nadavTKL

I didnt followed Vietto so i'll take your word, but Atletico are going to spend about 50-55 million euros on both strikers, usually they dont spend so much without selling.

Kind a interesting that Atletico are about to get Jackson Martinez when Simeone talks about Vietto as if he was his player already. I cant believe one of them will be used as a back up, and i also cant believe Griezmann is going to play as the RM/LM for Simeone (where Koke and Turan playing).

If we were interested in Miranda, we wouldnt get him on loan. Its another example of those Seria A dealings... Atletico renwed his contract to get it done, so he could be loaned to Inter. Although Inter have to pay 12.5m in two years, for a 33 yo CB. I also wanted him, but i guess he was too old for us, and for that amount. And we also have the one-year contract for 30+ players thing..

He was sold for 35m euros, that's a lot for someone like him, but not very surprising today.

I think its reasonable to think Mourinho trusts his core in midfield of Matic-Cesc-Oscar-Willian-Hazard, and we're not going to see any "special" signings for midfield. Also because it seems there arent any top RWs possible to sign. My only plea is to see a new CM who's technical enough to take part in our usual game, and can add balance to this midfield when Jose wants more balance. A CB would also be great, if Zouma isnt ready yet for Mourinho.

They also want Imbula.

We are obviously disagreeing on Ramires as a footballer. And i dont think the CMs i mentioned are only "refreshers", i think every one of them will make us better in the big games. This is going nowhere so lets leave it here.

So we agree on something... Im accepting your opinion about Schneiderlin's style. Im not sure about him either (and his price).

Chelsea and Manchester City have held talks about signing Alex Song from Barcelona, according to Sky sources.

Believe me i get it, i also enjoy this period... but some rumors are imo a waste of energy.

Looks like Inter got Kondogbia. There was a real battle yesterday-today between them and AC Milan, with both CEOs in Monte Carlo in the same resturant with his agent and Monaco. With Miranda and Kondogbia Inter looking like a very promising side. Also have talents like Kovacic, Shaqiri, Icardi. Milan on the other end, seems like they're not going to spend until the new owner officially signs the deal with Berlusconi. I cant think of any other reason. Jackson is also a "done deal" but yet to sign the contract.

Read the articles. All of them are talking about a rumor (from A Bola, who are wrong almost every time). They are not reporting about a bid from Chelsea.. not from their sources. And thats from the independent article: Sporting Lisbon then denied the rumour, with talkSPORT reporting a club spokesman said: "This news [about Chelsea's offer] is not true. The club have not got any formal offer to our offices for the player. If you take every rumor like that seriously your brain is going to explode.. and you're going to end up very disappointed that we are supposedly "missing" on all of our "targets". But thats your choice.

? You should not follow every rumor out there... It sounds like you take every rumor as a fact. Same goes to "Wenger offered £28.5m". Who reported it?

So the yellow kit from last seaon will be gone? i really liked when we played with it. Everton away is immediately the game you remember from this kit...

For the fifth time - the CMs im talking about are not players you consider "World Class" (literally said the opposite), but players like Allan, Witsel, Imbula, Schneiderlin. Not Guarin.. where did he came from. Im "focusing on the names of these individuals" for this all discassion, you ignore it. Mourinho preferred to play with another CM next to Matic and Cesc in a lot of games - he did it in away games vs teams like Stoke, WHU, Southempton etc, he did it in big games vs United, Liverpool, City etc, and he did it in CL ko games. And he even did it in some 'comfortable' home and away games. Thats a big chunk of games this new CM is probably going to start, a lot of 'rotation' in my opinion. So i'll fully understand if Jose wants a more technical CM instead of Ramires for all of those games. A better passer, a better ball handler, because imo Ramires's inability in those areas costing us every time we want to get from defence to attack, to keep possession, or handle ball pressure from the opponent. i dont think Ramires is more than fine to start those games because of his very obvious technical flaws. but we can disagree on that. Also for the fifth time - Ramires stays at the club for me. You dont need to tell me how helpful he can be, but idealy he's the 4th CM next season. Like Mikel this past season. "I jumped in on this when I heard that Ramires and Mikel weren't good enough to play for a club of our stature" - i dont know if anyone said they cant play here. I know i didnt. Im talking about STARTING lots of games, specific type of games i mentioned above. And im quoting myself - "crucial roles". Im more than fine with Ramires as a regular sub, starting cup games, starting a PL game once in a while, start in case of injurys. If Mikel also wants to stay here to be 5th or 6th CM i also wouldnt mind, if it was possible.

I've gathered a list of players who can start a game, but also can sit on the bench - in a full healty squad most of them are not regular starters. Same job Ramires is doing here. Players like Gotze, Muller and Isco started so many games because of injuries, in a full squad they would have started less. Ramires (who started 18 games in all competitions) probably would've started more games if he wasnt injured for some time this season, and he would've started even more if Cesc, Willian or Oscar were injured for a long time. People also talk about our starting players playing game after game without any rest... in the start of the season Mourinho kept playing the same midfield every game because he didnt believe in his squad options. Better "squad players" would also help keeping everybody fresh for a long season. Again you talk about Witsel, but he's just an example for me. But yeah, a better CM than Ramires could help us reach higher achievements in CL... off course it would only help. If Witsel or any CM comes here, his motivation would also be to prove he's better for the team than the regular #10 - Oscar/Willian. So he'll start next to Matic and Cesc and not them. I think Mourinho acknowledge this stuff when he talked about "creating competition in the squad" a few weeks ago.

Ok... lol? i dont think we should get personal (like you just did talking to me as an "individual" ) but you're the one who's telling us about buying Pogba.. so im the FM15 guy for wanting a new CM for 18m euros? There are people here who talk about Reus, Bale, Messi and Pogba for god sake.. and im the FM guy.. ok. Anyway - I think most of this forum thinks we need a CM. I am well aware that not every player would come to sit on the bench during many games, but it happens in all top teams. Here's a list of players who dont know if they're going to start the next game, or know they wont: Isco, Varane, Pepe, Gotze, Muller, J.Maritnez, Pastore, Lucas, Cabaye, Nasri, Marqionuos, Coentrao, Pedro... and the list can go on. And if i had to chose, the CM i would get is playing for Udinese right now. Not someone who's considered "elite level", Ramires has a bigger "name" than him, he's just a better footballer. The reality is very simple, our midfield in most games is Matic-Cesc-Oscar-Willian-Hazard, but Mourinho doesnt feel comfortable playing them in the big games.. so when Ramires is the guy who comes to fill that "Balance role", we're not good enough, not good like we want to be. The solutions are either A) Mourinho needs to trust this line up in every game B ) Get someone who's better than Ramires.

I dont care if they stay in the team for limited roles, but i think you can agree Ramires shouldnt start the big games for us, when you always talk about Pogba coming here. Someone has to come, even if its not Pogba.

Thats a very weird comment... respect? its not about respect, i just dont think they're good enough for crucial roles in a top european team, in a club that aims to be the best. Everyone has his own opinion about players, and its just football after all. And im saying that when i actually like Ramires as a player, in some periods he was awesome for us. Mikel also helped us during his long time in the club, never rated him but i do remember his good performances. With that being said, i dont think we should rely on thier talent anymore when we're trying to improve (well, Mikel didnt played a lot last season anyway).

Juventus arent going for Witsel yet, i think he's an option if Pogba leaves this summer. But again, Witsel is only an example, not the only option. I dont know what do you mean by "indications". And i dont buy Jose's words from the beginning of the season. 2 weeks ago he said he wants a Midfielder... so? I dont see it as a "backup player" when this player is going to start in almost every big game we play (like Remires/Mikel/Zouma this season). Obviously you dont see it the same way, and you think Ramires/Mikel in our XI in a lot of games is fine (including CL games against Bayern, Barcelona, PSG, Real, Juve.. what a joy to have them against those teams) , so i dont see the point in continuing this discussion tbh. Im thinking the opposite. imo going with Matic, Cesc, Ramires, Mikel would be an horrible idea, i dont even want to think its possible, that would mean we dont really want to improve and Mourinho is fine with his side (when i dont believe we're signing an elite RW).

Witsel is not a GREAT player, not considered one at least, he plays for Zenit and he's 26. He can sit on the bench and replace Ramires in the amount of games he gets, and if he'll be great he'll get more games. i didnt say we should bring him specifically, but i assume he'll be happy to come here from Russia where he played for 3 long years, same goes for other options for this role - Kondogbia, Imbula, Allan, all come from 2nd-3rd tier clubs. Wages? im not getting into that, i dont know how much can we pay and how much those players asks. I dont think we ever did good enough with Cesc-Matic-Ramires-Willian/Oscar-Hazard, i dont think this line up will take us far in CL or even be impressive enough in our big games in PL. And the main problem is Ramires who's terrible on the ball. Ramires imo cant be a key player in a top 4 team in Europe (where we want to be). I cant think of any reason why he should keep getting all those crucial minutes in the big games. If we bring a box-to-box midfielder who can pass the ball good enough, Cesc can stay as the DLP or turn into the #10, i dont see a problem, and i dont think Ramires is the only solution possible to add more balance to the Matic-Cesc midfield, like it seems you're suggesting. I think the main issue is a CM. A top Right Winger would be nice but it looks too difficult to find someone.. looks like Sterling and Griezmann are the only viable options and i wouldnt say either is a safe bet for 40-50 million pounds. Also there's Cuadrado who maybe Jose wants to give him a real chance, and Oscar that Jose probably thinks he can be great. I agree we need another CB. Luis and Remy? i dont know what will happen, but if they leave we'll get decent money for them and use it on their replacements... shouldnt stop us from improving other positions we certainly need improving. CM for me is the most crucial for our progress.

Cant believe that some people think City can get Pogba, Stelring and De Bruyne... I bet that even their fans dont think Pogba will go there. Stelring and De Bruyne would be the maximum, but both together will probably cost around 90m pounds, so they'll need to sell.

I accept that Schneidelrin is better, I just dont rate Schneidelrin too much either, i dont see world class potential in him (or anything near it), doesnt have a really high celling imo. He looked very average each time i saw him in France when playing with better players around him. But he's still alot better than Mikel and Ramires off course.

I dont see a big difference in Witsel and Schneiderlin, when it comes to their style of play.

More than covered? in the big games Mourinho doesnt play with Cesc-Matic in the pivot, so he plays with average players such as Ramires or Mikel (or Zouma in DM), so how is it well covered? it is awfully covered imo, its our biggest disadvantage in the squad. Right now we have four CMs on 2 positions, thats enough, but the thing is that Mikel has to go, he has to go to make place for a new CM, someone who is also better than Witsel imo. And if it wont happen i see no reason to think we're going to improve next season. "Spending the money elsewhere"... RW is also important, you could say that, but we're short of options to really improve what we already have. Not the same case in Midfield.