Official Chelsea FC Thread

[fatlever]

Who will be the first big name player to confirm a move away from Chelsea this summer? Will it be the ones already in the headlines - Courtois, Hazard and Costa? Or someone else?

[Baphomet]

Who will be the first big name player to confirm a move away from Chelsea this summer? Will it be the ones already in the headlines - Courtois, Hazard and Costa? Or someone else?

I think Chelsea would be better off cashing in on Hazard and Costa now, they do not contribute as much as they should and there are better options out there. I think Hazard will be first, to answer your question, likely to PSG or Real. Courtois on the other hand should be held on to at all costs, he will only get better. If Conte does come to London, I would personally expect quite a substantial rebuild and some experimental line-ups/formations.

For some reason I feel like Pogba will end up in the PL this summer, either at Chelsea or City.

[J-Mezzy]

I hope Cuadrado never comes back. Sell him

[HIF]

Who will be the first big name player to confirm a move away from Chelsea this summer? Will it be the ones already in the headlines - Courtois, Hazard and Costa? Or someone else?

Probably not the first but Hazard will be the biggest move to or from Chelsea this summer.

[HIF]

Could Chelsea still be on for Europe? Only 7 points behind a West Ham team that couldn't beat Palace at home today. Doubtful but still possible.

[treiz]

No chance we make Europe this year, I mean Hiddink has already stated that he's going to give the youngsters more PT, yes they were pretty impressive on Saturday, but that was against Villa. I expect growing pains and I'm optimistically hoping for 3 wins in the last 6 games.

On other news Conte confirmed to have signed a 3-year deal, he's got a big job rebuilding that side and there should be an overhaul but considering that he'll coach after the Euros there might not be enough time. Hopefully he decides to keep and play Christensen/Ake/Musonda/Kenedy and other youngsters.

[HIF]

Don't Chelsea have about 354 young players with great potential out on loan?

[treiz]

Don't Chelsea have about 354 young players with great potential out on loan?

Think the numbers a bit higher

But seriously, the youngsters like of Baker/Christensen/Ake/Musonda needs to at least be given a go, let them at least prove it in preseason. The older loanees like Moses/Cuadrado needs to go too.

[fatlever]

How would you guys rank these Chelsea youth prospects in terms of future potential? (limiting to players ~22 and under)

Strikers:
Bertrand Traore (1st team)
Patrick Bamford (Norwich)
Dominc Solanke (Vitesse)
Tammy Abraham (Youth)
Stipe Perica (Udinese)
Ike Ugbo (Youth)
Islam Feruz (?)

Attacking Mids:
Kenedy (1st team)
Charlie Musonda (Real Betis)
Izzy Brown (Vitesse)
Jeremie Boga (Rennes)
Lewis Baker (Vitesse)
Kasey Palmer (Youth)
Nathan (Vitesse)
Lucas Piazon (Reading)

Midfield:
Rueben Loftus-Cheek (1st team)
Nathan Ake (Watford)
Mario Pasalic (Monaco)
Danilo Pantic (Vitesse)
Nathaniel Chalobah (Napoli)
John Swift (Brentford)
Charlie Colkett (Youth)

Fullback:
Baba Rahman (1st team)
Jay DaSilva (Youth)
Ola Aina (Youth)
Todd Kane (NEC)
Wallace (Grimea)

Defense:
Kurt Zouma (1st team)
Andreas Christensen (Gladbach)
Thomas Kalas (Middlesboro)
Matt Miazga (1st team)
Kenneth Omeru (Kasimpasa)
Jake Clarke-Salter (Youth)

Keeper
Jamal Blackman (Ostersunds)

Keeping in my mind I've barely seen most of these guys play other than those who get some time with first time, just going by articles and forums etc... it seems the list might look something like:

Tier 1
Kurt Zouma - hard to argue with having him #1 since he has already solidified himself in starting 11.

Tier 2 (guys who have shown something already at Chelsea or in other top leagues, or the guys regarded most positively in media or by fans)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Andreas Christensen
Kenedy
Charlie Musonda
Bertrand Traore
Nathan Ake
Baba Rahman

Tier 3 ( promising, but most unproven guys, still needing better loan or more 1st team action)
Izzy Brown
Lewis Baker
Dominic Solanke
Mario Pasalic
Jeremie Boga
Matt Miazga
John Swift

Tier 4 (hyped youth, guys still with a chance to jump up a tier or two or three, but needing a loan or first team action)
Jay Dasilva
Jake Clarke-Salter
Ola Aina
Tammy Abraham
Kasey Palmer
Charlie Colkett
Ike Ugbo

Tier 5 (still waiting, still a chance, not getting any younger)
Nathaniel Chalobah
Thomas Kalas
Patrick Bamford
Jamal Blackman
Keneth Omeru

Tier 6 (complete unknown at this point)
Nathan
Stipe Perica
Danilo Pantic
Islam Feruz

Tier 7 (getting older and regressing)
Lucas Piazon


Which players am I missing? Who should be moved up or down a tier or two?

I have absolutely no faith in Piazon and really don't know why he has not yet been sold.

I really have no clue about the guys in tier 6. They are either a complete mystery or not getting much time in their loans. Let me know if I am way off base with any of these guys.

I do not ever really expect to see any of the guys in tier 5 get a legitimate shot at playing for the 1st team. Bamford was close, but I feel that if they didnt give him a chance this winter, and instead bought Pato and kept Falcao and Remy, then he'll probably never get a chance. Blackman might stick around at the #3 keeper.

I think tier 4 has a lot of promise with guys that might push for a higher tier once they get out of the youth system and into some loan action. I've been reading great things about msot of these guys for years.

Tier 3 seems to be filled with guys that are on the cusp of either making or breaking their Chelsea careers. If any of these guys stall on loans next year, that would be a bad sign. However, I could see a couple of them sticking with the first team next year as well.

I feel pretty good that everyone in tier 2 will either become a regular Chelsea rotation player or will at least get sold for a nice sum of money. I think any of those guys, if given the chance, could compete for a regular spot in the rotation.

Kurt Zouma is a stud. As long as he comes back healthy (big if) I see no reason he won't be featuring in our back line for the next 5+ years.

[Det the Threat]

Think the numbers a bit higher

But seriously, the youngsters like of Baker/Christensen/Ake/Musonda needs to at least be given a go, let them at least prove it in preseason. The older loanees like Moses/Cuadrado needs to go too.

You can watch Christensen during the pre-season and season at Gladbach next season.
It's a two year loan without an option to get him back and he's not going anywhere.
Or even the other way around, expect our sporting director to initiate another round of talks trying to secure a deal like the one we did for Thorgan Hazard(you still have a buyback option).
This would also give you more (financial)flexibility given that Conte has to produce from the start and certainly wants to buy a couple of players.

But no matter what, sending Christensen back to Chelsea makes no sense at all, cause even if Chelsea wanted that, he'd be about the #4 choice CB next season and that's absolutely not what the guy needs.
He'll be 20 this summer and still needs to play in order to develop and I doubt that Chelsea would be the right spot for him, with the supposed turnover in players and the pressure to produce from the get go.

[fatlever]

Agreed Det. No reason to rush Christensen back early unless Conte goes with a total youth movement and clears out Terry and Cahill in the process, very very unlikely. In that situation, Christensen might have a chance to land a starting gig from day 1 considering Zouma probably won't be ready to play to start the season.

However, with both Christensen and Zouma, I don't see any reason why Chelsea should spend huge money on another young CB, like a Stones. Maybe all that is needed is another proven vet in his prime years to bridge the gap between Terry/Cahill/Ivanovic and Zouma/Christensen/Miazga etc...

[Det the Threat]

Agreed Det. No reason to rush Christensen back early unless Conte goes with a total youth movement and clears out Terry and Cahill in the process, very very unlikely. In that situation, Christensen might have a chance to land a starting gig from day 1 considering Zouma probably won't be ready to play to start the season.

However, with both Christensen and Zouma, I don't see any reason why Chelsea should spend huge money on another young CB, like a Stones. Maybe all that is needed is another proven vet in his prime years to bridge the gap between Terry/Cahill/Ivanovic and Zouma/Christensen/Miazga etc...

Just a question.
Do you really think Miazga will ever be a real alternative at Chelsea?

This signing screams like the usual Chelsea ritual to me.
Sign young player, loan him, hope he develops and sell him for a profit.

[fatlever]

Agreed Det. No reason to rush Christensen back early unless Conte goes with a total youth movement and clears out Terry and Cahill in the process, very very unlikely. In that situation, Christensen might have a chance to land a starting gig from day 1 considering Zouma probably won't be ready to play to start the season.

However, with both Christensen and Zouma, I don't see any reason why Chelsea should spend huge money on another young CB, like a Stones. Maybe all that is needed is another proven vet in his prime years to bridge the gap between Terry/Cahill/Ivanovic and Zouma/Christensen/Miazga etc...

Just a question.
Do you really think Miazga will ever be a real alternative at Chelsea?

This signing screams like the usual Chelsea ritual to me.
Sign young player, loan him, hope he develops and sell him for a profit.

No, not really, which is why I put the "etc"... after him. Hoping that if its not Miazga it will be one of the other many young defenders in the talent pool - Ake, Clarke-Salter, Kalas, Omeru... Main point being, don't throw away 50 mil+ on someone like Stones when you might have a similar alternative already with the club. We were foolishly chasing Stones all summer and now it looks like Christensen, who has always had as much promise and similar skillset of playing out of the back was already in the pipeline. Miazga might not ever play another game with the 1st team, but at quick glance he has all the traits that we apparently loved about Stones - young, tall, ball playing, good in air.

We arent playing in CL next year and might be out of CL for a few more years as we rebuild. Now is the time to start trying to blood the highly promising youth, not continuing the trend of buying expensive players that are marginally, if at all, better than some of the youth waiting in the wings.

Let Conte bring in a CB and a high energy midfielder that he knows and trusts to play his way and let them help bridge the gap between the old and young.

Back to Miazga... I watched both games he played last week with USA u23 vs Colombia and he was not all that impressive to me. But he looked much much better with Chelsea last weekend. Could be typical inconsistency with a young player, or perhaps a guy who looks much better with ball rather than chasing a team (Colombia) while giving up 75% possession.

You get to see Christensen every week. What are your thoughts on him? Do you think he really has the tools and skills to take it to another level and become a world class CB? Because that would be fantastic.

[treiz]

Think the numbers a bit higher

But seriously, the youngsters like of Baker/Christensen/Ake/Musonda needs to at least be given a go, let them at least prove it in preseason. The older loanees like Moses/Cuadrado needs to go too.

You can watch Christensen during the pre-season and season at Gladbach next season.
It's a two year loan without an option to get him back and he's not going anywhere.
Or even the other way around, expect our sporting director to initiate another round of talks trying to secure a deal like the one we did for Thorgan Hazard(you still have a buyback option).
This would also give you more (financial)flexibility given that Conte has to produce from the start and certainly wants to buy a couple of players.

But no matter what, sending Christensen back to Chelsea makes no sense at all, cause even if Chelsea wanted that, he'd be about the #4 choice CB next season and that's absolutely not what the guy needs.
He'll be 20 this summer and still needs to play in order to develop and I doubt that Chelsea would be the right spot for him, with the supposed turnover in players and the pressure to produce from the get go.

Completely forgot it was 2 years, my bad

I do expect us to have a similar deal to Thorgan, but I feel that Christensen is much more ready now (even more in a years time) than Thorgan was when you guys bought him. So I expect Conte (should he still be there the year after, you never know), to try and keep him and get him games ASAP.

That depends on what approach Conte takes, if he treats this like a rebuild then I expect him to play more games, but if his main objective is to win as soon as he arrives then yes he would've been the 4th CB. Again that's the sort of discussion that he had with the board. I'm of the opinion that Chelsea needs a soft rebuild for the next 2 years to be ready to compete the year after, especially with the likes of Costa/Hazard potentially leaving and having Christensen start from the get go is a nice building block to start with.

[Det the Threat]

We arent playing in CL next year and might be out of CL for a few more years as we rebuild. Now is the time to start trying to blood the highly promising youth, not continuing the trend of buying expensive players that are marginally, if at all, better than some of the youth waiting in the wings.

Sure, but that doesn't sound like the way Chelsea's doing business since Abramovich took over.
He wants success consistantly and with all the money coming in the league, you'll certainly sign a couple of guys trying to at least finish top four again next season.

Because of that I doubt that young guys is the way you'll be going and I'm also not sure Conte's the guy for that.
The only young guy he really implemented into the team at Juventus was Pogba and that was a no brainer.
Other then that, he had loads of veterans and the luxury of managing the only team in Italy with a solid financial situation.

You get to see Christensen every week. What are your thoughts on him? Do you think he really has the tools and skills to take it to another level and become a world class CB? Because that would be fantastic.

He's got everything you'd want in a modern cb.
He's good with the ball at his feed, very poised, hardly ever has to foul(one booking in 25 games) and anticipates exceptionally well.
The only weekness is in the air, were he still needs to get a little stronger and win a couple more headers. But he's gotten better at that as well.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sipU4TPs-Ss[/youtube]

Completely forgot it was 2 years, my bad

I do expect us to have a similar deal to Thorgan, but I feel that Christensen is much more ready now (even more in a years time) than Thorgan was when you guys bought him. So I expect Conte (should he still be there the year after, you never know), to try and keep him and get him games ASAP.

That depends on what approach Conte takes, if he treats this like a rebuild then I expect him to play more games, but if his main objective is to win as soon as he arrives then yes he would've been the 4th CB. Again that's the sort of discussion that he had with the board. I'm of the opinion that Chelsea needs a soft rebuild for the next 2 years to be ready to compete the year after, especially with the likes of Costa/Hazard potentially leaving and having Christensen start from the get go is a nice building block to start with.

The deal we have for Hazard is that we signed him(for about €8M) and that you've got a buyback option(supposedly €25M) a couple of years down the road.
So if we'd be doing something similar it would mean Christensen being at Gladbach till 2018 or beyond that.

Though, given that you also have Zouma and Miazga(both are about 20 years of age), it might make sense to have Christensen develop somewhere else, while you still have some youngsters in your own squad.

BTW: Our sporting director stated once again, that Christensen will definetly play for us next season.

There is speculation surrounding whether or not Chelsea FC have the option to end Andreas Christensen's loan move in the summer…

Eberl: We have Andreas Christensen on a two-year loan deal and that's not going to change. He's certainly developed impressively and much like many of our players, he's being watched by big clubs. He will definitely be playing for us next season and if we're given the choice, we'd like to keep him for longer.

[fatlever]

And then there is Ruben Loftus-Cheek. RLC might be the most talked about youth player in the entire set-up. People have been comparing him to Pogba due to his impressive size for his age. He just signed a new five year deal with a big pay raise, especially for a young player has done nothing yet.

But, RLC has done nothing but disappoint me this year. I still have yet to figure out why he is so highly rated. Is he just one of those youths who was so much bigger and stronger than his peers he stood out at a young age? Every time he plays he just slowly jogs around the field, except when he isnt walking. He only shows interest when the ball is at his feet, and even then, he doesn't do much. For a player his age, who is fighting for a spot, he should be playing his ass off every minute he is on the field, especially when he comes on with 20 minutes left.

Maybe RLC has something that I just havent seen yet. I've been wrong plenty of times before. He's still young with time to grow, but the hype for him seems to be way out of control. He is one youth player that I will not be lobbying for to get more minutes. He is not the next Pogba. He'll be sold in the next 3 years to a mid to low level side. He is not the answer to the midfield. He is not a direct replacement for Ramires. I'd probably rather bring Van Ginkel back than to give RLC more minutes.

/rant

I wrote that back in early March. RLC has had several more chances to show something since then, including 40 minutes today in the last game of the season, and once again he was completely unimpressive. I have no idea how, out of all the young talents in the club, that RLC is the one that gets the huge pay raise, voted youth player of the year, and a guarantee of staying with the first team next season.

[treiz]

Yeah he's shown absolutely nothing during this run of games, even the 3-4 games when he was starting. Must be something in training that we don't see in games, hopefully that's the case.

I was more impressed with Abraham when he came on today for 40 minutes than I have been with RLC. Definitely hope he gets given a shot in the first team next year.

[fatlever]

Agreed, Abraham played his ass off and made a few good runs. He got caught offsides a few times too many, but that will come with playing time. And of course he needs to get stronger, but that will also come with age.

I really liked what I saw from Tomori, even though he was being played out of position. He did not look out of place at all.

I keep begging to see more of RLC because I am just dying to catch a glimpse of something in him that gives me hope, yet every time I feel disappointed.

Oh well, this awful season is finally over. Here's hoping for a few good transfers, some youth stepping up and claiming a spot or two on the squad for next year and a new manager who doesn't make me want to break nice things.

[treiz]

Abraham definitely showed some nice turns to get his shot off, like you said got caught offside a few times but overall he worked hard and got a couple of decent half chances. Did I forget that this guy is HUGE, I was surprised at how tall he is, maybe he's more lanky than anything.

Well RLC is still young, let's hope that he shows some glimpses in the pre-season at least. Thing that annoys me about him is that in most cases he just seems lazy.

Well the rumour mill has started and personally I'd love it if Chelsea signs Nainggolan.

[fatlever]

Based on some of the rumored targets, what would be a successful offseason for Chelsea?

This would make me happy

Buy:
two ball winning midfielders to play next to Fabregas
Kante
Nainggolan
one fast, athletic defender to help with the high line Conte wants to play
Rudiger or Koulibaly
one experience striker
Morata

Sell:
Matic
Mikel (unless he wants to stay as cover, which I doubt)
Remy
Moses
Van Ginkel (I really like him, but he's never going to get a shot again and he's ready to move on with his career, his value is solid after his loan spell with PSV)
Cuadrado
Salah (is his sale final yet?)
Bamford (its time to let him go, or bring him in as 3rd striker, no more loans)
Marin (its just cruel at this point)
Piazon

Cut Loans:
Pato
Falcao

Send out on loan (guys from 1st team last year):
Kenedy (I'd like to see him get loaned to a PL team where he can get steady minutes next year, see if he can take his game to the next level, rather than playing spot minutes. Unless we sell one of Pedro, Oscar or Willian, in that case, give the kid some real minutes)
Miazga

Bring back from loan:
Chalobah (can we just give the lad a chance to play some cup games)
Baker
Ake (we need some cover at left back)

Marginalize:
Terry (glad the brought him back, we still need his experience, but he can't be an every week starter)
Ivanovic (time for him to be used as cover, rather than every week starter)

On the fence:
Oscar (I'm hopeful that Conte can get the best out of him. He seems ideal for the system Conte wants to play where the team presses high up the field to win the ball. Oscar presses better than most. But If we need to unload him to pay for someone better, I won't cry.
Pedro (I'd like to see him have one more year to get his feet under him.)
Willian (I appreciate his work rate, but the end product lacks so often. If a big offer comes for him, I'd be OK to lose him. We have so many capable young attacking mids dying to prove they are ready to play. I'd be more than happy to keep Kenedy around if any of the above 3 are sold)

Change captains:
Make Fabregas the team captain

Wait one more year for Christensen and Musonda but have a plan to incorporate both into 1st team next summer. Do not sell without a reasonable buy back clause.

1st team depth chart (4-3-3)

-----------------------------------------------------------Courtois/Begovic--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------(Zouma)Cahill/Ivanovic--------------------------------------------------------Koulabaly/Terry-------------------------------
Azpi/Ivanovic--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rahman/Ake
------------------------------------------------------------Kante/Chalobah/Ake---------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------Nainggolan/Oscar/Baker------------------------Fabregas/Loftus-Cheek-------------------------------------
Willian/Traore/Oscar---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hazard/Pedro/Oscar
------------------------------------------------------------Costa/Morata/Traore----------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe also keep a few youth around on the team for cover like (unless you can find great loan situations):
Aina
Clarke-Salter
Tomori
Colkett

Maybe also hang on to one of Hector, Omeruo or Djilobodji for cover at CB until winter when Zouma returns. Really not sure which guy should be rated higher.