OhForAGreavsie

That's why BT pay him by the lorry load.

OK well, assuming we're signing him, that can only be good news.

I deliberately excluded the winter window and focused only on 'new' money, but if we're including January then we have to add Patrick Bamford's fee to the pile.

Most people put Macello ahead of Sandro but I'd have Alaba right up there with the Madrid man.

We've already brought in around £33m from player sales this summer with, another £37 million reportedly lined up for the transfers of Traore & Ake. Then there will be the tribunal set fee for Dom Solanke, probably in the region of £5m-£8m, potential departures of Diego & Nemanja, plus more members of the loan army want moves. All of this should help meet the amortisation schedule of some heavy spending.

The claim he's better value.

Don't you love it when a transfer rumour makes you laugh?

I'm still hoping not, but that could be a good explanation of the drop off in stories about this deal. It is a drop off though, not a silence. There are a few bits around most days. I keep I hoping to read Chelsea end Rom chase in some headline.

Is it possible that they want to secure him to a longer term contract before they decide to install him as their starter and pass on Dalbert? It's reasonable for them to think that if he's not committed to the club they'd be better off going for someone else. Similar to the Petr Cech/Thibaut Courtois situation. I was always in favour of going with the younger man, and not just because of his age, but I also believed that we should only make that decision is the Belgian signed a new deal first.

The rule doesn't prevent managers doing that before completing the deal. It only prevents them doing it before they have the selling club's agreement.

Or they're perfectly happy to take the money but are trying to disguise that fact because they want to ensure that any negative fan reaction is aimed at the player, not them.

This question presupposes that the media know everything and publish everything they know. Not sure if that is true.

Comes down to judgement in the end; to how Antonio, and the club, want to back his. I fear however that our club has its heart set on Rom, and that Everton have their heart set on Chelsea's money. The runes are in place, the surreptitious smile is on Romelu's face, and there is an air of inevitability about it all. Belotti would be great for us but so too would he be for Arsenal, United or Liverpool. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

I don't understand what you mean by "finally listening".

I don't know if Dembele belongs on that list but I 100% agree about Belotti.

This is a media story. The club have not announced anything. The Nike situation is a factor but I don't think we'd be announcing before 1st July in any case. Ever since the embarrassing Robinho mistake, which I know wasn't CFC's fault, we have adopted a mega conservative approach. The deal wouldn't be made public until everything is fully signed off, and that can't happen until July at the earliest.

It was there to be seen that Baba was not the answer. Players get hyped and people get swept along. Sanches at the Euros last summer for example. Our squad builders should have the judgement to see past the hype so I'm afraid they do deserve criticism for this one. It wasn't difficult. Those of us who were against the Baba deal presumably watched much less of him than they did. If we saw it, they should have done. On a more positive note, we are being linked with a much higher calibre of player these days. I made this point last summer, and the same is true this time around. In transfer windows of the recent past, there were many poor players targeted. This time, the only convincingly rumoured target I am disappointed with is Lukaku. Even there, it is not as it was with Torres, who sent me into a depression as soon as he was linked. Rom is more effective than Nando and will do more for us if he rejoins. I just feel we can, and should, do better. I accept that just being linked does not add up to anything but I'd rather miss out on signing a good player, than succeed in signing a bad one. At least we are throwing our hat into the ring for better footballers these days, and that's a start.

Duplicate - deleted.

So did @The Skipper to be fair. Many months ago if memory serves me right. I agree with you Both about Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Despite everything pointing in Lukaku's direction, I'm still hoping Everton will dig their heals in over the fee and that we'll refuse to meet their demand. I'd rather pay £80m for Belotti, than £60m for Lukaku.

The £10m we've asked the tribunal to assess as the compensation for Dom is just an opening gambit. Doubt they will set the fee that high. Liverpool will certainly be arguing that it should be lower and the tribunal will probably settle on an amount somewhere in between.

Let's not forget there'd be an assumed transfer profit in that calculation, because I couldn't see this being done to use the lad as a backup. I've just noticed however that the story was in Marca so the list of suspects is growing.

Unless she's just making a point to Thibaut's agent. Maybe she's become irritated with his dropping of the Madrid rumours and she's just sort of saying, "Look, let's stop being silly shall we?" Maybe not.

😊 I hope not though. It would be so unsubtle, and antagonistic.

Player in contact dispute with club, que rumours of interest from major teams around the world. Club in contract dispute with player, que rumours of transfer interest in a highly desirable alternative. This rumour game is fun. It would get us nicely through the summer if only the blood pressure brigade would pick up some Mogadon and relax.