DYC.

I can see Real dishing over €60 mil, like they did for James. If so, I would gladly take Modric, while they enjoy Kroos, Pogba, Isco and James.

Most important midfielder at Juve? That's your opinion. Best midfielder for France at the World Cup? Very possible but he was decent at best. That's just my opinion though. Pogba is one of the most talented youngsters in football. A player capable of producing some very exciting moments. But I have not seen him carry his team (over the course of a season), neither does he stand out when facing other top teams with quality midfielders. If there is one criticism I would have to pick out for him, it would be that his performances in the CL have been quite bland (not surprising, he's 21). The Serie A is not what it once was. I rate Pogba's potential very, very highly but he has not shown anything to command a fee that would make him one of the most expensive players of all time. That's the kind a fee you usually pay for a player that has been among the very best in the world for multiple years. I realise that players cost a lot more nowadays, but even in today's market that would be ridiculous. Up there with the Bale, James Rodriguez, Di Maria and Neymar transfers (it turned out Neymar cost Barca between €80 and 90 mil) in terms of insanity. €100 mil! He's not even enjoyed a season like Suarez in 13/14, Kaka in 06/07, or Ronaldo in 07/08. So yes, it would be based on potential. Paying that kind of money for potential is a dangerous game. Of course, if the club is in a position to buy Pogba for such a fee (I don't see Pogba joining btw) and still strengthen other positions in the team, I would not complain.

That's quite a claim, Emma Watson.

74 mil pounds for potential... these fees can't be real.

That's the thing. Hazard making 200k is 'nonsense' but Rooney making 300k is 'correct', that does not make sense. Not that it matters.

I remember Terry being one of the top earners, matching any new salary that is higher than his (part of his contract). It might not be true though, so you could be right. But what do we know anyway? There were also stories about Hazard making over 200k.

Costa? Terry?

You realise Alaba was playing and became a starter back when Bayern weren't as good as they are now? He's been playing regularly for Bayern since he was a teen, that's no small feat. His growth as a player and his performances are part of the reason Bayern became better and better. His injury is very unfortunate and will affect his team. Whether you think he's the best LB or not, I personally don't care for these rankings, I think you are underrating his talent. He has already achieved so much at a very young age. It's a shame he plays for Austria, purely for the sake of his international career. Though from I've seen and read, he's their star performer.

Sterling has a long way to go. It's still flashes of quality for the most part, which is not surprising at his age. While I would welcome him, he would not improve the team. If anything, he would need time to grow as a player and reach the necessary consistency. That means him disappearing from time to time, dealing with a lot more pressure to perform which affects his game. I remember Hazard being labled inconsistent last season, and Sterling is not even close to the Hazard of last season. And I can see his fee and wages being a problem. 30+ mil? He's a rookie and he hasn't shown anything in the extreme talent wise. He's no Messi back when he was that age. Even Rooney was better. And the wages you read... He would be among the top earners at the club. That's crazy. I'd much rather see a player joining that's already proven his quality personally. And let's be honest, English 'wonderkids' have the tendency to disappoint. I think Rooney was the last one to actually become a top player. Rooney's breakthrough was back in 2004.

I was referring to all the top sides.

Ugh.. the downside of football today. Good players occupying the role of squad players.

It's not just this season. It's been well over 2 years now. I think he peaked in 2010-2012. Still a good defender but he no longer stands out.

I don't understand your point. Like you already said, not top sides. I never said they ended up at League One clubs. There's a long list of decent ex-Chelsea players that never joined a top side again, and my point was Mikel would be on that list. Mikel has not been a starter for ages, never in his Chelsea career an undisputed starter. Those kind of sides have never shown interest, they could have bought him if they wanted to. The only way they would get him is if he was a free agent. Maybe Milan and Inter in their current state, but they aren't willing to pay fees for players of such calibre.

Mikel is a very smart man. If he leaves Chelsea, and that's a big if, he will not end up at a top side. And he'll never make as much money. We've seen how players like Bosingwa, Kalou, Malouda etc. ended up when they left.

This is very true. Great example used with Meier, and there have been many players like him before. Meier is enjoying a fantastic season, top scorer of the Bundesliga, but he is not on par with the best in the league. It's the same with Kane. It's not like Kane is a player with a velvet touch, the ability to create space for himself and skip past defenders with tight control and creates many chances for his team mates on top of regularly putting the ball into the net. And it's not just Hazard, there are other players that have performed at a higher level over the entirety of the season imo. But I realise that it's all about offensive players, mostly goal scorers, so the options for the award are limited. Someone like Carrick, who has had such a great influence on the resurgence of Utd, is not even mentioned. As for Costa, he has a bad reputation, is not English, and he plays for Chelsea (remember Drogba being snubbed in 09/10?), so he receives a lot less hype compared to Kane, despite being the superior goal scorer (no PKs). Very true. This is how Bale won the award in 12/13, despite Van Persie being the better player overall. He lead a decent Utd team to a dominant PL win, but apparently that was not relevant. Bale was in red hot form between Jan and March/April, but Spurs didn't even make the top 4. At least Suarez almost won Liverpool the league, when even a top 4 finish looked highly unlikely (impossible) before the season started, finishing 7th in the season before.

The stories about players earning a huge parts of their fee back through shirt sales are false. Clubs only receive a small percentage for every shirt sold. Not to mention the fact that if you sell a lot of shirts of one certain player, other names sell less. There are only so many people that buy a Chelsea shirt, a big name does not add millions of people going to the store to buy a shirt with their name. Players earn money for their clubs by helping the team win.

Clearly you need to go to the optometrist. I was talking about the World Cup. (Dont you hate it when that happens )

I don't think we should be comparing international friendly matches to competitive club football though. International matches are of a lower level and if you take away the competitive edge (friendly instead of tournament), it becomes very hard to rate the true class of a player's performance. Brazil looked like a force coming into the World Cup, demolishing teams left, right and centre. That completely changed from the very first match they played at the World Cup. What I found worrying in Willian's case was his inability to displace the underperforming Hulk (understatement). Though you could argue favouritism and politics playing a role in that. And seriously, where is this defensive solidity I keep hearing about? Chelsea's right flank is incredibly vulnerable. I don't blame Willian for this, I really don't, but I think people mistake work rate for effective defending when it comes to Willian. Someone like Arda Turan actually offers defensive solidity. That's not his fault, I can see that he does the best he can. I agree that Willian's productivity would increase if he didn't have to track backso much, but not to a level that would be enough imo. Maybe that's why Mourinho doesn't give him more freedom? I really don't know. Players like Willian, Navas, A. Young etc. are useful for a top side (squad options) but just don't offer enough imo.

Thinking about the bigger names, I can think of Ozil, Mertesacker, Khedira, Carvajal, Kroos, Dzeko, Can, Mandzukic, Ter Stegen (though Barca have that weird rotation). Bayern pick up most of the stand out players though. And the PL is the only league that makes a lot of big money foreign transfers (Real, Barca and PSG being the exception in their own leagues). Other leagues dealing with a lot more home grown players and players bought at a very young age. I'm not sure if I understand your point though. So many stars of football were puchased from Ligue 1, Primeira Liga, Eredivisie and South American leagues. Does that say something about the quality of those leagues? And it's not like all PL players do very well when they leave, bar the extremely talented bought for a lot of money of course.

I agree. This was pretty much regular Willian. Very quiet in the first half, became more involved in the 2nd, though not enough to actually say he greatly influenced the game. Neymar showed his class scoring from that position after the Willian pass. Gustavo was completely unmarked to head in Willian's corner. Danilo didn't need Willian to shadow him though. That set up on the right flank with Willian and Ivanovic is so bizarre.

No, you misunderstood what we were talking about. It was never about Vertonghen joining Chelsea or being good enough to play for Chelsea. Just a little discussion about his quality as a player. And I agree with you, he's not Chelsea material. Like I said before, Spurs is his level and he's fine defender for Spurs imo.

What is this? Are you actually analysing the overall game of a player to rate their quality? That's outrageous.

I love how Arsenal fans think the only reason Cech won't sign for them is because Chelsea won't allow a transfer to a rival. The fact that a move to Arsenal would be a step down for a serial winner like Cech does not even seem to come to mind. I think that's called delusion.

Actually it is. It shows that defenders everywhere make mistakes. You could pick out any defender in the world and they all have a collection of 'errors', some more than others. For me, defenders in general receive too much stick and I find it strange how one mistake can define their entire performance. It's too much look at how poorly the defender or defending team did, and too little look at how well the attacker or attacking team did. Flawless defending would mean no goals. This does not excuse truly poor defending and any real errors though. You pointed out a couple of mistakes Vertonghen made, that does not make him a bad defender. I'm sure he's put in fine or great defensive displays as well. Someone like Kompany is the superior defender. Capable of wonderful defending, but I've seen him do things that made me scratch my head. But this is a completely different topic though, and this isn't going anywhere. You think Vertonghen is poor, I don't. That's football I guess.

Thanks for the reply. I hope the rumours are true.