The Skipper

I'm not really a fan of Luiz in midfield either but think Ramires will tuck in and help the midfield, forming a midfield 3, with Eden going wide. I don't really know much about Basel but it's a strange selection so there must be a reason Rafa's playing Luiz in midfield. We'll see anyway.

Hazard at no. 10. Interesting. Was hoping for a Cahill start but happy to see Ash back in the team!

FIXED! Double fixed! Still a decent team .

WARNING: HIGHLY UNREALISTIC. Out? Torres (24m) Essien (14m) Marin (6.6m) Malouda, Benayoun, Lampard and Ferreira (free) --- Subtotal £44.6m Total £114.6m In? Schurrle Lukaku, KDB, Courtois (free) Luka Modric (31m) Cavani (48m) Sergio Ramos (31m) Schneiderlin (2.6m) Subtotal £112.6m Profit/Loss 2m XI Cech Azpilicueta - Ramos - Luiz - Cole Mikel - Modric Mata - Oscar - Hazard Cavani Bench Courtois, Schneiderlin, Lukaku, KDB, Terry, Schurrle, Ivanovic World domination with 2m to spare.

Both of these papers have reported Mourinho's return as well. I wouldn't read too much into it but the noise surrounding Mourinho is a lot more than the noise surrounding Pellegrini. I think the club have got Pellegrini on the short list, but don't think he's first choice.

Please point me to these sources? The credible only thing I've read about Pellegrini is that he's being looked at as an option.

Thank you.

I'm not really a financial expert but I'll try and explain; many people really misunderstand the concept of FFP. One must remember that the likes of Malouda, Benayoun, Hilario, Paulo, and possibly Lampard as it stands are being moved on so there will be additional space in the wage budget. Wages aren't really that big of a concern - if they could potentially shift out Fernando for around £15m-£20m then even better as this would free up a lot in wages as well as practically paying off the rest of his amortisation fee - but I'm not banking on that. We are officially allowed to go €45m in the minus with FFP because Roman can cover us, that's the maximum he's allowed to cover us for. That works out to around £38m. Let's for arguments sake say we sign Schurrle (£20m), Moutinho (£25m) and Lewandowski (£25m) on 5 year contracts - this rounds up to £70m in transfer fees. 70/5 = £14m in transfer fees for the year - whilst also having freed up initial space in our wage budget with the release of former players, we could realistically afford it. We'd still have a leeway of £24m.

Tancredi Palmeri ‏@tancredipalmeri 2hHere we are.Barcelona dramatically rushed to sign Neymar.Pressure now also through v high figure of Brazil FA. Neymar to Barça almost a fact

Basically - a player's transfer fee, on our balance sheets, is spread out across the term of his contract. For example when Fernando Torres was signed for £50m on a 5 year contract we didn't reflect £50m on our profit and loss accounts - we simply spread the costs over his contract, ala 50/5 = £10m. So, instead of a reflecting the payment instantly, in our accounts we are basically spending £10m a year (transfer fee wise) on Torres until his contract finishes. £36m is plenty to play with basically.

One word - amortisation. Look it up.

He's practically signed in my books. Hopefully KDB's staying too.

Obviously Mata will win it, but I vote for Luiz (no bias, I promise ) simply because he has reminded everyone of his potential this season. My top three players this season? 1. Mata 2. Luiz 3. Azpilicueta, who's had an excellent first season.

25m€? That's a steal if Bayern get away with that. Surely we should be looking at Robert for that price...

Yeah, I appreciate and get that. Klopp's a fine manager with an outstanding future - but he hasn't been the best manager in the world this year, and yeah external factors have probably played a part in that - however if you're looking for the manager who's been outstanding this season it has to be Jupp Heynckes.

Depends on what you mean by 'best manager in the world right now'. If you're looking at the best manager this season - I certainly wouldn't say it's Klopp or Mourinho. I'd give it to Heynckes simply because Bayern are on the verge of an outstanding treble. I know Borussia have far less monies and fortune injury wise than Bayern but Bayern have been outstanding this season on all fronts. Of course Klopp has been the better manager since Mourinho's been at Real, I can easily admit that, but one must remember Mourinho's work at his previous clubs Inter, us and Porto - this is exactly the reason why Mourinho's rated above Klopp and rightly so - Klopp hasn't done half of what Mourinho has done over his career so naturally people will obviously conclude that Mourinho's the better manager - and I know you aren't even saying that Klopp's better than Mourinho overall but that he's just been the better manager over the last couple of seasons, which is right. You're right in saying that Mourinho hasn't been the best in his tenure at Real and you've got valid points on your criticism on him but one managerial spell shouldn't cloud your judgement over Mourinho. You might say we have drama as a club but Madrid are even worse - there are too many power struggles at Madrid. I fully believe he'll do a lot better managing us than managing Madrid.

Everyone knows that Mourinho underachieved with that squad but it's a testament to what many call the greatest team that has ever existed in football. Like them or not, Barcelona in the last few years were head and shoulders the best team in the world - so of course it'll be difficult for any team that's competing with them on a regular basis to be as successful as they should be.

Klopp has done an amazing job at Dortmund, but what exactly qualifies one as being the best manager in the world? Is it not ones managerial record we should look at? You could say Jose has done what Klopp has done earlier in his career with FC Porto. Yeah, you could say that Klopp has outsmarted Mourinho this season but one season doesn't make one the best manager in the world. Mourinho's time at Madrid hasn't exactly been great but many managers struggle at that club. To me Jose's still the best manager in the world simply because of his track record. No other manager has ever won a Champions League medal with three different teams other than Jose. Klopp's not yet in Jose's league simply because he's still at the start of his managerial career and hasn't yet achieved that much. You can't say Klopp's the best manager in the world because he's outsmarted Mourinho (or anyone) over 3 cup games, that's quite outlandish to say IMO. After all, Borussia are 20 pts behind Bayern in the league atm, they haven't been that great this season. Klopp still has a lot to do before being considered as the best manager around.

Yeah. We've got a batch of decent home grown players coming through now who should be at least good enough to be at least squad players here. Chalobah, McEachran, Kane, Ake etc. will now be filling those home grown spots in the squad where we've really been lacking recently IMO and with the likes of JT, Lampard and Cole coming to an end of their careers we really need players to come and satisfy the quota.

Not at the moment IMO. Maybe in the future yes, but Sturridge is still ahead of Lukaku atm which really isn't surprising considering he's 4 years older.

You talk as if Dortmund are QPResque. One bad result doesn't ruin a managerial career you idiot. Mourinho's managerial record is and always will be better than your beloved Benitez's, facht.

Can you imagine the hysteria if he bit Mikel or Ramires? Wow.

Fantastic, I can't believe my eyes. 2004: Drogba impresses Mourinho, Mourinho and Drogba end up at CFC. 2013: Lewandowski impresses Mourinho, Mourinho and Lewandowski end up at CFC?

Anyone remember that season where Drogba had an outstanding game against Porto which led to Mourinho signing him at CFC? Could we do the same when Mourinho returns again and brings in Lewandowski?

I can't believe this tbh...