Once again, it’s time to preach and bang the drums this summer, because I will not quit and just stay silent.
This summer is PIVOTAL for the ownership and all the decision makers and negotiators at the club [all pictured above]. Get this right, and we can all move forward. Get it wrong, then there are no more excuses and big changes will need to be made at the very top.
Sign Mike Maignan to start with for £25m. If that’s what they’re asking, don’t negotiate, just pay it. It’s not being rinsed, it’s not being weak in negotiations, it’s getting a bargain fee for a goalkeeper that vastly upgrades what we have, and it also adds what we lack a lot of – quality experience. Just get it done and even better, get it done behind closed doors and just announce him like you did with Pedro Neto.
Back Enzo Maresca and what he says he needs to play his style of football. Because YOU have backed Maresca by giving him the job and banking on him, so now you need to provide him the tools to do his job. Maresca wants new attackers, so go get them for him. And same for all the other positions he wants.
Sign a dominant centre back who has some solid experience. I’d ideally go with Jarrad Branthwaite, but I agree at the moment he’s slightly over-priced.
And it’s totally fair if you want to look strong in negotiations, it’s great to be that way. Don’t overpay for players like Jamie Gittens and Hugo Eikitike, fans will support that. But pick your battles. Not one person in the world would say that we had our pants pulled down if we sign Maignan for £25m, that I assure you of.
Make sure we are covered in all positions and please keep as much business out of the media as possible. Fans are sick and tired of briefings, PR, lies, and a minute by minute update of a zoom call or what bloody aftershave a director is wearing during a meeting. That didn’t happen by the way, but you get my point. And this is coming from someone who makes a living out of reporting these little updates!! That’s how annoying it’s got. A lot of those briefings were not from Chelsea, but we all know what we have seen and heard over the years from our side and it has to stop.
Just get the job done this summer and bring experience into the spine of the team where it’s most needed, and add players who clearly IMPROVE what we already have and are not all just raw prospects.
It’s really that simple, and I’ll keep repeating myself too until it’s addressed.
