Clockwork

Agree, although i think the white socks design from Nike will look much better in combination with the rest of the kit. But i do prefer the blue socks. The best sock design from Adidas was this;

Anyone seen Grimaldo extensively? i have seen him and Telles on very few occasions, but came away much more impressed with Grimaldo.

No urgency to sell Fabinho, he is on a long term contract. They can get another year out of him and still sell him for equal if not higher price next summer.

Why does it matter who was Conte first choice? Clearly Conte rated both players wanted either player, Morata is at Chelsea and Lukaku is at United. Both have to show their worth next season. Even if Lukaku was Conte first choice, he would never admit it and signal that to his new striker. He would never publicly announce the club record transfer was not their first choice.

At the moment he is definitely staying at Madrid, he will be Marcelo backup. And he has the versatility to play CB, which they may need with Pepe gone only left with Ramos, Varane, and Nacho at the position.

Money has something to do with no doubt, but its not like he is going to China/Russia. PSG has equal if not better chance to win the CL than Barcelona, and rumor is they are also adding Alexis Sanchez. Outside of Madrid they have the most complete team in Europe.

This is the type of player we should be going after. A player who will tilt the balance of power for years to come if he decides to join one of the PL clubs. Just like Ronaldo did at United and Hazard has done at Chelsea.

Alonso situation is outside of football though, Aurier has fallen out with 2 different managers at PSG. He is very undisciplined, Conte will not work or tolerate such players.

I do not think he is intelligent player tactically, he is very intelligent from an attacking standpoint when given complete freedom. But when given more assignments and asked to main positional sense he struggles with them.

This is what i was talking about a few pages back. This is ridiculous, you are equating decision making on the ball with general football IQ. Based on what you wrote, than you probably think Christino Ronaldo is not a player with high football IQ. That would be stupid because, off the ball Ronaldo is the smartest player in the planet. A player can struggle with on the ball decision making, and still be a smart player in other aspects. Also a player can be a great decision maker on the ball, and lack intelligence elsewhere. For example Ozil, very intelligent on the ball but other aspects he seriously the lacks intelligence.

She is still wrong, there is many aspects of the game. Such generalization is ridiculous. Lukaku is much more smarter player in the box and off the ball. Morata is better than him on the ball and outside of the box. Generally fans with poor understanding of the game label a player lacking football IQ/intelligence based on one or few aspects of the game. For example Angel Di maria is a great example of such misunderstanding. He is not a great decision maker in the final third, so he is often labeled a player lacking intelligence. But if you you looked very closely of his understanding from a tactical and positional sense you wouldn't think that. Also if you considered that ADM can play almost every position on the pitch and play that position really well you might think otherwise.

Sneijder was pretty close to Veratti height maybe an inch or two taller. Mourinho doesn't care about the money, its not his and he knows he will not stay long at United anyway. I don't know if Verratti to United will happen, but ultimately what i take away is Raiola is much more likely to get him away from PSG.

He signed Cesc and Ozil, Verratti is more mobile and better defensively.

What the heck this guy flopped really hard at Madrid, now they are going to make a profit out of it.

With all that said, i think he is most suited to play alongside another striker. I really doubt he will play up top alone.

No he hasn't, he struggled in Serie A with Juve. Didn't lock up a starting role with them, most memorable for a few good games in the CL on the back of Tevez. You can say whatever you want, the fact is we paid a club record fee for a benchwarmer. No way around that.

No comparison between Sanchez and Morata. One was a regular at Barca, incredible with Chilie, and shown so much in his career. While you can not say any of those about Morata.

From a risk and reward concept absolutely. Mbappe is already one of the best and huge potential. Mbappe could walk into any starting squad with the exception of Barca, and possibly Madrid. How about Morata at age 25? He has neither great potential or great body of work. Madrid fans i know are calling it their best piece business since signing Ronaldo. Only Madrid fans who are gutted are those who are sentimental because he is a Castilla product.

The real winner is Real Madrid, impressive business by them. They are selling Morata and Danilo, two players never deemed good enough for them for Mbappe the best prospect since Neymar. Unbelievable how good Don Perez is at this thing. Years ago was laughed at, now no one can question his genius. For Chelsea it is a immense risk; a player who has never proven to lead the line at nearly age 25. Most valuable as a backup striker or in striking partnership.

Aguero has already stated he wants to return to Argentina at the end of his contract(2019). Dont want to deal with another striker that already wants out of England.

Think at the end of the summer Morata will stay put at Real Madrid.

First refusal clause is absolutely useless, good for tabloid nonsense stories but in reality very impractical. In fact i can't recall an instance where it was used. If Griezmann prefers another club rather than coming to Chelsea that clause becomes obsolete. There is no way a transfer happens without the player consent. Second if another club bids higher than Chelsea. Atletico are going to sell to them, again the clause becomes useless. You don't need that clause to buy Griezmann ,if we bid the highest and player wants to come to Chelsea than they will sell to us. This clause maybe helpful between two rival clubs, instances where two clubs do not like selling player to each other. Real Madrid and Barcelona, and other domestic rivals.

Many factors comes in to play. Bakayoko has two years left on his contract, he was not renewing. Monaco were more willing to sell, and he is a cheaper option. On the other hand Fabinho is under long term contract, only considering to sell at the right price. No rush for Monaco to sell regarding him. Also they are different players; Bakayoko is more of a sitting midfielder but versatile enough that can drive forward. Meanwhile Fabinho is much more of a true B2B midfielder. Also there is also characteristics differences here too. I think many of those factors were at play and why Chelsea chose Baka.

Conte also regularly started Kante, What is your point? I pointed out how Fabinho has strived with or without Bakayoko and has done it for years. The relationship between Fabinho and Drinkwater is insanely off base. Anyway i think Bakayoko suits us fine, he brings a physical presence to our midfield.

Haven't been following this for a couple of weeks now, what is the latest? Yea or Nay?