stroey

Yep Traore is the perfect 5th winger for us. Can learn a lot, won't complain if he doesn't get a lot of minutes and is qualified as U21. Hazard, Willian, Traore, Moses/Cuadrado + new goal scoring winger (pedro) would be the best thinkable scenario. But if it's not possible and we get a good CM like Witsel and it seems we keep Remy, these 5 are still good enough for me.

ROB ‏@1RobBeasley 43 min.43 minuten geleden Pedro unlikely unless Moses and/or Cuadrado go. ROB ‏@1RobBeasley 36 min.36 minuten geleden But you can expect a left back when Luis deal is done

Yes so possibly a striker + Pedro

Apparently Van Gaal said this:‘Yes, the surprise striker is in the process,’ he told reporters. ‘It’s not the striker the media has written.’ http://metro.co.uk/2015/07/21/louis-van-gaal-confirms-manchester-united-close-to-surprise-striker-transfer-but-hints-its-not-pedro-5305216/

El Confidencial reporting this morning that Pedro is very much on his way to Manchester Utd. Deal expected to be completed sooner than later — Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) July 21, 2015 El Confidencial say that despite Pedro's new contract to 2019 there is a release clause, which Pedro himself adressed a few days ago. — Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) July 21, 2015 They also say that knowing how difficult it will be to break into the current Barcelona side, Pedro welcomes the move to Man United. — Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) July 21, 2015 El Confidencial saying that van Gaal decided that Pedro was one of the best players on the market in order to replace van Persie. — Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) July 21, 2015 They also say that playing under van Gaal is convincing to Pedro who welcomes playing for a United that will challenge on all fronts — Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) July 21, 2015 El Confidencial also reporting that after having finally chosen a new president, Barcelona expect a firm offer from United any time now. — Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) July 21, 2015 El Confidencial say that Pedro is loved at Barcelona, but they understand his wish for a change. — Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) July 21, 2015 El Confidencial are also speculating that a potential deal for Pedro will be between €25m and €35m. http://m.101greatgoals.com/blog/transfers/man-united-set-to-sign-barcelona-attacker-pedro-according-to-el-confidencial/

Loic Remy confirms he will stay at Chelsea - and believes Falcao's arrival can only make him better http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/loic-remy-confirms-he-will-stay-at-chelsea--and-believes-falcaos-arrival-can-only-make-him-better-10401503.html

Same here.It's not typical Mourinho to not improve his team, I actually have the feeling he is being limited by the board. And It's not like we are already perfect or near perfect, we clearly have weaknesses. He even improved his near/perfect title winning team of 2011-2012 at Madrid with Modric, after they broke every record, with everyone in their prime years. First season back at Chelsea for example, he said we were not in for Cavani/Falcao because they were too expensive. So we brought a 32 yo Eto'o instead. In summer 2014, he finally got his striker after playing mindgames in the media (with the board?) "we have no strikers (play schurrle as st), PSG have 3 real strikers". It was clear he needed to sell in order to buy. KDB, Mata out - Salah, Matic, Zouma in Luiz, Lukaku, Ba out - Luis, Cesc, Costa in Torres (massive on books) out - Remy in Schurrle out - Cuadrado in. And now we continue to use this 1 in 1 out policy. Before the summer stop he said "I want a midfielder, forward and defender". But suddenly it's only a defender (stones) to complete the balance. Where is the midfielder? Vidal, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Gundogan, Moutinho (apparently) are/were all available. Hopefully Witsel/Aranguiz is true. Rob Beasley also tweeted that Jose was told (by the board?) to use the same squad, same players for this season. I liked Unionjack's posts for a reason, he said "If Mourinho does not feel ambition (from the club, so not Jose's ambition cause he is always ambitious), he might want to leave, same goes for Hazard". I agree with it but that's the worst scenario. Youth implementation and tidy financial books are good, but I like the ambition to be the top 4 of Europe more. And not to become Arsenal 2.0. (Board wise, cause Jose will never be Wenger) And it's not like what some members here have said, buying flashy toys for the sake of buying. It's because we have clear weaknesses and because we want to see our club to take a step in the next direction, to win and become an elite club in the CL and to dominate the EPL. And with our current squad, it's hard to imagine we can do that. Just check our latest KO games in europe (PSG, Atletico) and our bus parking games against vs City and United at home. Last season Hazard was injury free, I swear everytime someone kicked him I was praying it was nothing serious. So I seriously hope we still have some suprises in the last 6 weeks of the window.

Thanks man, I've now seen some other interesting tweets from him: ROB ‏@1RobBeasley No Pogba, no Turan, no Griezmann, no Goetze, no Varanne, no Isco, no Bale, no Messi.Despite what all the papers were saying!!!!!!!ROB‏@1RobBeasleyHe's BEING ASKED to go again with essentially the same squad!!!(Wrote that 2 weeks ago)ROB ‏@1RobBeasley and JM wanted 2 get new players in 4 pre-season Did that 2 weeks ago too. Remember..,Big week for CFC tweet? They tried for Stones and Pedro ROB ‏@1RobBeasley If players do come in...others will go out to balance it upEG - Stones in, Luis out.ROB ‏@1RobBeasley #CFC now most keen on recruiting young talent and trying to develop them into top stars. Think Hazard Oscar Courtois Lukaku KDB Zouma Stones

The transfer window is open for six more weeks, during which time Jose Mourinho says he hopes to add a defender to his squad in addition to the two signings already completed. Following the departures of Chelsea legends Didier Drogba and Petr Cech, the manager moved quickly to replace them, bringing in Falcao on loan to complement Diego Costa and Loic Remy up front, while adding Asmir Begovic to challenge Thibaut Courtois for the goalkeeping spot. Mourinho has been discussing the new pair, one of whom he has already had the chance to work with in these first few days of pre-season in Montreal. He has also assessed the overall make-up of his squad which he hopes to guide to a second consecutive Premier League title. ‘It’s a big challenge for Begovic because he has Courtois, an amazing goalkeeper who immediately made a great impact when he arrived in England,’ said the boss. ‘But I wanted to replace Petr not with a good goalkeeper but with a very good goalkeeper. I think we have in our squad two of the best five goalkeepers in the Premier League. Begovic is going to compete with Courtois. The one with more clean sheets is the one that has to play, but I am so happy and so calm because we have two fantastic goalkeepers. ‘Falcao comes to us with motivation,’ continued Mourinho, turning his attention to the Colombian striker who will meet the players for the first time on Tuesday. ‘He is very disappointed and frustrated because people in England may think he is not a fantastic player because of last season, but he’s in a great moment of his career with many years in front of him to be back to a certain level. ‘We don’t put any pressure on him. We want him to feel completely free to work and wait for goals and happiness and for sure it will come.’ Mourinho doesn’t expect much more transfer activity at Stamford Bridge this summer but there is one position he feels needs strengthening to add to the world-class talent which delivered the Premier League and the Capital One Cup last term. ‘I am looking for a defender to finish the balance in our squad and after that we are ready to answer to anything that can happen with our players,’ he explained. ‘If one of our players wants to leave or we agree a deal for a player to leave we have to answer immediately because at this moment we have balance and quality in numbers. We cannot lose that balance. ‘To go to next season with basically the same squad that we had last season, when our direct competitors are investing a lot, is a big challenge. That’s something I understand and accept - it’s a compliment to us that the other teams are buying so much. ‘They will improve immediately with the new players, and for us there is only one way to improve, which is to work fantastically well and to improve what we have which is the same as last season.’ http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/07/mourinho--settled-squad.html

“I see his future (salah) elsewhere, either as a loan or an offer that we are happy to accept, he told Chelsea TV. “At the moment with Hazard and Willian, Traore, Moses and Cuadrado we have five players for these positions. It is better not to have so many.” Maybe Traore, Moses and RLC could be like new signings for us then..

http://www.marca.com/en/2015/07/19/en/football/barcelona/1437257554.html Manunited to make £18-20M bid for Pedro next week (marca)

Yeah it's really feeling like an Arsenal window.What he said yesterday: “We have only one chance to win,” he said, “And that is if we can be better with the SAME people. “It's a big challenge. To be better with the same people, the players have to be better individually than they were last year. So when they think, ‘Oh last season I did great’ this season it is not enough. “John Terry - great season. This season it is not enough. Must be better. Fabregas. I don’t know how many assists last year. Fantastic. It is not enough. Because the others are going to improve with the players they are bringing in and we have to improve by ourselves with our work. “We feel we have the tools to improve our team without a player like that (pogba). And the tools are ourselves. “Can I coach better than last year? Can I make a better training plan? Can the players be better individually? Can the young players become better? The Oscars, the Willians, these guys. Can the older players, like John and Ivanovic still be better than they were last year? I just hope this is another mindgame from him as it's clear our team isn't complete yet. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/jose-mourinho-interview-chelsea-boss-6094235

http://www.fichajes.net/noticias/belga-mira-chelsea-20150716.html Anything new here?

We have only one chance to win,” he said, “And that is if we can be better with the same people. “I think everybody has an interest in Pogba,” said the Portuguese. “But there are things you can do and things you cannot do - I love the Eiffel Tower, but I can’t have the Eiffel Tower in my garden." “We feel we have the tools to improve our team without a player like that. And the tools are ourselves." "So these three strikers for us: Falcao, Loic Remy and Diego Costa - we are very happy."

They were actually quoting Metro =( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/11743182/Chelsea-transfer-news-and-rumours-Blues-look-to-close-deal-for-Zenit-star-Axel-Witsel.html

Sigh..no. Someone here said Corriero dello Sport is unreliable and the other source was Metro. I am waiting for Rob Beasley to give us the KO punch (again).

Yes and we have more agents here in Azpi and Diego, many ex La Liga players plus London. United have De Gea who is leaving sooner or later, Mata (unstable future?) and Herrera. So in players it's 3 v 2, but the key is the manager. Mou vs Van Gaal. Mourinho was hated by all Barca players, but changed this in a 10 minute conversation with Cesc. Can he do it again with Pedro?

Hi Friend,Both of them would be like a double Christmas gift, but like you mentioned it's hardly thinkable. I don't agree on this point: ''We have to assume it, Jose will never sell Mikel.'' At the latest part of the season, when Zouma and Mikel were both on the bench, he brought in Zouma earlier than Mikel every time. It was like the lock around 80th minute was Zouma, and then final 3-4 minutes was Mikel. Plus Zouma started to man-mark Fellaini while Mikel was also available. I had the feeling from that moment, that Mikel will be sold cause he dropped in the rankings. Yes he was coming back from an injury, but Jose always picks his #1 options whenever they are possible. For example: unfit Ramires played on RW vs Liverpool, or often the unfit Diego Costa started as striker, or Cesc playing while just coming back from an injury. The #1 lock was Mikel, but at the end of the season it was clearly Zouma. So I believe we will soon say goodbye to Mikel. The problem with having both Aranguiz and Wistel is, how do we give minutes to RLC? CM: Aranguiz, RLC, Ramires, Cesc, CDM: Witsel, Matic That's actually one too much but I'd be really happy with both.

I think you're honestly overlooking his contribution to our goals. He creates many chances for others who wasted those chances. For example in the match against Schalke, he could've had 2 assists but DD wasted those chances. Also, he often makes decisive pass prior to the assist maker. For example: - Long ball to Azpi, Azpi to Diego, goal (Liverpool) - Picks up the ball from Begovic, pass to Hazard, Hazard to Remy, goal (Stoke) - Smart fast corner to Ivanovic, Ivanovic to Oscar, Goal (Newcastle) - Dribbles past 3-4 man, opens the ball up to Diego, Diego pass to Oscar, goal (Swansea) These are just 4 moments I remember but there are more of them. How do you rate these actions?

And both are now in their prime... Just waiting for Rob Beasley to mention Witsel and start with ''No matter what you hear, no matter what you read..'' to be again

If I am a stalker then you're my personal stalker. You've quoted my posts like 3 times and randomly mentioned my nickname in 4 other posts just to provoke me. If that's not childish, then I don't know what it is. On Oscar, I have a clear opinion and have explained it before. I dislike people who over hype him while he has been poor for over 60% of the matches he played for us. I've praised Oscar before but since you joined in March, you won't have noticed that. I will end it here cause I am not interested in any personal battle and don't want to further derail the topic.

Seems like he's a goalscorer and that's what we need. Around 15 goals in his last 3 seasons, playing around 45 games. Also 45 games for Germany and 14 goals. That's averaging 1 goal in 3 games, which is very good for an attacking midfielder.

AC Milan News ‏@Milanello 4 hours ago Chelsea are ready to offer €34m for Axel Witsel, according to Corriere dello Sport. Milan have also been linked with the midfielder. Is Corriere dello Sport reliable?

Willian was the most consistent AM in the 2013-14 season. And at the second half of 2015-15 season he was our second best AM again and top 4 performers along JT, Azpi and Hazard. He improved massively in attack but still people will always trash him and underrate him by looking at stats. I understand other fans will google his stats and saying "nah he is not good enough, but I honestly don't understand how our own fans can overlook his overall contribution and build up to attacks, and only look at final stat numbers which are actually overrated.

Yeah, absolutely. United are the winners of the transfer window till now. Depay, Darmian, Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger are great players. We can't let them have Pedro. A front 4 of Rooney, Depay, Pedro, Mata is all about goals. Otamendi is strongly linked too. Our window till now is a little bit worrying, the season starts in less than one month but untill now we have not been seriously linked with anyone who could solve our problems. Like many have said, that's: CM and goalscoring AM, plus squad depth. Currently we have been linked with Aranguiz (source: fake Marseille twitter account) and that Roman is flying to get Witsel (source: Metro?). Plus R.Beasley ruling out all the big dream targets: Pogb, Griezman, Isco, Gotze etc. While it's looking increasingly likely that Luis is leaving (Atletico confirmed talks ongoing) and Remy close to joining C'palace (Sky suspended the betting?). Those two are one of our little quality depth players. So we will also have to deal with these replacements. Yes we are Chelsea fans and should support the club. But that does not mean we should blindly underrate other clubs and their players while overrating our own players. Last season we almost lost it after the 5-3 against Spurs, but some factors still won us the double. (Talking only about the second part of the season) - Hazard. He turned himself into a monster. - JT (and Azpi) leading the defence like he was 26 again. - Some players improved their form like Gary, Iva (goals) and Willian. - Jose Mourinho changing our approach. After our thrashing against Spurs we beat them in the final with 2-0. In EPL we started to grind out results. - City suddenly falling apart (losing points at home vs Hull and Burnley for example) We should not bet on this to happen again, our team should improve on its whole. Another thing we should not forget is, compared to last season, we have lost 2 experienced leaders in the dressing room: Cech and Drogba, they won us points with their presence. We should compensate this with quality players.