If, buts and maybes. Caicedo was doing well until he changed his agent in January 2023.
We hopefully got a few million out of Liverpool after yesterday if there was a trophy clause/european qualification etc.
There was the small matter of announcing to the world that he'd signed for Arsenal about 3 days before the January transfer window slammed shut, and apparently he'd also cleared out stuff from the training ground well before either Chelsea or Liverpool had had bids accepted.
I also feel no animosity towards Caicedo, I still see him as an Albion player I loved (I know loved is a bit strong, but he was a big part of our best ever side). I'm glad he performed well after his moved to Arsenal was denied, but he was a bit of a knob in the way he went about leaving. He justified his move to Chelsea rather than Liverpool by saying that he'd been in contact with Chelsea for a long time - bit weird given that he wanted to go to Arsenal a few months earlier, and also quite annoying given that he was supposed to be playing for us, not lining up a move to our opponents.
He also signed a new contract before the world cup, meaning he didn't leave for nothing the following summer so....
Agree with that, but I think BDB could be at his zenith now. But boy, he’s done brilliantly.
A player who needs to be managed. At Chelsea you are a mere chess piece to be moved around by a rather distant (and uninspiring*) general, or simply left in the box. Players who need intense coaching, and perhaps a bit of a cuddle, like Caceido and Mudryk (coincidentally both rather primitive religionists, praise the lawd), can in the space of a few weeks go from Balon d'or candidates to utter dogshit.
I agree with you here. He was the initial pivot but then part of all our passing patterns. He was charged with winning the ball high after we'd attacked but was young, quick and strong enough to come back and make good recovery tackles. He was absolutely key to RDZ ball last season and we've not replaced it, a proper box to box midfielder. Chelsea don't use him that way.
I don't agree with you here. Romano is a Chelsea mouthpiece and he only had eyes for them even when we accepted a bid from Liverpool. Some might say the agent's percentage of an even higher fee and 8 year contract would be far preferable, never mind what other transactions might have taken place. It was murky, unpleasant and disloyal. I hope the bloke rots there.
Not forgetting the Spanish lad who picked up a losers medal whilst warming the bench and gazing into space. Long forgotten even as a dud?
Easy to forget a player who, with the signing of Bart, had effectively been demoted to third-choice keeper by the time we sold him. I was surprised we got any sort of fee for a player that clearly wasn't wanted by the manager and could have potentially just been a burden on the wage bill. To get £25m was astounding business by BHA and equally astounding incompetence by Chelsea.
He gets caught up in the emotion, and makes rash tackles. I don't think he'll react at all well to the reception he'll get from the Amex crowd, when they come to us, and I'm 100% having a flutter on him getting a red that day.
His tackle yesterday was on a similar level to Gilmour's red. It wouldn't have been overturned by VAR if the on-field ref had given it and should certainly have been a yellow, and he should've already been on a yellow by that point.
