OhForAGreavsie

Not to mention Timori and even Aina.

How do you know that A H?

I'll say one thing for the bloke, he's got a diligent agent. All this constant media commentary is a sure sign of at least one agent on the case. I say at least one because I suspect that there is also an agent working for Zenit trying to engineer a move. I don't think it would take many millions of euros before any club would rather have the cash than this player.

Where does it say that? Just because there are strong indications that we have bid for one Belgian, and have been linked with another, how do we extrapolate from that to saying that Chelsea "insist" that we only want to sign Belgians? The link with Witsel is scarcely credible anyway. He is constantly linked because he clearly wants to move back to western Europe and his club almost certainly would prefer the cash over his talents. I agree with you that there are alternative potential midfield targets out there. The club must be aware of this too and I'm certain they won't be ignoring any option just because he isn't Belgian. ?

I watched a UEFA Youth League game in which a Schalke tean featuring Sane were thrashed by Chelsea. Afterward the Schalke coach said he thought that not one of his players had any chance to get into that young Chelsea XI. Just one game I know but something to think about.

You are right of course, but this isn't going to help reduce the volume of nonsensical posts we have to put up with on this site. Not least because there is nothing new in this information. It has been known for a very long time with Jose all but confirming it in more than one press conference, And the agents comments being made public months ago. The attitude displayed by some posters here is akin to religious fervour. They believe what they believe and can't be talked out of it by force of argument. They will either continue in their faith or, if they do change their mind, it will be for their own reasons and in their own time.

He doesn't look all that wonderful to me in his YouTube videos. Maybe he looks better in 'real' life. It would be unusual though, wouldn't it, for a player to look worse on YouTube then he really is?

I hope I didn't give the impression that I felt his Eglish is bad. I do not and that is not the point I was making.

He says the shape has to fit the players, not the other way around.

Warming up a little now but was very nervous for opening few minutes. Not surprising given it's his first presser in a foreign language which he has only been learning for a few months. Reasonable English from him too.

I don't hate any club. I love, love love the rivalry with Tottenham so those are the fixtures that mean the most to me.

They don't necessarily have to offer more than us, they just need to make an offer the player will accept. Kante may, for example, be happy there, he may have a sense of gratitude to Leicester for the boost they've given his career, he may not want to put up with the negativity of fans if he moves, or with being thought of as a traitor by his Leicester team mates. Any number of possible reasons he might accept less to play for Leicester than he might earn elsewhere. I don't believe he will, but it's possible.

But how do you know this? And if what you imply is correct, how do you know why? You don't know anything so you cannot know that, if faced with the same facts, you would not have made the same decisions the club is making. So many people are inventing what they think the club has done and then blaming them for it. As for the not for sale comment. It might be true of course, but it is also standard negotiating talk.

Napoli now said to be demanding €60m for the player. This shows the futility of the attitude expressed by some here; the just pay whatever they ask approach. They never do ask, unless there's a clause or they are keen to off load the player. What they do is make not for sale at any price noises and refuse whatever offer comes along until either they believe they've emptied the well or they look out of the window and see the moon lighting the world on transfer deadline day. Napoli have almost certainly not said that they want €60m. Almost certainly they have said at least €60m. If a club bids that sum today it will be rejected. That's the way the game is played. Crazy thing is we all know this yet some keep posting nonsensical comments screaming for the club to just pay up. Don't try to live the fantasy people, deal with the reality.

Sad to say I am one of those doubters. It's been a bad season and a half, not a bad season. He was great for the remainder of the season when he returned. He had many more good performances than bad ones in the first half of the title season but since that season reached its midway point Nemanja has produced more poor displays than good ones. Many more.

This is dangerously optimistic talk. As I commented a couple of months ago, we're in a tough spot. We face the most competitive transfer market in history, at a moment when our club is less attractive to potential recruits than it has been at any time since Roman's arrival and yet we need a major injection of talent. Like all of us, I have my hopes but this is inevitably going to be a bumpy ride.

Got my fingers crossed for you.

What's pathetic is those Evertonians who are doing the bragging, not that I give too hoots about them, and your post, which coming from a fellow Blue, I care a great deal more about. Before there can be any point to the bragging, or your post, it would have to be confirmed both that the player has signed for Everton, and that we had really been interested in him. Personally I share your belief that we are chasing Koulibaly, I certainly hope that we are, but I'll delay my judgement until I see what happens. I think you should too. Judging the club based on a collection of rumours is premature. Man City fans might just as well describe their club as pathetic because some meaningless rumours suggest Bonucci will 'snub' them to join us. The Toffees are newly cashed up, with owners who must be keen to announce their arrival with some notable captures. It's not hard to imagine that they would throw huge contract offers at the players they want. It'll be tough, though perhaps not impossible, to compete with that. We might hope however that our higher status, in the eye of the modern footballer, would give us the edge but then there are clubs with a higher status than us who are also said to be in for Koulibaly. It'll be time enough to make a judgement once the player either commits to his present club, or makes a move. Until then, eye on the ball everybody and don't fall for the step overs.

Not in my opinion they aren't. Pedro is, I think, clearly better but the Oscar enigma can't be worth further discussion. Three-and-a-half years ago mine may not have been a lone voice calling for him to be replaced, but it was certainly a pretty lonely one. Now it's just a small part of a huge chorus so that song has been sung.

I don't agree with you about the technical ability. I think his limitations in that regard are why he has struggled to earn a start as an attacking player. I do like everything else about the bloke however and fully agree with you that we should take a look at him as a wingback.

Plus ca change. We were never at the top of the pecking order and have probably slipped somewhat lower still recently. We have always had to pick from the pool of players that the bigger beasts don't want. It is therefore a perfectly sound policy for us to try to buy potential; to try to find and acquire the superstar players before the more glamorous clubs recognise their quality. Indeed this is our best plan of action. Our problem has not been the plan, but the way we have executed it. Too many times we have misjudged the quality of the players we target and so end up buying player after player trying to fill the same need because we didn't get it right the first time, or even the second time. As a result of this our team is never quite as good as the money spent on it suggests it should be. We spend huge amounts but end up with ordinary players. This does not mean I am arguing for a change of policy, we won't get the established superstars even if we pay superstar fees. They will still prefer other destinations. I'm calling for a change of attitude, a recognition that very few players are good enough for the club we want to be and so we must be much more critical in our player assessments.

The highest bidder in the sense of the one that makes the most attractive offer to the player himself. If the clause is watertight, and multiple clubs trigger it, then it's Kante, not Leicester City, who will do the choosing.

Either he has a binding release clause, or he doesn't. If he does, it makes no sense for the Chinese side to bid an amount above that figure since that would give them no advantage over a team which bids less. Leicester would still be contractually bound to accept offers from any other club which puts the release figure on the table. Shanghai would then find themselves trying to offset the greater attraction of clubs from other leagues by offering a huge contract to Kante. Since the personal contract is they only way they could win the fight for his signature, it would make far more sense for them to just bid the clause and to lob the additional £15m into Kante's contract offer. This must mean either that there is no binding release clause, or the story's claim about the transfer fee offered sounds like nonsense. One explanation might be that the clause applies only to certain clubs. These things are often reported to apply only to Champion's League clubs, or to top six clubs in certain leagues or to a list of specific clubs. Could be that's what's going here, but I still doubt it

It's quite simple you know, just breathe, relax, and take it in. The club want to win as much as you do. Collectively their decision makers know everything you do about football and almost certainly more. In addition they have experience handling transfer activity, they know the people with whom they are dealing and, crucially, they know the resources they have to play with. You have none of this experience or knowledge yet you rant away. This summer's transfer activity has already yielded a player who will improve us by the way.

Nowhere near as big, or as silly, as your if. How could you possibly imagine that the club has failed to notice the inflation in transfer fees? What on Earth sustains your delusion that you know stuff the club does not?