The Skipper

https://twitter.com/chelseafc/status/473210593932230656 Eto'o?

It's the Telegraph. They're pretty reliable. They were also the first paper to break the news that Fabregas is available for £30m to begin with.

Arsenal not interested according to the Telegraph.

I don't know pal. I think you're overestimating how defensive Mourinho is trying to set us up. We'll truly see his set up this upcoming season. Don't forget Mourinho himself admitted to changing the initial system he wanted to implement to a more conservative one because the team wasn't ready, hence why he kept repeatedly saying we weren't in the title race. I still think Fabregas would fit into the system Mourinho I think is trying to implement here, simply because a midfield tandem of Oscar, Fabregas and Matic would be very balanced for the majority of the games we're going to play. We aren't always going to play that three of course but Mourinho likes to have different options and Cesc gives him exactly that. We will still have the quick defence to attack transition and Fab would add to that because he's a very good direct passer of the ball (something we never see at Barca because they don't allow it) which people forget. What you're essentially saying is that Mou wants more power in midfield than finesse (just like how you don't believe we'll sign Kroos or Rakitic, which is fair enough) but I personally think Mou likes options. If we want power in midfield we can play a pivot of Ramires and Matic instead but if we need to score goals and dominate a match, which we are very capable of, Fabregas next to Matic would be ideal. I'm not saying it'll happen but if it did it would be a very good signing IMO. It makes a lot of sense in my head because of the price tag and the fact that he should help fix one of our major problems of the 13/14 season. We can agree to disagree of course but all I'm saying is don't completely dismiss the idea of a player in the ilk of Kroos, Rakitic or Fabregas just yet.

I think so - I'm pretty sure he's started more games than Juanfran recently.

I'd love for you to provide me evidence that Cesc can't defend... Cesc really isn't that bad defensively. He can hold his own, just like someone like Modric does. Why would he not accept playing the deeper role for Chelsea, or any club? If he went to United or City he'd play behind a number 10 too. Cesc played his best football in that deeper CM role, it really isn't that hard to fathom whether he would accept that role here. I completely disagree with you on that. What is Cesc's desired role? Where else is he going to play number 10? At United (Mata, Januzaj, Kagawa, Rooney)? No. At City (Silva or even Yaya)? No. At Arsenal (Ozil)... no. Cesc has never been a number 10. Always naturally been a number 8 that can be shoved in to various roles because of his talent. I completely disagree with you also on the fact that you think Mourinho would have to completely change his philosophy or tactics if Cesc came here to play in the pivot. How many times did Mourinho play Lampard there over Mikel last season? If Mou was so rigid with his 4-2-3-1 that he required great defensive work from both of his midfielders in that pivot, why did Lampard play so many games over JOM? That alone should tell you that Jose is not adverse to putting someone who isn't a pure DM or B2B in the pivot. Of course a midfielder's role in a 4-3-3 is different to a midfielders role in a 4-2-3-1, that goes without saying, but have you never seen a counter attacking 4-2-3-1 featuring a number 8 in the pivot before? Again, I gave you the Dortmund and Real example, or even Bayern under Jupp. In fact, an inverted midfield tandem of Oscar, Fabregas and Matic in the 4-2-3-1 would work very well in my opinion, it's nicely balanced, especially against teams that sit deep - which was our main problem last season. Against these sort of setups where we don't really require a pure B2B midfielder in the pivot a player like Cesc can be very effective. Again, putting Cesc in the 2 man midfield doesn't mean Mou would completely alter the system I think Jose wants to develop here at all. Adding Cesc actually gives him a lot of variety in midfield to change it up to how he wants it to be. For example, in the bigger games Jose usually employs a 3 man midfield anyway in the 4-3-3. Here Cesc can also be effective alongside someone like Ramires and Matic. I actually think that's quite narrow minded view... Football can be played in many different ways and as we all know Jose knows that very well. I would love to sign Pogba, you know that, but just because I would like the Cesc signing as well doesn't mean I don't understand football, that's a ridiculous thing to say. Anyway. We don't even know if Pogba is attainable, but we do know that Cesc is transferrable for a very affordable fee of £30m. £30m for a world class midfielder who is very versatile and home grown too would be a great deal in my opinion. Courtois Azpi - Cahill - JT - Luis Fabregas - Matic Willian - Oscar - Hazard Costa That is the look of a very well balanced, talented team IMO.

I completely disagree with this... In a pivot you don't necessarily have two pure DMs i.e. two pure number 6s... You can easily have a number 8 in there like Fabregas. Dortmund do it with Gundogan. Real do it with Modric. Both are known for their strong counter attacking styles. Even at Barcelona when he does play in midfield he doesn't always play as the most forward CM in that 4-3-3, that's usually Iniesta when Andres does play through the middle. Nadav makes a very valid point regarding Pogba - Pogba always plays in a three man midfield, doesn't mean he can't play in a 2 man midfield. Same can be said about Cesc who used to play in a 2 man midfield extensively at Arsenal.

Azpi is Spain's no. 1 RB.

I'd like to think we have a better chance to win the PL, something that's missing in his locker.

That's fair enough, don't see why you've brought HG status into it though when that won't really influence any of that.

That's what I'm trying to get through... The amount of U21s we have doesn't matter because they don't have to be registered so they don't count... So they're not filling the spots with 3/4 players U21 because it's U21 are free to registration anyway.

Very good book for any football fan. Haven't read that for a few years... Might give it a read soon again.

I don't have a problem with it because I'm sure the club will sort it out but I was just correcting you on that technicality.

I would absolutely love Frank in punditry, he'd definitely be up there with the best. I'm not biting at the NY move yet though, no credible sources have come out and said anything so far.

To be honest, if Shaw came I don't think he'd be on anything near £100k. Just because United are throwing that sort of money at him doesn't mean we will as well.

What does letting Frank go have anything to do with signing Cesc anyway? Would Cesc be a direct replacement? Obviously not. Don't understand why people would even relate the two tbh.

It doesn't work like that - we need 8 HG players - U21s don't count at all to begin with. So if we register 4 players over 21 as HG, but have 4 U21s, we still have 4 spots in the squad we can't fill.

How does this make any sense?

It's the Daily Mirror... I wouldn't flinch about this until more credible sources came out and reported it.

I think it's a combination of both years.

Cesc Fabregas has the most assists in La Liga for the past two seasons combined and the most in the Premier League between 2007 and 2013.

He's 27... If anything, he'd actually be a really good bridge for the likes of RLC, Baker, Chalobah & Swift.

That team at £82m (Luis 20m, Fabregas £30m, Costa £32m). Minus Luiz's transfer and money saved this January would mean we've improved our team massively for less than £30m. It would be incredible stuff.

How many world class CMs are available at £30m though?

Doesn't mean much at all... He's played there a handful of times but overall he's played most of his games at CM, even this season.