The Skipper

I once played against Gareth Bale in high school.

Courtois will not come down from being regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Spain to cup games at Chelsea. I don't know why people fail to grasp that. Besides, him saying he's more of an Atleti player than a CFC player - what do you expect him to say? Of course he is. He's going for his third season there now so he's just being honest. Nothing wrong with what he said - he's a wise bit and understand the situation with Cech. It's not like we're talking about a 12 year old.

Would be a fantastic signing, especially if we can't get De Rossi.

The difference between Danny and Gael is that one has the drive to be a top player whilst it looks like the other just doesn't.

Mid table is harsh on Liverpool. He went there because they were one of the few decent clubs aspiring to challenge for Europe that would allow him to develop as a striker, and alas, he's hit the ground running there and is already a key player.

There's no space whatsoever for Isco in our squad.

That's the worst comparison ever. Oscar has the right attributes to play in the pivot so it really isn't like playing Hazard at LB.

So? He went from being a bit part player at Chelsea (despite being one of our best players for half a season out of position in 2011/12 but people won't remember that) to being one of Liverpool's key players. To say he's average just sounds bitter to me, and to say that he's lazy and egotistical (don't know why people keep banging on about this) will prevent him from being world class is far fetched (he certainly works hard, to say he's lazy is just blind hate) - Ibrahimovic is perceived egotistical and lazy - doesn't mean he's not world class. I'm not saying Sturridge will definitely be a world class striker but to say he doesn't have the potential to be there; you look at his attributes - he's tall, great speed, great feet, good technical ability, flair, an eye for goal - to say he's average is bewildering. Average players don't do what he's done in his so far short professional career. He's going to turn even more heads next season should he stay injury free, I firmly believe that.

Doesn't mean anything whatsoever. They know as much as we do.

Yeah, Van Ginkel wouldn't solve our need for one. It's why I'd love De Rossi - he's pretty much perfect for this team and would allow us to press on with the potential need for a striker if Mourinho doesn't think Lukaku, Ba and Torres is enough.

Well, he could, but that means deploying Ramires as your main DM, Ramires can do a decent job there but it is essentially the same problem we had this season - it takes away his best B2B assets.

He's more of a creator, he needs a DM next to him. I've seen him played on the flanks before as well. Playing him as the DM would be suicidal. It's like playing Josh McEachran as your DM. He wouldn't replace Mikel at all, he needs a player like Mikel next to him. He's a tall lad but that's it.

He's not a DM.

So what you're essentially saying is that Isco is better than Mata already. Bollocks sorry, you're overrating Isco.

I always think Udinese play in the La Liga haha. My mistake.

Palermo you mean? There are a few. Off the top of my head in the PL we've got our own Lukaku, Benteke and Sturridge are good shouts. In Spain you have the likes of Luis Muriel, Italy there's Balotelli, El Sharaawy, Jovetic etc.

Yeah, I know you're a fan of Soldado, you've said plenty of times before . He's a good striker for sure, definitely Spain's best out and out striker at this moment - his goal ratio at Valencia is insane it must be said but I don't view him as an elite striker, with all due respect, which is why I said I'd rather us give Lukaku a chance to develop mainly because I'm not sure he'd be as suited to the PL as someone like Cavani is which is of course my personal opinion. I'm of the opinion that if we're not going to get an elite striker in then we might as well just give Lukaku the chance to develop.

He really is a joke of a pundit. 95% of the people on here could do a better job than him.

Poor, poor attempt.

Mata was more expensive than Schurrle. Most of those you mentioned will not come for half of £19m. Nani for example, was the same price as Schurrle and signed at even a younger age. He wouldn't got for £9m-£10m, nor would the others you've mentioned. But yeah agreed that this should be moved to the general transfers discussion.

Might as well just give Lukaku a chance then if we're going to sign a striker that isn't better than what we have now.

Sturridge is going to be a very, very good player. It'll be interesting to see how he develops, just needs a bit maturity in his game.

Isco would've struggled similarly simply because he wouldn't have played through the centre and Oscar was NOT £25m, he was 25m euros.

Hear, hear.

There are a lot of richer people than Roman around. There will be a lot of people interested in the CFC brand and they'll use that to potentially promote their business just like the Sheikhs do with their constant promotion of Etihad through City. Even a shrewd business man who has a decent amount to spend would look at a club who bring in £200m+ of revenue every year. As I've said before - Roman would be dumb to just walk away without even selling Chelsea.