Can City Challenge Arsenal?

0:28Hey Chicago, class it up with Crocs.

0:35Hello and welcome into the latest edition of ESPN FC, Kay Murray, Craig Burley. Come on, look interesting. Now, we all know it's official, Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City. We knew it was going to happen, but now we can actually talk about it. £125 million for this transfer. All ends in cheers, boo moon, and 125 makes ends meet. Just some of the papers that we're seeing from the UK press, as we welcome in Mark Ogden. But before we get more from Oggy on this, I want to get your thoughts on it, Craig. Enzo Fernandes and the deal getting done to City. Well, I just don't think any of the transfers these days generally are worth the money.

1:12But that's a different discussion. The inflated prices, the ridiculous amount of money that's floating around, particularly in England, is just crazy. So is he worth£125? Probably not. Is he an extra cog in that City wheel? Yes, he is. he'll give them a different dynamic in the middle of the park. Obviously, they've signed Buadi, the youngster. They've signed Elliot Anderson. They've lost the experience of Bernardo Silva and the guile and the quality of Rodri. So they needed some extra bodies in there. It's been crystal clear, him and Cucurella in particular, who both wanted away. They've both got their moves.

1:48Cucurella got his big move to Real Madrid. Enzo Fernandes has sort of pushed this through to Manchester City. We thought he might go to Spain, but it didn't happen. obviously Enzo Maresco knows what he's getting. He's worked with them. He's not everybody's cup of tea, but on his day, he's a threat. He scores goals, works hard, and he's a good addition to that Man City squad. But again, the inflated fees that some of these clubs are paying for players is just bonkers. Does he move the needle, though, Shaka, at Man City this season? He does. Slightly, in my opinion. First of all, let me say, I'm with Craig in that.

2:24I don't understand transfer fees anymore. Every time I say I'm not going to comment on it, You see this kind of a transfer fee for a player that I'm not sure is going to be worth it. Now, the question going forward is, as Craig touched on, the amount of midfielders, particularly in that deep-lying midfield position, that City now have on their books and how they all fit in. And you can spend as much money as you like. I'm not sure how you replace Rodri. So as a result, I think you have to make some adjustments to see what Mareska does. that and the fact that you certainly weakened Chelsea in doing it good signing but we'd have to wait to see how it all pans out how Maresca makes all these pieces fit if they are to truly challenge Arsenal at the top of the table What's the thoughts on it in Manchester, Ogi?

3:15Well I mean City fans are really happy about it because they like to see their team spend big money and they've spent I think they've done£200 million plus deals this summer, Elliot Anderson and Enzo Ferrandez. So, look, City fans are really happy because it gets them a little bit closer to Arsenal in terms of challenging for the title. That's what many people think. And, you know, it's probably a good balance, isn't it? Anderson and Enzo are kind of different players. They complement it to the quite well. But City have got a lot of players to fit in. I mean, but why did you get to find a place in the team as well?

3:42And, you know, it's not going to be easy, but they've got a lot of games to play. So they've got a lot of games to play. They've got a big squad. Enzo Maresco will rotate. but I think, you know, I'm with Craig and Shakur, I think Enzo's a good player, but I don't think he's a British record transfer. He shouldn't really be in that category that if you're breaking transfer records, you should be breaking them for goal scorers or creative players, and he isn't quite that. He's a good player, but it's the second time he's broken the Premier League transfer record, which is incredible, really, because to do that, you've got to be some player, and he's a good player, but I don't think he's at that ilk where he's like a wild player thinking, wow, this guy, you have to spend a lot of money for him, but he's just a guy that's gone for £200 million plus transfers in the last three years.

4:21Yeah, Stevie says that it does bring City a lot closer to Arsenal in the title. Well, it makes them stronger in terms of a squad. You know, Arsenal won the league because, not just because of their first 11, but because of the bench. And Arteta recognised that the couple of seasons they came up short against City, that the bench was not strong enough. When players were suspended or players were injured or players were tired, you've got to replace quality with quality. and whether we believe he's a£100 million plus player or not on two occasions, it's neither here nor there. You're looking at rotation, you're looking at Champions League, so you're looking at four competitions.

5:00The league, the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup, the Champions League and to compete in those you need a big squad. As Augie said, for£100 million, which is crazy money, you're really looking for a world beater. An Ellen Halland or Kylian Mbappe, you know, somebody of that out, Laminya Mal. What the hell are these players are going to go for? It's quite incredible. I remember, you know, I made two moves, two and a half million and three million. And at that time in the mid-90s, that was quite big money. And I remember talking to players at the respective clubs at Celtic and Chelsea saying, do you think we'll ever see a£10 million player?

5:40Or do you think we'll ever see £100 ,000 a week? we've just completely superseded all that so it's a lot of money clubs are laying out where all they how they're all balancing this PSR and financial fair play and all that which I think is a lot of nonsense I just don't think that's working particularly well I think it's helping some clubs and really hindering others I don't think it's narrowing the gap I think it's actually widening the gap but again that's another story City are stronger as Stevie said I think must have been yesterday. City are stronger for having Fernandes. And also the fact that Maresca has already worked with him.

6:19So clearly there's a relationship there between the two, otherwise he just wouldn't sign them. And that helps as well. So it's another cog in that wheel. It gets them closer to Arsenal, but I don't think anybody's done anything in this transfer window that's telling me that any of them are going to get past Arsenal at this moment in time. I think that's the thing. Getting a player of quality moves you closer to who the title favourite is, regardless of what season we're talking about. But I don't think anybody on Friday who thought Arsenal are going to win the league, see this signing, and then say, hold on a minute, City, I think City will get the better of Arsenal as a result, regardless of the price tag.

7:00I still think Arsenal are the far better team. They've shown they can go the distance now. They've got over that mental block of theirs. On paper, But I still think they're better than City in that regard as well, with or without Enzo Fernandes. This doesn't change my mind as to who will eventually win the league. There was an interesting comment he made, Oggi, saying he always dreamed of being a big club like City. Well, that's a little bit below the belt because it's debatable as to whether Chelsea are bigger than Man City. I think both clubs have a similar stature. Chelsea have won two, Champions League City have won one.

7:38I don't think he's going to he doesn't care about winning friends does he at Chelsea because he's left there now but I think if you take a step back I don't think City are bigger than Chelsea I think they're on a pass but he's a wind up merchant isn't he that's Enzo Fernandes on the pitch and off the pitch we've seen it at Chelsea over the years he's a player that likes to wind people up maybe that's part of his game but I don't think that City are a bigger club than Chelsea As we look at Arsenal we see and you mentioned does it bring them much closer obviously nobody would change too much what they would have said before this signing anyway.

8:07But when you look at Arsenal's signings, they have been very targeted to what they needed to get to the next step for themselves, Craig. Well, Nkappi was there already, but they just made the loan move permanent. Konza obviously boasts the back line. They have, obviously, Jurien Timber is sort of injured at the moment, but they've got a lot of options in that back line. We thought they were going to lose Lewis Skelly. It looked like they might lose him. They didn't. Trossard was a key player for them, both starting and coming off the bench. The rest of them, Martinelli was inconsistent. Gabriel Jesus never really did it, had his injuries.

8:45Norgard was a bit player coming in from Brentford. Ethan Manuieri's gone to Germany, I believe. He's gone somewhere on loan, I can't remember exactly where it is. Dortmund. Dortmund, yeah, he's gone to Germany. So, yeah, for those that saw the Aston Villa game that Arsenal played only when Bruno Gimoraz came off the bench. He showed real glimpses of that killer pass, those couple of beautiful passes he played through. So he's going to enhance the middle of the park, give them a good partnership in there, probably with Declan Rice. And then it'll be Odegaard or Eze, probably Odegaard for the time being.

9:22So, yeah, they've had a good transfer window. They didn't go and maybe panic about Xhocarez and Havertz and splashing a number nine. So they're going to give that a second goal. Obviously, they had their success in terms of the Premier League with both those players. I think Havert started on Monday night. So I think Xhoceres has still got a big point to prove if he's going to be the leading frontman for Arsenal, which he isn't at the moment. But they're strong everywhere else. They've built a really good squad. They built such a strong squad last year that they were able to sell players, a lot of players or get players out, and they didn't have to panic.

10:01They didn't have to go and panic by to replace them because they already had most of them there. They just had to go and pick out who they wanted and do some good business, which it looks like they have. See, that's the thing. Craig touched on it. I thought, even looking at last season and last season's squad, Arsenal's weakest department was that number nine, where Arteta switched between Havertz and Giocharez. Giocharez didn't impress, in my mind, an incredible amount during the course of last season. Havertz is not a natural number nine. And while I say that, I acknowledge, yes, Arsenal fans, you won the league, you got to the Champions League final.

10:38I thought that would be the position that they'd addressed first in this transfer window. They didn't. And maybe it's just because that right striker, the right price isn't out there for them. But they've added quality everywhere else. So while I could be a little critical of them not addressing that number nine and not having an out-and-out. There's no disputing that they continue to advance at the same time. And while we're talking about City advancing with the signing of Enzo Fernandes, you could look at that list of players that Arsenal signed and see that they've advanced themselves even more than everybody else in this transfer window in that regard.

11:17Yeah, there's a lot more of the transfer talk over on our YouTube channel, ESPN FC. Be sure to stay up to date with all of it over there. We will continue the chat with what's going on since the transfer window has closed. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities.

11:56Call 1-800-GRANGER, click granger.com, or just stop by. Hey Chicago, class it up with Crocs. You know back to school is coming in fast. So why wait to find your new fave footwear? Step into a local Crocs store and step into your new look. Try it, style it, make it yours. because the right pair doesn't just show up, it shows off. First day fits, handled. Walk out ready for whatever's next. Visit your nearest Croc store today. Slum, slum shot. With Enzo Fernandes leaving Chelsea, Chelsea had identified Lamine Kamara, the 22-year-old Senegalese international, as his replacement. He's a Monaco midfielder, but this deal collapsed on deadline day due to a domino effect.

12:47which involves Everton and following Balogun which we'll get to in a minute with the Chelsea side of this so with Enzo going and no replacement coming in Mark Chelsea have been left quote furious Yeah because it was very late I mean it was probably 5-10 minutes before the deadline that Monaco pulled the plug and we are going to get into that later but Monaco maybe jumped a little bit too quickly thinking that Balogun was going to go to Everton didn't do so Monaco needed to get some money in they decided that they could keep Camara and Chelsea, obviously, they feel that they've been let down because they're a midfielder short.

13:20Now, obviously, they have got options. They've got Romeo Lavias there. They've brought in, you know, Barco from the Argentina squad. They've got... They have got options, but obviously they would have preferred to get somebody in, but I don't think Chelsea are going to suffer for the next three or four months without a replacement for Enzo Fernandes. But that was the idea, to get Kammer in to replace Enzo in the squad, but they have got enough van power there. But, yeah, it wasn't a great ending for Chelsea, quite a messy ending. They're saying that they could have pulled the plug on Enzo to City.

13:45I don't quite buy that. I think that's a bit of a PR spin to Billis because that deal was always going to get done. Chelsea announced losses of£260 million earlier this year, so they had to get some money in. And there's no way they were going to pull the plug in that deal for Enzo with the fee coming in, the fact that they've had to bring a player back who just didn't want to be there. So that was always going to happen. They're a man short, but I think they'll be OK. Who are Chelsea furious with? Monocle. Did you just make that up? No. Monocle. Yeah, it's all about this huge domino effect. Dominoes is a game.

14:14Dominoes is a game. Monaco need to do what is right for Monaco. The same as every club. And that's Chelsea's problem, or anybody else for that matter. You know, Augie's saying, we would have blocked the Enzo Fernandes move. Well, you should have done that. But you didn't. You played your cards, and you didn't get your player. So without him, and without a replacement for him, do you think this is going to impact Chelsea this season without Enzo Fernandes? Well, look, it's quite a simple conversation. If we've just sat here and said Enzo Fernandes will improve Man City in terms of the team and the squad, then it's certainly going to make Chelsea a slightly weaker squad.

15:03The two things can't be in the same sentence on opposite sides. So it's not going to be a disaster. it's not, you know people are not in tears but it's another player who could make a difference, could win a game for you with experience it's not going to be there when you take bodies out you need to replace them with another body the mathematics is quite simple I don't think they're winning the league with Enzo Fernandes there and I don't it's certainly not strengthening them But yeah, it's not an ideal scenario. But they knew that at the end. As Augie said, they wanted the money. And they got more money for Enzo Fernandes than they paid for him.

15:51They paid 107 or whatever it was. And they got 125. So they've got a few quid, but they've lost a pretty good midfielder. At the same time, I am not at all sympathetic with Chelsea's situation. In so many ways, it's of their own making. Two seasons ago, Maresco was brought in to trim a squad That was just way too big. Did that, started to advance. Now, all of a sudden, in this window, you leave it quite literally till the 11th hour to try to get it over the line. And then when it does, you upset with somebody else. Now, I think this is just a result of poor transfer policy going back for years.

16:32I go back to Arsene Wenger and that, I can't remember what year it was when they lost to Manchester United early on and then he's making a whole heap of deals on transfer deadline day we were critical of him then and now look at Arsenal, how they've done their business now they did it early if they needed to get, or if they decided to, let's say a Julien Alvarez at the last minute that is icing on the cake but they did the vast majority of their business very early on and then if something creeped up at the last minute they prepared to act other than that you can't criticize them now if Chelsea leave it to this late or whether it's this domino game that they're playing with with Monaco and Everton and everything going on around it and somehow you find yourself on the losing end at the 11th hour that's on you and again give me your history transfer history I am not at all sympathetic I mean if Enzo Fernandes may be a dislikable character or maybe a likeable...

17:34I don't know what side of the bed you get out on on that one. It doesn't matter. When Chelsea suspended him for two games because he mentioned the word Madrid, right? Didn't say he was... He just said he'd quite like to live in Madrid one day. He was hinting, we know that. But players do that. Players do that all the time. Agents do it. Cucurella was even stronger about potentially moving and about how the club was being run and was not given any suspensions. And then Liam Rossini sat there and said, oh yeah, it was my decision. It wasn't his decision. It was a club. So if I was Endo Fernandes, I'd have been, you know, why does he get any loyalty to Chelsea when they're turning around and hanging him out to dry?

18:19Now again, you may like his character, you may not, but it's not the worst thing I've ever heard a professional footballer saying. and as it turns out, he's not gone to Madrid. All right, he's gone to Manchester. He's got the same first letter. I get all that. Very, very alike those two cities. Fish and chips are a bit more greasy than Manchester. You don't get fish and chips in Madrid, I would imagine. But once they do that, once you hang a player out to dry in his mind, it's difficult to get him to come back, I think, because he's thinking, you know what, next time something happens here, I'm going to be the fall guy for these guys.

18:54No, no, no, no. So I think that probably accelerated his decision-making if that needed to be done that he wanted out.

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20:04So let's get to the Balogun side of this. We need to hear from Monaco's sporting director on how this has all played out and why these dominoes have fallen. This is from Tiago Scuro saying, basically, Balogun's position was, I'm not feeling comfortable with the way the club treated me. I'm not comfortable with the doubts raised about my future or my health. I have no issue so I'm not comfortable signing a contract here. As mentioned it does all seem to have been affected by the Balogun factor here. Mark tell us more on what you know about this whole situation. Yeah I mean Balogun was the domino that sent all the other dominoes falling to the ground wasn't it?

20:39I mean look Everton aren't particularly happy with Balogun. I don't think he's come out of this very well because I mean the guys might have a different opinion but I've never known a player have a medical and then decide after that's been done to walk out on the deal. So what happened was Everton believed that he arrived late from Monaco, the flight was late. Monaco didn't supply all the medical information that Everton required. Had they supplied the medical information they wanted, the issues that were presented later on could have been dealt with quicker. So what happened was Balogun, there was an issue in the medical, Everton and Monaco renegotiated the deal.

21:11Now, they hadn't got the deal done by 11pm in the UK, which was the transfer deadline. So when that's the case, clubs can apply for what's called a deal sheet with the Premier League where they get an extra two hours to get a deal done over the line. But for that to happen, both clubs and the player involved must sign the deal sheet to say that they are taking this deal into extra time. So Balogun put pens and paper on that. Balogun was happy for that deal to continue at 11 o 'clock. And then just after midnight, he decided he didn't fancy it. So, you know, you have to question why Monaco were happy to get the deal done at a different price.

21:41Everton were happy to get the deal done at a different price. And Balogun was happy to do that as well. but then an hour later he decided, no, this isn't for me. So I think question marks are over Balogun on this one because he hasn't told us what happened, why he got cold feet, but it's really strange for a player to have a medical, agree terms and then decide about an hour later, no, I don't fancy this, I'm going back to Monaco. Can I ask, Mark, I read somewhere that you say a different price, did that also include a lower wage for Flo Balogun? I read somewhere that that was part of the kind of negotiations.

22:15Yeah, I'm not aware that the wage, I don't think the wage would be impacted because he's the guy on the pitch, he has to perform whether it was reduced in terms of incentives. But what had happened was that Everton negotiated a lower basic fee with Monaco with higher add-ons so that had he played the games that they expected him to, Monaco would have got the fee that they would have expected. so perhaps Balogun was given an incentivised contract but again, all this was on the table before 11 o 'clock when all three parties were happy to sign it to take it into extra time to get the deal done so something's happened between 11pm and midnight when Balogun decided he'd had enough but they couldn't have got to that stage without Balogun accepting the fact that everything was in place so we just need Phil Balogun to clear it up basically I don't know, but I'm not comfortable with how Everton are treating me at that last minute does seem a bit pathetic, doesn't it?

23:05So now, as I said, I read somewhere, and Grant is one place, saying that after he failed medical and then everything kind of reworked itself, they came back to Balogun with a lowered wage. Now, if that's the case, now I'm raising question marks because if this whatever anomaly with his medical, he can now say they kind of created this. I'm fit. I don't know what they're talking about. They created this situation to lower my wage. And if that's how he's left feeling at the last minute, then I am fully with Flo Balogun here. On the other hand, as I mentioned, I read that one place. I hadn't seen it echoed anywhere else.

23:48If it's just a case of, well, we've done this all day long. And then now at midnight, one o 'clock in the morning, I decide, you know what, I'm not feeling it. That feels a little... I'm 100 % with you. If I've done a deal and we've done medicals, once you commit to your medical and you pass that medical, and sometimes it can be really quite stringent, once you pass that medical, that's the worry over. Then the next bit's the easy bit. But you're really... Having made two or three moves, once you're committed to that medical, your mind's made up, you're going. But if Everton have, and I don't know, and to Shaq's point, I don't know if this is the case, if they said to him, for example, right, you're on 100 ,000 a week, here's the deal, he's happy with that, there's a problem where, I don't know what the problem was, it was whatever, it was a knee or whatever, I've no idea.

24:45If Everton turn around and say, look, we're renegotiating with Monaco because there's an issue with the medical and we're putting you on, you know, 75 ,000 a week and 25 ,000 if you make X amount of a piece, and all that sort of stuff. I'm with Shaq. I'm walking out. So if that's the case, I could understand that. But if that's the case, don't say, I think you should clear that up in your statement and say, look, Everton moved the goalposts with my salary. After the medical, I'm going back to Monaco. It's very vague in terms of I'm not happy the way I was treated. So we're in a very grey area here.

25:20We really don't know what the problem is. But I think if it had been me and they'd moved the goalpost with an agreed salary, I'd have come out and said it. Look, with an agreed salary, they moved the goalpost because of a medical, I'm going back to Club X. And then everyone knows what the story is. So he's still at Monaco for now, Mark, but are they looking to move him on? They are, yeah, because they're in financial difficulties and they had to get one of their players out and they ended up being both going back in terms of Cameron Balogun. So the sporting director has said today that they are still looking at markets that could do a deal.