Slam Dunk

Are we going to have the star above the TC badge for the whole season, or just UCL games?

So we buy Modric, which means Lampard will have to be benched for the majority of games (big games as well i'd assume), as it's unlikely they'll ever play together... ...What happened under AVB when Lampard was dropped? I seem to remember a fair bit of animosity towards Lampard from some members when the stories in the press came out about him being unhappy. Are we going to get the same complaints from Frank again? Just a wondering of mine...

What happened to his (Lucio's) proposed move to Turkey? Was that just paper talk?

I don't know if Vitesse is a viable option, personally I doubt it, but I suppose it's possible, depending on if the other loanees were to renew their loans there like Kalas has/will do. Would still prefer him to stay in England.

Talk about rubbing it in...

No chance, especially after the disappointment of missing out on the Euro squad.

Yeah, I don't think it's too big a deal in comparison to how others are making it sound. The Olympic final is a day before the Community Shield, chances are Team GB won't go that far in the competition anyway It's probably safe to assume that Sturridge will be in the team as well.

He's been waiting for so long to prove himself, now he starts (and wins) a CL final AND plays in the Olympic team. Fully deserved, and hopefully, his story gives some hope to some of our other youngsters. Bertrand > Gibbs. Let's hope he's first choice for Team GB as well.

Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen, Tom Cleverley, Ryan Bertrand, Craig Dawson, Jason Steele, Jack Butland all in Team GB. So Ryan will be missing a bit of preseason as well!

Only Stoke?

So Beckham's confirmed he will not be playing for Team GB after Pearce decided to leave him out. Thoughts? I think its a ridiculous decision personally.

Wait. Hold on. The media lie?

Well I agree in some aspects, but we were a different team 7/8 years ago. I think Hazard especially is still young and hungry, just a different calibre of player. When we signed young players around 03/04/05, we were not at the top level of football. We're now European Champions, and to stay at the top level, you have to have top players, which we're now able to attract.

Yes, Hulk and Schurrle, as I originally said. And as a side note, the team's needs comes before Sturridge's.

Well technically so would Schurrle as he can play 2+ positions as well. I'd also expect Lukaku to go on loan as well anyway. Nothing wrong with strength in depth, eh?

Gotcha. Yes, we're likely in for a RW and a striker. Hulk & Schurrle seem the most likely at the moment imo.

I'd say we're definitely in for a striker, although I doubt we're considering Pato. A link between Pato and Chelsea occurs every transfer window and every time it comes to nothing.

After the Malaysian investors have finalised their plans and either submit them/retract their bid, due to be announced 28 days after they were chosen as the preferred bidders (which would be 5th July I believe.) Obviously if they (the Malaysians) are to go ahead with their purchase, Chelsea would have to work out a deal with them afterwards and convince them on the merit of building a stadium on the site. I see it as unlikely, but it's not impossible.

As good as he is, he doesn't belong on the right wing.

I know it's already been posted, but please, can we laugh at it once more?

Cheers mate. Interesting. (For anyone who's Arabic isn't quite as good as mine haha, here's a translation: http://translate.goo...5032971903.html ) Hopefully this should push other teams into action. Perhaps Chelsea will be one, although i'm not sure how strong our interest actually is.

Hadn't heard about that. Is there a link about anywhere mate? All i've seen is that he's due to meet with Lille this week to speak about his future.

I'd say you've got that pretty much spot on mate. The only real trouble is getting Levy to sell to us, which, based on everything i've read/been told is very unlikely.

If Spurs have the chance to sell to either us or Madrid, they're going to let him move to Spain, aren't they? Levy is under no obligation to sell this year, in the same way he wasn't last year, we all know he is a shrewd businessman, to put it politely. Personally, I don't actually believe we ever submitted a £40m bid last year anyway. The media said we did, and all Harry ever said was 'apparently' he'd just 'heard' we'd bid £40m. Unless we sell Meireles and Essien, I don't see us being interested in Modric this summer, which is unfortunate because I think he'd do very well at Chelsea. We are well stocked in CM already.

Bingo.