Still missing ManUre to complete the quad.
Oops, they’ve slid down towards midtable. My bad. 
Napoli and Koulibaly played well against us particularly at their ground, on their horrendous dry turf, by playing a deep defensive line. Koulibaly is right at home when the game is in front of him.
4 year deal means he will be 35, turning 36, when it expires and he’s getting €10m a season. Seems a crazy deal to me.
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Aye. For as much as I was unsure why they were targeting Sterling given what else they needed to do this window, it is undeniably a good pick up. He is still in his prime, is one of the best in the world at what he does and will immediately improve them. It’s a marginal gain though, certainly relative to the gaping need they have at the back. Koulibaly is a decent shout for filling a gap for this year, but when you think of what the Bohely model is purported to be, big spends this summer are supposed to be a ;long term investment. Not a big chunk of money on a stop gap measure.
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I assume Thiago Silva is staying - that’s some mature back line combined with Koulibaly…but it seems an odd move to make when they were going for younger footballers like Kounde a few weeks ago.
I do think Koulibaly still has plenty to offer at 31 - and to be honest if Silva could adapt coming from France, why won’t Kalidou?
The thing with Silva is though that he is a truly superb CB. For a 5-6 year period around the time PSG signed him he was almost universally regarded as the best in the world. He’s aged, but you can still see the class and reading of the game when he plays even now. Other defenders wont cope with the transition as well as he did simply because Silva was a generational talent, even if by then an aged one.
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Has he won the CL jet …
Apparently they’re going after Kimpembe now to add to their CB rotation.
Interesting, maybe that’s why PSG are interested in Skriniar.
I would be stunned if PSG let him go. He is PSG raised, which is really important to them to balance the influence of the big spending. He is the VC and the only CB on their books there are no questions marks against.
Ramos - old and injured
Marquinos - Also relied upon in midfield
Diallo - for sale
Kehrer - for sale
Add in that Galtier has suggested he would like to be able to switch to 3CBs, and there is no way they are letting him go.
I thought i had read an interview with psg sporting director or chairman and they are aiming for a french first eleven or something like that ? did you see that or have i dreamt it?
Chelsea not hanging about under their new ownership. Sterling today, Koulibaly likely flying to LA tomorrow for their pre season tour.
So, is Koulibably better than Rudiger?
Safe to say Sterling’s better than Pulisic, Werner and Ziyech.
I think defensively they are pretty much even. Rudiger presents more going forward
It’s July.
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Yes it is.
Raheem has just said he is pleased to be playing for the Chelsea fans…the same fans who screamed racist taunts in his face just 2 years ago.
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Koulibaly is a great signing for them. Absolute brick wall. He’s older, but CBs can continue to be outstanding well into their mid 30s. I would have rather they spent 2x as much on de Ligt, who I’ve never been sold on.
They obviously had to replace the defenders they’ve lost, but they’ve had a decent window so far.
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I was actually a little surprised by how good he was his first season at Chelsea. I say actually, because even though he has been one of the best for such a long time, I was expecting him to maybe…maybe struggle a little bit. We can have debates about what the best league is, but the PL isn’t forgiving when it comes to physical demands. Not the place for a quiet few seasons at the end of a career, I imagine. Turned out he was basically too good for it to be an issue, very impressive.
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Honestly, I was too. But then every time I watched him play well I was just kind of forced into acknowledging how good he used to be in his prime. You can have fallen a long way and still be really good if you started of as great…thinking of Roberto Duran winning a world middleweight title over 20 years after his first pro fight.
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Indeed. Shades of an ageing Ruud Gullit, when he strolled into the league.
Not quite like that, obviously. But shades.