21 Jul 2015 10:07:27
Reports that Chelsea would go as high as 34 million for Stones. If true, I'd much rather the club spend that money on Varane or someone like Otamendi who's a little more seasoned. Anything above 30 million for a 21 year old cb who's not that good yet is a tremendous waste of funds IMO. There are much better alternatives for that kind of money. Otamendi, Varane, Laporte, even Liverpool's Sakho (as I rate the guy personally) or Valencia's other cb Mustafi. All better players than Stones IMO and would probably be available for around the same money. Please be smart, Chelsea.
21 Jul 2015 11:32:16
For once, Jackson, I disagree. the HG quotas could increase soon and even if they do not, we don't have the best ratio of HG to imported players. its unfortunate but English players are over priced. i'm envious of Man citys business to date this window. although they are paying much more than they ideally should, that once again unfortunately, is the current state of the English transfer market. out of all the England team Stones is the player who I feel will benefit Chelsea the most, if not the ox who will never be an option to us.
on a side note, we must be the only 2 people in the world who rate liverpools sakho.
21 Jul 2015 13:11:46
34m is a hell of a lot of money! But as a long term investment, I think it could be worth it.
I think the clubs plan is to have as many HG players in the squad as possible wether it be through the academy players or the signings of top English talent from other clubs.
If you look at the academy then you will see that it is full of outstanding midfield and attacking players but it's not so strong in defence. There is not one stand-out player from that defence that I can see holding down s first-team place at chelsea for years to come.
If the club are willing to pay that kind of money than they must see Stones as a long term JT replacement so I think it will happen and in a couple of years when JT is gone we will have a new hero leading from the back in Stones!
21 Jul 2015 20:22:20
Sakho!! Jackson, you've gone down in my estimation!
21 Jul 2015 21:36:44
I agree with SuperFrank in general but would like to point out that we do have Christensen, who by all accounts is a fantastic prospect. Ideally he'd be loaned out and getting first team experience but I believe he needs to be at the club another 6months in order to qualify as both HG and club trained.
22 Jul 2015 08:51:47
Fuser, Christensen has already gone on loan to Monchengladbach.
And yes, Mrs Costa, I believe Sakho is a fine defender. He's strong, looks a bit clumsy but isn't really IMO and he defends well. He's also a mainstay in the French defense (or at least the 3rd cb option) and with them having ridiculous talent at cb that is a testament to his abilities. It's not that I necessarily want him, but he wouldn't be a bad buy as he must have leadership abilities as well with him captaining PSG when he was still very young. I really believe we can do better with that kind of money. To each his own I guess :-)