King Kante

During SFL's time it appeared Kepa did start a lot more than SFL would've had him start and he only made the change after it got so bad. Expect the same with Lukaku.

Well not that much sense. He seems to have believed prior to kick off that 'Pep played into Lukaku's hands' by dropping Dias, when in fact Pep was trolling him.

There may be worse players, but equally you had to be a complete mouth breather if you thought this wasn't going to happen prior to the transfer. I mean, the guy spent two years at Utd doing exactly the same thing and a was similar at Everton too. Unless you lived under a rock or believe that Conte is some sort of real life magician, this was a painfully obvious outcome.

Of course Lukaku shouldn't start but the problem is his fee and wages. Not for the first time, I suspect there is board pressure to play an expensive player on the manager.

Why is the interesting? It was predicted by at least half of us on here and virtually all Man Utd fans who where doing cartwheels when they packed him off to Inter and where crying with laughter when we brought him.

Who is insane enough to want a pointing statue upfront for £100m/£350k+ a week? As said by I and many when he was brought, he is a poor player and once brought he would be a millstone around our neck for years.

They got hauled off and even then they were giving much more than Lukaku who, yet again, was standing around just pointing at where he wanted the ball played and only moved if it went in the direction he wanted it to go. Lukaku is a absolute joke of a player and shouldn't be anywhere near our team. I mean not only does he do zero off the ball so it is like playing with 10 men (or even worse as his lack of pressing/movement also hinders what the AM's can do) he isn't even a elite finisher (if he was he would've scored that one he was put through for) or a elite link man (overplayed the ball to Ziyech or Puli in the first ten minutes.) Literally all he is good at is getting a couple of goals against the likes of Zenit, Villa, Burnley etc. I said before we brought him that he was a donkey and now having seen him play more I think he is an absolute gold played donkey. I mean seriously what are his redeeming features? Man City benched their best CB and he still barely won a header or could trap the ball. Absolutely farcical people wanted to sign him or still defending him.

But he pretty much is in a back 3, especially as Silva keeps on getting older. Not sure this makes sense. If he leaves, he needs to sign a 4-5 year deal, which would then means he plays almost his entire peak career at Dortmund, as they've shown they'll hold out on a player. If he was leaving for Bayern, Real, Milan, Inter, Juve or (maybe) Barca I could understand it as he would be playing for a title contender and would be in the CL every year; but Dortmund? Doesn't make sense.

Thing with Gallagher is that he sort of has a similar (as is possible) play style to Kante. That means he can also take minutes by easing the burden on Kante knees. That said, I don't see him taking many minutes from Mount. I mean let's be real, everyone has looked disjointed playing with Lukaku this season.

Our fixture schedule is absolutely mental.

Sounds like they have watched him play. I would add Mount over Ziyech as you need all three of the front line to hussle their back line to get any success against them so for me, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mount or even Werner start ahead of Ziyech. Harvetz however, must start in front of Lukaku.

More like Kante, Kova, Gallagher and Jorgi. If Jorgi does get frozen out/sold (very unlikely in my opinion) then either Saul on loan again and after that Gilmour. As for a DM, I don't see why we need one unless we go back to a back 4. A back 3 plus a DM is super defensive and we struggle to score already.

CM is such a funny area in regard to dynamics and who will be staying and going. Here is my take on it; 1) We do not need to sign a CM and should focus on other priorities. I know the kid at Monaco and Rice are popular options, however I just don't see the need to blow £60m+ on either with our in house options. For me, we should play the Real game of tapping them up and have them run down their contracts. Hence, neither are a no, just a no for 22/23. 2) RLC and Barkley need to be moved on. This has been obvious for a while, RLC may be worth keeping at a CM5 but on his wages and for his own sake it is better he goes. 3) Jorgi's contract makes things difficult to predict. In my opinion, he will be here next season and will leave for a free the year after as this seems to be the way things are going and I see him going back to Italy where he will only get decent wages if he is free. However, if he does that, it is difficult predict if he will continue to play or may get Malouda treatment. I suspect he will play, but you cannot rule out the club freezing him out in a WC year if they try and push him to re-sign and/or have an offer for him. 4) Gallagher has to return. He is one of the few players in the PL that can get about the pitch like Kante and Kante cannot get through the minutes anymore. For me there are plenty of minutes available for him here and he fits him with what we need. 5) Saul should not be brought but if he continues to improve then a further loan may be possible. I say this as whilst I do not want a permanent signing, I do think he may have a purpose if Jorgi is sold/loaned in that he will provide an experienced head. A lot however, will depend on his form until May. 6) Billy will only come back if Jorgi is frozen out/leaves and Saul is not possible as another loan.

Ah, yes, I forgot about the 24 month stipulation. Well, that may mean another year. However, I do see him back here at some point.

Kepa AC Rudi Sarr Dave Kova Jorgi Alonso Puli Lukaku CHO I personally cannot see Saul starting as we need Alonso on set piece duty as we'll have a small team out and Kepa in goal. Same goes for Dave. If we get an early goal then I expect them replaced early in the second half.

Juve have massive issues with the financial regulators in Italy for providing fraudulent documents to investors and may not qualify for the CL. Before his ACL, I think there would've been a good chance he would leave. However, it is now a 18 month job for him as you need to see how he recovers.

Think he will be back next season and go into competition with Lukaku (unless he completely throws his toys out of the pram and pushes for a loan.) Soton aren't getting him cheap. If anything they'll be lucky to keep Livra for another season as I can see us activating his buyback and we need WB's.

I personally don't mind Emerson back as I'd rather that than £30m+ on a squad cover player and go through the cycle again. However, what is bonkers is that Chelsea didn't put any sort of recall clause in. You would've thought they would add one as any long term injury to Chilwell was always going to require him back.

Tbf, I have been away for a while as I have been busy. However, equally, there isn't much more for me to say about him/he hasn't done anything to change my opinion and/or show me something I didn't already know.

Thing is he is available and he wouldn't be that expensive plus he knows the league. Could end up similar to a Beletti type signing.

You need to remember that Alonso is the Talk Chelsea whipping boy.

For me, it has to be Dinge or Emerson recall, at stretch maybe Maatsen. If Dinge it should be a loan with no obligation as he has actually been out of form for a while.

Rumours I have seen say Sule is all but confirmed to be leaving Bayern on a free. @Magic Lamps and the other German posters, what is the feeling in Germany? Personally, I could see him as a direct replacement for Rudi.

I don't think this is true. No reliable or semi-realiable media have picked up on it. Personally, he is probably top of my list in regards to any potential AM signing. Chiesa is another I wouldn't mind if we do buy new players in that area.

Problem with this is sample sets. 2019/20 covers a lot more games and better opponents to 2021/22 Kepa. That invalidates the comparison quite significantly. It is similar to how people used Lukaku's Serie A stats to try and convince people he was a better player than the one that left Utd or how people used to use Batsh*t's stats in his first few seasons on a minute to goal ratio. I'd also be interested in seeing how his shot prevention has been spread as due to the sample size it would be interesting to see if it is skewed by 1 or 2 games or is fairly equal.