Slam Dunk

as if it was going to be that simple. Prepare for a saga.

Proven PL scorer in good form. Perfect.

Obviously you're right, it's not a certainty, but i've got a good feeling about it. He's a natural leader. He's captained at both Youth and Reserve level for us, as well as captaining the England U17s at the age of 15, as well as also being the current U19 captain. He's got the pedigree, there's no question.

Chalobah is the best academy product since JT. He will absolutely be a future first-team player, i'm sure. He's growing into a superb young box-to-box player at Watford and the club obviously have very high hopes for him. He'll either stay at Watford and play PL next year on loan, or they'll loan him to a PL club in January (probably less likely). Talk of Chelsea first-team is probably a bit premature, he's only 18, there's no rush. He's going to be the future captain of Chelsea, i've no doubt.

Wait... What?

Merry Christmas to all

Bloody rabonas.

No, I meant that Torres has been better than he was last season. I don't see it as being irrelevant, because he's still a better all-round lone striker than Sturridge in my eyes. That doesn't mean he's good enough either, because he's not. My point was that Sturridge hasn't done anything to show that he would get results up front on his own rather than Torres. Playing out wide is a whole different game to playing up front alone. As Ray Wilkins said, his goalscoring is good, but his all-round game isn't there yet. And if it comes from him, I trust his opinion more so than anyone on here. Just because he's scored from the wing, doesn't mean he'd be an instant success up front either, meaning that we would have to give him time to adapt and learn his trade, which i've already said we're not the type of club to do. This season would've been his chance (more than likely), but as I said, injuries/contract situations have prevented that. I've gotten to the point that i'm repeating myself here

Up until now, he's had Anelka, Drogba and Torres to contend with. Proven strikers who on their day, can be world class. Understandable that he hasn't got a clear run of games when we have players like these at their disposal, at a club that demands results. We all know that the club would rather buy a superstar than test a young player with potential, I don't know why we're so surprised that Sturridge is leaving. This season, Torres has been better (although his goal tally somewhat masks his performance levels), and i've repeatedly said that he will be the no.1 striker at the club this season, like it or not, because of the investment the club has made, but also of his known capabilities. Say what you want about him, he's still a better lone striker than Sturridge. At any other top club, Sturridge would be 3rd or even 4th choice striker, unfortunately for him, his injuries and contract situation have limited him this season, not his fault, i'll concede. It happens in football.

Whereas I find it baffling that because he's played less than 200mins as a lone striker, that deems hims 'good enough' to be starting up front for us. He's unproven and a club like Chelsea isn't exactly known for being a proving ground for young players. Dwight Yorke made some excellent points regarding Sturridge after yesterdays game. Both he and Ray Wilkins agreed that he's not ready to be a lone striker, even if he thinks he is. Yorke argued that as a young player, you take what you're given in terms of chances in the team, even if it was out wide. He said he himself hated playing out wide, even if he thought it didn't suit his game, but he did it anyway to build himself a reputation and become an established member of the team. Thierry Henry was the same. This is where my problem with Sturridge lies. He was dropped by Di Matteo and Benitez because he didn't work hard enough on the wings (i'm assuming here, obviously we'll never know for sure) because he was so sure that out wide was not where he belongs. His insistence on being a centre forward (let's call it naive ambition) seems to be his undoing, when the managers that he's played under obviously don't think he's ready. Wilkins said that even when he was at the club with Carlo, Sturridge insisted that he was ready to challenge both Drogba and Anelka as the lone striker. Carlo thought that he was better suited to the wings, obviously to this day he still disagrees, despite being a decent player for us (at times) under AVB. If he'd have worked on his game out wide, perhaps he would've eventually got game time up front. The obvious example of this is Theo Walcott, who has had to wait for his chance, but is now getting it and is making strides. The problem is that there has always been a better player in front of him in the squad up front and he has done nothing out wide at Chelsea to prove that he deserves to be a lone striker. Perhaps this season would've been different, he's been injured and hasn't been able to play as much, even though we only have one other striker. He probably knew that we'd buy another striker in January anyway, and, with his contract coming to an end, it seems like a good time for him to leave. Sometimes it just doesn't work out for players in football, and it's obvious that this is the case with Sturridge.

Looked good when he came on. Beauty of a pass to Rambo, don't really care about the penalty miss, it was a good save. I'd rather focus on the confidence he had to step up and take it, even if the game was won. Looking forward to seeing him getting some more game time - He's shown us he's ready. Very classy young player, he seems to suit the new team perfectly.

He doesn't have the coaching badges for it

Agreed, he's making good progress. If he can establish himself as first choice in the WBA team (I know Clark likes his rotation), he'll have surpassed my expectations of him. Saying that, his goal return in a (largely) sub-role has been good so far. He's settled it seems, no point in disrupting that and limiting his development. He's got time on his side. I still think he'll continue on loan next season, although you never know what can happen. I think his all round game is improving. Obviously his physicality means he's a focal point for the team but he was making some very intelligent runs today and has been doing so whenever i've seen him play this year - He needs to be even more clinical I feel, but that will come with time. I think he's going to become a very diverse player if he carries on.

Going on the evidence of this season, a white away kit is pretty much redundant. I want a yellow kit!

His movement is so much better this year, as is the use of his body/his overall physique. His decision making/first touch is still a bit raw, but he's improving. He came across as a very humble guy in his MOTD interview saying that he sees the next 2 years as a crucial period in his development and he wants to continue working hard under managers like Steve Clark so that he can return to Chelsea and be the no.1 striker. He doesn't want to sit on the bench here, he wants to be the main man. Hope he stays at WBA and continues doing what he's doing.

Well deserved. Just think he could've been at Liverpool or Arsenal (and eventually City of course) at this point if they'd have coughed up £17M...

As long as his replacement is a proven goalscorer, I can't see how we would truly regret this transfer, as it would be an upgrade on Danny. He doesn't want to play second fiddle to Torres/whoever else and I respect that. He's young and ambitious and that's fine, he deserves playing time and we can't guarantee that to an unproven player (which is ultimately why our youth policy fails in general) when the club demands instant success. I don't think he'll become a world-class striker at Liverpool because they won't be competing on the major European front for at least a couple of years but he has the talent and confidence to make it as a decent PL goalscorer... The comparisons between Defoe I think are just.

I'm sure he'll be leaving, the timing of this medical just seems a bit odd, that's all. Still, it's £12M or so towards the amortised transfer fee of a new striker to comply with FFP so it's a good deal for us as far as i'm concerned.

Well, if he's on the bench tomorrow we'll know for sure. I find it hard to believe it myself.

That is a great goal on the break for Malaga. 3-1.

Can we stop with all the 'we can afford him' / 'we can't afford him' arguments? None of us are clued up on the club's financial income. We'll know if we can afford him if we actually bid for him/sign him. The board are fully aware of the FFP rulings - they're not total idiots. Just enjoy the speculation...

An Englishman? Diving? Never... Leave that to the foreigners!

Is Niall Quinn ever right? That was never a pen.

Benitez: JT is out, Sturridge is available. Decision on Bertrand to be made tomorrow.