willing to spend during this period of uncertainty and even frugality. Let's not forget, they are replacing high earners with high earners. The game without fans is not the same spectacle. There's going to be a massive loss of earnings until we're back to the norm.
You could say fair play to Chelsea, they've taken advantage of the situation, (for example offering the money for Werner) but at the same time, if they end up laying off staff in the future or asking players for wage cuts, this could come back to bite them.

Edit1: And another thing, they have been involved in some iffy deals. The David Luiz one and the Morata/Costa ones stink to high heaven and seem to go under the radar. Price tags are ridiculously inflated imo.

Edit2: I just remembered they spent £40m on Bakayoko and £30m on Drinkwater too haha. Their transfer dealings are like the wild west.

[Buzzo]

OK, so while Chelsea have bought well, lets not be dramatic. Maddock has written loads about this recently. They've essentially swapped Morata for Werner. AM are due them £58m this summer. Hazard fee went on the rest.

But they don't have masses in the bank (they've had a bridging loan to cover losses this year from Abramovich although that was a weighty 250m).

They are getting rid of some big earners in the summer so that has very much freed up money to spend further (remembering that players are amortised on the balance sheet). Pedro, Willian, and don't forget Hazard was also big earner.

They could probably get Havertz in at a push although i'd say that'd be a FFP gamble on its own. I don't see how they can get Olbak though unless someone is daft enough to take Kepa off their hands, same with United and De Gea.

On the face of it they have bought well, but, they are buying guys who don’t have prem experience. I’d say typically these players can take a while to settle.

Look at Pulisic, Pepe, Keita, anyone who Spurs buy etc all decent money signings all who have struggled to settle and perform as expected from form in previous leagues.

[red g]

Some spending spree from the Chavs - Ziyech, Werner, Havertz and maybe Oblak... blimey. Some top notch signings there - can only make them stronger for next season. Reckon they'll have to bin off Kepa for Oblak's price tag but the rest of those signings will replace a fair few of the mediocre first team squad.
They'll be closer to us than Utd for sure if they land all them. Utd just need an injury to Fernandapen and then they're back to mid-table...

Chelsea will be nowhere near until they can sort their backline out, Not just their keeper

[Mark79]

On the face of it they have bought well, but, they are buying guys who don’t have prem experience. I’d say typically these players can take a while to settle.

Look at Pulisic, Pepe, Keita, anyone who Spurs buy etc all decent money signings all who have struggled to settle and perform as expected from form in previous leagues.

I’m not sure about Pulisic here? He’s looking very settled now. And he missed a couple of months with injury too. I’d say he’s made a pretty fast start overall.

Salah was flying for us from day 1. Yeah he’d been at Chelsea, but he only played about 500 disjointed minutes for them, which is nothing really.

Then there’s Bruno Fernandes!

[danperkins]

I’m not sure about Pulisic here? He’s looking very settled now. And he missed a couple of months with injury too. I’d say he’s made a pretty fast start overall.

Salah was flying for us from day 1. Yeah he’d been at Chelsea, but he only played about 500 disjointed minutes for them, which is nothing really.

Then there’s Bruno Fernandes!

[labourRed]

I’m not sure about Pulisic here? He’s looking very settled now. And he missed a couple of months with injury too. I’d say he’s made a pretty fast start overall.

Salah was flying for us from day 1. Yeah he’d been at Chelsea, but he only played about 500 disjointed minutes for them, which is nothing really.

Then there’s Bruno Fernandes!

Yeah, always been a fan of Fernandes. His numbers were always great, as was Salah's. He'd have been a great attacker for us, but we need more from an attacking midfielder which is why i presume we weren't interested.

It isn't a perfect science though obviously and buying from smaller leagues is always a risk.

Lozano hasn't reproduced his form from PSV, yet for example, nor as Hazard.

[labourRed]

It's not just the FFP thing, it's the fact that most clubs are not willing to spend during this period of uncertainty and even frugality. Let's not forget, they are replacing high earners with high earners. The game without fans is not the same spectacle. There's going to be a massive loss of earnings until we're back to the norm.
You could say fair play to Chelsea, they've taken advantage of the situation, (for example offering the money for Werner) but at the same time, if they end up laying off staff in the future or asking players for wage cuts, this could come back to bite them.

Edit1: And another thing, they have been involved in some iffy deals. The David Luiz one and the Morata/Costa ones stink to high heaven and seem to go under the radar. Price tags are ridiculously inflated imo.

Edit2: I just remembered they spent £40m on Bakayoko and £30m on Drinkwater too haha. Their transfer dealings are like the wild west.

I get that but since covid all they've bought this year is Werner which is pretty much just spending the money that they got from Morata. And as he had a release and the fact they needed a striker looks like perfect opportunism, despite a downturn in revenue.