MrExcalibur100

If he's unwilling to take too large a pay-cut, I won't mind a situation were we pay part of his wages till his contract expires so he can leave. I'm not sure how feasible that is but I know for sure it's done.

TBF, the guy had two impressive games against them, especially at their place were I thought he was the best player. He also does well in Europe were the pace is not so intense and it's less physically tasking. The pace of most La liga matches are not so intense also. I still feel there's a player in there somewhere. We won't see that with us though and not in the Premier league.

http://www.marca.com/2014/07/20/futbol/equipos/valencia/1405892088.html "Licensing issue" whatever that means. It's a shame because I'd have loved to see him here. Ex-player, lots of experience, more depth, good passer, camaraderie with the other Atletico guys and can play in the holding role next to Matic if Fabregas is playing as a number 10.

http://www.marca.com/2014/07/21/futbol/equipos/real_madrid/1405897029.html Apparently it's done for 75 million euros. If Rodriguez is worth that then Di Maria is worth 150 million euros! Disgusting behaviour by Real. They're probably going to lose Di Maria now to PSG, further destabilizing the team that won La Decima. Ancelotti probably doesn't have a say, he's just a puppet of Perez. I hope this comes back to bite them in the arse.

https://es.eurosport.yahoo.com/noticias/mercado-atl%C3%A9tico-y-chelsea-cerca-de-acuerdo-torres-211809813--sow.html Atletico Madrid are apparently ("close") interested in him. It makes sense after losing Costa and Villa and only bringing in Mandzu. We should accept any offer no less than 10 mil euros for him. No need to negotiate too long lest they lose interest, just sell.

The game is going to be in Austria apparently, so some travel within Europe.

"two nil and you fucked it up, two nil and you fucked it up, two nil and you fucked it up, two NIL and you fucked it up!!"

Lol. At least we have a lead to chase.

He really didn't say anything about Fabregas. This is what's so sad about the British media. Mourinho said nothing bad but because it's him the clueless hacks create a non-story using sensationalist headlines. It's just a sad reflection of the football culture in Britain, most especially in England. The players are bang average. The pundits are completely clueless. They know nothing about European football when compared to their European counterparts. "If it didn't happen in the Premiership, it didn't happen" is the mentality. The coaches are dire and antiquated, emphasizing physicality and "passion" over technical and tactical skill. The big, bulky kid always get's an advantage over the smaller more skilled ones in youth set-ups. This among many reasons is why England only have one World Cup to show despite apparently being a "big" footballing nation.

I'm not suggesting we have four strikers ourselves. We can have three like last season. My point is that Lukaku's whining has created this misconceived notion that Diego Costa is going to play every game and that the next guy is a no-hoper who is relegated to the "second" striker status, which is untrue. My other point was that if our board falls for that and we start the season with a strike force of Costa, Torres and 36 year old player/coach Drogba, we will struggle to achieve our goals, despite our other signings. We definitely need a forward of the level of a Firmino or Lavezzi to come in to replace Lukaku.

You didn't bother to read my comment. The point is our back up now is shit and we are getting rid of the one good one. The other point was that such words as "backup" make little sense right now as every player has to prove they're number one. One mediocre "back up" (Torres and maybe Drogba) is not enough because it puts an incredible amount of pressure on Costa to score goals. Madrid are a different side because they can rely on Ronaldo to score their goals. Still, it's arguable they were a better side at least in La liga with Benzema and Higuain contributing 50+ goals between them.

It's amazing how a club like Man City can have four top class strikers but still manage to make all of them content. All four of them better than Lukaku. I know Pellegrini plays with two strikers but still he can only play with two at a time. We shouldn't have problems with having multiple quality options to play as a striker. Costa will certainly be our best striker next season but I don't like how the tag "second" striker is placed on the next guy. Dzeko for instance started the season as Man City's third striker but began to outperform Negredo and became second choice and a starting XI partner to Aguero. At the end of the day every player still has to prove himself to the manager from scratch. This is what vexes me about the Lukaku thing. Of course we won't know for sure what happened behind closed doors till leaves. There was a rumour that the club never contacted him even once during his second spell at Everton. Then he says this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2646047/Romelu-Lukaku-insists-wants-stay-Chelsea-despite-uncertainty.html It's either the kid is bi-polar or the club are trying to force him out of the club for whatever reason.

Potentially our first major blunder of the transfer window. If our board thinks Costa, Torres and Drogba are good enough (despite other additions) to challenge City's strikeforce all season then their sadly mistaken. Costa is great but this will be his first season in the PL, Torres is a busted flush and injury prone while Drogba, legend that he is, is a shadow of his former self nowadays, so much so that Galatasaray fans want him out. And if Lukaku has to be sold, it should be to a foreign club and for a fee no less than 25 million pounds. I hope we don't mess it up because I've been so happy with our business thus far.

Goals in the last THREE seasons in ALL club competitions, for people saying he doesn't score a lot. (Stats from ESPN) Hazard : 22, 14, 17. Robben : 16, 13, 21 Bale : 12, 23, 22. And in a harder league too I'm fairly confident that next season, with our recent additions, he'll establish himself as the best player in the league.

Let them sign him. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this particular player is very overrated. Solid player and well rounded but that's about it. Yes, he's a CL and World Cup winner this season (Madrid and Germany are no slouches obviously) but he's not an elite player. Not a WC player for me.

Yes, Mourinho said that early on last season but the height issue has been less important since Matic joined. Also Filipe Luis is 6 feet tall. It was an issue when we used to play Lampard and Rami in the pivot but not anymore.

Playing Ivanovic will defy all logic. No way he starts ahead of Azpilicueta.

Kurt Happy Zouma.

I don't think too many players give a s***e about that, tbh. It's all about playing for a team that wins trophies and offers good wages. Location is an added bonus.

^^^^^^^^ Tuttosport seem to be referencing The Sun of all papers in that link. Mediaset are also saying "we are about" to bid" 75 million euros (without referencing the Sun) . Last time I checked, a bid doesn't take very long to be drafted. Treat it with his skepticism. http://www.sportmediaset.mediaset.it/mercato/juventus/2014/articoli/1041625/chelsea-75-milioni-per-soffiare-pogba-alla-juventus-vidal-verso-il-manchester-united.shtml

This signing probably means we're done signing starting XI players for now. We've signed Costa, Luis Kasmirski, Fabregas and Courtois is back, that's 4 out of 11 starters. These guys will need time to settle in the club. Another starter like a Pogba will mean we're changing half of our starting XI and this could be a big risk as we have some really tough away matches early on next season. I'm expecting more depth signings like a Tiago and maybe a second striker if Lukaku is hellbent on leaving and that's it.

http://bluechampions.com/2014/07/16/why-filipe-luis-age-is-not-an-issue/ I saw this decent piece on why Luis' age is not that big of a deal. The other part is about who should have been 4th choice CB choice between Zouma and Kalas . Kalas is older and was impressive when he started for us. Zouma is a massive talent but still very raw. Ok, one was playing in France while the other in Holland but one would have thought Zouma would be the one to be loaned out but I'm sure our scouts know more about that.

Aye! Also expecting a lot of decent overlapping as well. Luis did that well for Atleti and Azpi is a 1000x times better than Ivanovic going forward. All the problems we were bemoaning last season are being solved by our board. We aren't so stupid afterall!

WhoScored.com ‏@WhoScored 50m More Filipe Luis: Of defenders in Europe’s top 5 leagues, only J López (145) made more tackles last season than @FilipeLuis03 (131) #Atleti #CFC

He's half Brazilian and half Pole, FILIPE LUIS KASMIRSKI!! FILIPE LUIS KASMIRSKI!! I can see it now. Good times ahead.