Simon1991

Simply not Chelsea level. He's a joy to watch and has technical abilities above average but he terribly lacks the end-product in his game to be worth buying. And the Vardy rumor is ridiculous, can't see us buying him.

You are saying it yourself, if we are receiving half the money they get from adidas, don't you think that we can say that receiving 2/3 of what they get for the training kit is a good deal? It is clear for everyone that they're ahead of everyone concerning commercial deals, and this is the reason why being somewhat close to them in this situation is a good thing for us. I think we just won't agree on that one, so let's agree to disagree on that one because it's getting us nowhere. Cheers.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean tbh.. It's not irrelevant, you asked if the figures were confirmed or not by official sources. It's not, but the figures given are in a reasonable range of what the club could get, given what Man U gets its training sponsorship deal. Otherwise, how are you supposed to guess the money this kind of deal could bring without using a "benchmark"? So, my point was that we have every reason to believe that the 10M amount is the real one.

Yes why not? We have not the same commercial leverage as Man U. If they get 15M/year, I'm happy with the club getting 10M/year.

It isn't mentioned on the official website, but it seems about right knowing that Man United has a £15M/year deal with AON for the training kit (8 years deal). Anyway, good piece of business from the club.

On the contrary, I think it's a quite popular opinion

Yeah Torres was a dead-weight for quite some time, glad he'll finally be off the books

Yes the remaining cost of Torres accounted for this period: "Torres will now cost £18.2m in 2014/15, but will be completely off the 2015/16 books." Here is the source if you want to get more into details http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/12/27/7455227/fernando-torres-sale-ac-milan-chelsea-finances-ffp

Honestly, Lukaku lacks the technical hability to play in a club like Chelsea. Against teams defending for their lives, he's close to useless because he's limited in small spaces, which is what Chelsea has to deal with week in week out. He mostly thrives when he has space to perform and can run behind defenders, and it is beyond obvious that it's more often the case with Everton than Chelsea. It's the same thing with the belgian NT, you can count the number of good games on one hand, simply because teams Belgium faces tend to give the possession up and defend more and more, and Lukaku is just not good in that set-up. There's no denying he's a good striker (his figures accounts for that), but the environment he needs to perform just cannot be provided in a top-club like Chelsea, or any other top-club for that matter (in my opinion). Hence, we should really just be happy that the club made a good piece of business with the sale of a player that is limited and moreover didn't want to be a second or third choice.

According to Jake Cohen, specialist in those kind of things, the £40M swing in profit/losses (£18M profit last year and £23M loss this year) comes down to: - £11M less in transfer sale profit - weaker CL performance - Increase in player costs (Costa at £16M/accounting year, Fabregas 13.8, Luis 9,...) Anyway, with the Yokohama deal kicking in this year and the future TV deal, the financial outlook is looking good.

I really hate Arsenal, always thrilled to see them lose. I guess it's because of the worst loser of the game: Arsène Wenger. We often hear about Mourinho whining but Wenger brings it to another level!

Only off the pitch then

Good thing if it happens, and I'd like the board to give Traoré the third striker spot. He deserves some play time.

You only see the negative aspects. He's tactically limited, but he's a real motivator and has brought this team together while the team was nowhere a few years ago. I don't need to remind you how the Belgium team was doing in terms of results before he took charge, but it was painful to say the least. It is not perfect under Wilmots of course but looking backwards, you can only say he's done a great job, results speaking. If the team does not live up to the expectations at the Euro, maybe it will be time to let him go and bring a tactically-better coach, but otherwise I don't see why he should go.

I'll add a few lines to complete what Bethos has well said. He's been called for Belgium for the friendlies against Italy and Spain and he should receive some game time but until now he was behind Lukaku, Benteke and even Origi in the picking order (even with the latter is far worse than batshuayi). Wilmots, the Belgium coach, explained a few weeks ago that Michy was still not good enough to play as a lone striker in the 4-3-3 Belgium plays (and Marseille as well), as he was used to play 4-4-2 in Standard de Liège, but I don't agree at all, he's doing more than alright for the moment in Marseille. His stats in this appalling Marseille side also seems to go in the same way. This is what Wilmots says, but given the level of Origi who is shit atm at liverpool, it's probable that Wilmots still holds a grudge towards Michy, who brought call-girls in his room two years ago during the U-21 2015 euro qualifiers. Normally Wilmots should come to its sense in the next few months and call Michy before Origi, and it's heading in a good direction I think with those 2 friendlies (Origi was sent to the U-21). In Belgium, a lot of people concur to say that he's the most talented striker, and a lot hope he can get the playing time he deserves, and hopefully impress, because the kid IS the most talented of them all.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Kalas is struggling to get regular starts at Borough, I can't ever see him play at Chelsea if he's in difficulty in championship, and he's already 22. As for Christensen, playing at gladbach at 19 is really a great achievement and if I recall correctly it's a 2-years loan. If he keeps on improving there, I can see him returning at the end of the loan and compete for a place in the center of our defense. I have big hopes for him, hope he can make it!

What? Matic was one of the best on the pitch.

Oscar looks horrible today, Pedro or Hazard should be subbed on really soon.

What if, just what if Costa is really 35 years old as all the jokes suggest and last year was his last good season?

Ok that's it Costa, I can't take it anymore, FUCKING SHOOT instead of diving...

We immediately see the difference with offensive FB. FINALLY!

Hope that dropping Eden to include Baba in the line-up is not a new pattern. It was the case against Villa and now today.

And Mikel at his best is also better than Lucas at his best.

Haha you actually made me laugh outload! First time today from a football perspective unfortunately. Thanks! PS: it's not sarcastic.

I'm just fed up with his constant provocative behavior. So stupid at times... He probably won't be suspended, but he could be, only 2 league games after his previous suspension, never gonna learn ffs.