LDN Blue

Despite the ego problem Balotelli is an awesome player! It's a shame he could play more under Jose because he would've really shone there, he's got the potential to be up there with the Ronaldos and Messis of this world.

Dani Alves and Henry were great signings! But I do see your point.. Don't forget however, this is the same man who orchestrated the transfers of players like Ronaldinho! He's the one who brought Eto'o first to Barcelona, the decision to sell was taken up by Pep I believe.

We actually have good youth players, people only know of Manchester United's because every youth player they have is the "next Ronaldo" and thus become over hyped by the media.

1. Chelsea 2. Manchester United 3. Liverpool 4. Manchester City

September 1st marks the deadline for teams to submit their 25 man squad to the Premier League after new rules were introduced. Out of these 25, 8 players must have been at the club for at least 3 years before they were 21. So write down who you think should be included in the 25 man squad, use a * to indicate the homegrown talent

Well let's be fair, Real are still worse, paying £90million for any player is just ridiculous, then the values of Kaká & Benzema were way higher than they were.

Haha I saw that, thought it was a bit odd they'd even contemplate moving out of White Hart Lane, especially for the east of London.

Lay off, you can understand it fine. But a very harsh article none the less. There's a common misconception that if players are older than they're not that good, well I think we well and truly proved that was inaccurate last season. We're not THAT old that you need to start panicking and being all pessimistic about next season, we still have a fresh side that is more than capable of defending our victories from last season. It's true we do need some young additions to our squad and I'm sure Ancelotti is aware of this and doing something about it. There's no need to be pessimistic about next season because across the other teams, except Manchester City, they're more or less the same as last.

George Carlin and Bill Hicks *RIP* Russell Peters, Frankie Boyle & Jason Manford

From what I know this is different for each club. In some clubs he would be the guy who basically decided who to buy, for how much and all that, with other clubs it's the manager who picks a player and then someone like Txiki would handle the actual transfer. A lot of clubs who try the first method often have a clash between manager and director so if Chelsea to employ him they'd draw the line. I think Ancelotti would have final say on a transfer target at Chelsea though, after all, we don't want another Shevchenko incident.

Who could we consider trading? Deco wouldn't be open to hit, he already stated he wants to go back to Brazil

According to Spanish daily 'Sport', Chelsea have submitted an offer to secure the services of former Barcelona technical secretary Txiki Begiristain. The 45-year-old is a former Barcelona player and Spanish international. He was brought into the Nou Camp as technical secretary in 2003 in order to end a barren four seasons without a trophy and has since helped bring incredible success for the Catalans. Begiristain has overseen the transfers of influential stars such as Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o during his time at the Nou Camp. His last contribution to the club was the summer signing of David Villa .Begiristain left the Nou Camp following the end of Joan Laporta's term as president. Now, 'Sport' reports that Begiristain has received "a significant offer" from Premier League champions Chelsea to become the club's sporting director. Chelsea are desperate to capture the Champions League and would hope that Begiristain can help Carlo Ancelotti strengthen his squad in order to do so. The Stamford Bridge club reportedly want an answer from Begiristain by September. || Source ||

Neymar boost for Chelsea as starlet hints at Santos departure Brazilian wonderkid Neymar has opened the door on a move to Chelsea by refusing to commit his future to Santos. The gifted 18-year-old insists he is happy at the Sao Paulo-based side, but admits he might not be there by the time the transfer window closes at the end of August. Just three weeks after saying he wanted to stay at Santos, Neymar admitted on Sunday: 'I don't know what will happen to me. I continue to fulfil my contract at Santos and while I'm here I will be happy.' Chelsea had a a £17million bid for Neymar rejected, while West Ham were met with the same response when bidding £12m earlier in the summer. Santos insist they will not do a deal for less than the near-£30m release clause written into the forward's five-year contract, but investors who own 40 per cent of the player's rights are said to be keen to strike a deal. Neymar confirmed that his father Neymar Silva and Santos president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro held talks at the end of last week, but he said: 'I know they talked, but I was with the team, so I haven't spoken yet to my father. 'We don't talk much on the phone, so I don't know yet what happened in the meeting.' Although many have questioned whether it is too soon to go to Europe, Neymar is confident he will not be another flop like team-mate Robinho, who is determined to stay on loan at Santos after disappointing at Manchester City. After helping Santos to a 1-0 win against Sao Paulo in Brazil's Serie A, he said: 'I think nothing much changes whether you play in Europe or here. The ball is round, it's the same.' Manchester City have first refusal on Neymar, while Barcelona and Real Madrid are also monitoring his availability. || Story ||

& here's his real glory and potential.

But seeing them in different circumstances cannot give you an accurate comparison. Remember, Turnbull played vs Inter Milan! Sure we lost the game, but he himself had a very composed an controlled game. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to what Delac can bring us, but I think you're being a bit too harsh on Turnbull. You've highlighted his negatives, but there must be more positives to make Ancelotti keep him on the senior squad list.

You can't really say that. You haven't seen him play here yet, it's a complete different set up to what he's used to.

Sorry that just made me LOL

Agreed. I have an iPod, but only because I received it as a gift, the price on an iPod is ridiculous when you think it's just an mp3 player.

I do feel sorry for him. He's a good player showing promising sides, we can't somehow fit him into our plans. Was a bit surprised not to see him in the pre-season squads of late, who knows what the future holds for him now..

£25million? No thanks.

Igor Akinfeev has set his sights on a move to either Arsenal or Manchester United as he looks for a new challenge away from Russia. Chelsea should hijack their bid!

Can we have our edit button back? After about 5 or so minutes we can't edit our posts. Thanks

I think people are forgetting Matej Delac isn't actually joining us till next season. But you're right, we do have a bit of a problem as to a second choice keeper. It's a shame we don't have Cudicini anymore, but no-one can blame him for leaving. I once heard, last season, we were linked with Sergio Asenjo a 21-year-old keeper of Athletico Madrid.. That would've been a great move for us! Perhaps Chelsea should think about that kind of signing.

I think he'll commit to Liverpool to be honest.

Carlo Ancelotti has insisted there is no chance of Ashley Cole being sold by Chelsea as he is happy at the club. The Italian said: "Ashley is a Chelsea player and nobody wants to sell him. "We want to keep him in our squad. I am 100 per cent sure he will be at Chelsea this season. "I consider him to be the best player in his position in the world. "I don't need to talk to him. He is happy to stay at Chelsea. He never said he wanted to go. There is no chance he will go. No way. || Source ||