DavidEU

They've also been linked heavily with Konoplyanka (apologies if thats spelt wrong) and even Valbuena. Whether they'll want more than 1 of the 3, who knows but those two will make it tougher for him to get in the team. Downing and Jarvis are wingers that Big Sam will like though because they do alot defensively. Would Atsu do the same?

Im told that allegedly 25 clubs have an 'interest' in taking this boy on loan. 25.

Its incredibly amateur looking to me. Not good at all.

Been outstanding in the first half tonight. Be alot of Chelsea fans calling for this signing tomorrow.

The 'rumour' is that Juventus want to sign Evra, and Evra wants to go to Turin. Despite only signing a new contract a month ago. Fee apparently only £1.6m.

Has signed permantly for Sheffield Wednesday. http://www.swfc.co.uk/news/article/sam-hutchinson-signs-permanent-sheffield-wednesday-deal-1726231.aspx Good luck Hutch, really hope this works for the lad. Sure we'll see him back at Chelsea in some capacity some day.

The biggest compliment I can pay to Ashley is that 8 years ago I never expected to be sad to see this guy sign for another club. Alongside Claude Makelele, one of very few players we've had in our history that, without a shadow of a doubt, are the best of their generation in their position. Think a fair few of us with have a soft spot for Roma for the next two years now.

Bertrand Traore will return to Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the 2014/15 season. Traore signed for Chelsea in January this year having spent time with the Blues as a triallist, scoring a long-range goal against an Indonesian XI during last summer's pre-season tour of Asia. The Burkina Faso midfielder, who has already represented his country at an Africa Cup of Nations, was loaned to Vitesse for the latter part of last season, and scored three times in 13 appearances for the Eredivisie side, who we face in a friendly later this month. You can monitor Traore's progress while in the Netherlands here on the official Chelsea website. http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3968632/title/traore-continues-dutch-loan

Be more than that. After Euro 2012 it was 21 days after their elimination date. So we might not see Schurrle or Oscar and Co til the week before the PL kick off.

Sod next season then. If Jose isn't going to wear a suit, lets just not bother. We had bad results so he wore a tracksuit in a ****Champions League semi-final****. Makes loads of sense! And for the record, Jose shaved his head in November, not at the end of the season.

Football reaches unbelievable levels of sadness. Whatever keeps you boys happy I guess.

Theres many more that could be named as an exception given thought. Why not all stop nitpicking to find faults in everything the club does and get behind the decisions they make. They're spending £19m on this guy, I'm sure they've researched and put more focus on this signing than the average fan on TalkChelsea. In fact, i'm pretty sure they've watched more than an 8 and a half minute YouTube video like most of us have.

Ashley had a couple of great years in his 30s. As did Neville. As did Cafu. I think its pretty to naive to cast off any player as soon as they hit 30. In general, footballers are fitter now than theyve ever been.

I wouldn't go that far. I think most peoples first choice would be Shaw with Cole signing a new short deal to support him. But thats looking less and less likely to happen and I think we should accept that Luis is such a good alternative that he shouldn't really be labelled an alternative. £30m for a young English left back who's been on the scene for a year and a half and has a hell of a lot to learn vs a £19m Brazilian La Liga winner and Champions League finalist who is the finished article. Can see why Chelsea have picked the latter. And yes, you can argue that Shaw is 12-15 years of potential Chelsea left back, whilst it will cost us more than £11m to sign Luis' replacement in 3/4 years. But who's to say Shaw won't be lured to Spain or Italy or Germany or Qatar in 4 years time? Whos to say he will match his potential? Its a tough choice though, we'll be lucky to have one or the other.

Exactly my thinking. This team that everyone seems to want to play on day one at Burnley has an average age of 25 and a half. 1 player over 30 (Terry 33) and 3 more over 25. (Matic 26, Cahill 28 and Luis 29) The extra experience will be important at the back.

I would have liked to see Shaw come in if Ashley was staying. But, it looks like he's off so I think we need someone experienced to take his place.

Exactly, with such young attacking and midfield players, plus potentially a young keeper, having an experience back four isn't a tragedy. 3/4+ potential years out of him, thats perhaps 3/4 European Cups, 3/4 Premier League titles, 3/4 FA Cups, etc.

I don't really think age is relevant in the slightest here. We've got a young squad. We've got players that could all spend the next ten years here. Signing 'older' players, who are proven to be top class isn't a bad thing. In fact, its probably a bonus to us.

Liverpool, City and United away are all directly after a CL group game. Just gotta hope we don't have a long trip to Ukraine or Russia before those.

Way I see this:

From that video, seems like he was involved in a hell of a lot of Atletico goals last season. Still want to see him more defensively though.

Yep, thats true for sure. I think to be fair, we should be proud of the team that we've assembled over the last few years in terms of recruiting of all ages. Youth team have come on bundles, as have transfer negotiations. Not something thats really been acknowledged by the media, but I think its fair to say the majority of us lot appreciate and respect the change.

Wouldn't imagine so. Courtois was a Championship winning goalkeeping in Belgium when we signed him, despite his young age he wasn't an unknown kid.

Get it signed sooner rather than later. Make him number one, make him feel like the best goalkeeper in the world (which he must feel at the moment anyway) and then slap a 6 year contract on his lap.

FOOTBALL: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will return to Stamford Bridge next season. Breaking news ticker on BBC. The best goalkeeper in Europe is coming back.