Vesper

Vecino has donkey written all over him (he look like shit in the WC too, one of the few Uruguayans who did)), and Mattia Caldara is a potentially better CB than Rugani IMHO. I would LOVE Sarri to publicly explain why he fancies those 2 so much. Juve are crazy to let either go, given their ages and the ages of their others CB's, but money talks I suppose. It's Rugani's 24th b-day today btw.

We need a LB far more than a RB, I do not want to have to move Azpi back to CB except in emergencies. Plus, there are not that many good available RB's out there atm Sime Vrsaljko is on verge of signing with Inter, who desperately need a RB, even worse than we need a LB.You saw today that D'Ambrosio is not up to a level they need, and they have no one in backup. João Cancelo went to Juve permanently after Inter had him on loan. Elseid Hysaj is a no go for us as we have that damn no-raid deal with Napoli. He (obviously) was wanted by Sarri, but the agreement to not touch Napoli scuppers that. Djibril Sidibé will more than likely go to AM to replace Sime Vrsaljko Thomas Meunier has said he will only leave PSG for Barca, who are interested as they have moved Sergi Roberto back to MF, leaving them only Nélson Semedo, with no backup (unless you count Roberto) Only other remotely available RB of top quality is Benjamin Henrichs, who I really want us to sign, and sell Zappacosta, but it is not going to happen. I have seen zero links with him for us in ages. All the other good RB's either already were purchased thsi window or are not for sale, thats why we have had so many teams asking about Zappacosta. I f no one from that list above comes in, we are crazy to sell him now. I would love Joe Gomez from LPool, as he is only 19 and has HUGE upside potential, and is also a CB, BUT the scousers will never sell him atm. He is eventually (a year or two max) to their other CB to pair with VVD. Benjamin Henrichs 'wants to leave Bayer Leverkusen' https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/bayer-leverkusen/transfer-talk/news/henrichs-wants-to-leave-leverkusen_330155.html As for Rugani, I am pretty sold on him (unlike many here who are not, lolol), but £45m is too too high. Juve originally priced him at only 30m euros, but that was for Serie A clubs. Juve always will try and rape EPL teams, look at the Alex Sandro nightmare we had (GRRR, that is devastating we didn't get him), has so fucked us up now) Real Madrid also want Rugani pretty badly (that came out from Perez 2 days ago) and he will go there before us. They really needs another CB (worse than us), as Nacho is shit for backup, and the cuntish Ramos is 33 next March. Rugani is a great match to pair with Varane when Ramos really starts to slow down, as he is more expansive with the ball, whilst Varane is best CB in the world (IMHO, and I think I have been proven right based on the WC), partially for the reason he is a stellar in the box defender. Sarri is convinced Rugani is perfect for his system,other than his real wish (and mine) the impossible to get Koulibaly. He doesnt rate two great CB's, Stefan Savic and Konstantinos Manolas as been a good fit for Sarriball (Idefer to him on that). My other choices would be Benjamin Pavard (who is a Azpi clone inasmuch that he is also a combo RB/CB type, and great with the forward distribution and crossing. He also can score (he won goal of the WC as evidence). He has signed a pre-contract for next year with Bayern, but now apparently is having 2nd thoughts. and Mattia Caldara, Rugani's teammate, who is, IMHO, better than Rugani, He is good enough to start for 98% of most teams. Do not know Sarri's opinion on him. There are others I rate,(Malang Sarr of Nice, a great 19yo, Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax, 18yo but insane asking price of £55m, Dayot Upamecano, of RB Leipzig, 19yo too) but they are not perhaps the right type for our system. Hopefully Luiz comes good yet again.

IF we don't buy any more players, and IF they do not make the first team squad, we are in deep shit, IMHO. Of this I am most adamant on and sure of. The squad is poor in multiple positions already GK (which is a true nightmare if Courtois leaves), LB, potentially AMF, both wings except for Hazard (especially if Willian is sold) and of course striker too. Take those two out and it's looking even worse. Panic level worse. (as that means no LW backup at all, as Pedro is starting RW, No RW backup either (if Willian is sold). No quality CB backup unless you move Azpi over (Cahill is shit, and I don't rate Luiz as top quality) and that means Zappacosta is our RB

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri 'still waiting for the best Morata' http://www.espn.co.uk/football/chelsea/story/3577874/chelsea-manager-maurizio-sarri-still-waiting-for-the-best-morata NICE, France -- Maurizio Sarri said he is still waiting to see the best version of Alvaro Morata at Chelsea, but he praised the Spaniard's performance in Saturday's penalty shootout friendly victory over Inter Milan. Cesar Azpilicueta netted the winning spot kick as Chelsea triumphed 5-4 in the shootout after a 1-1 draw in their International Champions Cup opener at the Allianz Riviera, with owner Roman Abramovich in attendance. Pedro Rodriguez had earlier opened the scoring for Sarri's men on his 31st birthday after good work from Morata, who provided an impressive focal point up front before being replaced by Tammy Abraham in the 64th minute. Morata's future has been clouded by uncertainty all summer after a disappointing first season in English football saw him score just three times in the final five months of the campaign, and Chelsea have been linked with signing Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain to replace him. Speaking after the match, however, Sarri insisted that Morata is in his plans. "I'm still waiting for the best Morata," he said. "In the first match [against Perth Glory] Morata did not play very well, in Australia. "But tonight, especially in the first 30 minutes, he improved a lot. I am satisfied and I am very confident in him for the future." Sarri also revealed that he had been encouraged by Chelsea's performance, but wants them to speed up their possession game even further as they build towards the start of the new Premier League season in a fortnight's time. "So far, I am satisfied," he added. "I am of course waiting for the other players from the World Cup but these players gave me total availability. So now I am satisfied. I've seen in the match something that we tried during the sessions. So far, so good. "I like the sound: 'Sarri-ball, Sarri-ball, Sarri-ball'. But I don't know the meaning, really. Because we move the ball very quickly? This evening we moved the ball well, but I think not at the right speed. "You have to move the ball at a great speed on the floor, otherwise we risk playing for 90 minutes with 75 percent of possession but without scoring. So we have to improve on this." Academy prospects Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi were given another opportunity to impress from the start and showed promising flashes, with the latter afforded 82 minutes on the pitch. "I don't know if they will play this season in the Premier League," he said of Ampadu and Hudson-Odoi. "But I know that these names will be very famous in the next years."

I watch a lot of Serie A footie, so you may be right. I watch very little La Liga, unless its one of the big 3 or its a La Liga team in Europe. I watch a little Bundesliga too, if I am looking at particular players or managers. I REALLY rate Julian Nagelsmann, from Hoffenheim. Was hoping we might get him if Sarri deal collapsed. He is only 31 (turned 31 five days ago) and actually turned down Real Madrid, lol. I cannot blame him there, as that is a HOT SEAT position. He then signed a pre-contract to go to RB Leipzig next summer. I have posted videos of Strakohsa before.

Someone we don't need and shouldn't buy, but Sarri seems to want him like he wants his next pack of fags, so there's that. At thsi point I have almost no faith that we are going to come good in this window. We will just have to roll with what we have. The new rumours of the club being sold would explain a lot.

I cannot wait until the Tom Heaton rumours start a bubbling.

Butland is shit in distribution, go watch some Stoke games. Worse than Schmeichel, who is no star in that department either.

I agree on all but the gross part. I love the flair.

I fucking hate him. GOD NO!! BLÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

I apparently am the lone voice out there who wants Thomas Strakosha from Lazio, who I really rate highly. Donnarumma is not going to happen I think. Alphonse Areola from PSG is another option. Schmeichel isn't good enough with the ball IMHO. He plays way too many hit 'n hope long balls. I could live with Cillesson. We could have had Alban Lafont for an insanely low price (Fiorentina somehow signed him for only 8.5m euros). Only 19, already has 3 full Serie A seasons under belt, and I think has a good shot at being France's national keeper in the 2022 WC. 1.93m, incredibly quick, great with the ball too.

If we go back and look at all that has been said and done so far, and really dig down to a granular level, this window appears to come into sharper focus. Early on, and confirmed by a shit tonne of sources, Roman said spending will be capped at £60m. Sarri absolutely said that in order to come, we HAD to get Jorginho, or deal was off (and De Laurentiis had already agreed to let him go because Carlo Ancelotti said Allan, Zielinski, and Diawara were his preferred DMF/CMF options). There is your £60m (well $57m but 3m is shit) spent. Do NOT underestimate the difficult position Abramovich, as a full Russian national, is in with the UK government. He cannot even enter the country ATM. I follow politics even more than Chelsea, and it is an absolute shitstorm in terms of non linear warfare atm between the US/UK/NATO bloc versus Russia and its allies. The Skripal shit, etc etc has seriously hampered Roman's financials, plus (although it is rising now) the price of oil has devastated not just his net well, but all of Russia's. Their GDP has been cut in half over the last 2 years, and a huge amount of Abramovich's wealth is tied up in petro-chemicals and oil production assets. We have spent the bare minimum to get Sarri in the door (Conte had to go, as he personally pissed off Abramovich), and have not sales yet, so it simply is not a shock that we are not buying anything atm. Especially if these new sales rumours (to Jim Ratcliffe) are based on any reality. IF we don't sell Courtois, we don't even need to buy a GK this year, despite the fact we will lose him on a free next summer (but if the club is sold, Roman doesn't give a fuck).

Ermmm, GK? We are so fucked there ATM. Also RW (unless Willian is staying, and even then I think we are lacking, but oh well) and deffo another AMF (no way Barkley can play every minute every game) unless RLC can truly adapt there, and sell the deadwood Also LB is shaping up to be Emerson or nothing, Alonso looks for shit in a back 4

we need Martial as a number 9, not a winger I am absolutely convinced he would be a monster as a striker in Sarriball He played striker for Monaco all the time He was my fathers favourite player there (my father spends a lot of time in Monaco for years), and said he was making a huge mistake going to Manc U back several years ago, as they played such negative football (lol, the same could have been said of us at thew time, ffs)

The sanctions on Russian money transfers/business transactions and Roman being blocked from entry are a huge problem.

woooooooooooooooot

I agree we should buy Rugani but absolutely disagree that AC and Rudi are not good enough.

Well, its not like it is our regular lineup, so I am not at depression level yet

Thank dog Alonso is going off, total liability

Willy Caballero is absolute SHIT too. I would rather roll with that 19 yo Bulka as a 3rd or backup tbh, regardless of some youngster mistakes he is bound to make. Shame he doesnt count as HG

Roberto Gagliardini, the goalscorer, is the Inter MF who I have been saying we should go for instead of Vencino (IF we are insistent on getting another MF and one from Inter to be more specific)

FUCK Bakayoko needs to GO

sorry, dup post

Chelsea agree deal to sign 6ft 5in Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka after fighting off competition from Barcelona Chelsea were impressed by Marcin Bulka after he had a trial in April Bulka had been close to joining Barcelona but Chelsea won the race Former Chelsea goalkeeper Henrique Hilario encouraged the signing http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3716007/Chelsea-agree-deal-sign-6ft-5in-Polish-goalkeeper-Marcin-Bulka-fighting-competition-Barcelona.html

Morata looks 100000000000% better (its only 9 minutes so not going to get my panties wet yet!) lolol