!Hazard!

We got the best playmaker on the planet for the price of Fellaini. Insane deal.

Chelsea needs this guy. Would not have been a draw today with him as our right winger.

In a year or two, have him as the backup of Matic whilst Ake would be the backup of Cesc. The perfect way to implement these youngsters is to put them on the bench when the superstars are on the pitch. Surely, for the championship its important to have world-class bench but it also kills the natural ascent of the kids in the squad's hierarchy. These kids got the talent to quite easily replace the Obi Mikels and Ramiresses (both will be sold in the summer I reckon).

The most expensive player in the history of the most popular game in history. If he's not big, then who is? Bendtner?

Haven't seen enough of him but looks like a hell of a promising kid! Could he play as the right winger/ right AMC at our current formation? (maybe next season already).... Willian and Schurrle are good players but still far away from our real stars like Hazard, Cesc, Matic and Courtois. Guys, just imagine: Hazard - Costa - Boga

Remy Hazard Cesc Schurrle Matic Ake Luis Azpi Terry Zouma Cech C'mon Jose! I really wanna see Ake (or Loftus-Cheek) start! The team would still be far superior to the Derby's so there shouldn't be any risk, right? Going forward, Ake also has much better passing abilities compared to Ramires or Mikel, and he is solid defensively as well. Hope not to see Willian since he was awful yesterday, and giving rest to Oscar would seem like a good idea to me because besides Cesc we don't really have any back-up for him. Ivanovic is an interesting case as breaks or rest really seem to impact his play in a positive way. He always starts the year strong after long summer, and yesterday he had one of his finest games of the season after been given a little rest. Therefore, he should be saved against the tough match against Stoke. Remy has not started a game all season, so it's about time for that as well.

Very good line-up! Our depth in goalkeeper department has to be one of the greatest in history. I mean, I didn't even know that Schwarzer is still in the team!

Costa Hazard Remy Oscar Ramires Matic Luis Terry Zouma Ivanovic We need Luis for this game. Also Ramires' energy instead of Mikel's backpassing and Remy's clinical finishing instead of Willian. KTBFFH! :blue scalf:

Costa Drogba Hazard Oscar Ramires Ake Luis Azpilicueta Terry Zouma Then 2nd half, substitute Oscar, Drogba or Costa and Hazard off...coming on Baker, Schurrle or Boga and Remy

Drogba Schurrle Willian Ramires Cesc Matic Filipe Luis Terry Cahill Azpilicueta Courtois Hazard in from the bench on 2nd half. Mikel for Cesc and Ake for Ramires or Schurrle near the end.

Do you guys have kapsalon in there? That's my traditional game day breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Probably mentioned earlier, but in case Reus was signed in January, he could play in PL whilst we could afford to save Hazard, Willian or Oscar for the CL. If the title is decided on early stage, there is no reason not to give opportunities to other players like Salah and Ramires, or even Baker and Boga, especially in the home games against weaker opponents. Also giving playing time to Mikel, Ake or Loftus-Cheek in midfield would save Cesc and Matic for the CL campaign. Chelsea has an extremely strong and wide squad and losing Schurrle would therefore not be as a big of a problem as some of you make it to be.

I feel that indeed this fact might be enough to turn this transfer into our way. We have the advantage of having the player Dortmund (assumed) want and deal like €10M-15M + Schurrle would still be a bargain. Bargain relatively speaking though, as Schurrle's current market value is around €30M and that extra cash added would make this the second most expensive transfer in club's history. But Chelsea FC can afford it, and it is a step worth taking! I fancy Dortmund would prefer this kind of transfer as well, as the other option is to let Reus join their rivals for only 20M. And Schurrle as a replacement would therefore cost more than what Reus' buy-out clause is.

Schurrle did score indeed but too often we have are having tons of missed opportunities during games. Because we lose control of the ball and aren't that clinical when playing possession football is the reason why Jose is turning so defensive in most top matches. If we had that killer instinct upfront (Reus incredibly clinical player!) besides Costa we would be a whole another threat going forward, something that might change our football philosophy eventually. City spent 32 million pounds on Mangala, thats being dumb not us being too powerful or dominant. Others' mistakes are not our problem. And this season is such a bad example of Premier's competitiveness since Chelsea seems to be the only top team in the league even wanting that title come May. Honestly I can't understand why it is such a problem to change a good player to a fantastic player without any real transfer fees. A move that any top club would want to make. And we have the ability of doing just that. Us buying Reus or not buying does not change the fact other clubs have done bad job and need to get their shit together. This season we would be leading the league even if we hadn't bought Costa or Fabregas.

What did Barcelona do when they were at their most dominant level? They bought David Villa, because he was available and was seen as a extra asset even though he wasn't really needed. Well he ended up deciding some crucial matches for them in a season in which they ended up with six trophies. To make a legendary team like that Barca team, you need to have these game winners on every position. And this Chelsea team has all the keys to become a truly legendary team in English and European stage. I can't see Schurrle or Willian scoring couple important goals in case Costa and Hazard are having a bad day. It makes a world of difference to have a third truly world class player on the field. He would also provide us with long-distance shots, a threat that is missing from our current squad. And like mentioned, this league is amazingly competitive. A lot of teams have the financial power to buy talents from other leagues or other English teams. The TV money that is poured into Premier at the moment is insane and it gives even the lower-level teams that spending power to challenge the big teams domestically. The fact that Chelsea is running away with the title THIS YEAR is only down to fantastic work done by the club, management and the players. If Pellegrini was our manager, we would NOT have got 3 points at Loftus Road or Selhurst Park, or even that 1 point at Etihad and thus we wouldn't even be having this conversation in the first place. English league isn't anything close to the Bundesliga or La Liga and all of the teams have the ability to win against anybody. Enjoy the moment my friend, this won't last forever anyways, just as that Barcelona dominance didn't.

How does letting Reus go to Bayern help the competitiveness of the German league? Let's face it, it's either us, one of the Manchester clubs or Bayern grabbing this player. And Chelsea FC in my opinion isn't just competing on the domestic stage, but is a representing the English football on European level as well. Adding Reus to our forward line-up would therefore only increase the competition at the very top of world football. But yeah, I'm not so sure whether Reus should be swapped here on January or should we wait until the summer. On winter transfer window, it would become a tug-of-war about the transfer fee (not sure if it goes like that though), whilst on summer it would be all about the salary. Either case, we are in good situation in terms of financial power, attractiveness (players, manager, location, league), and also the fact that we have the player Dortmund want as a replacement (assumption). If we were to swap Schurrle for Reus on January, would we be able to add another player to our CL squad (Baker, Boga etc.)?

Exactly! It makes sense for us and for the player himself. I can't believe I am saying this but it actually looks like a deal that could happen! And I see it as a Bayern vs. Chelsea battle. City has already problems with FFP so we should be able to beat them by simply giving a little higher wage (which CFC is able to do given the relatively superior financial situation at the moment). Other clubs as mentioned (Pool, Arse) aren't even fighting for titles so they are not even options really. Barca and Real have their super-trios upfront so they don't need him. So how's it gonna be Marco? Remain as a Dortmund hero or contribute to the decline of German football by joining your old buddies at Munchen? Every reason for him to choose us - let's make it happen! Costa Hazard Reus Oscar Matic Cesc Too perfect to be true?

Like mentioned here, unless he is Bayern-bound then this will end up in a bidding war and our advantage might be the different players we could to offer to Dortmund in exchange for Reus. In that case we would probably need to add little cash in addition to the player if we want to secure this transfer. Having Reus would be a dream and it would bring our attacking threat to another level. An opportunity not to be missed!

I kind of agree with that and that's the reason I was asking about Reus' ability to make similar effort to Schurrle on the pitch. So if we wanted to have Reus, it would have to be Oscar who we had to sacrifice, because Willian isn't going anywhere. Costa Hazard Reus Willian Matic Cesc Would allow Willian play his favoured #10 role and he could become Di Maria-type player in the midfield for us. But I am not completely done with Oscar and I want to see how the lad develops in the future because the talent and the potential is there. Oscar + 15M for Reus and a buy-back clause for Oscar later on?

Schurrle and Mikel for Reus. Yes I know. Wishful thinking. How good is Reus making runs behind the lines compared to Schurrle? I am aware that they both provide speed and workrate whilst Reus is the more technical and clinical one. But Schurrle can make those delightful runs which, unfortunately, often leads to having the ball in the stands. And more importantly, how good is he playing out of position on the right wing?

Wasn't Patrick loaned out already? But yeah, if not, I agree with you 100%

Courtois Iva-Cahill-Terry-Luis Cesc-Matic Salah-Willian-Hazard Costa Salah had a full pre-season whereas Oscar has been awful for the past 8 months and Andre is still not in full fitness.

This guy is also homegrown/English.

Rossi, Muriel.... Mattia Destro from Roma? I think what we need is a young, technical striker similar to Eto'o playing style. Jovetic would had been good for us as well.

Not salahphobia or anything haha but, like Willian, he is fast and a workhorse but the final ball just isn't Chelsea level. But he is young and I'm sure that under Jose he can become player like Robben. Last season we had Ramires or Ivanovic making that final cross to the box whereas this season I am really looking forward to Cesc taking advantage of the space that is left behind after teams try to chase Hazard. If they don't double on him, he'll score a hat-trick every game . Plus we have Costa making even more space in the box so someone like Schurrle could really benefit from all this space. I'd rather have Bertrand on the wing than Torres....