Diogo Jota, Enzo Maresca and Sir Jim Ratcliffe (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images, Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images, Tom Jenkins/ Getty Images)
In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including the tragic death of Diogo Jota, Chelsea at the Club World Cup, Man United’s transfer business, and more.
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Diogo Jota’s tragic passing was a real shock to the system
Diogo Jota of Liverpool
Liverpool striker Diogo Jota tragically passed away last week (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
I was away on holiday and I was actually in the gym and I was running and I saw it pop up on my phone and I thought that can’t be right. So it was a notification that said “Liverpool striker Diogo Jota killed in crash”. And my first instinct was disbelief. So I didn’t really think anything of it and then the confirmation came from other sources. And I jumped off the treadmill and I just was like, just frozen sat there looking at my phone for about 10 minutes in absolute disbelief.
There have been many tragedies in football. You know, there’s been the Ibrox tragedy, Hillsborough tragedy. There’s been the Munich air disaster, the Chapecoense one, and many others. And they all have an incredible ability to shock. I think that what made this one perhaps even more shocking is that it’s a current Premier League superstar. And it’s also the fact that he’d only got married 10 days ago. He’s got three small children. And, you know, he was a very unassuming guy. So all of those things combined, it just really hit home.
Liverpool, as always, a very classy football club. You’d expect them – particularly with their unfortunate understanding of tragedy with Hillsborough and Heysel – is that the first thing is looking after the player’s family, which they’ve done, and looking after the players and the staff. So Liverpool will continue to do that. I don’t think anybody will be under pressure to do anything that they don’t want to do. I think that everybody will be encouraged to talk to each other in the dressing room. And perhaps if any players, particularly those that were very close to him, might need some counselling.
In a dressing room of 20, 30 people, there’ll be some people that weren’t as close that have more of an ability to be able to move on quicker. But it’s really important that players get back on the horse and that they do their job because by doing their job they create momentum. They can still mourn, they can have the best of everything, they can mourn Diogo’s life while continuing to be elite level professional footballers.
I don’t think that’s been mentioned enough. I think that because of the timing at the moment, it’s been less than a week, emotions are still raw. But I do think there is something in elite level athletes that will allow them to be able to compartmentalise and compete this season.
Chelsea won’t compete for the Premier League next season
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
It’s almost like things have gone in a huge upward trajectory for Chelsea since the second half of the UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis. They won the trophy, so they’ve now got the taste for trophies. The Club World Cup final is going to be a different challenge for them, there’s no doubt about that. I think that PSG most would acknowledge the best 14-15 player team in world football at the moment.
But looking ahead to next season, I think it’s going to be difficult for Chelsea. The Premier League is the toughest league in the world and they have qualified for the Champions League by right. But I’ve seen a lot of pundits saying that they could win the league. Anything’s possible, but I think that Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City are significant further ahead of Chelsea.
Going into November, December and January, they will have to rotate players because there’s no way their squad are going to just be able to get two weeks off after this Club World Cup and be fresh for the new season – no matter how many players they buy. Even if you’ve got 50 players and you’re starting to manage people’s minutes and freshness, changing teams often means changing results.
Man United need to get their act together on the transfer front
Jason Wilcox and Sir Jim Ratcliffe watch on at Old Trafford. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
I worry that Man United haven’t got rid of players. I think that players are going to have to turn up to pre-season eventually. And no matter much players like Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho want to leave, they will need to turn up for pre-season if they are still contracted to the club. I think that Man United need to have a clean slate, so it is worrying that they haven’t got rid of anybody that they want to get rid of yet.
By this time next week, they may get it all right, get rid of four or five players and bring two or three in. But at the moment, I think that the early optimism of Man United fans saying that it was still one of the clubs to go to is starting to decline. Yes, guys like Cunha and Mbeumo have said that they only want to go to Man United. But while there are agents sniffing around and touting someone like Mbeumo to another club because talks are running on for so long.
So Manchester United need to be very careful and start to get some of these deals over the line, both incoming and outgoing. Otherwise, I can see it being a very, very tricky summer transfer window for them. And as a consequence, a potentially big question mark as to how the season will pan out for them.
Viktor Gyokeres is a risky signing for Arsenal – but he’s worth it
Viktor Gyokeres applauds the Sporting Lisbon fans
Viktor Gyokeres applauds the Sporting CP fans (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It’s a gamble, but all strikers are a gamble. I don’t think any Nottingham Forest fan thought that Chris Wood was going to come in and have the impact he’s had there. I think many people thought Hojlund would come in and at least get 10-15 goals at Man United. Football often cannot be predicted.
I think that only really Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to score 20, 30, 40 goals a season. So it’s a gamble with Gyokeres, but he will be confident. He scored a lot at Sporting, and he knows English football, having been at Brighton, Swansea and Coventry.
So for me, it’s simple: get the deal across the line. Get him in before he gets frustrated, or a team like Man United submits a cheeky bid. Arsenal need to get the business done. He’s worth the risk. He’s worth the gamble, and he’s an out-and-out striker, something that Arsenal really haven’t had for some time now.
Noni Madueke to Arsenal doesn’t make much sense
Noni Madueke in action for England
Noni Madueke in action for England (Photo by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images)
If I was Arsenal, I wouldn’t go for Noni Madueke. If they’re going to go for a dynamic wide man that goes past players, has got that little bit of something extra as well as proven with his last couple of seasons, that I would be going for Eze.
Madueke seems a little bit too obvious. He’s in the area. He’s coming from a London club, possibly knows some of the Arsenal guys. He’s been a little bit hit and miss at Chelsea. He’s talented, but I’m not convinced that Madueke is a regular match winner like Bukayo Saka or Gyokeres.
So for me, it would be a no, and I would be going to Crystal Palace and looking at Eze. There’s nothing wrong with Madueke, but I’m not convinced that over the next 3-5 years, he’s going to deliver the kind of numbers or performances that Arsenal are going to need if they’re going to win a Premier League title or a Champions League.
Morgan Gibbs-White leaving would be disastrous for Forest
Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest
Morgan Gibbs-White is set to join Tottenham from Nottingham Forest. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
For so many reasons, Nottingham Forest can’t afford to let Morgan Gibbs-White go. Even if it means breaking their wage structure, they have to offer him a new contract and convince him to stay. They are a big club, and they should be capable of changing his mind.
When I think about Forest, I think they have a “fantastic four” there: Chris Wood, Anthony Elanga, Nikola Milenkovic and Morgan Gibbs-White. Losing Elanga is not the end of the world because there are other wide men available out there that are pacey, that can go past people. I genuinely believe there are plenty of them in European football. And Forest’s recruitment overall has been very good in the last two or three seasons. So I’d absolutely trust their recruitment department to do it.
The problem with Morgan Gibbs-White, that is the best player at the club at the moment, is that you’re taking away a huge amount of creativity, but you’re also taking away the poster boy of the modern Nottingham Forest, in the same way that Liverpool took the poster boy of Nottingham Forest – me – away from the club in 1995. And it took Forest along time to get over it.
Elanga is going for good money, which they can put back into the team. I think that they’d be alright. Elanga and Gibbs-White going would send a message to other football clubs that they can come and pick off Milenkovic or someone like Elliot Anderson. That’s why it’s really important that Forest did their heels in and say that Gibbs-White is not going under any circumstances.
PSR rules must be reassessed by the Premier League
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery (Photo by Getty Images)
I’m disappointed that Aston Villa sold their women’s team to themselves, but from a business perspective, I understand it. But what it says to me is that we now need to reassess PSR and acknowledge that there’s a group of clubs, including Aston Villa, Newcastle, West Ham, Forest, Brighton and Bournemouth that want to get into the big six, and they’ve got owners that are prepared to do it.
I do wonder whether there’s some middle ground where you actually acknowledge and bridge the gap that the big six clubs have to those chasing. But it is also important to keep some sort of PSR rules in, because I’m a big fan of rules and regulations that stop clubs going out of business effectively.
But clearly, something needs to change, otherwise it is just going to keep being a situation whereby clubs are going to find ingenious ways to effectively player trade between each other, sell individual assets or use other ingenious means. We want strict rules that say clubs can spend a certain amount, this is the reason why they can spend that much and everybody knows where they stand. And it would just avoid a ridiculous situation whereby teams are having to sell their women’s teams or sell their best young prospects to each other to balance the PSR books.
So something needs to happen because the current PSR rules are simply not fit for purpose.