09 Jan 2023 16:01:48
Felix joining Chelsea on loan. interesting signing that one. Surprised he's choosing them over arsenal or us but there it is.

1.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 16:40:32
Disappointing if true. I doubt he would have agreed to a commitment to join beyond 6 months, they could be in the Championship by then.

2.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 16:44:01
He's not choosing them over us. We aren't willing to pay the loan fee. Simple as that. Why do people muddy things.

3.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 16:51:56
Atleast their owners have ambition. Excellent signing!

4.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 16:57:16
Chelsea seem to be trying to build a squad of wingers, 10's and centre backs at the moment.

Felix isn't what we need though, quite happy to see him go elsewhere if I'm honest.

5.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 17:03:18
I don't think he has much of a choice to be honest Tim. Only Chelsea have agreed a loan fee with Atletico Madrid. So unless United or Arsenal come in and offer a deal that Atletico will accept then Joao's only options are join Chelsea or stay at Atletico.

As a side note what is going on at Chelsea, maybe its simply teething problems but the current running of the club is at best a little odd at worst amateurish. At least from the outside looking in.

Since the take over they have signed Fofana (just back from a serious injury and not yet proven he was over it), Cucurella (even though they had Chilwell), and Koulibaly to solve the defensive issues, which doesn't look like its worked judging by the new signing of Badiashile. They also signed an 18 year old keeper from America (Gabriel Slonina)
Chukwuemeka, Andrey Santos and Zakaria on loan for midfield along with bringing Gallagher back from his loan.
Sterling, Aubameyang, and David Darto Fofana in the forward line, along with Joao Felix now.

That's 12 new players and counting for a cost of over 250m, yet none of them have really been able to nail down a regular place in the side. The club seems to be spending money like a kid in a candy shop and with a total scattergun approach.

From an outsiders perspective in the summer it looked like Chelsea needed major work, 38 year old Thiago Silva was still their best CB. Fofana and Koulibaly didn't seem like awful signings, but neither have worked out as the club would have hoped. In hindsight they seem poorly chosen target, one just back from a serous injury the other an aging CB who has never played in a fast paced league like the EPL.
They needed cover at both full back positions, but got no one co cover James, and spent the biggest amount of their budget on a back up LB in Cucurella. In hindsight it feels like the Cucurella signing was more about one upmanship over City.
With an aging midfield of Jorginho, Kante and with Kovacic struggling with injury they needed a couple of new midfielders to build their next side around. Instead they signed a couple of kids, brought back Gallagher and loaned Zakaria. The fact they have tried to sign Enzo Fernandez this winter highlights how they failed to bring in the right sort of player in the summer.
Upfront they saw Lukaku and Werner leave meaning they had no striker at all. Just No.10's who could be pushed into a CF role. They signed Sterling when they already had several wide players. Then Aubameyang, what a mess. A player Arsenal were desperate to get rid of, then Barcelona were desperate to get rid and Chelsea signed a player who hasn't looked like he can be bothered to play for about the last 3 years.

Now they have signed Joao Felix a player in the mould of Havertz, Mount, Sterling, Pulisic and Ziyech. A creative player better suited to playing wide or in the No.10 position and not the striker they really need.

It's almost laughable, and probably would be if it wasn't for how damaging it has been for Graham Potter, an excellent young manager who has been given absolutely no chance and will have to carry this stain on his CV. Could he have done more? Maybe, but he has always been a project manager and currently Chelsea are a project but with no clear direction or plan. The lack of planning means he will almost certainly fail, which is a shame for England's brightest young manager. It feels like wrong club, wrong time for him.

{Ed002's Note - You have forgotten Nkunku and not mentioned the players leaving this summer.}

6.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 17:20:55
Spot on Shappy, the club is an absolute mess.
They don't seem to have any kind of plan.
Potter shouldn't have gone anywhere near Chelsea.

7.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 17:39:03
Ed002, I did forget Nkunku who to me seems a very similar player to Joao Felix in that he plays many forward positions and is very creative but probably isn't best suited to playing as a lone No.9 but maybe as a second striker just off of the main No.9.

I'm also not sure on who is leaving Chelsea in the summer.

From an outside perspective it all seems a little hashed together without a clear plan or idea about how the side should look going forward. There seems to be a tendency to sign young players for the future, but not many who are entering their peak years in the kind of positions they need.

The current Chelsea squad reminds me of the United one from the Moyes/ LvG eras where we had loads of players who wanted to play as a No.10 or wide, but no one to play as a central striker. The midfield was aging (Carrick and Fletcher) and needed fresh impetus that took too long to bring in and was poorly chosen when it did arrive (Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger), while the aging and departing Rio and Vidic badly needed replacing, but we got Smalling, Jones and Blind instead.

For Carrick and Fletcher read Jorginho and Kante, for Rio and Vidic read Thiago Silva and Rudiger. When you need to rebuild your entire spine you need to get most of the transfers right, United didn't and I'm not sure Chelsea are currently.

What is your (far more informed) view of the current situation at Chelsea?

{Ed002's Note - There is a clear plan and a lengthy list of options. The young players are for the Vision 2030 project they have running and some will be integrated in to the first team. The midfield issue relates to Jorginho and Kante being out of contract in the summer - so that is being addressed. Two/three CBs will be leaving with a new one already recruited in Benoît Badiashile and discussions going on over another.}

8.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 17:40:30
Tim he didn't have the option of joining us.

9.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 18:15:26
Hi Ken, according to ornstein we were an option but maybe we just inquired about him. None to fussed to be honest. Be interesting to see how he does. Not sure he’s the answer to their problem but all the better for us if he isn’t. Not sure about his wages etc but if we are trying to limit our pay structure then I doubt he would have fit into that.

{Ed002's Note - The player had no interest in a move to Manchester United.

10.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 18:34:02
Utd overspent horribly on the Ajax pair. If we’d been better negotiators maybe we’d have a few other options now, but we hadn’t reckoned on losing Ronaldo at that point.
Buckle up, January is going to bring us Weghorst. Not disappointed personally, I think he’s a good shout.

11.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 18:53:14
Chelsea have Havertz who plays the same position. I would have thought they, like us, need a proper striker.

12.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 18:56:52
Ah well if ornstein said it it must be true. ? he only had an option if we agreed terms with AM. We didn't nor did we try to finalise a deal with them ergo he never had the option.

13.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 18:57:58
Overspent horribly on the Ajax pair? Case can be made for Antony, but Martinez is more than showing his worth.

14.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 19:18:50
The attitude he brings is priceless gdh.

15.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 19:36:35
Ornstein is pretty good tbf only puts out a story when somethings happening for sure, unlike many on social media. I agree with a post above about Martinez etc. the attitude of him, Casemiro, eriksen is even more valuable than their playing qualities. Just a pity the British media can’t admit their mistakes in writing a few off the minute we signed them.

16.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 19:49:24
Martinez has been fab Gdh123, I'd even go as far as to say he's one of our best signings for a decade. But it was too much in my view, Ajax knew they had us over a barrel. Hopefully next time we go to them we won't seem so desperate.

17.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 20:37:09
Joao Felix is a quality footballer but unless we were going all in to sign him after the loan, I don't see the point. He would bring a circus with him, he would want to start. So we would effectively be nurturing somebody else's talent in front of our own.

Although he can play up front he's not a natural striker. He can play all across the front 3 and probably favours Brunos position over other positions. We're stocked on the wings. Garnacho needs all the minutes he can get. If Sancho comes back healthy we're sorted on the right.

It's a lot of money to put a loanee in a group who will demand to start. This is where Weghorst differs, he'll be happy to join the club and wait for his chance to impress. Felix could tear it up at Chelsea but he's not quite what we need and the manager has found a good balance to the squad on and off the pitch.

18.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 21:03:34
Tim they were being written off on this page.

19.) 09 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 23:11:57
Not by me I was ecstatic with Casemiro and eriksen and Martinez has been a pleasant surprise.

20.) 10 Jan 2023
09 Jan 2023 23:25:58
I guess atletico probably feel he will get more game time at Chelsea with all their injuries, so either retain or increase his value for a summer sale. It’s just odd United massively overpaid for Antony and Martinez, yet were not willing to pay whatever Chelsea paid for this loan fee.

21.) 10 Jan 2023
10 Jan 2023 07:03:56
IM7, I didn't realise United had a bottomless pit of money which they could use to consistently and continuously over spend.

I think the difference is would be how the costs are amortized. João Felix would cost around 20m for 6 months. That's a lot of money to spend on a player who isn't even exactly what we need.

Antony cost 82m, and is paid around 200k per week. That means he would cost the club around 136m over 5 years or around 26m a year.

Whereas João Felix would be costing around twice as much being around 20m for just 6 months.

Add to that Antony is a long term club asset and if his value increase the club benefits, and he can always be sold to recoup some of the outlay. As opposed to Felix who if he did well and increased his value it would be Atletico who would benefit, and there is absolutely no way United could recoup any of the outlay.

22.) 10 Jan 2023
10 Jan 2023 10:34:04
To put it a little more concisely Shappy, I think if we'd have paid 10-15m less for both those players that 30m might have been nice for a rainy day!

23.) 10 Jan 2023
10 Jan 2023 22:33:03
I don't think we have overpaid for martinez or Anthony. Both have def improved our team and they are not old. Best years to come and they will improve especially Anthony because we finally have a manager who can actually coach players properly.

24.) 10 Jan 2023
10 Jan 2023 23:38:10
I dunno if we overpaid, in that the Manager wanted hem and that's the price Ajax told us we'd have to pay to get them, so be it.

For me we overpaid if we could have got them for less but my understanding is Ajax didn't want ot have to sell so could tell us the fee at which they would do business.

If they were flops then we simply bought poorly and wasted our money which we have done a lot of in the last decade.