Just want to say that I donāt want Mount.
Decent enough player, but already prime age and hasnāt hit any heights that make me sit up and take note.
Caveat: if we get him, nothing but support. And at that point I could see Jurgen bringing him into the midfield and him doing a decent enough job. But itās all a bit meh, to me.
And since Chelsea spend like drunken sailors on shore leave, they will be unrealistic in the price they want. Not to mention it helps them out of a financial pickle. So for me, no thank you to Mason Mount.
If we are going to try to take advantage of Chelseaās financial issues this summer, Iād like to see a sneaky bid for Colwill as a Matip replacement.
As for our midfield acquisitions, it depends on three things: budget, budget and budget. Are we looking at Bellingham, Gravenberch and Ugarte? Or Kone, Gravenberch and Ugarte? Or two players? Bellingham and a Bosman? Or is Bellingham out and it will be something like Kone and Thuram? Tons of possible upside there with those two, at perhaps 80M for the pair.
If we canāt do it all we going to prioritize 6 or 8?
And which of the current players will still be here? We know a few who will definitely go. But there are a few borderline players, not least in the older midfield group of Henderson, Thiago and Fabinho. Are they all staying?
How much business we do will depend onā¦
Budget, budget, and budget.
Minor investment for a major 200M+ splurge, still well within FFP? Thatās what it will need.
Or 50-60M plus sales? At that point fingers crossed.
Sure, before talking about names, who knows what our budget will be. Depending on what we qualify for and how much can we raise from sales.
I really donāt care about names this summer. Sure, Iād also love if we could get Bellingham and another one. If we could pull it off financially.
But this summer I want the staff and everyone involved in the recruitment process to focus on what we really need. Absolute priorities first.
If we end up with a few names who people havenāt seen much of, but we fully trust those are the right moves, aligned with what we can spend this summer, donāt worry about a lack of āreputationā and go for it.
There are periods, years, windows when I wish we can push the boat a little bit and go for players who are more known, have top ceiling or have been at top clubs already, have winning experience. Or get someone like Ox, see if we can convert someone like that into a new position, but not depend on it, because things are well and working.
This summer itās different, we have problems to solve and possibly not a great financial situation, maybe not CL football next season or for a while.
Buy football elements and qualities we need.
I donāt see the point in bringing in Mount for left midfield but there does seem to have been a lot of speculation around us looking at him.If we were to go for him then 30/35 mp should be his limit
Agree with all of this, heās an attacking midfielder who is best utilised as 1 of the #10ās behind he main centre forward Lukaku/Werner/Havertzā¦if weāre looking at trying to convert him into more of an all rounded midfielder rather we went out and got someone like Nunes (links seem to be just as strong) or someone whoās more naturally fitted.
There were a lot of times when Mount would be one of the two #10ās on paper, but around a striker he would be the one of the two who would drop a little bit to make it a midfield 3 in some phases of the game. The other player would either be dribbler/runner or sometimes another combininig one (very hard to find consistency at Chelsea on so many levels). But that is also different. Dropping from between the lines and actually starting in our midfield 3 and helping us improve again. Maybe he could be able to make that change in coming years, but Iād rather someone (actually two) who is really a midfielder. I could see us going for two dynamic players in general, but one maybe more physical and the other one a bit more creative (but deeper than what Mount does now, someone who could potentially replace Thiago at some point next season and at the latest in 2024 when his contract expires, also help manage his minutes next season).
Yeah wouldnāt want to be paying a hefty fee like we did with Ox
Clubs need to operate collectively on Chelsea. Everyone knows that they need to balance their books and claw back cash. They are selling from a very poor position.
Nobody let them off the fucking hook.
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Aye, regardless of what anyone thinks about Mount as a player or his goodness of fit for us, you can assume that no club is going to go anywhere near that sort of valuation. Even as a starting point for a negotiation it is silly.
Cue utd bidding 75 million for him
Itās incredible how we got from Guardianās cca. ā¬50m to Ā£70m.
Almost double the amount.
Yeah, who knows the reasons, but like I said yesterday, I found it a bit odd that we were looking at a LCB. Weāll see other names that might appear.
It was probably a player who they could easily and lazily link us with.
1000% this. let them squirm on their own hook for a while.
too bad FFP doesnāt count for new ownership for how long, three years?
Itās particularly hilarious that they probably justify the 70m fee by the inflated market for midfielders.
Yes, thanks to you, you cunts.
Oh completely. We should be very clear that with only a year left we wonāt be paying over the odds. If heās worth Ā£70m they should be happy with some goal/assist/trophy related bonuses.
Thatās if weāre even interested, which iām still fairly sceptical about.
I didnāt think Ā£35m was that hefty for Ox at the time. Risky given his injuries and a bit punchy given he had a year left but at the time it seemed about right for someone of his profile, age, ability and the fact he was moving to a rival. If not for the injuries I think weād have seen that as pretty solid value.
He was also a player, a bit like Mount, who was played in a bunch of positions but thought he was better suited to a position he didnāt get much game time in. Based on his performances in the front three for us youād definitely say he was right on that front.
The difference between that time and now is that by the end of summer 2017 (Ox was a very late signing), we had a good and improving situation in midfield. There wasnāt pressure, need and expectation of Ox to come in immediately and start making a difference in CM. Coutinho was also still here for 6 more months. We didnāt buy him just like that to be in the shadow, we obviously had a plan with him. It was so-so in the end, largely due to his injuries. But now, the foundations are showing cracks. We need two players who can immediately come in and perform or go in a real battle with remaining players. Not much time for learning new positions, etc.
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Iād happily have Mount in. He may have had a tough time of late, but if thereās a deal to be struck for him, and Klopp and co think he as the attributes to be a success here, Iām pretty relaxed about him joining.
His time at Chelsea has been under managers that have different styles and approaches, heās been used in various systems, had played in some of the biggest fixtures. Maybe, coming into a fixed style, with a fixed plan will suit him more.
What I would be disappointed about would be if he was our marquee signing for midfield, as I think we need better quality in to fix our problems. Say we get Jude, then Mount then one destroyer type in, Iād be more than happy.
Earlier on saw ref to Macallister v Mount - for me, itās Macallister all day, but Iād suspect his fee would be considerably higher.
I think Mac Allister could be around the same price, if not a bit cheaper than Mount in the whole financial package. Contract until 2025, though Brighton have a +1 option I think. He cost Brighton ā¬8m.
Highly doubt weād have the money to pull off Bellingham, Mount, a third new midfielder, a CB and a goalie (even if a cheap one).
You think Mount couldnāt immediately slot into a midfield three? Heās played that role plenty and reckons himself thatās where heās best suited. And heād comfortably put a challenge on any of our lot in an 8 role.
Anyone coming in is going to be expected to hit the ground running whilst also having to adapt to the way we play. Thereās nothing to suggest that would be more problematic for Mount than anyone other option.
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