Red White and The Blues: A Chelsea FC Podcast

Red, White & Blues FC | Mudryk Is Back, Infantino Tried to Sell the World CupChelsea have been made whole again. Also, the president of FIFA attempted a legal bribe in broad daylight and it blew up in his face.Big things happening, big people back, old people here, and Infantino is an asshole — that's the episode in one line. Mykhailo Mudryk is finally cleared and back at Chelsea after twenty months away, which sends Daniel into a full state of rapture and Jason into a state of mild concern about it. Then we get into a preseason loss to ten-man Tottenham that neither of us can confirm actually happened, two deals that went official today, and the small matter of FIFA nearly spinning the World Cup off into a private equity vehicle. There's no transfer deep-dive here — that's Thursday, and we've got an announcement about Thursday at the end.Welcome Back, KingMudryk is back for two more years and Daniel is not being ironic about how happy he is — well, mostly not. The man everybody puts their hopes and dreams into, who constantly disappoints us, and whom we love anyway, butterfly tattoos and all. The infuriating part is the timing: the rules changed after he got popped, and if the same result came in today no charge would have been brought at all. He lost twenty months of his career to a process that dragged. So, some house rules going forward — don't leave your drinks unattended, don't take supplements, fire the virtual doctor, become a vegan, get it straight from the source. The training photo of Mudryk and Estêvão together in Hong Kong is Daniel's new favorite Chelsea picture ever, and on the strength of it alone he has decided we're winning the league. Peak Eden Hazard season. Then the Strasbourg loan rumor surfaced and the joy curdled instantly: send Gittens for the reps, Mudryk doesn't need them. Over/under on a red card in his first match remains open.A Loss to Ten-Man Tottenham That May or May Not Have OccurredNeither of us watched it, so neither of us can confirm nor deny. Let Tottenham have it — it's preseason, and God knows they need something. Estêvão scored, other people spent the afternoon trying to take our players out, and the only thing that actually matters is that we came out of Australia without injuries. The pitches on this tour have been rubbish, no Ed Sheeran required this time. Lavia played and did not get hurt, which we're treating as a minor miracle, and Jason would like Estêvão laying healing hands on the entire locker room for the full season. Wednesday's Juventus match is at Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong, and Daniel's faith in a decent surface rests entirely on the theory that the hosts won't want to look bad — unlike whatever repurposed rugby pitch we were playing on in Australia.The Bushwhackers Are Officially Chelsea PlayersDanny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson have both been formally announced, which prompts several minutes of the two of us doing the Bushwhackers arm-swing at each other. Careful, lads, you'll sprain something. The mental image we can't shake is Welbeck and Henderson coming off the bench while Estêvão and Mudryk heckle them from the sideline — Henderson, don't use your arms to break your fall, your bones are brittle. He's going to concede a handball and break his arm doing it. Elsewhere: Geovany Quenda is with the squad now and we're hoping to see his Chelsea debut, two deals went official today with Trevoh Chalobah joining Como and Valentín Barco finally being confirmed as a Chelsea player — a signing we're fairly sure was announced two months ago, and one that even Rory apparently missed, given he quote-tweeted his own World Cup post about what a little shit Barco was to Bellingham to ask whether the guy is a Chelsea player now. One of the foremost Chelsea pundits in the world, everybody.Infantino Tried to Sell Shares in the World CupThe main event. FIFA's plan was to spin the commercial side into a standalone company — FIFA Forward Enterprises, valued around $20 billion — sell shares to private equity, and distribute the proceeds to member federations, with FIFA itself staying a nonprofit handling the sport. Call it what it is: a legal bribe. Infantino's pitch was effectively “vote no and you get $2.7 billion, vote yes and you get ten,” plus a rumor he'd personally clear about $30 million if it went through. The man ran on transparency and, to be fair, he's being extremely transparent about the bribery. What's new isn't the corruption — we know FIFA, we remember Blatter and the brown envelopes and how Qatar got a World Cup, and we get into how confederations quietly print money reselling allocated tickets at multiples of face value. What's new is the brazenness. CONCACAF and UEFA came out against it, UEFA threatened an outright boycott without mincing words, the plan leaked before it could even be pitched, and by the time we're recording Infantino has scrapped it. Now the question is whether he survives it. He's currently running unopposed ahead of the March 2027 election, and if UEFA and CONCACAF can agree on a single challenger, the math gets very interesting. This is the Super League all over again: fans will tolerate a lot, but not a small group openly centralizing the money and taking the whole pie.What We're Actually Looking Forward ToWe close on the honest question, and both answers come back to the same man. Jason's is Xabi Alonso — the first time since Tuchel was fired that he's been excited to watch a coach cook. After Potter, after Lampard going through the motions, after Pochettino shitting the bed until the last six matches, after Maresca abandoning us for City, this is a manager who can command a locker room and has the résumé to back it. He'd rather have European football, but no Wednesdays and no Thursdays means a low-pressure season, and after four relentlessly negative years the prospect of just watching Chelsea play without the BlueCo drama is its own reward. Daniel's answer is simpler: he's excited to be excited. Quenda and Estêvão, Palmer, João Pedro, Mudryk back in the building, Xabi in charge. Still holes at goalkeeper and in defense, still no idea how a back four is going to work, still question marks about locker-room management. And when Daniel asks how long before it all comes crashing down, Jason gives him three months — because December is coming, and December always comes.One More ThingStarting this Thursday, the transfer episode goes live. 6:15pm-ish on YouTube and X, questions and opinions welcome in the chat. Bring your bell notifications. Tonight's episode is brought to you by the tilde, which means approximately. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Red, White & Blues FC | Old FC: Lacroix, Welbeck, Henderson, and a Squad Nobody Will BuyChelsea finally bought a center back, then signed two 35-year-olds, and still haven't sold a single one of the players clogging the squad. Daniel called it. Jason owes him a rubber duck.Daniel predicted on Monday that Chelsea were turning into Old FC, and by Thursday the club had gone and proved him right, so the predictions baton — an actual rubber duck — changes hands next weekend. This is a pure transfer episode: Maxence Lacroix in from Crystal Palace for £52m, Danny Welbeck in from Brighton, Jordan Henderson in on a free, and absolutely nobody going the other way. We save the UEFA and Infantino mess for Monday. What we've got here instead is a squad getting more bloated by the week, a set of owners who still can't sell anybody, and one manager we're both quietly leaning on to make sense of it all.Maxence Lacroix, or “Mid With Hope”The center back BlueCo couldn't get for our manager last summer finally arrives — £52m, 26 years old, and the first player over 26 Chelsea have signed since 2022. Jason's verdict lands on a phrase we're keeping: mid with hope. Lacroix is Premier League proven with a genuinely excellent injury record — barely a match missed since arriving in England, one 71-day shoulder problem at Wolfsburg, and a bout of COVID. But he's a back-three center back who played in a back three at Palace, and if you stick him next to Levi Colwill in a four, we're worried. When Saliba went off at the World Cup and Lacroix came in, France's defense fell apart and he had a couple of knucklehead moments. And the comparison set is the problem: is he better than Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Axel Disasi, Benoît Badiashile? Probably. By how much? We wanted a stalwart to lock down next to Colwill for six years. We got another player we'll be arguing about in January.And What Happens to Josh Acheampong?The saddest thread of the night. Simon Johnson reported Chelsea rate Josh Acheampong so highly they've labeled him untouchable and keep rebuffing approaches — while simultaneously signing over the top of him and barely playing him. Maresca gave him almost nothing last season, which made it close to a wasted year, and now Lacroix arrives on the right side of the defense and blocks him again. We both want the same thing for him: a loan. It's exactly what worked for Colwill, who went out twice and came back a starter. Send him to a Championship side, send him to a bottom-half Premier League club, hell, send him to Lamps at Coventry — anything but another season of training at Cobham. If Josh comes out and asks to leave, neither of us would be shocked, and neither of us would blame him.Old FC Arrives: Welbeck, Henderson, and the Pendulum ProblemThen the big one. Two 35-plus signings in a week — Danny Welbeck from Brighton for an undisclosed fee, and Jordan Henderson on a free. Welbeck, Daniel can be talked into: one of the league's best bench goalscorers, and he's personally tormented Chelsea for three years, so at minimum we stop suffering. But the fee being undisclosed tells Daniel we overpaid, and because it's Brighton, we definitely overpaid. Henderson, though, nobody can sell us on. He's not closing out matches at 36, and the “he'll bring maturity and help Xabi from the sideline” argument doesn't land when we're still a squad of shitheads who'll do shithead things. The deeper frustration is that this is BlueCo overcorrecting: Chelsea fans asked for experience for four years, and instead of a 27- or 28-year-old who can still contribute, the pendulum swung straight past to two guys a step from retirement. The Reddit meme says it best — red pill, blue pill, below 21 or above 35, pick your poison. And it's not like there was competition. There was no secret race for Danny Welbeck.The Real Problem: Chelsea Can't Sell AnybodyUnderneath every complaint tonight is the same structural issue. Chelsea bring in a fourth backup striker while Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, and Marc Guiu are all still here. They buy shitty players, then demand astronomical fees for those shitty players because they're trying to recoup, which is exactly why Badiashile's fee can't be agreed and why Disasi can't be shifted. Delap cost £30m, got hurt for a chunk of the season, scored two goals in the League Cup, and is now valued at £35–40m — which only works if you find another sucker club, and Arsenal can't be the sucker club every single window. Jackson's valued around $60m, which is the same overvaluation that pushed him out on loan to Bayern last year. Add the loans we part-subsidize and the picture is a club that talks about buying while the bloat gets worse. Elsewhere in the rumor pile: Badiashile to Napoli on loan with an option nobody expects Napoli to exercise, Filip Jørgensen off the tour and headed to Strasbourg (our sincere apologies, Strasbourg — you've deserved better, and you've had Andrey Santos and Emegha work out fine), Pedro Neto priced somewhere near £70–80m because Chelsea are using this summer's winger fees as their benchmark, Kendry Páez on the loan list again with attitude questions, Kerim Alajbegović off to Juventus rather than be a project player here, Murillo linked out of a Brazilian outlet, Alex Scott still circling as the midfielder we'd sign only if Enzo goes, and Mamadou Sarr needing an English loan after we wrecked his season for no reason.Lewis Hall, and the Part That Actually HurtsThe one that gets us: Chelsea want Lewis Hall back. Our own academy player, sold by BlueCo, now reportedly no fan of the club, and the plan is apparently to lean on Xabi Alonso to charm him home. We both like Hall. That's the point. Buying back a homegrown kid you never should have sold doesn't read as humility, it reads as incompetence — and what does it do to your precious pure-profit column? That takes us into the closing rant, and it's the honest one. We're watching a club run by people who are demonstrably brilliant at private equity and demonstrably clueless at football, and Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart should have been gone years ago instead of collecting raises. Jason's tempering the hype this time — he rode the train last season and it blew up — but he'll admit Xabi is the only reason any of this holds together, because unlike the last few, this one has actually walked the walk. And Daniel's first bold prediction of the season: Jordan Henderson will spend more time in the infirmary with Roméo Lavia than with any other midfielder. Lavia, naturally, is already hurt. It's preseason. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Red, White & Blues FC | 4:45 AM Football, a Set-Piece Guru, and a Plan to Get a New GoalkeeperChelsea are in Sydney, we are not waking up for it, and Xabi Alonso just gave us a reason to root against our own back line.Preseason is here, which means Chelsea are on the other side of the planet playing Western Sydney Wanderers at 4:45 in the morning our time. We open by loudly committing to live stream it and then immediately un-committing, which tells you most of what you need to know about how much stock we put in the Sydney Super Cup. But underneath the jokes there's actually a bit of optimism creeping in this year — a training session that looked like real coaching, a new set-piece coach who might be the best in the business, and a manager saying things a manager is supposed to say. Then there's the goalkeeper situation, where we land on a plan so stupid it might work.Australia at 4:45 AM, and Why We're Even ThereThe tour is Sydney (Western Sydney Wanderers, then Tottenham), Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Malaysia, with Juventus and AC Milan in there too, a Real Sociedad friendly at Stamford Bridge on August 15, and then the season opener away at Fulham because we are apparently never allowed a home opener. Jason's read: this is a cash grab with terrible timing, and if BlueCo would just sell the front of the shirt — four years running now — maybe we wouldn't need to be chasing the Australian and Southeast Asian markets at dawn. Daniel's more forgiving: let the boys go on tour, do some PR, build rapport with a new manager. We check the weather in all four cities like the professionals we are. We also agree that a Tottenham derby in Sydney is not a derby, because nobody out there is going to hate anybody properly.Preseason Expectations: Please Just Don't Get HurtJason's forecast is bleak and specific — one to five players will get injured, they'll be pivotal, and the transfer strategy hasn't accounted for it, because it never does. Daniel finds the silver lining: minutes for the academy lads, Levi Colwill getting his legs back, Cole Palmer maybe getting going, and Estêvão on the pitch. We're missing Caicedo, possibly Enzo, Reece James, Morgan Rogers, and Geovany Quenda, which limits what anyone can actually learn. The bar is simple: don't lose to Western Sydney Wanderers, don't lose to the side in Jakarta. Lose to Tottenham, Juventus, or Milan and fine, we're learning a new system. And if there is one prayer we're saying out loud, it's that Estêvão comes home in one piece.Austin MacPhee Is Here and He's a Glorious BastardThe genuine highlight. Chelsea have hired Austin MacPhee from Aston Villa, the Scottish set-piece specialist who also works with the Portugal national team, whose Villa side outscored every club in Europe's top five leagues from set pieces in 23/24 and finished joint-top with Arsenal in the Premier League last season — the difference being Arsenal shat their way to it and MacPhee does it properly. If this podcast has one recurring complaint over four years, it's Chelsea set pieces. We once lost our minds over a short corner under Pochettino. Hiring an actual set-piece guru, rather than another motivational coach imported to install a “winning mentality,” is the single clearest sign that somebody at the club is taking this seriously. Daniel is now on a mission to find MacPhee's Twitter, ask him his favorite scotch, and get him on the show. Austin, if you're listening: there's also Miller Lite, and you look like a Miller Lite guy.The Goalkeeper Plan (Root Against Your Own Defense)Xabi Alonso has said everything is open, every position, and per Ben Jacobs on the CFC Hub he's asked the club for time to assess the keepers in preseason before making a recommendation. Which leads Daniel to the big-brain question: shouldn't we then want to ship a load of goals in Australia? Jason is fully on board — a preseason loss tells you nothing about the club, but it tells you plenty about the goalkeeper. So, Levi and Josh, do us a solid and let a few in. Underneath the bit is a real argument we go back and forth on. Robert Sánchez is a genuinely excellent shot-stopper — 95 saves, nine clean sheets, statistically a better shot-stopper than Mike Maignan, in a harder league — and the 47 goals conceded says as much about Wesley Fofana's pace, Tosin's one-v-one defending, and Mamadou Sarr as it does about him. But he can't distribute, he can't play with his feet, and every manager keeps asking him to do exactly that. There's a £60m keeper with a release clause sitting there in Diogo Costa who does both. Pay it, keep Penders, and let us stop holding our breath every time the ball rolls back.Estêvão vs. Yamal, and the Photo We Refuse to BelieveWe close on the good stuff. Alonso on Estêvão: “plays with the confidence of someone who's been in Europe for years — age means nothing when the talent is that special.” We both think this is his breakout year and the hype only grows. Jason rates him above Lamine Yamal for one reason: humility. The only off-pitch photos of Estêvão are of him in church; Yamal's are from the club. Not a moral judgment, just a pattern — Messi didn't live that way, Ronaldo didn't live that way, and Daniel's comparison point is Neymar, all that talent shadowed by off-pitch noise and injuries. And speaking of Messi, we are not letting go of the bathtub photo. Why did nobody see that image until the World Cup? We're calling AI, we're calling gaslight, and we're calling for a whole midweek episode of football conspiracy theories where we take turns dragging each other down the rabbit hole. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Red, White & Blues FC | £117m for Morgan Rogers and a Rumor Mill Gone FeralChelsea break the Premier League transfer record, ship Garnacho off to Villa, and get linked to roughly half of Europe — and we're cynical about most of it.Transfer season is here, and Daniel opened the show by torturing Jason all day with an all-caps text promising a “big surprise announcement” that had nothing to do with transfers. The payoff: bald fraud Anthony Taylor is retiring, and we will never have to watch him officiate a Chelsea match again. From there it's a genuinely wild 48–72 hours of business — one record signing, one loan exit, and a rumor list long enough to need its own spreadsheet. We're happy, we're skeptical, and we're bracing for the moment BlueCo inevitably breaks our hearts again.Anthony Taylor Rides Off — and No, We're Not “Delusional”We saw The Athletic's framing coming: fans piling on Taylor at retirement supposedly proves how “delusional” supporters are about referees. We push back hard. We're not anti-referee — we know it's a brutal job, the gear, the whining twenty-somethings surrounding you every match. We're anti-Premier League referees, and we are 1,000% anti-Anthony Taylor specifically. The only bittersweet part is we'll never get to hear that Chelsea terrace chant about him again.Morgan Rogers for £117m — Record Signing, Familiar DoubtsThe big one: Morgan Rogers joins from Aston Villa for a reported £117m, a new Premier League record, on a six-plus-one. The Xabi Alonso “pull” narrative is everywhere — a phone call, Cole Palmer's friendship, Chelsea being Chelsea — and this is where Daniel and Jason go back and forth. Daniel refuses to swallow the “Chubby wanted him so Chubby got him” line whole, pointing out we heard the exact same thing about Maresca and Pochettino. Yes, a serious manager helps recruitment; no, it doesn't explain everything, and the round-table “Knights of Chelsea” mythology (with Eghbali cast as King Arthur) is media hype. Both of us land in the same place: Rogers is a good player, 23, on sensible wages, fitting the buy-young-sell-high model — but we overpaid, and we don't actually know where he fits. Double tens? Wing? Wing-back under Alonso? Nobody's sure.The Money Doesn't Add Up — and the Defense Pays for ItWe dig into the We Ain't Got No History math floating around: the Rogers fee roughly equals what Chelsea banked from Cucurella, Andrey Santos, Tyrique George, Jimmy-Jay Morgan, and the Maresca compensation. We both flag the same flaw — those are gross numbers, and we were still paying wages on most of them, so the “we basically got Rogers for free” spin doesn't hold. What's undeniable is Chelsea sell better than anyone (£400m+ shifted, largely pure-profit academy kids), which is how the spending happens. But Jason's frustration is the through-line of the whole episode: for the same £117m, Chelsea could have had a center back and a goalkeeper. Instead it's another attacker, and the back line is in the lurch again. And, oh yeah — still no front-of-shirt sponsor, four years running, £200m+ left on the table.Garnacho Out, and the Great Rumor AvalancheGarnacho heads to Villa on loan with a soft, appearance-based option around £43m — meaning Chelsea might somehow turn a profit on a player nobody wanted. Good riddance and good luck; Villa's own subreddit is bracing for another reclamation project (”if Unai Emery can't fix him, no one can”). Then we speed-run the rumor mill: Maxence Lacroix inching closer (but don't get fooled, we've seen Chelsea put all their marbles in one basket before), Nico possibly reuniting with Emery, Bruno Guimarães as a possible Arsenal hijack, Enzo Fernández linked to Atlético and quietly to City, and the one that actually excites us — Cristian Romero from Spurs in a swap that offloads Neto. We've begged for years for a proper asshole in this squad; Romero, red cards and all, might finally be our asshole. Add Alex Scott, Adam Wharton, Illia Zabarnyi, Eduardo Camavinga, and a Bosnian teenage winger (Kerim Alajbegović) to the pile, and Fabrizio Romano is teasing a “Da Bomba” midfield transfer that's almost certainly just a name we've already heard. We close on Morgan Rogers one more time, on our own cynicism, and on the quiet hope — dangerous as it is — that this time it actually works. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Red, White & Blues FC | The World Cup Is Over and We're Not OkaySpain lifted the trophy, Argentina got what they deserved, FIFA gouged everybody blind — and we have to go back to just being Chelsea fans now.The World Cup's over, and Jason opened the show genuinely mourning the fact that he can't just be a fan of football anymore — he has to go back to being a fan of Chelsea. Before we get into it: yes, Morgan Rogers is coming to Chelsea, and no, we're not giving you our real take on that until Thursday's transfer roundup. Consider this the palate cleanser — one last love letter to a tournament that had no business being as good as it was. We both went in with expectations on the floor and walked out calling it an A+.Spain Were Just Better — One Goal the Entire TournamentWe're united as households on this one: shout out Spain. Daniel's big argument is the one he's been screaming at Blueco to copy since day one — you build from the back and you win by not letting the other team score. Spain conceded exactly one goal the whole tournament, ran a 19-year-old out at center back, let Unai Simón coast on one or two saves a game, and still found the goal when it mattered (that Nico Williams header back across for Ferran Torres was gorgeous). The final itself was a boring, ugly watch — Spain couldn't finish, Dibu Martínez put on one of the great World Cup final keeping performances and still lost because Argentina did, in Jason's words, absolutely jack all night. They didn't register a real shot in the first 90. They deserved nothing, and Enzo Fernández taking one for the team with that cartoon second yellow felt like poetry.FIFA, Infantino, and the Great Ticket HeistHere's where we go long and angry. Trump 80-year-old-manned the trophy presentation and nobody — not even Infantino sprinting back across the stage — could get him off it. That was the only prediction we nailed all tournament. From there it's the ticket scandal: FIFA running its own resale site for the first time, a whole Belgium-fan section mysteriously going on sale the day before the US–Belgium match at $1,600 a pop against a $60 face value, tier-two seats quietly getting “expanded” into what were really tier-three views. Canada forced FIFA to relist; the US gave them carte blanche. We put Infantino on a pace to out-corrupt Sepp Blatter and genuinely mean it.Funflation and the Fans Who Paid AnywayThe part that actually depresses us: people paid. Stadiums were full. And every dollar those fans coughed up just teaches FIFA it can charge more in four years — it's not if prices go up, it's how much. Jason walks through the “painted doors” idea (companies A/B testing what you'll tolerate) and “funflation,” the creeping cost of doing literally anything fun, from World Cup tickets to Ticketmaster concerts to $100 parking and $100 subway rides to a stadium built in a swamp you can't walk to. We admit it hit us personally — we'd planned to go for a couple years and priced ourselves out rather than be “World Cup broke” for the next two. Great tournament. FIFA gets zero credit for it.The Third-Place Classic, the Booth Wars, and Closing the Book on Messi & RonaldoThe stuff we loved: England vs. France in the third-place game, a ten-goal exhibition that turned into pure competitive pride once the players got going — Jason calls it better than the final. England going into the Azteca and beating Mexico. Cape Verde drawing Spain and going home heroes. On the booth: all hail Rebecca Lowe, and please, Paramount, give us Zlatan and Thierry Henry full-time and keep Alexi Lalas as far from a microphone as humanly possible. Stu Holden gets both barrels for narrating the obvious as if he has inside knowledge, and for the whole crew being so unready for a boring final they filled time talking about the weather. We close on the legends aging out — Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar waving goodbye while Mbappé's already passed them with two World Cups likely still ahead — plus the eternal USMNT reality check (Pulisic showed up for one game and vanished; stop with the Captain America stuff) and a quick debate over whether third-place stats should count. Verdict: two enthusiastic balls way up. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Transfer season is in full swing, England are out of the World Cup, and Chelsea's board is once again €20 million short of common sense. We get into all of it.Church is in session this week as we run through everything that's happened — and pointedly not happened — in Chelsea's transfer window. Trevoh Chalobah looks bound for Como, the Pep Chavarría saga has gone fully sideways, and we're now officially linked to Porto's Diogo Costa, which naturally means the board thinks he's worth €20m less than his release clause. We also debut a brand new segment: the Shitty Transfer Rumor of the Week. It goes about as well as you'd expect.Farewell, TrevChalobah has finally said yes to Como — except now Como might be getting cold feet, having never actually met our valuation. We're both sad to see him go: Chelsea through and through, a solid role player who did a lot for the club. Jason floats a theory that Como is waiting on England's third-place match to see if Trev finally gets minutes (and stays healthy) before dropping the cash. Also on the record: if Thomas Tuchel plays Reece James in that match, we are both going to lose it.The Left-Back Saga: Chavarría vs. CarrerasRayo Vallecano has gone from wanting €21m for Pep Chavarría to demanding his full €42 million release clause — for a 28-year-old with zero Spain caps whose market value sits around €10m. Meanwhile we've bid €25m for Real Madrid's Álvaro Carreras, a player Xabi Alonso has actually managed and might actually want. We go back and forth on which link is real, but land in the same place: if the prices are comparable, go get the guy your manager knows. And half of Chelsea Twitter screaming “back Xabi” over a Rayo left-back needs to log off.Diogo Costa and the €20 Million ProblemHere's the one that sends Daniel over the edge. Chelsea are linked to Porto keeper Diogo Costa — Portugal's starting goalkeeper at this World Cup — who has a €60m release clause. The board's position? He's worth more like 40. Just pay the extra €20 million and lock down the position for the next five to seven years. Get a shirt sponsor — you know, like every other club in the Premier League has — and you've found the money. Five sporting directors, and this is the M.O. every time: wildly overpay (Cucurella, Mudryk, Gittens, Delap, Fofana, Badiashile, Disasi) or nickel-and-dime a deal to death. There's no in-between.John Stones on a Free?Joe Cole and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink both say Chelsea should sign John Stones on a free after City let him walk. Jason's initially in — then remembers Stones is 32 and, in Daniel's words, “can't jump anymore.” But with Chalobah leaving and our record buying defenders in their prime, we grudgingly agree: he started every England match at the World Cup while Fofana, Disasi and Badiashile sat at home. He can't make the back line worse. The fact that we're seriously weighing this — and might lose the bidding war to Leeds — tells you exactly where this club is right now.Shitty Transfer Rumor of the Week (New Segment!)Our new favorite thing. Jason brings a single-sourced Egyptian TV report that Mo Salah wants to come home to Chelsea. Daniel counters with PSG — the two-time defending Champions League winners — preparing a €65m bid for Nicolas Jackson. Both are complete nonsense. Both are exactly why this segment exists. We close with the Disasi-to-West-Ham rumor (£25m reported) and whether this board will ever move the players nobody wants. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Daniel and Jason each independently rebuilt Chelsea from scratch — same £1 billion budget, same rule: only sign players who were actually available during BlueCo's tenure. What they found out about their own club is not flattering.We've been threatening to do this episode for about a year, and we finally sat down and did it: rebuild the entire Chelsea squad using only transfers that were realistically available since BlueCo took over in the 2022–23 window through last winter. Same rough budget as the real thing — just under £1.5 billion, since that's what's actually been spent — and we did it completely independently, without comparing notes beforehand.The RulesNothing unrealistic. No Erling Haaland, no Kylian Mbappé — just players Chelsea could conceivably have gotten given the timing and their wage structure. Beyond that, anything goes.Defense: A Back Four That Could Have Played Together for Four YearsBoth of us kept Levi Colwill without question. From there it diverges into “what if” territory: Cristian Romero (Cucurella's Tottenham countryman) as one option at center back for the money Chelsea actually spent on Wesley Fofana, alongside cheaper alternatives like Gleison Bremer and Josko Gvardiol — both of whom were on the table for less than what Chelsea paid for Axel Disasi or Benoît Badiashile. At left back, it's Marc Cucurella against the tantalizing alternative universe where Chelsea signs Nuno Mendes instead — now arguably the best left back in the world — plus a nod to keeping Ian Maatsen around instead of selling him off.Midfield: The Two Nobody Argues WithMoises Caicedo and Cody Palmer were the two names both of us kept without hesitation — Caicedo for £116m looks like one of the better bits of business BlueCo has actually done, and Palmer, whatever you think of the scouting behind it, has been the one genuine coup. From there, the discussion opens up into names Chelsea could have had for a fraction of the outlay on Romeo Lavia, Dário Essugo, or Carney Chukwuemeka — including a free transfer for Christian Eriksen that was floated on this podcast for months before Chelsea ignored it.Wide Areas: Same Brain, Same AnswerIndependently, we both landed on Raphinha for the left wing — a name Chelsea were actually linked with around the same price point. The right wing is where it gets painful: Chelsea's actual buy in that window was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, while Michael Olise was there for the taking and slipped away purely over wages. We also dig into whether Olise or Pedro Neto is the better player today, and what it means that Chelsea ended up paying more for the worse option.Strikers: João Pedro Stays, But Look at Who Got AwayJoão Pedro remains the starter in both our rebuilds, but the exercise turns up striker options Chelsea could have had for less than what they eventually spent — Dominic Solanke, Alexander Isak, Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyökeres, and Jørgen Strand Larsen all get a mention as players who were on the market at some point during BlueCo's reign and went elsewhere.The Bench, and the Real NumbersWe round out both squads with backups at every position — Matheus Nunes, Adam Wharton, Youri Tielemans, Martín Zubimendi, and even Granit Xhaka (available for a fraction of what Sunderland reportedly wants for him now) all show up as realistic squad depth options.Then we do the sobering part: laying out, window by window, everything BlueCo has actually bought and sold since 2022 — and it is a genuinely rough list to read back. Almost a billion and a half spent, barely half of that recouped in sales, and a scouting department that, by our count, has produced maybe six good buys and three academy graduates in four years. Everything else is filed under “just terrible business.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Red, White & Blues FC | Chelsea Transfer Wrap-UpDaniel and Jason are (mostly) done with the World Cup — Norway's the adopted team now, sorry England fans — and turn their attention back to a busy week of Chelsea business: a departure, an official arrival, and the Enzo Fernández situation that refuses to resolve itself.We're keeping this one tight this week (we say that every week), but there's a lot to get through: a sale, a long-awaited official unveiling, a couple of loans out, and the Enzo saga rumbling on in the background while Argentina are still alive in the World Cup.Andrey Santos Departs for Manchester UnitedChelsea sold Andrey Santos to Manchester United for £48 million plus £2 million in add-ons and a 10% sell-on clause — a solid profit on the roughly £15 million Chelsea paid for him. We go back and forth on whether this is a good deal or a bad one, and land on: it depends entirely on what Santos becomes. If he turns into what Chelsea hoped, this is a disaster. If he stays league-average, it's a great bit of business. We also get into why selling to a “top six” rival feels different than selling to a mid-table club, and why we've mostly made peace with the “no selling to Prem rivals” taboo being dead.Quenda Is Finally OfficialAfter what felt like months of open-secret reporting, Geovany Quenda's move to Chelsea is officially confirmed — and yes, we question why the club waited to bury this announcement right behind the Santos sale news. We're excited about his fit as a left wing-back in Xabi's system, especially paired with a (hopefully healthy) Estêvão, who's reportedly back in training after a hamstring issue.Outgoing Business: Tyrique George, Jesse Derry, Harrison Murray-CampbellTyrique George heads to Everton for £18 million (rising to £24 million with add-ons and a 15% sell-on clause), and we make the case that he was arguably better than both Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens before Chelsea went out and bought both of them anyway. Jesse Derry is off on a season-long loan to Sporting after signing a new contract, and Harrison Murray-Campbell joins newly promoted side KV Kortrijk in the Belgian Pro League. We also give BlueCo credit — genuinely — for consistently attaching sell-on clauses to these young departures.The Enzo Fernández SituationThis one's not going away. Enzo still hasn't committed to the club, Real Madrid and Man City have both publicly denied interest, and with Argentina still alive in the World Cup, nothing can really move until the tournament ends. We talk through the risk of him missing the start of the season entirely once reintegration and match fitness are factored in, why we think Xabi Alonso is the only person who can actually win him over, and whether he should keep the vice-captaincy after everything that's happened this summer (our answer: yes — stripping it would be exactly the wrong move).Rumors: Garnacho, Chalobah, and the Center-Back SearchGarnacho is reportedly free to leave with Chelsea seeking £40 million — a number we find absurd given his season. Trevoh Chalobah's future is still parked at a £30 million valuation with no real movement. And we dig into the center-back and left-back links (Maxence Lacroix, Como's Jacobo Ramón, and Rayo Vallecano's Pep Chavarría) with a theory that the whole thing smells like a BlueCo negotiating tactic more than a real pursuit. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Daniel and Jason set Chelsea aside for a night to talk World Cup — the Balogun red card fallout, Trump's fingerprints all over FIFA, and why this might be one of the best tournaments in years.We're taking a break from Chelsea business this week because, frankly, the World Cup has eaten our lives. Between Cape Verde nearly taking down Argentina, England-Mexico going down as one of the matches of the tournament, and an all-time stinker from Spain-Portugal (Roberto Martinez remains undefeated at ruining things), there's been no shortage of storylines. We get into all of it, plus why this tournament — despite the pre-cup doom and gloom about ticket sales and logistics — has turned into a genuine success.The Balogun Red CardThe biggest controversy of the week: Folarin Balogun's red card against Belgium got walked back, letting him play tonight instead of serving his suspension mid-tournament. We go back and forth on this one hard — was it technically a red card by the letter of the law? Probably. Was there any malicious intent? Not even close. We dig into the FIFA rulebook quirk that let this happen (deferring the suspension rather than rescinding it), and why this isn't as unprecedented as people are claiming — Ronaldo got the same treatment earlier in this tournament, and Garrincha's eerily similar situation from the 1962 World Cup gets a full airing.Trump, FIFA, and the Optics ProblemWe can't talk about the Balogun decision without talking about Trump, who wasted no time taking credit for it. FIFA's insistence that an “independent committee” made the call doesn't survive contact with basic FIFA history, and we spend a good chunk of the episode on how corrupt the optics are — even while admitting we're thrilled to have Balogun back for tonight's match. It's a two-minds situation: we know it's shady, and we still want the win.Is This the Best World Cup in Years?Once we get the controversy out of our system, we talk about why this tournament has exceeded every expectation — the crowds, the celebrations (Norway's row routine, England belting out Wonderwall in the Azteca), and the sheer logistics of running a World Cup across a country the size of the United States. We also get into some genuinely bad officiating (the Paraguay-France match deserves its own trial), the golden boot race between Haaland, Messi, Mbappé, and Kane, and — because we couldn't make this up if we tried — Jordan Henderson breaking his arm jumping over an advertising board after the England-Mexico match.We close out with our prediction for USA-Belgium tonight and a look ahead to Friday's match if the US advances. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Recorded live (sort of) after Germany's shock exit from the World Cup — Daniel and Jason dive straight into Chelsea's chaotic summer.We almost didn't make this one. Jason was late. Daniel had to leave early. Nobody had spoken to each other beforehand. And we'd just watched Germany bottle a penalty shootout to Paraguay in one of the wildest World Cup moments of the round of 32. Naturally, we talked about Chelsea.The Xhaka SituationChelsea opened negotiations for Granit Xhaka with an £8 million bid, and the internet completely lost it. We actually defend the bid — Xhaka turns 34 next week, Transfermarkt has him valued at €8 million, and this is just how transfer negotiations work. You come in low, Sunderland counters, you meet somewhere around £15 million. If it goes above that, we have a problem. The real mystery is why Chelsea fans were more insulted than Sunderland apparently was.The Maresca StatementChelsea FC officially released a statement about Enzo Maresca's departure — confirming they received £17 million from Manchester City, plus an undisclosed amount. The club's framing? Maresca upended the whole season by wanting to leave. Which... isn't wrong. But as someone on Twitter put it: who keeps hiring these managers? Blueco picked Liam R. Sr. too, and you don't get a pass for that. We get into whether a John Terry interim would have changed the trajectory of last season (short answer: yes, at least in terms of locker room morale).Young Signings, Overcrowded Positions & The Hato DebateChelsea have brought in Barcoa, Quinde, and Amaga — three young players, two pulled straight from Strasbourg. We're high on Quinde but scratching our heads about where he actually plays. And Daniel makes a case that Hato, as much as we like him, is a center back — not a left wing back. Victor Moses made the wing back conversion work under Conte, but that was a very specific set of circumstances.The Shirt Sponsor SagaNewcastle just signed Knox Hydration as their front-of-shirt sponsor for £60 million a year. A 12th-place Newcastle team. Meanwhile Chelsea — one of the biggest clubs in the world — are heading into their third straight season without a proper shirt sponsor. The rumor that Knox approached Chelsea first and were turned down is maddening, if true. We lay out the three possible explanations: the asking price was too high (hard to believe after Newcastle), nobody wants to work with Blueco (possible), or they just... haven't tried (our money is on this one).Next episode: Back on Monday — no Thursday transfer episode this week. Find us everywhere @redwhitebluesfc, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, or YouTube. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Jay is in hell! Dan keeps it all going! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Dan and Jay know what they are doing (question mark)? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

We also talk about the World Cup, because that is more fun! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Dan and Jay are confused. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

J and D rip apart the defense at Chelsea and demand a new back line!!!! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

You'll never sing that, you'll never sing that, CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE, YOU'LL NEVER SING THAT! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

J and D give you a rundown of how awful their Premier League predictions were! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Finally, it's over. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Be Better. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Being a Chelsea fan is hard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Nothing else to say. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

So you're telling me there's a chance! Thanks Calum! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Liam's Out, hopefully the sporting directors and ownership are next. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

We always knew it would be this way. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Dan and Jay are unimpressed. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Dan and Jay want a sequel! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

We've got nothing. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

There is nothing to say. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

It's over. Dan and Jay are counting down the days until BlueCo out. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Dan and Jay barely talk about the game. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

D minus J this week talks about Chelsea's dominant victory over Aston Villahttps://x.com/RedWhiteBluesFChttps://www.instagram.com/redwhitebluesfc/reels/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Dan and Jay are speechless for under an hour. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Dan and Jay blame the players. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwhitebluesfc.substack.com

Can we play a whole game?

Dan and Jay are sad.

Dan and Jay are worried even in the winning.

Dan and Jay are having trouble hoping our luck stays true.

Dan and Jay are stoked!

Dan and Jay go for a really long time!

J and D sit down with Dylan and Roy from Carefree Louisiana, Chelsea's supporters group! We discuss the 5th annual Bluesday they are putting on, and of course, we talk some Chelsea football! Check out their link below, and if you can make it to New Orleans February 6th-8th, you will not be disappointed!!! https://www.carefreelouisiana.com/bluesday

Dan and Jay are apathetic.

Dan and Jay discuss all things that led to Chelsea's 2-0 win over Brentford, even the BAD!!!

Liam Ronsenior says it's his fault. Dan and Jay disagree!

We're back baby!

D breaks down the Chelsea v Fulham match and praises the away fans and their unwavering support!!!

D gives you his breakdown of the new Chelsea manager!!!

D is all alone again and gives you his optimistic take on Chelsea v Man City!