Yeah, same. Can’t quite put my finger on it. Some are just comical but others give me ‘uncanny valley’ vibes.
I’ve seen Bedia a couple of times for Servette. Really physical, good finisher and no slouch either for a lad his size. Servette are quite a direct team and he’s great at holding up the ball as he’s as strong as an ox. Would be a decent signing if it comes off.
Jonathan Rowe off to Marseille on loan with a £13m obligation to buy. On that basis I think we did very well to get what we got for Philogene
I can see why that might be a good deal for Marseille as they’re getting a player they want this summer whilst delaying the expense for next summer but what benefit is it to Norwich now? He’s not even on high wages so getting him off the wage bill isn’t an excuse.
I think he is out of contract next summer so guess if he’s not signing a new deal it’s a guaranteed fee. Assuming no takers this summer it might be their best option.
Chelsea’s transfer business for the last few years has been ridiculous. Abramovič used to spend a lot of money but what Todd Boehly is doing is just several layers of insane. They spent a combined £176,200,000 on three defensive midfielders alone last summer, not including add-ons. The one they wanted the most all last summer was Caicedo and Brighton played them like a fiddle because they knew they’d end up paying the huge fee. They got Ugochukwu earlier in the window, I guess as a contingency if they didn’t get Caicedo but to then sign Lavia for £53,000,000 after signing Caicedo was just pure greed. Them signing Lavia just struck me as signing a player just to prevent Liverpool or anyone else from getting him. They signed Disasi last summer for £38,800,000 and he didn’t even make the bench on Sunday because of how big their squad is. During the 2022/23 season their expenditure for transfer fees was £574,800,000 and their income was £76,000,000. For the 2023/24 season, their transfer fee expenditure was £407,200,000 and income was £236,400,000. For this summer, their expenditure is already £161,900,000 and income is £96,700,000. That’s not including João Félix, who is set to sign for them. They’re trying to offload the likes of Sterling, Chalobah, Gallagher, Arrizabalaga and Lukaku still but there’s no guarantee they’ll find buyers who match their valuation before the transfer window closes. How are they getting away with it? Even with amortisation, they spend significantly more than they make from transfer fees. I think their amortisation costs for the 2022/23 season was over £200,000,000 alone. They also keep signing young goalkeepers for millions just to stockpile them.
Let's see which teams will enjoy transfer deadline loans from Chelsea, may be even further I am sure plenty of teams from later deadline countries are just waiting for Premier League deadline to collect those players cheaply.
