Can Chelsea rock champions Arsenal? Plus Everton’s disastrous window

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1:14Today, deadline day. You can't get mentality in the transfer market, but you can get mental. We round up Tuesday's news. Enzo Fernandes to Man City. Was this Chekhov's summer transfer? A dramatic last-minute reversal involving Foller in Balogun. That's new. And other toffee nose. And Spurs' dart end for Mudrik. Then we look ahead to Match Day 3. Everton Man United, Forest Spurs, Arsenal Chelsea. Chaos Control and we can't call them. It's the Totally Football Show. Thursday, the 3rd of September. It's a brand new Totally Football Show for you. And here in the studio, We've got Nick Miller for a start.

1:50Hi, Nick. Good to see you. Good to see you too. Natalie Jenner of Sketch Sports. Hello. Hi, Natalie. Lovely to see you too. Great to see you, James. And welcome back, Julien L 'Enron. Thank you, James.

2:01Julien Laurens: I'm super happy to be back. It's great to be back. I mean, you're our deadline day signing. Yeah, exactly. Very happy. Very good. And you? Did you have a good World Cup? All of you? Yeah. We were all there. Yeah. It was good. It was amazing. It was great. It was amazing. Nick, since the World Cup, You went off to Turkey for a piece involving Mo Salah and camels. I did, yeah. I went to Trabzon for his first home game, first start for Trabzon Spor, and rounded a corner on the stadium, and there was a chap there with a camel to welcome Salah in the most appropriate, not culturally insensitive way.

2:38Natalie, we saw a lot of you during the World Cup. Never enough, I feel, but what have you been up to since? Got a lot. last weekend I was at Sutherland for Sutherland Fulham. The week before I was at Man City, did Carabao Cup, did Championship. And you've got strong thoughts on Fulham in particular, haven't you? Oh yeah. We'll get into those because we're going to have a look through the match, say, three fixtures, of course. Before we do that though, how about we just catch up a little bit on how the transfer market ended on Tuesday night. So, it was by popular consent the craziest deadline day ever.

3:12there was the Hugh Tree for Enzo Fernandez there was that dramatic plot twist with Follerim Balogun there was rival private jets dueling over in European airspace well certainly on the tarmac

3:25Julien Laurens: on the tarmac ready to go but they were ready for a duck fight one went the other stayed that's the thing crazy this was for Malik Fofano of Lyon let's begin though with Enzo Fernandez because Nick you wrote a piece about this so upset were you you live it absolutely livid off you go then it just seems like everyone knew that this was going to happen from like I don't know 3rd of April you mentioned pretty much yeah which is when Fernandes was kind of suspended by Chelsea for saying off colour things about potentially going to Real Madrid and then you know from pretty much when Rodri left it seemed left Manchester City it seemed inevitable that he was going to go there and it just it was just all this kind of negotiating and posturing and various other things that meant that it only happened at the last minute which kind of scuppered various things for other people.

4:13Well, indeed, and for themselves, because Chelsea, having known since the 3rd of April they needed to replace him, ended up doing the deal after the transfer mint market had closed and couldn't get a replacement as a result. Interesting. Yeah, the whole Lamin Kamara thing tied up with Balogun and it was all very complicated, which to a point was out of Chelsea's control. Yeah, it's not their fault. If they hadn't left it to that late, then, you know.

4:35Julien Laurens: You had that deadline, didn't they? Of Friday, 10 days before, saying, If you don't offer 120 by now, it's over, it's finished. And we all knew this was never going to happen. I mean, that's obviously not a deadline. That's going to help them next time they say it's a deadline. Honest. Absolutely, yeah. Tell us then, Jules, what happened with Follerin-Balagun. So Monaco needed to sell. Ideally, yeah. They were not as much in need of cash than Lyon, for example, with Fofina. That was a must sell. But they could do with one more sale this summer. They did well. They sold well, like a Cleus to PSG.

5:12Julien Laurens: But it was clearly that one of Balogun and Kamara was the next one. And then that would have been their perfect window in terms of bringing money in, basically. And Balogun, they were happy to let him go. He wanted to come back to England in the Premier League. Kamara, they thought he's 22. He's the best player, more than Balogun, more important even. They wanted to keep him ideally, really. So Chelsea had been knocking at the door all summer. And they've always said no. and for Balogun, once they find an agreement with Everton, they say, this is perfect. He's going to go to Everton. We get that money and we have his wages off the wage bill and we can keep Kamara, build a team around him.

5:47Julien Laurens: Even if he's just for a season, that's fine. Kamara was a little bit, not disappointed because I think he was happy to stay, but he's spoken to a few people, I think around Chelsea. He was kind of excited with the idea of maybe going to Chelsea, but it was Balogun to Everton and until 7pm, it was all going according to plans. And then Everton said, hang on, there's a problem with Balogun's medical. Right. Monaco said, there's no problem with Balogun's fitness. Balogun said, there's no problem with my fitness, my knees, my thighs, nothing. But that kind of like set back that deal for a little bit.

6:20Julien Laurens: And then Monaco panicked a bit and said, what happens if Balogun doesn't go to Everton? We still need something. So they called Chelsea or Chelsea called them and said, hey, what about Camara to us? So suddenly Camara was back on. Camara got excited. Chad Bialonzo called Camara. Camarillo was like, yeah, this is for me. I want that move. And then Balogun changed his mind because Everton said, actually, you're right. There was nothing wrong with him. We're ready to sign. We send you the paperwork. And then it's Balogun who said. So at that point, Monaco said, OK, so we're not selling Camarillo to Chelsea.

6:51Yeah. So Balogun goes to Finch Farm.

6:54Julien Laurens: He's already there. Oh, he's already there. Yeah, he was in Liverpool. And basically, when Everton went back to Monaco and said, actually, it's all good for Balogun. We do this deal. There's nothing wrong with him. Then Monaco called Chelsea and said, sorry, guys, the Camaradil is not going to happen because we don't need to sell him anymore. But Balogun then changes his mind. Why, Jules? Why? He said, which in a way, I'm not sure if I buy completely, but said, I don't like what Everton did here. They didn't believe me. They didn't treat me well. They thought I was injured. I was telling them there was no injury.

7:24Julien Laurens: There was no problem with me. And yet they still doubted me. And I don't want to go there. Yeah, the sporting director told the BBC apparently that he wasn't comfortable after everything that happened and the way that Everton dealt with the situation. It was a suggestion that Everton were trying to chip a bit off the price. Yeah, renegotiate maybe a little bit, which is bad for them because I think Everton had a terrible window, mostly because of that too. So I'm not sure I really understand what they were playing. I can understand Chelsea frustration for sure. Monaco is saying we played our hands.

7:53Julien Laurens: One of them was going to go. It should have been Balogun. and because everything was agreed with Balogun, then Kamau is never going to move. All right. Well, we'll talk about what that means for Everton and indeed some of the other big deals that went through at the end. The Malek Fofana business. Amazing. It'd be lovely to have someone fly a private jet in just to pick you up and have two rival clubs there with their jets parked on the tarmac saying, join us. What a thrill for him. It happens quite regularly. Not the two, but yeah. The club send private jet for you to come over. You have two because one is trying to hijack the deal of the other.

8:26Julien Laurens: is great. Almost literally. Would it be great if they were actually hijacked Sunderland's... I mean, obviously not. That's illegal. We'll get into anyway some of the details later on. But when the dust had settled, I read that Premier League clubs had broken the summer spending record for a second straight year. 3.46 billion, or figures there about. To put that in perspective, that is more than the other top five leagues put together. Italy, Spain, Germany and France. Incredible. the biggest spenders from the Premier League were Man City who spent 458 millions worth of cash but they did recoup quite a lot in sales oh they also got Illaman and Jai that was a from Everton who've now been left with one striker until January and that striker is well yeah no Barry yeah 18 senior outfield players so one injury that's what they've got yeah 18 it's pretty bad Tim Spears wrote a lovely piece on The Athletic, ranking all 155 transfers.

9:31He said that the best, well, in third place, he had Sangare, who's been great, no? Yes.

9:37Julien Laurens: He'd be my number one, to be fair. Would he? Yeah. Yeah, maybe. Bruno G to Arsenal. He's got in second place. Would he be your number one? When you talk about you can't buy mentality, maybe you can. Maybe you can. Interesting. Maybe you're just shopping in the wrong places, Spurs. He puts top as Emi Martinez. What do you think about that, Nick Miller? Yeah. I mean, he's better than what Chelsea already had. Okay. He does have a horrible error in him every now and then. People do seem to kind of forget it a little bit. Yes, but he also steps up in big games. Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's definitely better than what I had previously.

10:13Not necessarily the best player, but the best fit and the best move in terms of what they were needing and the difference it makes to the side. And the price, because it's really cheap. Exactly. The price was... The bottom of his list, the worst transfers, he's got... Well, the very worst one, Emmanuel Emega.

10:32Julien Laurens: Emega? Emega, yeah. Emega, Strasbourg, Chelsea, 21 million, he says. Yeah, like, it's a bit harsh, because he was really good. If you just look at the footballer on the pitch... What kind of player is he? He's a number nine with pace that is good technically, Dutch. So with that kind of formation, if you want, off the pitch, he's had so many controversies at Strasbourg. Oh, really? What kind of controversies? He once told us, so Strasbourg did really well, especially under Liga Moussinho, with him too, by the way, including against top clubs. And there was a couple of games where he was not involved and they lost, I think, to PSG and to Marseille or something like that.

11:12Julien Laurens: And after the game that he was back on and they won, he basically came in and said, well, I wasn't there against PSG and Marseille. So basically they lost because I wasn't there. That kind of very Dutch attitude of, I am the best here. He wears sunglasses even at night time. He has, you know, all the blings and everything. And I think he could be a great guy to have in the dressing room and also a bit of a toxic guy to have in the dressing room. So I think Bottoms is a bit harsh. And again, we haven't seen him on pitch yet. He might be great for them. I don't know. He's still recovering from an injury.

11:45Julien Laurens: But I can also see where Tim is coming from in a way. Down there anyway, He also has Michal Moodrick, which is one of the most perplexing deals. And we will get on to that when we talk about Tottenham Hotspur loan deal, that is, with a£75 million option to buy. As Tim says, if they exercise that option at the end of the season, he will quit journalism and become a welder. Become a welder. So there's going to be a lot of Michal Moodrick fans out there. Arguably, we need welders more than we need journalists. What's a welder? It's when you melt metal to fuse things together. You fuse things with a blowtorch and that.

12:26You weld them together. Good career for him. Very specific. That happens. All right. Well, let's see. Like I said, a lot of people are going to be watching Mikhaila Mudrik's stats with interest from now on, not least Tim himself. Let's get on anyway to the weekend's football. Match day three. You've got four teams on maximum points. They are Man City, Arsenal, Hull and Chelsea. Two of those four face off on Sunday and they are Arsenal and Chelsea. Woof! What a fixture this looks set to be. Holloway Road against Kings Road. Control against no control whatsoever. What do you think? Are you eyeing Chelsea as potentially a team that could against Arsenal?

13:13Yes. Yes. Why, Natalie? Yes, because they've been exciting and because they show they can score goals. They have a lot of quality up front, but they need to address a few things. And this is why this fixture is so intriguing, because Arsenal, it's still, again, very, very early in the season. But, you know, Arsenal already showed the exciting Arsenal and the one new to the Arsenal. Let's just control this thing. They can play in very different ways, especially after the weight of the Premier League being done off their shoulders. But with Chelsea's vulnerability in defense, I mean, we're talking about a team like Arsenal who can absolutely take advantage of that and control that game.

13:57So I'm interested to see how much chaos Chelsea can create around such a controlled team like Arsenal. Right. And we're also looking forward to seeing Chelsea's front three in action again. They look like incredibly well suited to each other already. I mean, when people have us, we did something about the best signing of the summer and I felt quite stupid suggesting Morgan Rodgers because he was kind of£117 million. It's not exactly the most original take. But just because of how well those three forwards have fused together already, it just feels like the perfect signing. In the system that Alonso wants to play.

14:35Yeah, it is perfect. So the question is at the other end for Chelsea. And is that something you see Xavier Alonso sorting out? I mean, do you count with their results so far? Do you count Chelsea as potential title contenders this season?

14:47Julien Laurens: I think they will push Arsenal to a certain extent. And I've got them finished second in the kind of really early predictions of the season. Because I think at some point he should get them more balanced, Xavier Alonso. I think it's still quite new. There's new players. It's a different system. There's a lot of things to understand. Like Hato is now a left wing back, for example. Rodgers would have to defend a bit more. He would understand that. I think as the season progresses, I think. And he would have time to train. Yeah, and you have no European competition. So it's one game a week. So I think they will get there.

15:21Julien Laurens: They will finish top four. And I think for me, they will be the closest. However, some of the stuff that we've seen, but we saw it by Leverkusen with Xabi Alonso in terms of it's open, coming in. Everybody's welcome here, especially opposition you know for Brighton to create so much in a game that okay Chelsea ended up winning but I stand for a wish to go there have the board that merge have so many passes and Chelsea being so passive at times I thought was a little bit worrying too yeah or even fun on the week before and the week before too and the possession thing is very intriguing because it makes you think of the bigger picture are can is it sustainable for a team to really compete up until the final rounds for the Premier League having not a lot of possession.

16:06Leicester did it. Yes, Leicester was the last team that did it. But after that, we went through the Guardiola era, where it was a thing. And recently, Arsenal, they were the fourth team in terms of possession last season. So it wasn't their most important asset. So maybe it can be interesting, you know, how can they, you know, dominate games without... Because when I saw the 26 % against Brighton, I was surprised because it didn't look like 26%. I think because they are so dangerous on the ball, it just looks exciting. It doesn't look passive all the time. But as Jules said, it looks passive at times.

16:46Arsenal are going to have a lot of the ball on Sunday. I would expect so, yeah. 4.30, it's the Super Sunday game. Looking forward to that. We'll be recording our weekend roundup. You can join us live on the YouTube if you fancy. but that'll be straight after events at the Emirates. What else is happening in match day three? Well, the round starts on Friday evening with Ipswich Liverpool, which Nick's dying to talk about. The 12.30 game on Saturday is Newcastle Bournemouth. Jules is hot for that one. The three o 'clock games of the Saturday are Brentford, Sunderland, Forest Spurs, Man City, Coventry, Fulham Palace and Brighton Leeds.

17:23And then at 5.30, it's Hull looking to continue their perfect start at home to Aston Villa game of contrast that one Sunday Everton Man United at 2 before the clash at the Emirates Natalie you're going to Everton Man United for Sky Sports Hugh Dickinson yes yeah enjoy the donuts okay thank you is it your first time no no no I've been there yeah but I haven't had the donuts no you neither yeah because well when you're doing live TV you don't want your

17:52Julien Laurens: yeah you don't want you know one of my phobia is eating in stadiums I never eat at stadiums and in press yeah in press lounges and press boxes we have great food in the UK but I don't touch the food and everybody say why are you not eating I say like I can't because I'm too scared of having something between your teeth and stuff like that you could eat and floss I know you could floss but like you know I'm not a flosser you know it's not just the thing you could get stuff down yeah everything you would never do that but yeah no it's absolutely true I'm with Natalie on not touching the donut No, yeah, but I'm not as extreme.

18:28I really like food. The Toffee Treat is the branded donut. It's a sponsored thing. Everything got into a little bit of trouble because they put out a tweet involving donuts to kind of hint at the fact that Jack Krealish was returning. But this was around about the time that they weren't getting fuller in Balogun and everybody else, Richarlison, and everyone else who said no, had said no to them. And then Zerk, say, for example. And then Jai had left as well. So I think there were some quite upset Everton supporters at the fact that they've now got 18 senior players, one centre forward and I think one full back.

19:06Julien Laurens: Yeah, right back is a position they wanted to strengthen as well. Right, it didn't happen. Even the player they kept ultimately in Harrison Armstrong, they managed to upset the fans. Because in the end, the board intervened and he didn't go because of the backlash. But I am very intrigued to see how the atmosphere will be and how fans will manifest their lack of... Displeasure? Their displeasure, yes. With the transfer, which is completely justified, as you're saying. If you're David Moyes, you're tempted to walk away. I really do. I think he had been vocal all summer long since the first day of their preseason of like, we need more players.

19:48Julien Laurens: We need better players. you can build on what you did last season because I think they had a good season for the first year in the new stadium Some might say that they even overperformed with what they had and I think with this crazy window where everybody strengthened including the three promoted side that went mad on their spending and everything and then you've got Everton who are weaker than they were like a month ago even and you think how is that even possible and Eddie Howe left Newcastle because he got to a point where he had enough of losing his best player and having to kind of rebuild all the time If you're David Mustaine, you're like, I'm too old for this now.

20:21Julien Laurens: Like, what are you doing? Okay. Man United, their opponents, on a day in which they would love to have a good performance. But Man United, how impressed have you been with their start to the season? Not so much the defeat to Hull. How impressed were you with their performance against Ipswich last weekend? Well, I know there were positives, but from a foreign perspective, I feel like everything around Man United is too much for the good and the bad. So if they have a terrible performance, it's a tragedy. If they have a good performance, oh my God, they're back. All right. What are they? Are they back or is it tragic?

20:57Well, it's probably something in between and we have to wait and see. And that's my point with Man United. And I know it's not the most exciting one, but it is the truth because they have shown, they showed a lot of energy and positives in their performance against Ipswich. But at the same time, they relied on Bruno Fernandes again. They had other good performers. Don't get me wrong. There are positive signs with Marcus Rashford. The midfield was much better than it was against Hull City. But you still have the problems. Especially after the transfer window, the fact that they didn't address the left-back position makes no sense to me, really.

21:36And also gambling quite a lot on signing the 24-25 version of Carlos Baleba, rather than the one who was pretty rubbish last season. It wasn't even like a regular in Brighton's first team by the end of the season. Yeah, we don't know which baller. I don't even know if he's going to play because he had an injury during the preseason. So Carrick said something about two or three weeks. So I think he's not going to be fit for this one. I'm not sure. But yeah, at his prime, he was incredibly talented and he is an asset. But we don't really know how he's going to be.

22:08Julien Laurens: The first half against Ipswich was not very good. The second half much better. again against a team that he's a promoted team that is not that great either. So I think we'd wait a bit. They got quite lucky with the goal that maybe shouldn't have been a goal and the handball. This is a much bigger test for them, I think, than any of the first two games. Will Everson, like a donut, get battered? We'll find out. What else is happening? Man City are up against Coventry. Enzo Fernandes reuniting with Maresca for that British record, 125 million. Is he worth that? I mean, is anybody? Yeah, we could get into some.

22:40Is he worth it to City? But it's very intriguing how, I mean, he can add something very different to that midfield. What does he add? He's a really good box-to-box. He developed really well in that role under Maresca, and Maresca was a box-to-box midfielder back in his day. But if you have Elliot Anderson and you have Enzo Fernandes and you have Nico O 'Reilly or Mark Gehry doing this pairing with Elliot Anderson, where is Cherky? I'm just wondering how this can affect their formation with Scherke. Of course, we're talking about a full season with European football and there's going to be rotation, but he brings a variety to this and he brings control as well to suit his midfield.

23:26He's really good in setting the pace and keeping the ball. So it's very interesting what the alternatives that Mariska has now to set up his team.

23:34Julien Laurens: Okay. And what about Ileman Njai? I think he's a backup to Doku, one of the two wingers. Or certainly now they have four wingers with Alain that also signed from Brazil. I don't think he's a world-class player. I don't think he's a bit older already. I don't think he will ever be a world-class player. You know exactly what you're going to get. He works hard defensively. He is good going forward. So it's Semenyo, Alain, and Doku. And you've got four for two positions. And I agree with Nathalie in the sense that now you probably have the best squad in the league, level with Arsenal potentially. That's a lot of options.

24:05Julien Laurens: It's a lot of different profiles for Maresca where he would have to find the right formula. And whether that's a bit of rotation, whether that's a set 11 and system and formation, but he would have to click because I don't think Enzo can play in a double pivot. He could not with Casey, though. He certainly cannot do that with Eli Anderson. So you need maybe Boadi with Eli Anderson or even an O 'Reilly, but O 'Reilly is not a defensive midfielder either. So where do you play Cherki or Foden and your two wingers? And then suddenly you look at all those different things that Mareska can do and you think, well, maybe we struggle to find the best 11 here and that could be a problem for them.

24:42Julien Laurens: They could almost have too much talent in a way and too many options. But on a positive, it gives Boadi time to develop because he's a young player. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ryan Jerky's been the star so far. The two assists on game week one and the two goals last time out. He's a shy, unassuming type. Is this going to be his season? I was convinced at the start of the scene that he would be his. And then I see him on the bench in the commutation and I'm like, really? And I know Foden had the whole summer free, obviously. So maybe he was more ready physically. But then I see Foden against Arsenal in the commutation being bad.

25:13Julien Laurens: And I think, OK, this team is Cherki's team. There's no doubt. And then Foden starts again against Bournemouth at the Etienne and Cherki's on the bench and Cherki's not too happy to be on the bench because I think he thinks like me of like, why am I not playing here? Definitely thinks like that. Comes on and obviously wins the game for City in a way. So then he is expected to start on Friday against Palace. Palace is not sure the day is leading into that game. And again, he's a bit, what's going to happen here? He starts. And I think maybe in his mind, or certainly from what I was told, was that he was so excited almost to get that starting spot on Friday night that he put a bit of pressure on him for that first half.

25:53Julien Laurens: And it was not good. It was not a good first half. But what I love about Ryan Cherky, and I think we all do, is at halftime, he knows Mariska is thinking, I'm going to take you off. and he goes obviously to see him and say yeah give me five minutes I'll show you that's all he needed five minutes scored a great goal that only him in the league I think can score and then after that the momentum is there so I expect him to start the game at the weekend in the 10 I don't really mind where Foden is if he's on the bench or wide but Sheiky needs to play as a 10 for this team and I think he will make things happen for them Nick likes Coventry's shirt I love Coventry's shirt yeah the indispensable pre-season kit rankings they were number one okay they're away for this game though aren't they if they could arrange it for them to wear their home shirt that would be great I do understand have you ever watched the Pep Guardiola documentary there's a bit about with Cherokee and that where he's having his medical and he's got his shoelaces untied and they were like can you please tie your shoelaces and he was like no no I'm not doing that and then the guy doing the medical said look if you fall over and break your leg during this medical I'm going to get sacked so it was like I don't know he eventually did it it was just I thought it was just really funny he trains with laces and done and the new boots makes it like you don't really it's still tight enough right you're not going to lose your boot if you shoot without the laces but this is the this is the style crazy the part on Cherki in that documentary all of it not just the middle but even before that when City kind of revealed how they what they were thinking about before signing him it's just fascinating because he had that reputation and and I think he showed that despite being a very different character to a lot of the players, he's still a special footballer.

27:31That reputation, as you say. We'll see how it pans out. It certainly looks like an arduous afternoon for Coventry against Manchester City. As for the rest of the weekend's features, I'd say they're games that people have picked out as being of particular interest. Nick, for example, you're all up in that Ipswich-Liverpool. Ipswich, who were the second highest net spenders. Second to Liverpool. It's the net spenders. Oh, good Lord. net spend classical they spent a total of about 195 million pounds net of you know just under 180 i think 14 players it's i just find it quite interesting how to how different they were to the last time in the premier league last time they spent they spent a lot of money as 150 million pounds but it was all on players who were from english clubs most of them were english and now it's it's kind of much more kind of i don't imaginative i suppose um and they've signed they've signed a bunch of really interesting players it might it might not eventually do any good but um uh they look pretty good against um manchester united got a bit as we said got a bit unlucky with that goal they went they went ahead and then there's liverpool who you know everyone seems very kind of pessimistic about them and they haven't yet lost a game they've drawn both of them to too but if it doesn't doesn't start working pretty soon then you know people are going to start getting twitchy and panicking.

28:54You're inclined to give Irayola the benefit of the doubt because of what he achieved at Bournemouth and also because he had a slow start there as well. But people point to structural issues. They've already been discussed at length. In the Liverpool squad, how much impact does the arrival of Bradley Bacolat... How should I pronounce that properly?

29:13Julien Laurens: Bradley? Bradley. I mean, it depends if you want to say the Bradley as in like in... Bradley. In English or American culture, or like we do in France, like Bradley. but the Barcola Barcola Barcola yeah BB29 call him BB29 I will do why not that's you know that's he likes it that's his number that's his initials you know BB29 all right JL1 what do you what do you think I I love this deal I mean I think they've overpaid you love this deal as a PSG fan so we will miss him for sure but I I can see why being part of the best team in the world two seasons in a row and not having maybe the role that he would have loved to.

29:54Julien Laurens: You weren't the best team in the world though, Joes, you lost the final of the Club World Cup, which is specifically designed to... Europe is not the world, Joes. We gave it to Chelsea, that one, nobody cared, to be fair, but everybody's forgotten about that competition, you know, even Donald Trump himself. But back to back Champions League, back to back Champions League winner, you know, Bradley Barcola, BB29. But BB29, I think, and I can understand why BB29 was not happy because I think he wanted to play a bit more and suddenly, people who say he was a sub it's not really true there was a lot of fluidity within that front four Graz, Kelly, Adoué, Dembele and him and yet okay he was maybe not from the start in Champions League final or semi-final quarter-finals but he was heavily involved in everything they did in a big part I don't think they win those Champions League without him in the squad anyway really so but I can see why he wanted a bigger role a key role in a bigger club and that's why he got I think there's a lot of pressure on him massively because of the price because of this kind of new responsibility of you will have to be the main guy at Liverpool.

30:54Julien Laurens: And I don't think that's easy. The summer where Mo Salah had left too. So I hope he works. He's not fit yet, not much fit because he had a preseason where he was waiting for the deal to happen, for the move to happen. So you will need a bit of time to build that. But there's a great player there. And if things click for him and for the team, then I think he can only be a success for them. I can't see him flopping, really. Let's make a similar case for Mikel Mudrik then. Great player there if it clicks. Because people have raised eyebrows at this move. But he did work with Dezerbi previously with great success at Shakhtar Donetsk.

31:30So is that why Spurs? And could it? I mean, I guess so. It was also a sort of fairly easy deal for them to do. It's just they needed a winger late in the transfer. Okay. This guy who hasn't played for two years, is it?

31:46Julien Laurens: Yeah. Which is... Didn't do very much before that either. Didn't do Hujamun before that. A lot of kind of hype over the transfer at the time. Chelsea kind of gazumped Arsenal, didn't they, I think? Yes, yes. I spoke to Trossard instead. Yeah, and I spoke to a lot of Arsenal fans at the time who were devastated. Really? Yes. It was this kind of almost mass psychosis that were just like, we need this guy. We can't let this guy slip through our fingers. And they signed Trossard and they won the league. Everyone was wrong about Mudrik back then. Maybe they're wrong about him this time. Is there a redemption arc in prospect here, Natalie?

32:20Why not? Why not? Yeah, I like to be a positive person, James. So, you know, why not? Are there evidence, are there recent evidence of that? No. Can we trust that 100 %? No. But, you know, it's football.

32:35Julien Laurens: Okay. Yeah. When you see, they didn't score many goals at Chelsea. I think it was five in the league in all those games. But back in the day. Yeah, back in the day. But even at Chelsea, some of those goals are quite special in the sense that his pace with the board is, you know, some players like have a lot of pace, but it's just you push like another match away, for example. You push the ball and you run. You don't actually dribble past people and using that space other than in a way of like being a chosen board footballer, basically. He's a bit different on that. And I know at Chelsea didn't work out for him for whatever reason.

33:09Julien Laurens: And then obviously the ban. But maybe the Zerbi, who is crazy enough to be able maybe to even put this one out of the bag and say, like, bring Mudrik back to the form that we saw at Shakhtar. Right. If you get him right. And again, I think there's nothing to lose for Spurs. If it doesn't work out, you send him back. Except football matches, of course, which they're doing at quite a worrying rate so far. You see a lot of those stories of players who are reunited with certain managers that can take the best out of them. and apparently Dizerbi really likes him they have they have a really good relationship since Shakhtar and I think it's fair to say that Mudrik needs a win Dizerbi needs a win they kind of need to take the best out of each other so how long before he can play though and play yeah regularly and Spurs only have a game a week so it's a bit but we saw and I know it's different and Pogba is older and Pogba was injury prone and everything you want but Pogba by after the ban really struggled just to get to match fitness He was fit, but not much fit to play at this kind of level.

34:13As you mentioned, Spurs needing a win. They're away at Nottingham Forest, Nick, this weekend. They've had a miserable time going to the city ground of late. Spurs? Forest? Well, yeah, sometimes. Forest have won the last four meetings with Spurs there. Yeah, Forest have been quite good against Liverpool, quite bad. The previous week against Leeds. signed Liam De Lappe, who was quite low down on Tim Spears' transfer. I wonder why.

34:47Julien Laurens: Maybe the price? Let me think. The price and the stat that he's got more yellow cards than goals in his professional career is a... But Chelsea, that's the thing. Go to Chelsea. Yeah, I mean, again, it's similar to the Belieber thing. Forrester hoping that they're signing the previous season's version of Liam De Lappe rather than... Well, it could be a good fit. I agree with Nick though on the price it's silly how much was the price? 50 million how can a player get more value yes and his price increases after the season that he had with more yellow than gold but the without waiting to be a forest apologist here the the kind of price that he went to Chelsea for was maybe slightly false because it was a release clause yeah yeah so but it's still is he a 50 million pound player?

35:32no probably not but he is he does I think the theory is that he's a kind of slightly younger, more mobile version of Chris Wood. Yeah, yeah. Which, and there is a certain amount of logic to it. He doesn't, I mean, it's stupid to, as it might sound, he doesn't even necessarily need to score that many goals. He just kind of facilitates the other. Right, which he did last weekend. Which he did last weekend with the quick throw. And, you know, obviously Morgan Gibbs-White scored a load of goals at the end of last season from a sort of similar position. Dan Andoy looks much more comfortable in one of those 10 roles rather than out wide.

36:07So, yeah, even if Dallaps continues to pick up more yellow cards than goals, then he might be some kind of success. All right, then. So, Forrest against Spurs, who are, of course, without any points or any goals scored. So far this season, Newcastle-Bournemouth, Jules. Yeah. First of all, can you tell us about Matthias Fernandes-Pardo, who Newcastle signed while shipping Nick Vultomardioff to Turin to join Juventus? Yeah,€60 million. What's that? 50 million pounds? 51, yeah.

36:39Julien Laurens: 51? From Lille. Yeah. What are they getting? I think it's a smart signing. I think they overpaid a little bit maybe because Lille didn't want to sell. That was not part of the summer plans for Lille, which was Bouhadi, the main one, really. Their annual big sale of the summer, you know, we had Euro and we had Jaquite, for example, and others. Then we had Bouhadi. So the idea was to keep Van der Spadde for another year and then he would be the big sale the following summer. but he really wanted to move. He kind of refused to play, friendly, didn't want to train, pretended, yeah, so I guess to force the move.

37:15Julien Laurens: Ironic for Newcastle to get a player like that. No, but I think, yes and no. I can see, you know, where he really wanted to move. He felt it was the right time for him to move. Although Lila in the Champions League, for example, so he would have had Champions League football, he would have been a guaranteed starter for them, but anyway. But it's a smart signing because I think he fits so perfectly what Jasler's football philosophy is. Right. he has that incredible pace he can play out wide but now they moved him at Lille in a nine where I think he could have a bit of a those kind of wingers who became number nines because he's smart his runs are good he's good technically he was a a prodigy in Belgium when he was younger went to the Lille Academy didn't really find his place there went back to Belgium to play then Lille brought him back and then they brought him back for 12 million euros and sold him for 60 so it's one of those again great things but for me it fits perfectly and when you think about Yasler and his style of football and you've got Elanga and Huissa and Osula and Fernandez Pardo and Barnes it's just all and Nico Gonzalez in the quarterback role of like hey you ready to run I'm going to throw the ball at you it's perfect and I'm not a Nico fan and I think he lacks mobility for when they don't have the ball but in possession in the games where they can use all that in transition I think they would be perfect and that's why I liked a lot their transfer windows because they lost a lot but they gained great talent too.

38:37Yesler's philosophy, very briefly, how would you define it?

38:41Julien Laurens: Red Bull football, overlapping fullbacks, a lot of verticality transitions. They will struggle in games where they have 60 % of the ball when they play against the low block at Hull City or those kind of teams. That's for him to work out what to do. But when they have space, like at Spurs, like against Liverpool, even at home, and I expect in this game too, although this is a German derby and I think Marco Roser will have a plan probably against that. Marco Rosa, who's also a Red Bull guy, to be fair. So this should be fun. That's why I picked this game. Yeah, I think this is great to watch. And if you're not a Newcastle fan, I think you should be excited.

39:14Anything else about this game that excites you, Jules?

39:16Julien Laurens: I want to see Bournemouth. I'm not too sure about Bournemouth. But what I like about Bournemouth is the stability there. Because apart from Antonio Silva, the rest is very much the same team. In Marco Rosa, you get a guy that has a lot of similarities with Irola. And I think this should work. But I was a little bit underwhelmed by what I saw in the first two games. so for me this is a big game for them to go to St. James' Park they keep conceding late goals as well which is only two games but you know they conceded after 84 minutes and then 91 in two games so could be a theme they brought in Michele Di Gregorio oh yeah which was surprising I was a bit confused with that transfer because I understand they want European experience maybe but at the same time I didn't really see Petrovic as you know one of the weak links of the team actually last the previous game against Everton he did he made a few really good saves he's a solid goalkeeper you know but I was I was surprised with it Diggard already had a bit of a stinker of a season last time out yeah especially the second half of the season right yeah let's get on some of the other fixtures coming up and they're not all Premier League in the British game next

40:31New season of WSL begins on Friday night, Nick. Yes. While some people are going to be locked into... Ipswich Liverpool. Ipswich Liverpool. Thank you so much. You've got London City Lionesses against Manchester United in WSL. London City Lionesses are one of the big spenders, of course, looking to disrupt the big three in WSL. Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, the champions. Champions Man City face Birmingham City on Sunday. Chelsea are up against Aston Villa on Saturday. And the newly expanded WSL up to 14 teams now. I'm so intrigued to watch Putejas play here.

41:12Julien Laurens: Ballon d 'Or in England. I hope people go and watch her everywhere on TV in the stadium. You know, Ballon d 'Or, even in the Premier League, main Premier League. Ballon d 'Or. So I really hope people make the most of Aixa Putejas while she's here because she's wonderful. She's with the London City Lionesses along with seven other new players as Michelle Kang continues to back that ambitious project. We'll see how that gets underway on Friday evening. Now, Nick, as you mentioned, it's Ipswich Liverpool, which we've already discussed on Friday night in the Premier League. Games which we haven't touched on yet include Hull, Aston Villa, Brighton Leeds, Brentford, Sunderland and Fulham Crystal Palace.

41:54Natalie's here to say worrying things Fulham fans, get ready about the cottagers how bad do you think it's going to get, Natalie? No, I was feeling very positive about them after the first game, after the Chelsea game I think everyone was surprised in a way because it's such a different style of play that Arbeloa wants to implement and then I came into the Fulham-Sunderland game because I covered that match thinking oh my god, I want to see all this excitement And even pre-match, I was asking Arbeloa about how risky is. How do you calculate the risks with your brand of football? There were no risks.

42:33No risks. No, it was all very flat, lacking energy, lacking ideas. I could save Josh King because he was the player trying to create different things. And now Fulham, they have two losses in the first two games. Crystal Palace is the same. And they both have new managers. but with Fulham especially if you're trying to implement such a specific demanding style of football you need the results because otherwise players won't buy into it and fans will be very suspicious about it they had Marco Silva for so long and they knew what to expect from Fulham with Marco Silva so it is a big game for both for both teams even though it's just the third game I think due to the circumstances it's very important for both teams important for both managers is it already whoever loses this could be teetering towards the brink it would be under pressure for sure Fulham have also lost half their goals from last season Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson both gone just under half their goals and to be fair Gontalo Garcia he's had a good start but still we'll see but still

43:41Julien Laurens: I feel for our friend Stonewall is a palace because Sajj who I think was very excited coming into it and I think Although the last day of the transfer window, they missed on Forfana. But Ozzorio, I think, could be a really good signing for them. Arno, who we know from Serie A, although it's a weird deal because he's a Chelsea player, but not really a Chelsea player. He's on loan to Palace, but he's not really... Anyway, I think could be a really smart signing too. So his squad got better, but there was a time where he thought, I've got no new signings. I will lose Ismail Assar. There was a point where I think they were convinced they would lose Ismail Assar.

44:19Julien Laurens: I still have Jean-Philippe Mateta, who we all love, you know, boom, boom, boom, Mateta. But he's still there and he doesn't really want to be there. And you sign Stran Larsson for 50 million, who is there thinking I'm going to be the starter, but he's not the starter. And when he plays, he looks completely disinterested. And if you're Pierre Saj, you were so excited, it was your dream to come to England in the Premier League. So I hope, and I really hope that that is right. I'm hoping Stormwise gets a win in this game, which increases the pressure on Arbeloa. I'm sorry for them fans, but I want my Pierre Saj to do well.

44:46Julien Laurens: So I hope this is the turning point for Palace. I see. Malik Fofana was the player that Palace tried to hijack a deal for, flying a private jet down to Lyon Airport, I'm guessing. But Sunderland had theirs there. True. What the atmosphere must have been like between those two kind of flight cruises. Do you think if you're Palace and you send your private jet, you think like we have to send a better private jet than Sunderland? I don't know how it works. Because if you're Malik Fofana, you walk on the tarmac, right? and you see this crappy 1970 private jet that you don't want to get in and on the other hand brand new flashy private jet for Sunderland you think like oh yeah I fancy this one more than this you know do private jets show in the track my flight website yes yes yes yes yes and you know you open the I mean I've been I don't know if you've been I've been I've never been in a private julie enlighten us please you know okay but you open the the so the little stairs open from like like yeah yeah you know we've seen that so you but you can see inside so that's what i mean maybe maliforna was like right or left let me see inside that crew doesn't look great oh that crew looks better oh inside is maybe you know it was it looked more comfy i don't know because there was a point where he was not sure really what to do and in the end he can we name the agency that he He is with Roc Nation, who have been really active over him in the summer.

46:13Julien Laurens: Although if Lyon had qualified for the Champions League, I think they would have taken that money from the Champions League, the guaranteed 25 million or so, and kept him for another season. But once they were knocked out by Fenerbahce, they had to let him go. He's the highest value in their squad. But Roc Nation has, for example, employed his uncle, who is a very influential figure for Malik Forfaina, like a second dad, if you want. He's part of the Roc Nation agency as an agent. And he was very much driving this deal. And there's a point where I think Malik Fofana was really like, I don't know where to go here, Alice or Sunderland.

46:48Julien Laurens: And let's say that the agency and the uncle helped massively on where destination to pick. Okay. And what have Sunderland got then? Why were two clubs willing to send private jets down for Malik Fofana? Stability? he's a he's a wonderful talent and he's young and he had a really bad ankle injury this time last year more or less and the numbers if you're a Sunderland fan and you look at the numbers and you think oh that's not many goals and assists which I understand he needs to improve on that but the ceiling is so so so so high and I really thought he was going to pick Palace because Piaçage coached him at Lyon they have a great relationship and instead Regis Lebris was clearly very convincing the agency you know how can I put it were very happy with the deal they were offered to let's put it that way okay and I think in the end he's going to go to Sunderland but I think he's one to watch because he could really flourish here in England okay wasn't he also at one point having a medical but he didn't know what club he was having a medical for but they did a joint medical between them so Lyon organized it which I think is a smart idea to do right it's like you gain time by doing that and Lyon organized the medical.

48:05Julien Laurens: What was funny, at some point, he had the two managers kind of trying to call him in a way. So like one phone was Piersage, another phone was Le Brice. And yeah, so let's see. I hope he doesn't. So difficult when that happens, I find yours. Have you been in this position before? I mean, you know. So, well, it'll be interesting to see how he gets on for Sunderland and how Sunderland did he get on at Brentford who have impressed so far this season. That's taking place Saturday, three o 'clock, as is the other clash of two German managers, which is Brighton against Leeds, Hutzler against Farker. And also on Saturday, but a little bit later on at tea time, you've got Hull-Aston Villa.

48:49One of those two teams has had two victories and two clean sheets. The other one has had two defeats and no goals scored whatsoever. No shots on target. Not even any shots on target. Thank you. Yes.

49:02Julien Laurens: That's that bad. Yeah. Hull against Aston Villa. What a curious way to come into this game. They're only the second Premier League team since 2003, not to have any shots on target in the first two matches. And I'm guessing that date is because that's when people started writing the numbers down. So potentially ever. The other one was Swansea in 2017. Villa did spend£47 million on PSG winger Ibrahim Mbaye. Is it a good Mbaye? it's a good M-Buy if you don't expect too much just now he's 18 he's a kid he wanted to play more in Paris he felt he's still M-Buy he's M-Buy he's Paris Bon & Bray so he's very special to my heart but it's a point where PSG were kind of getting ready to buy a Barcola replacement which they haven't found so they will look into January for that but for M-Buy he was he wanted to play more he's entourage wanting him to play more and when your entourage kind of calls Luis Enrique and say, why is my son not playing more?

50:07Julien Laurens: You start thinking, okay, maybe it's better for you if you go somewhere else and just be part of a different project where there would be a proper project. Luis Enrique could not take on a project like MBI, a PhD. There was other things to do. I think Unai Emery can do that and if the MBI project works out, he's a wonderful talent. Really, for his age group at 18, he's the best in his position. So he can play wide, he can play centrally. He's strong, he's quick, he's good technically. The goal he scored with Senegal against France at the World Cup is a wonder goal. That's what he's capable of.

50:38Julien Laurens: But he's still so young that he would need a bit of time. I think he's not ready right now to play, to start 25 games in the Premier League for Aston Villa. That's not going to happen. He's not ready for that. But there's a great player there in the making. That was an amazing goal that he scored. It was great. Yeah. How much money has Premier League spent in Ligue 1 this summer then? It must be bankrolling. Yeah, absolutely. So I think in total, Ligue 1 sold for£1 billion of players, which is incredible. But we need the money. That's what clubs do. I think, if I'm not mistaken, I think the Prem spent something like£600 million in Ligue 1.

51:14Julien Laurens: In Ligue 1? Yeah, in something crazy like that. £600 million. You are literally our bankers. You are literally our bankers. Incredible. All righty. We'll see how it all plays out on match day three. Anything else you want to add about the weekend of prospect, Natalie? Just one final thing, because I spoke to Igor Thiago. I did a sit down with him last week. And you know how players are usually very political or very well behaved when they talk about individual prizes. when I spoke to him about the golden boot and how much he thinks about that because he was so close with Haaland and it's so hard to keep up with Haaland he was like, I am sure I'm going to get the golden boot eventually I know it on the inside and it is a goal for me so I always find it refreshing when players are more open about what they really want especially when you're facing Haaland in the run for the golden boot and he started so well this season you got Chago you know zero goal in two games so I'm kidding I'm kidding didn't we miss Jules a lot I'm kidding I'm sorry I love you no no Jules couldn't help himself like after two minutes of conversation with me to mention Brazil in the World Cup Brazil in the World Cup you know post World Cup I was just wondering how you were feeling about missing out again at least they didn't get six put past them by England can you Oh, I'm beat you, you're meaningful.

52:43Julien Laurens: I mean, at least you'd be better than Italy. Well, technically you didn't. Well, we could sit here all day and banter about the World Cup, but you've got places to be, haven't you, listeners? So let's wrap it up for today's Totally Football show. Sunday night, we'll be back after the Arsenal-Chelsea game to round up that and the rest of the weekend's action. So far, as mentioned, it is live. on YouTube if you want to join us or catch up with it afterwards. So now many thanks, Natalie, for coming by. Lovely to see you. And to you, Nick Miller, have you got any crazy on-the-road adventures lined up?

53:22Nothing particularly lined up at the moment, but my dispatch from Trabzon and the Camel, that's available to read. Oh, okay. Athletic.com. Very, very good. And lovely to have you back. Thank you for having me back. Very happy. Always welcome. Always welcome. Catch up with you soon, listener. For now, from all of us here, it's goodbye.

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