marflow

I'm convinced 3-5-1-1 is the better choice whenever we have Fabregas, Hazard and Morata fit and ready.

Fabregas beeing given a more integral role means we need four quality CMs, because I see him as a liability in a midfield two against top half teams and CL oposition. I think we would be alot better with 3-5-2, if Fabregas is playing. It would suprise me if Conte wants to lock himself in a 3-4-3 formation, or other variations with just two central midfielders for 60+ games. With that said I don't want to develop a player for Bayern, I want quality/experience, instead of potential to replace Matic.

Experienced player with 45 games for Poland. Very good and fast DM when it comes to aerial, tackles, interceptions etc. Compared to Matic he does almost twice as many tackles per game, three time as many interceptions per game and three times as many headers won per game. I wonder if Conte is trying to build a wall around Fabregas in a midfield three. This guy and Kante or Bakayoko leaves Fabregas to concentrate on attacking.

I doubt Conte would want to lock himself into a midfield two, he already tried several times last season to swtich from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 during games. We could also try 3-4-1-2, with Hazard behind Morata and Batshuayi, but then we should have a couple of defensive midfielders like Bakayoko and Kante behind them. 3-4-2-1 is another option, still prefer some ball winning central midfielders, if we try that formation. Bakayoko has had some recent knee problems as you have mentioned, if Matic leaves we need atleast one replacement.

I would be happy to sell for 50mil, if we could use that money to get one of: Ousama Dembele, Naby Keita, Fabinho, Nainggolan, Verratti, Isco

I won't be relived until we manage to properly replace Costa (Belotti) and secure depth/upgrade on our wingbacks.

Belotti would be a big upgrade on Costas performances after january atleast. I think we need Sandro and Danilo to really make a big step forward with our team though, they would make up for the lost creativity with Kante and Bakayoko in central midfield and add more precision and pace into our team.

My expectations would be someone close to Costa in form, but for the entire year and not half.

He has been very good for Italy as well, I'm confident he would be a succsess for us.

He is a complete striker, superb poacher that scores almost the same amount with both feet and head. When you watch from 4:30 (dribbling and skills), his turn of pace and strength to launch attacks on his own like Tevez, is just what we need. He has hunger and a good kind of aggression as well, wich in my opinion makes him a safer bet then Morata etc.

I would be as well. Makes it alot more likely we will buy Belotti.

Defensive Contribution: Tackles per game: Lukaku 0,2 || Costa 0,5 || Belotti 0.9 Interceptions per game: Lukaku 0,0 || Costa 0,2 || Belotti 0,3 Passing Pass succsess %: Lukaku 65,5% || Costa 75,2% || Belotti 75,1% Key Passes per game: Lukaku 1,3 || Costa 1,2 || Belotti 1,6 I have watched Belotti several times for Italy and he has been very good, his linkup play is alot better with better teammates around him. He is more then a handful for defenders, they foul him more then Hazard.

His linkup play is better then Lukaku and Costa, he gets fouled alot more and his defensive contribution is much better.

I would be happy to sell Matic for £40mil, if we buy Bakayoko + Ousama Dembele or Verratti. That gives us the option to switch between 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 more frequently.

Great deal for someone I doubt is in Contes plans, majority of his minutes were against Watford, after we had won the league. I prefer we concentrate on giving Christensen and Alonso enough minutes, if we are buying VVD + A.Sandro. The £20m we should spend on Conti.

I would be very happy with VVD, Bakayoko and Sandro. Buying Lukaku back I can't get behind at all though.

It's the Dortmund one, he has played most of his games as a CM and AMC for them, but has played ML,MR,FWR as well.

Bakayoko, Kante, O.Dembele, with Fabregas as super sub and Baker/Chalobah as backup.

Belotti is at the top of my striker wishlist, followed by Mbappe, Sanchez, Mertens, Morata, and Dembele.

This just proves the feeling of Matic disappering during games. Bakayoko has 100 more duels won with 400 less minutes, thats alot when Matics total is 143 during an entire season. There is a reason Monaco have been so succsessful with their high pressing game and Fabinho + Bakayoko has a big part to play in that.

I think Kante-Fabregas-Bakayoko would form a very good midfield three, good mix between physical power, stamina and creativity. Bakayoko and Kante might also work, but then we need to add more creativity elsewhere (Sandro,Conti,Alexis etc)

Does anyone know if Mbappe would count as homegrown, if he played for us for three years ?

The problem is that he will miss that intense fitness training in pre season, might take august to recover that.

He keeps impressing me everytime I see him play, even when Monaco struggled against Juventus he did several positive things against europes best defence. Today he looks to have secured Monacos ligue 1 title with a brilliant assist for Falcao in the first half. I don't think there would be a problem at all for him to play as our striker in 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. His pace would be a huge threat to any defence that pushes up high and his linkup play is superior to Lukaku and Costa. Hazard is already playing very close to Costa most of the time, so it's not like Mbappe would be isolated as our striker. *edit: Make that two superb assists for Falcao.

Top shelf targets: Sanchez, Griezmann, Verratti, Isco, Belotti, Mendy, Ghoulam, Mbappe Second shelf: Morata, Fabinho, Bakayoko, Koulibaly,VVD, Semedo, Mertens I would be very happy if we bought 3-4 of these players for next season. I ignored Lukaku and Nainggolan, because I don't want them.