WE MAKE THE BIG CALLS SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO
Chelsea have always spent big. They’ve been spendthrifts since time immemorial. Full marks for ambition, though you never quite know how their sprees are going to work out. In the 1930s and 1940s, for example, they broke the bank for stars such as Hughie Gallacher and Tommy Lawton, only for the former to spend most of his time being cashiered through saloon doors along the Kings Rahd, and the latter to take about five minutes to decide he’d rather play for third-tier Notts County instead. Or how about the ££££££s spaffed in the 1970s on the luxurious state-of-the-art East Stand, a behemoth that nearly bankrupted the club? Or the cash Ken Bates spent in the 1980s on electric wire and other gear? Actually we’re not quite sure how to quantify that. Robert Fleck for £2.1m was a bum deal, we know that much for sure.
However, for every financial fiasco there’s been a success story to match, and then some. Roberto Di Matteo for £4.9m! Didier Drogba for £24m! Fernando Torres for £50m! Álvaro Morata for £58m! Marc Cucurella for £60m! Romelu Lukaku for £97.5m! Actually we’re not sure what we’re trying to say here. But they do buy big, and despite the scattergun approach, and often despite themselves, since the turn of the millennium they’ve been racking up the trophies like billy-o. So it’s somehow working. And now they have announced their latest new shiny random thing, João Félix, who will cost the club a few beans short of €10m for a five-month dalliance. Football Daily predicts this could go one way or the other. You’re welcome.
But which way? Félix’s time at Atlético Madrid has been considered something of a disappointment, certainly in the context of the £113m they paid Benfica for the then-teenager in 2019. But then he was part of the team that won La Liga in 2021, so we should all be so disappointing. He also did a goal against Ghana for Portugal at the Human Rights World Cup, plus a couple of reasonably direct dribbles against Switzerland, so there’s all that as well. It had been enough to get Manchester United interested too, but Félix had his heart set on Stamford Bridge, so here we are. United, on the rebound, will bolster their attack with the loan capture of Wout Weghorst instead. Now there’s a signing that could go either way also. Again, no need to thank Football Daily, our sole purpose is to serve you, and serve you well.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It was a great moment on the pitch. I got a lot of applause and a lot of messages, I spoke to my teammates and the opponents. This support contributes to performance … I was really looking forward to playing because I couldn’t do it straight away after my move. Playing is a much better feeling than exercising and running through the woods. I missed that feeling” – Sébastien Haller makes his first appearance in a Dortmund shirt, having returned from four rounds of chemotherapy for testicular cancer, in their 5-1 friendly win over Fortuna Düsseldorf.
View image in fullscreenSébastien Haller gives interviews after the friendly in Marbella. Photograph: Alexandre Simões/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Re: memories of Gareth Bale (yesterday’s Quote of the Day). Among the other better-known moments, picture a warm summer’s evening at the County Ground in 2013 for a pre-season friendly of Swindon against Spurs. During a first-half run largely by Tom Huddlestone, Bale – playing on the right – broke through and leathered it in from outside the box. What did we just see, was the collective thought? So many more obvious moments but that was a special one. Thanks Gareth” – Jeremy Foxon.
If you really want to fizz up the Coca-Cola Cup, what about leaving out the Premier League teams altogether and have the prize for winning it be automatic promotion to the next division up? Seems like there would be enough incentive there to make every team fight tooth and nail (wherever that expression came from) to win it. I guarantee there would be some almighty battles. Imagine the likes of Rochdale gaining promotion to League One this season at the expense of Northampton. Though it might be more interesting to see Sheffield United having their automatic promotion threatened” – Bob Sibson.
I see in yesterday’s Rumour Mill that Carlos Alcaraz is poised to put pen to contract and enjoy a sojourn to sunny Southampton. They could do with the help, but do they know he’s currently knacked and unable to compete in the Australian Open? More bad transfer business” – Jeremy Boyce.
Send your letters to [email protected]. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Jeremy Foxon.
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