LondonsFinest

Reading reports that we want to re-sign him. Crying. Haha

I put Icardi and Lacazette on the same stage. Great, but definitely not World Class. I am talking about WC strikers. And while I agree, he can grow into it and would love Lacazette here, he is a risk. Same as Lukaku. As I said, I want Lukaku the least out of the strikers we are linked to, but I believe people are massively underrating him.

While I agree, Lukaku is nowhere near 65 mil. quid, do people generally believe we can get any quality striker below 50-60 mil. No, I am not Lukaku's biggest fan, quite contrary, I just don't believe any other ST would cost less. People believe Higuain or Morata would be that player, but no. De Laurentis won't let Gonzalo go for less and this is his best season, which he will never replicate. Let's be honest, if you watch Higuain you know he can be very frustrating at times. Samo goes for Morata. Top talent, who goes missing at times. Yes, he is very combinative, technical and etc. Thing is he would cost a massive sum and we don't know what he could turn in, in England. Truth be told, there is no GUARANTEED top striker out on the market, who is worth a big sum of money and is a guaranteed success.

You forgot to add that United, Arsenal and PSG are also tracking him. Would be an amazing transfer. Reason why we won't get him. We are last in this particular food chain.

Uhm, enlighten me, please: In the youth final I think he was a CB next to JCS? Where is he more comfortable, RB or CB?

Ffs, I am fuming that in games we had ABSOLUTELY NO POINT in playing our "best" 11, we did. Thank God, Hiddink is gone.

Giggs and Scholes were taking 35k and barely played. Only because of injuries did they feature. Come on now, it's a far cry saying 60k is a contract offer they don't want him to sign. It's a completely reasonable offer, slowly stepping down from the throne he has prolongly and deservedly occupied.

While I agree, blaming Costa is stupid, I will say this. The moment, we have a good striker ala Suarez, who doesnt live off his movement and finishing solely and is good with the ball at his feet, rather than without it, is when we will really thrive. Honestly, Higuain bottles chances, but his one-twos would make Hazard and Willian score loads, if need be. Don't get me wrong, I've said it before, I love Costa's passion. His desire, his hunger for it,but his first touch and dribble makes me consider how he became a professional footballer. 1.Consistently chasing his first touch as if he can't control a ball. 2. His passing. He does not want to release the ball when need be. I just get so frustrated, especially in the Spurs game, when Eden wanted the ball twice and Costa just decided not to boot it in his feet. I don't know if he doesn't want to, he can't or it's just him being selfish, but it is atrocious. 3. Dribble. Dragging out to the left wing is one thing. You drag your man and leave space open, that is pretty good, yes. And if you receive the ball, you use one or two touches to supply a fast attack IN THE OPEN SPACE you have created. But the fact, Diego takes the ball to make some shite dribble, which 99% he can't do, because he lacks ability and also neglects his teammates, as said in pt.2 is why I would consider killing myself. Don't get me wrong, Diego is one of the least of our worries, BUT, he is limited. People will say Giroud is shite. And while, I agree, in a team like ours he'd thrive so much it is unreal. GIROUD FFS. Imagine someone like Cavani, Morata, Higuain, Icardi, Aubameyang, etc.

Maradona's quotes make me believe there is something here. Maybe WE are interested, maybe someone else... guess we will see.

Supposedly we had Schurrle and Hazard on the left wing and no one on the right. But hey, don't tell anyone.

More that media are speculating with anything to sell papers. Conte has and will always buy a player he feels is right for him, regardless of league or nationality.

I don't know, if I should post this here, but if Courtois to leave, someone help me with viable options: Perrin, Forster, Butland, Leno, Horn, Donarumma? , Handanovic, Navas?, Rulli off the top of my head. Anyone else?

Sell him. He's obviously settled to Italian football more and there is no reason for us to get him back. Pretty sure he doesn't want it, either.

Conte and Allegri both wanted him, I think.

Would someone explain to me the hype around this kid. Never seen anything special from him, except speed.

Having thought about it, can't see us paying much for him. Apparently has 12 months on his contract and seeing as Hunmels is off to Bayern for 30, yes 30, mil. EURO, Miki with one amazing season behind his back, can't go for more than 40. So, IF we get him and Naingollan and sell Oscar, then 75% of the transfer window is done.

Fucking yes. He may be your poor mans Arturo Vidal, but he is class and if adjusts himself to Britain, then we'll have a proper midfielder tank.

Didn't see this. If true, then I hope he doesn't have a bigger price tag. Lol @!Hazard! I think you've based your opinion mainly on last season, after which he admitted he is dissapointed by himself, but also Klopp's tactics which he very much disliked.

Uhm, I do not believe it's true, but BILD reported we have submitted a likely to be accepted bid for him of 60 mil. EURO. He does tend to miss sitters, but he js pacey and does score too, while also very good at bulding play or counter-attacking play, depending on style. My wet dream is Isco, but if we can't get him, Naingollan and Mkhitaryan would be an amazing top hit. Plus 40 mil. For him is reasonable.

1. Fabregas won't leave, UNLESS Conte dislikes his way of playing/training and ditches him. 2. The fact Mourinho tried to cope with certain liabilities with the wrong players is solely Mourinho's problem. We are talking about a man who had the same problem before and dealt with it, quite up to the level needed by deploying players to help him out. 3. The examples are pretty naive, as Terry has been losing pace, as has Ivanovic, but that didn't show last season. It was Mourinho's stubborness to replace his favourite right-back that caused us problems early on and most probably the clash of attitudes, not the covering for liabilities. 4. As I pointed out, if you watch pretty closely, Conte didn't expect Pirlo to be a playmaker or at least the sole one. He had players in midfield who had the technical ability with a ball in their feet to dictate tempo themselves if need be. So THAT is what we should be aiming for. Not 2 workhorses who can't do not possess a right side( Matic ).

Do people even realise what @CHOULO19 means by 'Pirlo role'? Ofcourse you don't, because you've watched 5% of Juve's 3 man midfield to know it. Marchisio and Vidal have the workrate of a horse and the tackling ability to be able to grant Pirlo the space he needed to operate and string the game. Can Fabregas do that? Yes, he can. Because he does it, when he isn't pressured by opponents. How can he do it? When we buy a proper technical CM( Naingollan) and keep Matic(on-form) or buy the X midfielder who is in the same mould as Naingollan and they grant Fabregas the freedom to dictate play. I'm not saying he is Pirlo, no. BUT, Pirlo was and is a defensive liability. The fact he played the DM role was a pure tactical choice, so that he is the maestro in the orchestra.

Ughh, I kind of combined them to be one,but lets say that Kicking with both feet, distribution via feet/hands, speed of coming out can all be worked on with time. What I meant is that a GK can be found everywhere and I believe you agreed on that. Now there may be a lot of arguing(not solely from you) on whether and how amazing TBO is. Fact is, I only started watched him so closely after the howlers vs Hull and then someone said he can do everything and not keep a clean sheet. Truth be told, I like Tibo, but compared to Neuer, De Gea, Buffon I am yet to see a match in which he just frustrates the opposition. Maybe it is currently psychological and they firmly believe they can bag the three points, but still.. I am willing to bet a lot of money that any other young keeper can have the same impact as he has. At least for the 2 years here that is. I don't want to fault him, but it's his decision making that is really off the chart. For example, De Gea knows he is not great at corners, doesn't risk many clearings. Thibo relies on his height and bottled the CL match vs PSG(last year, which was his better year). Ofcourse he's still very young, but until I've (personally) seen a game in which he completely denies the opposition, then I won't change my mind that if we put Butland or Forster it would be the same. I want him to make games like Liverpool COC one at least once a month. It's the always the odd slap, the odd decision, near post, deflection, etc. that make him concede. I don't want to lay into him, because the defence in front of him has been atrocious, but he hasn't look the top 5 GK we expected him to be, at all.

Cahill is a good BACK-UP Cb to have. He had an amazing tackle on Agüero and then that cock up. It's just him. Good, not great. Said it a million times, considering his price tag and the club he came from, he has definitely been great and his good to bad performances are a solid 70 to 30 percent.

Don't hate me for making this post. It is often said in football that a good GK is half the team. True. Although, good GK's can be found EVERYWHERE and need to be good at one thing, shot stopping and Commanding of his area. While I do agree, Courtois is a great talent and would be stupid to lose him, you only need to open your eyes a tad more to see that, everything has a price and there is quality everywhere. People saying going for Forster would make us the new AC Milan. Really? Because everytime I watch Forster he can take my breath away with some unreal saves. Don't let this sound extremely negative towards TBO, but you can find a good keeper everywhere. Unlike the WC player you need in every position, a GK isn't divided into a different bracket for every skill he posesses, because its minimal. This is not me taking away anything from the GK role, much rather people being afraid of losing Courtois. If Real are willing to bet on him and are throwing more than 30 mil. POUNDS, by all means, carry him to Madrid immediately. You only need to take a look, basically everywhere and put enough trust in any other GK( accomodation, once in a while cock-up) to have a new gem. Butland, Forster, Timo Horn, Ren Zieler, Bernd Leno, Donarumma, Perrin, Rulli are just a few of the much and much talented YOUNG goalkeepers in which you can put your trust in and would make us an instant 20m profit on Courtois. I do NOT wish Courtois to leave, quite contrary, but if he doesn't want to be here (100%) and we have the opportunity to sell him for big bucks, by all means, cash in Chels. I watched TBO at Atleti and even at Chels, yes he is great, but there are GKs like him, he hasn't dazzled me like De Gea, like Buffon. I don't know if it is the size that makes his saves look easy or something else, but IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, Courtois is the least of our worries, but definitely one of the most profitable players, right now.

Im interested to see if bellion is ever happy with anything. Happy the general opinion here is no different from mine. I would also like to adress that people claim Pogba is an unreal B2B, yet he does not have the workrate of a horse. He just has better stamina. So if Ruben can raise that, he'll be ready. Just trust him. He looks good. And to be completely honest, I'd rather Ruben's sometime lazy, but physical, good short- passing self to Fabregas's off form.