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Chelsea have James, who is captain, and Achempong, who has the potential to be very good. I actually think he’d suit Arsenal or Man City. Arteta is collecting players like Thanos collected infinity stones and Haaland would thrive (even more) from Trent crosses.

TAA coming back is highly unlikely imo. Fee, wages, status in the squad and playing style would all be difficult to resolve. He was vice captain when he left (that’s not happening), would we pay more than the £10m we received? (Probably not), wages are sky high at RM (circa £250k pw), and Iraola traditionally plays when flying full backs (which TAA ain’t).

That’s fair, I thought we could express to him that we support him but I appreciate the contributions from people with more experience about this than me.

What’s the quality of wapupu like? My 10yo daughter thinks football jerseys with jorts is a “look”.

If Gakpo is still here for the Forest game I hope there is something planned after his recent loss. We rightly did it for Cristano Ronaldo and we should 100% be doing it for one of our players.

I did say natural position but I do acknowledge that people can cover different positions but I like players playing where they are strongest.

I think we need to address the forwards more than defence tbh. These are our (or potential) players in their natural positions: Left wing - Barcola, Ngumoha, Munoz, Gakpo Centre Forward - Isak, Ekitike Right wing - Minteh I know people can fill in but that’s a really stark misbalance and testament to how poor our planning has been.

That’s fair, maybe on your wildcard week then.

If we sign Minteh, I’d immediately throw him in your fantasy teams. I think Iraola could turn Minteh into a Mane-type player. Big shout, I know.

We've been watching Minteh since his Newcastle spell, but especially closely since January, which I posted about at the time. Mbaye's got agent issues similar to Diomande's, so it's understandable we've moved on. I think Barcola gets done, and Gakpo ends up at Spurs. Still feels like we need another signing though, because midfield is a catastrophe waiting to happen if we don't add to it.

Barcola isn’t a Salah replacement. Salah’s output needs to be covered by Isak, Wirtz, Barcola (if he comes) and a RWer. Isak and Wirtz haven’t contributed anything yet so it should all be a plus.

A technically gifted player who will be afforded the time on the ball in Italy he very rarely got here. Enjoy Curtis. I will ask about a midfielder later …..but surely a must though.

Premier League Top 5 Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal Spurs Man City Premier League Bottom 3 (Relegated) 18. Ipswich Town 19. Hull City 20. Coventry City Champions League Winner Barcelona UEFA Winner AC Milan FA Cup Winner Chelsea League Cup Winner Brentford Premier League Top Scorer Erling Haaland First Manager Sacked Frank Lampard Promoted Teams West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers Millwall

Kid is a star but no obvious path to first team regular in PSG led to blowout between old agent (who are family) and PSG. New agent tried to smooth things over but the dye has been set.

His millionaire father, who gave him the company probably helped.

I’d agree it’s more likely to stay than go but I think it’s because no one wants him as opposed to him wanting to stay.

If the issue was simply the quality of the full-back, why did Gakpo often look better when the left-back stayed deeper and allowed him to hold the width (imo)? Kerkez isn’t that full back “he’s a head down whip in” type who is 21 and all that entails. Robertson's worked because of his intelligence and experience to work around Gakpo’s deficiencies or traits, or stay deep. I think I’d rather have Kerkez in the team than Gakpo, especially under Iraola. FWIW Gakpo said in December last year - “The difference, age is a difference. I think experience. Robbo has obviously a lot of experience, he’s been at the club for a long time as well. Milos is younger but eager to learn new things.”

Staying - Dom, Grav, and Nyoni. Maybes - Macca, Jones, and Endo. Gone - Bajcetic and McConnell. It feels very light now.

I’ve heard nothing but everyone is understanding about what his plans are (not what they are). He, his wife and wider family are dealing with loss and life is bigger than football. I read that as whatever he wants to do, the club will go along with.

I was impressed with the direction he was giving Frimpong.

The Gakpo problem is interesting. He’s not a bad player but not pretty on the eye. He likes to cut inside but doesn’t have the dribbling skill to beat a man when in there so he shoots. He doesn’t like when the full back bombs on as he has only one place to go and it reduces his “surprise” element. He’s become one dimensional and defenders just show him inside every time, knowing that’s he will wildly shoot or square it. This also nullifies the flying Hungarian and is another highlight of the imbalance in this squad, and three years of managers pulling the system in different directions.

We are tired now.

Ngumoha isn’t a RW, Frimpong has been good, Gakpo is catfishing us again, Jacquet looks good and pressing is great to see.

Munoz is a winger, Chiesa is more likely to be used as CF, Nyoni has come on a bit, Elliot is unimpressive, Tsimikas still braindead, MacAllister still ponderous on the ball and all in all s***e first game.

If it were up to me, I'd bring in Baleba and Wharton. I'd be happy to let Endo and Jones move on, and possibly Elliott too. I think that completely reshapes and balances the midfield. With around 60 games to get through this season, there should be more than enough minutes to go around for everyone.