Arsenal-Sanchez would have been a great addition. ManU-Sanchez rather less so
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Sanchez was great at Arsenal. We wanted him when Suarez left and that would have been pretty much a like to like replacement (as much as possible). He didn’t join and we got lumped with Balotelli and Benteke
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Chelsea are a historically competitive and successful side that offers players an opportunity to compete at the highest level and win stuff.
Laughing at them this year was great, but I don’t understand why people are treating that like it is their new norm. The Impact of losing their owner and the constraints that were put on them were enormous. There is much to criticize in the naïve largesse of Bohley’s transfer dealings, but it was a circumstance in which “success” was near impossible given the timing, the constraints of the transfer window, and the personnel they lost.
They now have a real manager in place, and football people in positions to allow Bohley to not have to continue in football matters while operating out of his depth. I dont expect them to challenge next season, but I expect significant improvement, especially with smart additions that make sense like Caicedo…basically the perfect foil for Enzo. They are never too far away from being contenders.
I said about Rice a couple of weeks ago that it’s a club I’d steer club if I was a top player until you saw signs that the madness had turned into a coherent plan. But maybe they are already able to sell that coherent vision to the players they are going after. And a midfield based on a Caicedo - Enzo partnership is a very coherent plan.
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Yeah, it was amazing to see our transfers in 2014 post-Suarez, specially the forwards we had bought or had back involved. Balotelli, Lambert, Borini. Incredible quality. Sanchez would’ve been a disaster.
My comment was more about where does he fit in.
And the fact they seem again to be ignoring their major issue. They are coming across like those Saudi clubs who buy big name forwards and then have a reserve goalie who played for Dundee.
Don’t forget Markovic & Benteke!! That’s predominantly where the money for Suarez went.
Damn but I was sure he was going to be so good - the only young player I can recall watching that I was more sure of was Sterling.
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Just like another certain Serb we had a few years before him.
Those YT clips were so convincing!!!
I remember trying to imagine at the time what must Sterling think when he sees Ibe and Markovic in training, players around his age in about his position, who should be his competition…
I watched a Benfica game in the EL casually when we first started getting linked to him that winter, and he was superb. As it turns out, I may as well have just watched the Youtube clips
Weird, I remember watching Markovic on YT compilations around the time he signed, and I thought he looked shite 
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See! I would have been better served watching the Youtube
Partner’s Enzo? Kante is leaving as and there will be others going too. It’s probably one of their few signings to date under Boehly who actually does make sense
You still can, clear out your mind. You’ve never seen the lad play for Liverpool. We’ll need a new long term replacement for Mo (life’s gone on for everyone except him) and we’re being linked with some 20 year old kid at Benfica deemed the “Serb Messi”, already a full international…GO!
They have lost Jorginho and are losing Kante and Kovacic. They have only Enzo left as a genuine midfielder who isnt either unproven or has been given the chance to prove themselves and not done it (Gallagher and Loftus Cheek). As said above, I think this is a move that very clearly fills a big need for them and I think a pairing of him and Enzo will be incredibly effective.
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When a 6 minute video gets to over 1 min and still hasnt shown a single second of football you’ve got a pretty good indication of how much quality its going to include.
I did chuckle at the second sequence - of him taking the ball into certain dead end and losing it.
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ScoutNation does that little intro thing for just about every player tbh but yeah this pretty much what a Markovic was - “running down blind alleys”
Ah fair enough, going have to start selling soon.
Aye, they definitely have too many players but there are the 3 players I mentioned who were involved lost year who are already on their way out. You can add to that Zakaria and Felix who they supposedly wont be making permanent. Auba is on his way out, as looks like Mount. Pulisic seems to be angling for a move as well.
So I think they seem to have a handle on the numbers just not much potential to raise money from them to help balance the books. At Chelsea that is always supplemented by young players already out on loan (like Colwil) and U21s who will be moved on for profit, but I know I’ve read some stuff that their riches there are not quite as rich as in years passed.
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Have to say it all looks a little lobsided still.