El P.

Never payed much attention to this guy, until now. Been thinking that he had only 1-2 good seasons behind him, but boy I was wrong. Here are some statistics: Amazing number of goals, actually. 38, 33, 19, 14, 19 in last 5 seasons. About his playing style... He is such a predator in front of goal. He can finish almost every cross, and is decent even with his head (slightly better than Costa I would say, for example). Deadly from counter. Maybe he will not create much for himself, but will sure create a lot when the space is little more opened. His technique is not so great, maybe he is something above Lukaku/Costa, but his pace, my God... He is one of the fastest players in Europe, for sure. My grades, from what I saw: Finishing 9/10 Pace 10/10 Heading 7/10 Technique (Ball receiving / Close control / Ball control in tight spaces) 6/10 Also, he is 28 already, but he turned 28 only before 2-3 weeks, so he is almost a year younger than Costa, which is not that bad. Morata seems not to be interested, we are not connected to Belotti and he seems Milan-bound... Auba could be just the best we could get at the moment. SIGN HIM UP!

The problem I see here: We will have two standard midfielders I guess - Kante and Bakayoko (after Bakayoko "proves" himself, it will take 4-5 games) . Third must be someone who is willing to be on the bench and wait for his chance. Don't know if we can bring someone like that, or if Matić could do that job if he stays. Also, let's not forget about Fabregas who can hop in the mix too. Another big reason for NOT selling Nemanja is that Bakayoko seems to be unfit at the moment , and could be for months. All in all, I don't think we should sell Nemanja, I don't think we will bring someone better for that role. Hell we are signing Bakayoko for two months already.

Not convicted by this guy, I too think Manolas is better, but still hoping he can pull "an Alonso". Welcome!

So, about strikers: My first choice is now Belotti, but only for <70 millions pounds. Same with Morata, who is second choice. But, I won't mind sticking with Cavani for a season or two either. Fourth option could be Auba, but he has a lot of disadvantages, For example, he will cost 60-65 mil pounds and is already 28. Lewa is just a wet dream, so no point of putting him on the list. 1. Belotti for < 70 mil pounds 2. Morata for < 70 mil pounds 3. Cavani (his price shouldn't be more than 50 mils) 4. Aubameyang Actually, any of first three works fine with me.

I think this guy is more consistent Diego Costa with better behavior. Really the similar type of player. A better in the air too. Also, it's a great plus that he is Italian, because of Conte. My first name on strikers wishlist, would take him for <70 millions pounds.

I'm not angry that we are not going for Lukaku. I'm angry because we aren't going for anyone apparently, and the striker position is the one we need to invest in the most. Just... now is clear that we aren't even chasing Lukaku, or anyone.

Nice, Lukaku to United, and we will be left hanging late in transfer window. It's not like strikers aren't too expensive even now... every day closer to transfer window end they will be even more expensive. If Morata's asking price is 70 millions, it will be 85 mils in last month of transfer window. So great. We aren't after ANY striker, and we have no strikers except Bats. What are we doing?

It's getting very weird, you know. A LOT of talk about Bakayoko, reliable sources, but no confirmation. A LOT of talk about Lukaku, said himself that he is on the move, mid-reliable sources, plays footy with our boys on Chelsea field, no confirmation. A LOT of talk about Caballero, a lot of reliable sources, no confirmation. EVEN MORE talk about Sandro, reliable sources, and YES, no confirmation! And by "no confirmation", I mean no confirmation by anyone, even Sky or someone like that, not the club itself. I mean, COME ON! Something must be happening, it's all really odd.

I'm really nervous, but got a great feeling that this will be THE summer, one we have waited so long. It's still really early in the transfer window, but we are knocking on all the right doors and doing serious stuff.

They didn't, Lukaku said himself he is on the move, it's just matter of where is he going.

We gave them Cuadrado, they got the deal they wanted, that stupid 2-3 years loan. We gave a lot of good players to other teams - Salah, KDB, Mata. etc etc... Let's take something back, this would be incredible. Love the ambition from the club, just hoping we have at least one player already in bag (Lukaku/Bakayoko), just waiting to be announced.

I highly disagree. Why the hell are we playing 3-4-3, with three central-backs, two defensive midfielders and defensively ok-ish full backs if we cannot give massive (but not complete) freedom to our front three? Pedro being workhorse in this system is bonus, not pure necessity. Also, we are not that good with the ball at feet, so it's understandable that we will have to use Pedro massively in both directions, to compensate our attacking flaws and lost balls. Next season, if we get Bakayoko and for example - James, ball control and our possession game would be better, so front three really wouldn't need to work defensively THAT much, only basic things.

Wrap this thing up already, it's dragging for years!

It's too early for Conte to think like this, if that really is true. But, one thing is certain - we need to present one new quality signing, sooner rather than later to cool down the situation, it could only get worse. Being it Bakayoko or Lukaku.

2 meters 100 kilos attacker with average technique will not be target man, instead he will be second striker? Those "second strikers" I always imagined with good technique, more agile and quicker than "first striker", I can't remember seeing someone like Lukaku being second striker, ever. And yes... he is never useless - he at least can win great deal of his arial duels and score some headed goals, if opposition really parked the bus. He could also score from distance, has powerful shot, he is good 1 on 1, I think he can score in many different ways actually.

Yes, but because Dembele is really great in what he does, and they even don't need Dembele's passing - they have Eriksen. And, I think we all saw what we have when Fabregas plays alongside Kante, those great passes from the deep and those magnificent one-twos. If Baka can be THAT good, like Dembele, maybe his passes won't matter much - I agree that his playing with the ball under pressure is much more important. But I still have a feeling we miss that good-passing part of the game, here in midfield or anywhere on the field. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Baka to be like Fabregas, or anywhere near... I just think that he would misplace even some semi-simple passes, from what I saw. We don't want him to get the ball, run through the middle, and then to 'do the Costa' (ruin our counter attack) with some clumsy pass.

This is a bit harsh in my opinion. Not just by you, I'm talking in general about our fans who criticize him about this. Lukaku was here when he was what, 20-21? And in our team we had Torres, Demba Ba and after that we even got Eto'o. I think fella knew odds were really against him - Eto'o and Torres, maybe not in their prime, but still big name attackers, and good Demba Ba. That's THREE guys in front of you, three proven guys. So he wouldn't be second, not even third choice - he would be FOURTH choice, for one position. And his manager was Jose Mourinho, the most pragmatic guy ever. I clearly remember him saying, after going to Everton - "What is the club doing? It's like they are just buying strikers with no true plan what to do with them." (or something like this) Don't know, Lukaku isn't maybe the best of characters, I am aware of his deficiencies, but for this one - I'm not blaming him.

All things considered, he is without any doubt improvement on Costa. And yes, Costa is a "crazy" warrior, and sometimes that will be missed. But he is also crazy in all kind of other things, in a bad way. Lukaku is not, he is way more normal and reliable, and that's a big plus. From only footballing aspect - better in the air, scores more goals, somewhat better technician and link up play, faster. And a lot younger, he will be like a lion when he comes, he will want to prove himself to everyone. Can't complain, wish him best of luck.

Just watched some of "Bakayoko VS some_team" videos on YouTube. His strengths: Ball control (by that I mean - receiving the ball, his first and second touch), dribbling, running with the ball in general. Really nice, agile and silk movement for a guy that size. Also, he is strong. Seems decent in the air too. Is a monster defensively. Weaknesses: I would say, first of all, passing. I mean, maybe in team with Modrić, Kroos, or I don't know, that wouldn't be problem, those simple, defender-like passes. But in our team, best passer is Luiz (assuming Cesc is not playing), and he will play next to Kante who does passes just like him - rarely misplaces them, but those are all simple passes, never actually creating anything special. And, his end product - he will need to learn how to score some goals, either head them in, shoot from distance etc, he will need to provide us in that area too (he scored 3 goals in the whole season, and that is really odd assuming Monaco scored 100+ goals last season). All in all, would be a decent signing, nothing special but decent, and I expect him to improve. He will balance out Kante's lack of ball control/shielding ability, probably will be upgrade on Matić already, he is faster and more agile than him, but will need to improve some other areas to really become integral in out first XI.

This is priceless. Bravo Antonio! You can all thank to Diego Costa for talking to media, it's not Antonio's fault. A lot of payers get this kind of messages (be it via SMS or MMS, you need to get that info sooner rather than later, and we even don't know the full story), but only Costa did what he did. Why? Because he is Costa. Not ours, soon. It's not really important who will come in, Lukaku, Morata,... someone decent surely will - CHELSEA JUST SHOWN WHY WE ARE A BIG CLUB, CLUB THAT WILL NEVER BE SOMEONE'S BITCH!

If Matić is sold, then I agree, we should get both Baka and Tolisso.

Why should we? Kante, Tolisso, Matić, Fabregas and Chalobah. No more CMs needed.

Better than Bakayoko in my eyes, definitely. More rounded, better passer I would say and is more active on the pitch. Could be decent upgrade on Matić, with potential to became really good.

I don't see this guy as an upgrade to Pedro, tbh.

Mourinho in 2015 was rightfully sacked and board waited REALLY long time to take that decision, even when we were 15th on table. Di Matteo too, I would say. Di Matteo is club legend, but not that good manager I think. Mourinho sacking in 2007-08 was wrong decision, and Ancelotti could've been given one more year, he really had rusty squad in 2010-2011. AVB, Scolari, Grant and Benitez all needed to go, sooner or later. So, all things considered, I don't think we should worry about Antonio getting fired so much.