The Skipper

Gaspar?

Stinks of Marina's negotiation techniques.

So we don't want to pay 200k a week for Tbo but are more than happy to splash 30m on a reserve goal keeper?

I'd be a fan of this. Paul Clement is an excellent coach.

So people/our board have no problem with playing the likes of Diego, Hazard, Costa on 200k+, but God forbid a goalkeeper who's easily top 5 in the world ask for that...

BMG have played with a back three but it's not something that's a staple of their system. The stats will mostly come from him playing in a back 2 is my point, which will naturally make him look more busy than our CBs.

Alonso is the perfect spot holder until we manage to find a proper world class full back. Luckily for us, it seems we already have that opportunity presented to us. Alonso was always going to be an excellent squad option in the long term, rather than a starter.

Looks like Madrid want 90m for Morata, so you can't even use the 'Morata will be cheaper' argument anymore.

What's really struck a cord with me is that he's Monaco's most effective dribbler after Silva this past season.

Thanks Peace. I genuinely hope so. It's just very frustrating to see fans blame him for everything.

You bring up a fantastic point, and to answer your question before as to why I'm not pushing for James too much, I think this is it. But, saying that, he would add a different dimension to our game. What would be interesting - Fabregas, Hazard and James linking up for example. Destroying low block teams for fun. Maybe Conte has his sights on that. Because of that, I could understand why Conte would go after him and I would certainly welcome the signing. Would be interesting to say the least.

Lukaku, Bakayoko, James. Would be a good start to the summer imo. Still need 2/3 more signings on top of that though.

You really think Emenalo has that much control at CFC? I'm going to say it now, some might not like it, but the dislike for Emenalo just smacks off as subliminal racism to me.

He hasn't been announced yet.

Chelsea Begovic has been extremely underwhelming. He isn't a downgrade at all.

Some comments from an Everton forum:

Jose had to play Rashford, the hype around him was too big. He's potentially England's next great #9 (after Kane), would've been unforgivable if he didn't play him. Can't say I agree with the analogy. Don't think Jose would've played Lukaku ahead of Eto'o, Ba or Torres tbh. In hindsight, it was better for Romelu to leave to get consistent first team minutes. He's improved quite a bit as a player.

Good player, but should only ever be like a plan D.

They have a weird monopoly in the German league, always getting players on the cheap, even from rivals. Still can't believe they managed to steal guys like Hummels, Lewandowski etc. Would never happen in the PL. it's embarrassing.

You do know we have Hazard and are looking to get another attacker in who can create next to him? It's not just our wing backs that provide the creativity. Our inside forwards too. Plus David Luiz from deep. That's 5 players that can provide consistent creative nuance - half of the team. How's that not enough? Especially in Conte's system? Again, I ask the question - have we truly struggled to break down low blocks this season? Is that a problem we need to rectify? Or is it our midfield getting overrun in big games? You should know the answer.

At Chelsea, as a youngster, you don't get repaid for your loyalty.

Creative limitations? We hardly struggled to break down low blocks last season did we? We were quite good at it. Hence why we went on a 13 match unbeaten run. We lose the midfield in big games, and Baka has probably been singled out to help rectify that. We need more physicality in midfield against the bigger teams because Matic isn't physically imposing at all, nor is Kante. The creativity coming from our wing backs and inside forwards are more important than creativity coming from CM. This is why it's important for in Conte's system, the CMs are the engine room. This is why I think someone like Semedo would be the best signing we could make this summer.

Truly back.

Yep. For £50~£60m it's ok. I think we might haggle it down even further.

This is actually not bad. Might've brought me back onto the James train.