LDN Blue

One could argue Ronaldo did that when he moved to Madrid.

Zamparini said he will not be sold to another Serie A club

Ahhhh! Thanks for that, didn't realise there was a difference. F*ck this deal then! To be fair, they may not even want him back. They've got Busquets in that role as it is, Keita as a backup to him too. Fabregas may also null the need for this type of player at Barcelona.

Let's not forget either... Arsenal hate his guts

To be fair, Gourlay predicted right when he said we'd sign a manager within 14-days But yeah, I expect those announcements to be Courtois & Oriol. Courtois hasn't been officially announced as it is.

Ah I see.. Roma will probably pay though. They have money now & they're in need of a keeper as it is. Would be great for them too.

I could swear they're the same thing though? Or either way the club is not obliged to accept. Only if they want to sell?

I'm a huge fan of Albrighton! Think he was underused in the England U21 campaign, will never understand why Rose was played ahead of him. He'd be a great signing.

I hope you're right. Even Drummy said last season Josh is wasted (not his exact words) in that roll. I'm sure he'll be telling Villas-Boas all about Josh's attacking abilities.

So we all know how, in laymen's terms, our website is sh*t at telling us news. However in the last 2 weeks I've noticed the website's been more informative than it's been in the past. Examples include, confirmation of a medical of Courtois & now the confirmation of a deal being agreed with Barcelona for Oriol. Of course it's not perfected yet, because the departures of men like Clement & Borini haven't even been updated yet, nor has the actual signing of Courtois. But we are starting to see some changes from Chelsea as of late. On top of that we're also seeing parties of the club showing a bit more fan appreciation with Villas-Boas & even Gourlay addressing our concerns about new signings not being chased as of yet. I like this, it's been a while since CFC have informed us of anything really. Thoughts?

This is wrong. We do not have to sell him back. It's down to our choice first, however should we choose to sell him period, then Barcelona get that cut-price.

True. His agent did say he'd be up for it though..

They're also going to land Maarten Stekelenburg too

For them to even hire Villas-Boas showed a change of direction for them. Not that it covers for their mistakes last season, but still some wisdom did prevail in that boardroom

I really like Rajkovic. He looks very strong & has got quite a bit of experience now in Holland. Villas-Boas will have to make a hard choice on him, I can see why he could be discarded though..

Hmm, I suppose that makes sense now. However the truth is, not many members do that. Then once the transfer threads are closed the discussions end. I see your point, but from what I see members would rather discuss such things in player-specific threads, in the transfer section. But you are right. It is down to us to direct the conversations to MH.

We Ain't Got No History have done a good factfile-ish thing on him..

Thinking people have misunderstood a buy-back clause. All it does is give Barcelona first refusal should we wish to sell. It doesn't mean they say they want to buy and we are forced to sell. Giuseppe Rossi has one in his contract at Villarreal when United sold him.

Nice report Alex. Missed the game mostly, so thanks. Nice to see Villas-Boas is using Terry and Chalobah together as like a mentor. Though the problems of miscommunication again aren't a good sign in consecutive games. However that's over analysing, it's not like the conditions were swell

I'm really annoyed because I can't remember who said this now.. But I think it was Lampard or Terry who said, under Ranieri they were made to practice with both feet till the weaker was not that weak. He even said he wished similar would happen now, but it does not. He said it really helped because they could easily improvise in tight situations with the other foot giving them a better advantage vs the opponent. I think it was Terry who said it, come to think of it. But it's certainly something to applaud for the Tinker.

This is true. I'd be very surprised if they were. Central positions are so crucial in teams that managers, no matter who, don't risk them with youngsters. Centre-back, we bought Luiz when we had Bruma. Centre attacking midfield we're chasing Pastore and Modric when we have Kakuta. Centre-forward we bought Torres when we had Sturridge. Of course I'm not saying we should use the youth as answer to not signing such players. However they should be given as much chance to show if they can before signings are made. I guess that whole "Josh is being groomed to positional awareness by being played as a holding" is untrue as even Villas-Boas played him there.

Is there really no-one interested in hypotheticals? Sure it's fantasy based, but so what? It's pre-season and we're keeping a low profile in the market.. It's a good chance for some intelligent conversations, if members are up for it.

Larissa's moment is ever so close :')

Good recoveries

How many does Giggs have?