Season › 2019-20 › News
Deal for Rojo stalls over fee
The Blues were turned down by Manchester United yesterday when they tried to take Chris Smalling on loan and are now making a bid to bring Rojo in instead according to the Daily Mail.
Sky, meanwhile, suggested earlier that talks were underway over a permanent deal for Rojo which the defender but there have been further reports elsewhere that United were asking for as much as £25m for the 29-year-old who has just one year left on his current contract.
The Argentine is on the fringes of the first team, behind the likes of Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Smalling himself and new signing Harry Maguire at Old Trafford but United would apparently prefer to sell him outright rather than merely send him out on loan.
Rojo is believed to have come close to joining Everton last summer but the move never materalised and Marcel Brands turned his attention to Kurt Zouma instead. Zouma was the number one target this close season as well but Chelsea's transfer ban has put paid to any chance the Frenchman could be signed on a permanent basis.
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2 Posted 08/08/2019 at 11:48:06
3 Posted 08/08/2019 at 11:51:13
4 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:13:27
5 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:18:31
6 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:31:33
Hindsight is wonderful but we should have called quits on Zouma mid July and turned to other targets.
For those of a certain vintage the slowies just come on and we are frantically looking who we can hook up with.
7 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:34:47
8 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:38:50
Well so far no duff signings from Brands (codicil: see how Mina performs this season), with no purchases above market value, so we'll see what the state of play is when the window crashes shut tonight.
9 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:47:19
If he signs for us l will wait till l see how he fits in before passing judgement and trust Brands. After all, l have no choice.
Zouma will now be first choice at Chelsea by the looks of things after Lampard has had a look at this options. He won't now be coming here now, or January. Poor thing.
11 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:52:13
13 Posted 08/08/2019 at 12:57:51
What are they doing ? I know we need back up but signing Man Utd 's 5th choice defender, on a permanent too, is sheer desperation.
He is always injured or making rash challenges and getting booked risking being sent off. VAR will have a field day with him, he will be a liability.
There has got to be a better option.
If not, get him in on loan only, surely we don't want a permanently injured Man U cast off as a highly paid millstone.
14 Posted 08/08/2019 at 13:17:51
The quoted price of £25m would be a criminal waste of cash.
15 Posted 08/08/2019 at 13:20:52
16 Posted 08/08/2019 at 13:27:03
17 Posted 08/08/2019 at 13:29:06
25m scandalous waste of money with no sell on value! A panic buy!
18 Posted 08/08/2019 at 13:31:08
19 Posted 08/08/2019 at 13:54:23
20 Posted 08/08/2019 at 14:14:31
Yes, we left it to late, that's the big problem. The Zouma-wait was a big miscalculation...
But I'd rather we sign no-one and stick with Holgate/Pennington/Gibson/Feeney as backup instead of Rojo, who probably won't play that much anyway. And then buy a CB in the January-window instead...
But hopefully this is just a rumour stirred by Man Utd-rags and we buy a CB that's the real deal. As I said there are plenty out there...
21 Posted 08/08/2019 at 14:27:26
22 Posted 08/08/2019 at 14:55:52
23 Posted 08/08/2019 at 14:59:12
24 Posted 08/08/2019 at 14:59:56
25 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:12:28
We were heavily linked last summer but went with Zouma before. reports are conflicting as to whether that was preferable or because we could not land Rojo.
I watched Rojo a good few times In the 2013/14 season and he was great. He did stand out in the second best side in Portugal. However, it seems that injuries have reduced him and he's no longer that player. But why would we buy him rather than loan him if that is indeed the case? Maybe Silva and Brands think they can bring Rojo back to his best. The length of contract will say a lot here. It can't be longer than 3 years.
26 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:22:38
Surely the club knew early on in the summer that Zouma was a definite no no. We have had a decent transfer window so far, a centre half for me, was top priority.
27 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:27:54
Luiz obviously put a spanner in the works with his strop, and he's stamped his feet and got his way. Zouma being a nice guy has just got on with it and will sit on the bench more readily.
If we can get Zouma, next summer, why aren't we just loaning a centre half for now? That's what I don't understand.
28 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:41:50
Would we have been prepared to risk all in the hope that Zouma would want to join us? Right up until the last minute, so to speak.
As I say, a good window but very disappointed the CH position has not been addressed.
29 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:45:00
30 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:45:03
31 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:47:31
32 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:48:40
33 Posted 08/08/2019 at 15:58:32
United cannot wait to offload.
Please No.
34 Posted 08/08/2019 at 16:11:26
And I thought that we already had a central defender who captains his country - Martina.
35 Posted 08/08/2019 at 16:12:41
37 Posted 08/08/2019 at 16:39:21
I just hope this falls through. He isn't a left back or centre back.
Total scatter gun approach to this window as far as I am concerned.
Linked with just about everyone and bidding on multiple players that don't exactly spark the imagination or will improve the team.
Overloading with defensive midfielders, not addressing last year's failings of lack of goals only buying a 19 year old striker unproven in the prem.
Pretty dissapointing window.
38 Posted 08/08/2019 at 16:43:19
39 Posted 08/08/2019 at 16:55:13
Decent window getting Kean signed up.
Got rid of a lot of dead wood with more likely to go to European and Turkish teams.
Decent window, glad we didn't sign Rojo or Iwobi although there is still 7minutes to go.
Happy with bernard Kean gylfi and Richarlison for our attacking 4 players with Tosun, Walcott and DCL as back.
Ok could have really assaulted the top 4 with Zaha and Zouma in my opinion, but don't write the players off that we got.
40 Posted 08/08/2019 at 17:47:40
41 Posted 08/08/2019 at 18:12:50
42 Posted 08/08/2019 at 18:15:48
I think the loss of Gueye is huge, greater than Zouma and unlike most think that was most important to replace more than any other. Perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised by the signing of Gbamin but from what I have read he seems a totally different profile than Gueye replacement.
All in all, given we had last year to convince Zouma, 6 months to replace Gueye - seems more a failure than success in transfer market this summer. The January market always even harder.
Another long hard season ahead of us in my view.
43 Posted 08/08/2019 at 18:21:23
44 Posted 08/08/2019 at 18:32:46
Gbamin may do a decent job too of filling in, with a bit of luck.
Whatever , I am glad we didn't sign Rojo on a 3-4 year contract , rather the boys or Gbamin be on standby . A loan would have been acceptable.
45 Posted 08/08/2019 at 18:46:44
Mina needs to stay injury free and holgate will be very important. He needs to play like he did for big Sam not like west ham at home last season.
46 Posted 08/08/2019 at 19:34:37
Failure to have a Plan B in the event of Zouma staying at Chelsea was the only blip in the window as far as I'm concerned.
Until January when a new CB should be available, possibly even Zouma, adequate cover for Kean and Mina should be forthcoming from Holgate, Gbamin and Sidibe (both supposedly able to play at CB) and possibly young Gibson.
47 Posted 08/08/2019 at 20:08:19
48 Posted 08/08/2019 at 20:11:35
49 Posted 08/08/2019 at 20:52:31
50 Posted 08/08/2019 at 23:07:59
We got all of those (plus a back up keeper) apart from a centre back. That's a shame but some things are out of our control and I think the fact that Gbamin can play there means Brands didn't need to panic buy one of these Utd players at ridiculous prices. Hopefully Zouma comes next summer after a year on the bench.
In addition we have shifted Lookman, Vlasic and McCarthy for decent money and time still to move on Tosun, Henry O and perhaps Schneiderlin (as well as loaning out the likes of Mirallas and Bolasie). Overall a good window
51 Posted 08/08/2019 at 23:15:16
Older, injury ravaged and even more filthy in the tackle, I'm overjoyed we haven't managed to agree a deal.
It's going to take a big adjustment from Silva playing Mina and Keane if he persists with a high line. Personally even with the deficiencies in his game has to be Keane and Holgate for me.
52 Posted 08/08/2019 at 23:41:03
We new we needed one, well in advance yet, left it too late in the hope that somehow we would either get Zouma back, or Fikayo Tomori on loan, the David Luiz situation put paid to that.
I did think that there may have been a revelation late on, but it wasn't to be, but overall considering the situation we were in, and needing more out's than in's, not a bad Window at all.
Apart from that 'oversight'!
53 Posted 08/08/2019 at 23:44:58
54 Posted 08/08/2019 at 23:56:49
Silva got the unit playing higher up the park towards the end of last season. We were much less vulnerable and turned the ball over much closer to the opponents goal.
It's a big miss not getting a quick CB.
55 Posted 09/08/2019 at 09:03:44
He will fill out, be tougher after his loans in the Championship. bear in mind he is just 22 and has fantastic potential.
The Centre back position tends to be occupied by older players, he will be one in a few years and I expect big things
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1 Posted 08/08/2019 at 11:45:49