bellion

Valuable to whom? And why didn't the Board get adequate replacements for deportees and especially during last summer when some players such as Ivanovic were on the decline and the need for an injection of first team quality was sorely needed? You can't heap all the blame solely on Mourinho alone.

Fine my ass. Go suck up to the board yourself then.

Which makes the Board to be even bigger mugs. Paying high wages for under-performers and average joes like Oscar and Cahill shows they are penny wise pound foolish. Also, how do you explain the net spend of the club being LOWER than Watford and Crystal Palace.

I would put Cahill ahead of him. I can see Scott Dann coming to the Bridge solely as a Emenalo signing just because he's home-grown and CHEAP. Goes to show the unrealistic ambitions of the club in trying to spend less than Watford and Palace.

I'll believe it when I see it happening. Minimum 30 million pound price tag. i only expect Scott Dann another Cahill average clone to be bought just because he is cheap.

Played well against Southampton but I would still not want his in a first team spot next season be it at right-back or centre-half.

I believe Hazard will leave this summer no matter what the club do. As long as the money from his sale is ploughed into a top quality replacement or a rising star, I am fine with it. On top of it, that quoted 130 million pound figure should not be made up partially by any Hazard sale. Anything less than 3 top quality players bought in the summer will enrage me. If we end up as he biggest net spender in Europe this summer, that's even better since its high time we behaved like a big club with our investments.

I very much doubt it unless all potential managers insist on a large war chest and the Board is backed into a corner with choices. Conte should insist on having such a sizeable transfer kitty before he agrees to sign on the dotted line. Any decent coach should refuse any offer from Chelsea and walk away if the Board continues to spend LESS than Bournemouth and Watford!!!

Jose requested to buy Papy and Hector?

Thanks for posting the figures. It's truly pathetic that a big club like us spent less per season than the likes of newly promoted teams such as Bournemouth and Norwich City. Not just for one season but for the past three! What the fuck are they doing with all that money? Paying themselves fat dividends ?

Why are you blaming Jose for this? The Board has enforced a one in one out policy for several seasons. This reinforces the low net spend policy which is a deliberate club stance to the detriment of performances and results on the pitch.

Factor in the sale of players and you will get a much reduced figure. Look at this season alone - the club's net spend is lower than Crystal Palace, Stoke, Bournemouth and Watford!!!!

This must have been the swing factor for the Board to hire him if it's a done deal. Spend as little as possible is the motto at the Bridge now.

I would argue that a lack of QUALITY depth still exists. However, the main problem was and remains the first team quality. All the signs were there when the team was grinding results out to the title and the fact that the Board made a mess of the Stones and Pogba pursuits with a last minute inquiry of Marquinhos clearly showed that first team strengthening was and is key to the club. Hence, your point is incorrect. Also, I am alarmed that you don't think that top quality players need to be bought this summer.

They are all back-up players. There were no first teamers bought last summer and winter. Couple that with the rapid decline of first teamers like Ivanovic and Matic and the entire first team got weaker hence the bottom half position for the entire season. The focus this summer must be on buying top quality first team material - most of the squad positions can be filled up with youngsters such as recalling Ake. There is absolutely no point to allocate anymore squad positions to the likes of Pato, Falcao and Papy.

The money is there but the Board has taken on a Scrooge persona and the stadium remains the priority for them as it represents massive future revenue. Buying quality players does not. The right-back position is covered by Azpi hence I feel the left-back slot should be prioritized instead. A new left-back to compete with Baba Rahman would be ideal and Ivanovic gets dumped into the reserves. Centre-half and midfield acquisitions need to be top quality first team material but whether the Board will pay 50 million pounds for each of these players is a big question mark - I remain highly doubtful they will do so. At the most, 20 million quid for each which would severely limit the options available for players who can instantly make an impact in the first team. The second striker buy will be tricky though - as long as it's not another Falcao or Pato type of loan, the Board would have done well.

We all know this summer is absolutely crucial for the club to get things right in buying and selling players which is one of the two big challenges (the other being the new manager appointment). My worry is that the Board will screw it up again with its obsession regarding profits and the new stadium. Look at whom they signed last summer and winter: Falcao, Begovic, Baba Rahman, Pedro, Kenedy - all squad fillers and signed with two eyes firmly on the bottom line. The less said about Papy and Hector, the better. Pato is another signing for the charity home for has-beens at the Bridge and I liken Miazga to another Papy (a squad filler replacing another squad filler). The above list makes me cringe everytime I am reminded of it. I wonder if the bloody Board knows the priority this summer is to target quality first team players and not a bunch of cheapo squad fillers and loanee has-beens. The new manager should insist on a huge transfer kitty before agreeing to sign any contract. Otherwise, they would have a half-empty new stadium watching the club struggling in the bottom half of the table.

Tell us how transfers are going to occur with another year long interim period.

Troy Deeney would make a great second striker but the Board will never sanction the transfer required to buy him from Watford which would probably be in the region of 25 million pounds or more. My bet is on Pato extending his loan by another six months or the scouts are instructed to look for another cast-off or some striker a year from retirement for a loan or a short term contract.

Bidding would start at 30 million pounds. Is the Chelsea Board game to stump well in excess of this amount? Nope....

I concur with this. Not just to prepare the squad but also to start and finish all transfers within one month thus risking a repeat of last summer's debacle. I would want the Board (if they are interested to spend some serious cash) to start the pursuit of identified players based on a list by Conte the moment he signs the contract which would probably be before the Euro tournament.

Leicester's situation is the opposite of a perfect storm - everything and every player they bought has clicked under Ranieri. Even they didn't expect such a meteoric rise especially since they were actually tipped to be one of the relegation candidate this season. Chelsea is a different kettle of fish altogether i.e. the club has the funds (if they wish to spend) and a far wider scouting network to bring in superstars, rising stars and virtual unknowns. I believe we all agree thatt the club doesn't need to make every single transfer to be a big money one as a mix of the above is probably the most desirable approach plus injection from the youth teams. My beef with the Board is that they take an "income statement trumps all" approach such as enforcing a one-in one-out approach when the squad is already too small in numbers as well as faming out the youth players in the loan market. On top of this, the Stones debacle and the last minute panic attempts for Pogba and Marquinhos (more to placate the fans than really serious attempts) which ended with the Papy and Hector purchases made the Board to be utter transfer mugs. Also, this pathetic transfer policy can be seen in the loans and short-term signings of has-beens like Pato and links with Lavezzi. Some would say just play the youngsters if the Board is so obsessed with cash flow but the club doesn't even do that very much and frankly, I do think it would be foolish if our club put our high hopes on youth players heading straight into the first team without an appropriate number of top quality players already in the team. On a side note, Papy was never meant to be a first team player. What we need now is a top quality centre-half and perhaps a left-back if Baba isn't trusted and also to push Ivanovic out of the first team.

Papy was bought as a back-up player and is in no way first team material. If the club is serious about being title and CL challengers, spend more than the likes of Palace and Bournemouth!!

Not sure if Mourinho was responsible for selling good players but how about buying good players? Surely someone better than Papy and Hector was available?

The Board doesn't give a damn beyond a Pato loan and a Papy purchase. They are only interested in competing for the negative net spend award having now bested Stoke, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Watford.