Moussa Diaby

Clrnc

They have about 3 first team player per position now. It's untenable.

I don't see it with Diaby and he is not an inverted winger that Mikel likes

Claudius

flobaba are you upset that Chelsea effectively offered about £20m more than us for a player and then gave the player £60m in guaranteed salary versus our plan for about £13m? For a player with limited track record. This was a great transfer at £30-40m. A lot of everything after that was just commitment effect by the club and the fans. We wanted him so bad at any price

Clrnc

Claudius the wages part you can ignore actually since he verbally agreed the 50k with us. He didn't go for money.

Big Willie

Clrnc yeah but verbal agreements aren't binding and once Chelsea offered him what they did, we'd have had to have matched it unless our agreement with him in wages was already on paper. Obviously all that assumes our bad was eventually accepted, which it clearly wasn't.

It's why he asked if we were gonna match Chelsea's offer. I don't for one second believe he was referring just to the bid but rather both the bid and the contract offer.

Clrnc

Big Willie Do we legally have to match it? I doubt so. Leeds accepted both offers and Chelsea offered higher wages but Raphinha rejected it and went with the far lower Barca wage.

I'm not privy to the contract details but if I'm a player I probably wouldn't mind 50k + yearly wage rise and bonuses for 4 year deal over a 100k for 8.5 year. The latter contract (unless they have a release clause) is pretty much prison

Big Willie

Clrnc no I'm talking from the contract perspective. Obviously he wanted us to match the offer to shaktar but I reckon he still would have wanted us to match the comtra t offer to him as well in any case, unless our agreement with Mudryk himself was signed.

Claudius

It doesn’t really matter on the personal terms. We were so far off on the transfer fee, they Mudryk would’ve known to just go with Chelsea. I doubt we would’ve resolved the difference.

I guess what also happened with Chelsea is that to spread the cost of the transfer longer, they incentivised the player with higher salary to address the risk of lock-in for him. He’s probably now making 10-20x his previous salary

Segway

Man, it's really underwhelming watching videos of this guy after Mudryk.

Claudius

Segway
I would rather we went small but useful now - someone like Trossard who we know can deliver in this league. And then went massive for Kvaratskhelia or equivalent in the summer

Clrnc

Segway It's underwhelming to watch any wingers after you watched Mudryk.

Except if its Mitoma or Kvratshekelia.

Wouldn't be against a Torres or Trossard loan, but don't want them permanently here.

JazzG

There has been talk of a loan for Ferran Torres and would certainly be up for that. Then reassess our options in the summer.

Big Willie

Clrnc true. I'm not bothered anymore. Was completely invested in Mudryk, whatever we get now will feel meh in comparison.

QuincyAbeyie

I like Mitoma, but saying he's better than Leao is way OTT. He's more Raphinha level.

Clrnc

QuincyAbeyie Forgot about Leao, add him in.

goon

Agree about the links all feeling underwhelming. The only thing that gives me comfort is that it's purely for extra cover/support because we already have two of the best young wide attackers around - arguably three if ESR can get back up to speed.

lorddulaarsenal

I don’t think it’s underwhelming watching videos of him compared to Mudryk. Diaby is able to evade players with ease and he’s an end product machine. One of the question marks over Mudryk is his ability in and around the box when it’s congested.

Gazza M

surprised people are down on diaby. as of now, hes a better player than mudryk and far more likely to have an immediate impact on our title challenge

Qwiss

Gazza M yep, he's a minute ch more proven quantity in a top league.