More likely Morata was Conte's first choice. And Rudiger is a typical, strong centerback. Solid additions regardless of where they were in terms of choice.
Chelsea 2017/18 thread - FA Cup Champs, League chumps
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Wouldnt just Willian there be a better option than going for a future super star CM (assuming we have a chance to get him which actually we dont) to play him at RWB.
Where would Chelsea even play an attacking mid? The sale of Oscar and no attempt to sign Hames is a clear signal that there is no need for a number 10 for now. We could go for a proper CM since we have only 3 in Kante, Bakayoko and Fabregas but I think the club would just keep Baker for now.
Bakayoko may not be better than Matic in his all round game right now but will be an upgrade for the position Matic was playing in the 3-4-3. The other and more important thing is that Bakayoko and Morata signings now allows Chelsea to play a solid 3-5-2 with Fabregas as a proper regista. Who needs matic's passing ability when Luiz and Fabregas are on the field any way.
Also, Conte seems to work magic with error prone defenders first Bonucci then Luiz. No reason to think that Rudiger wont have significant improvement under Conte.
Who are the targets for wing back and midfield cover?
Don't think Willian can play there at this point, he's become rather overrated defensively if you ask me. A couples of seasons ago he tracked back effectively but now he doesn't look like he can be arsed to half the time.
I don't think it's necessarily the biggest misuse of Sanches to play him at RWB-he has the engine to get up and down the flank and the dribbling to get past players 1v1. True, you'd probably pay something of a premium as CMs cost more, but I believe the quoted price floating around was €40m, which isn't too bad for a player with his potential. Plus if you put him in a more limited role you'd ease him into a new league, which could only help a young player trying to adjust. As he becomes more comfortable with the pace of play in the league you could move him into central midfield in subsequent seasons.
It's really what he struggled with at Bayern I thought-in Portugal most teams sit deep against Benfica, whereas in Germany everyone presses even against Bayern and he was unprepared for that. A season where he only has to worry about opposition players coming from one side could actually help him adjust quite a bit.
Very farfetched though and you're spot on, it'll almost certainly not happen. I've no clue who we'll sign to play RWB though, unless it'll actually be Rudiger playing there.
I agree, though good so far.
Its likely hes unsure and very likely hes not on the verge of walking, one is the extreme and the other is the reality.
He is probably waiting to see if the board will match his plan and ambition
Great window so far, we will definatly add 2 more maybe 3.
2 wingbacks are likely Sandro/Bertrand/Mendy lwb & Danilo as the main option on the other side but im sure Conte has other targets we will switch too if it comes through.
If we keeper Baker, Musonda etc our talented youth players in the squad, our team is looking a lot better than last year.
Yes agree with the WBs, we certainly need cover or even an upgrade.
Massive money for Morata.
Desperation?
Desperation?
Nah, we sold Oscar for £60 mil. Welcome to the new world of transfer fees.
Still. Huge huge money on Morata. You must have paid double his true value at least?
True value of about £30 million? Have you been drinking?
Zouma signed a 6 year deal today and got sent to Stoke on loan for a season. Strange move from him imo
Needs to play following a serious injury and he dropped down the pecking order whilst he was out. Good move I think.
Morata is a good signing for them. A pretty similar player to Costa in a lot of ways so he should fit in very well. I believe he was a better fit for Chelsea and Lukaku a better fit for us.
Good move to get a season of football under his belt after a bad injury. Stoke are woeful, though.
I'd say 35-40.
That won't even get you a Matic these days.
That's not his true value either.
But yeah. With his record and age id have Morata at 40 tops
We're in a time where there's serious talk of a £200 million transfer for someone not called Messi. £60-70 mil for Morata is about right.
Exactly. The market is bat shit crazy. Pickford cost thirty odd million ffs and Sigurdsson is valued at fifty. The fee for Morata was fine.
Honestly dont even know why you bother replying to this guy lol genuinely not worth the effort.
On a positive note mate i reckon we will make 2-4 more signings, its been a great window so far.
His first choice was Lukaku and Bonucci I think.
You even made a bid on Lukaku just to save your face since we hijacked him from you. After that,you went to your second choice Morata.
I'm just being realistic and giving my opinion.
I think the market in general is crazy right now but 70m pounds for a bench warmer with it all to prove is huge. His record is very average and he couldn't make the grade at Real.
You might think I'm on the wind up but genuinely I can see why United refused to pay what they wanted all things considered.
Morata is a more of a gamble than Lukaku. But then Conte knows the player so that mitigates it a bit in Chelsea's case.
To be fair, both Morata and Lukaku are unproven as the main scorer for a top top club, so both are a gamble. High risk, high reward though, so it will be interesting to see how their season unfolds.
Just having a think here, maybe some Chelsea fans can educate me. In its current state (presuming Costa is leaving), is Chelsea's squad good enough to compete on three/four fronts?
That first team is solid, probably the most balanced in the league, but once the Champions' League comes into play, will that B-team be good enough to drop into? It seems a little strange for a team to drop into four competitions with that squad.
Courtois
Rudiger - Luiz - Azpilicueta
Moses - Kante - Bakayoko - Alonso
Pedro - Morata - Hazard
Caballero
Christensen - Cahill - Kalas
? - Fabregas - Matic - Rahman
Willian - Batshuayi - KenedyRudiger - Luiz - Azpilicueta
Moses - Kante - Bakayoko - Alonso
Pedro - Morata - Hazard
Caballero
Christensen - Cahill - Kalas
? - Fabregas - Matic - Rahman
That first team is solid, probably the most balanced in the league, but once the Champions' League comes into play, will that B-team be good enough to drop into? It seems a little strange for a team to drop into four competitions with that squad.
Their second strings is quite shocking, tbh. A big drop in quality compared with the first team.
True value is whatever a team is willing to pay. This is the world we are in now, this is Morata's true value (as ridiculous as it is)
Baker, Boga and Musonda could make up the numbers. Even Remy could stay as backup.
I don't think we're done with transfers by the way.
We certainly need several more signings. Most obviously in the wide defensive positions and another forward.
Not really sure how confident I am about our board to get what we need. We don't appear close to any wing back signings. Maybe if we sell Matic we'll see some movement in midfield.
With Rudiger, Bakayoko and Morata as additions they sure upgraded their physicality.
Well the answer is simply no. That's why we've been trying to get wingbacks. I'd say we need another winger too, unless Musonda lives up to the hype and then we're fine. Any of Azpilicueta, Willian, and Pedro can play RWB if something happens to Moses in case we don't get in another. I'm concerned about our CM depth, who knows if Conte rates Baker.
Dunno about that. Fabregas, Matic, Willian and Cahill would walk into most sides first XI.
If you take all your second strings together
Shocking? Really? Having the likes of Cesc, Willian, Cahill, Christensen on the bench is probably better than any other PL club can have in reserve on any given day.
Our depth is just really poor in a couple of key areas - wing back and CM.
No it isn't. Moses needs to be replaced. Then i'm somewhat happy with the first xi. Alonso needs a decent back up. If that happens i think we will have enough depth. Willian and Pedro is good competition. As will Christensen and Cahill be. Cesc too. Realistically 3 positions where players are competing. Though Kenedy isn't good enough, we could play cesc in a 352 as well.
However, if Matic goes he needs to be replaced. 2 WB's, maybe an extra striker and then replace those who leave I think will leave a good enough squad.
Like i said before, take the whole second strings and compare them with your first choices