EskWeston

The report on Sky said he will be 22 when his contract runs out... I don't know the stats but i am sure that there are not many top rated Brazilians (Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kaka, Pato, Anderson ect...) who were still in Brazil at 22. The way i see it is that the club have no intention (and neither does the player) of keeping him on till the end of his contract, but what they do want to do is make sure that when he does go he goes for a good price. Young Brazilians are hot business at the moment and it isn't suprising that a club has finally decided to raise the price...

Well Lulinha has taken a real gamble. Any Brazilian who wants to make it big in the game eventually moves to Europe, he has Gambled the fact he may have to wait years now because his price has gone up. Corinthians obviously wanted to make sure they got top dollar for him, they may be confident someone will pay the price but it is more likely to put people off.

Yeah well the key like you say is a blend of youth and experience!! Also the youth have to be of the right calibre, but we have enough of them comming through now...

I couldn't agree more!!! I am bemused by the Sinclair thing, he is a first team squad memeber, done excellant when given a chance but never gets a look in. The only reason i can think of is there are too many too keep happy (Malouda, J.Cole, SWP, Kalou) although the only one who has had any real form has been Joe.Stoch would be well worth the gamble, was aparently going to get a go in the Carling Cup earlier in the year but something happened that meant he couldn't. I would give him a run out against QPR he has proved he can play against the big boys and run rings around them......

There are ways around it, and the way that Lulinha has been hyped in Brazil i am sure we would get the permit due to "exceptional talent".... Aparently now though he will cost in the region of £25m...

Malouda is definately of the physical type of player we have seen come into the squad recently and certainly wouldn't call him creative in the same way that J.Cole is or Robben and Duff were... Kalou has a lot of promise and certainly one of our more threatening players, a bit up and down still - a little infuriating at times. SWP is a little too direct but at times can open a team up....I would like to see a real creative winger and a midfield playmaker to make us tick better going forward.

Don't worry i am not for one second implying that it is down to Grant it is 100% down to Ten Cate. It isn't a ground breaking difference yet like i said, but the difference is still there. Like i have said many times now (before jose left and after) part of ou lack of creativity is down to the lack of personel to play that way.Exposed at the back? Whilst i would agree that the defence is under a bit more pressure due to us attacking in more numbers the clean sheets speak for themselves, and rightly so. Our defence is strong enough to be able to say to the midfield and attack "You attack, we are strong to cope with a counter attack"...

Reports this morning saying that he has agreed a new contract with Corinthians. Now this doesn't at all mean that he is staying there till 2012 but what it does mean that if we want him in the summer we have to pay a hell of a lot more for him....

Why would he play in midfield? He has played wide in a front 3 for Barca for years, he slots nicely into that system for us as well and with Joey Cole on the other flank and Didi in the middle. Would be lovely to see.....

There has been a change in the way we play, at the moment it is not that hugely different, that is because you just cannot change the style of play that drastically overnight, it's impossible. But players are playing with more freedom, we are attacking in larger numbers and constantly going for the kill and then when in front to keep going.As time goes on it will get better, also with the addition of some creative players it will also improve the way we play more. At the moment it is good, but there is a long long way to go yet.

Exactly, Fabregas is a little tart and wouldn;t go into hard tackles anyway. But players with a bit of fight at a young age tend to get carried away. Mikel will learn with time and he has already learned a lot....

Well it would certainly be good to have him back. Carlo has done an excellant job and kept a lot of clean sheets but Cech is the best there is and to have him in the team is fantastic.

Lol ah, the good old british tabloids..... best in the world....

Of all the things to do, pretending the daily mail is right is the last thing to do Shame on you

Yup i noticed that too, could quite as easily have been any news agency doing that though, it's all lazy reporting

Well his not really is he? Just because the article starts by saying that doesn't make it true........

Chelsea remain keen on a deal for Corinthians attacking midfielder Lulinha. TheDaily Mail says Chelsea have not given up on the brilliant young Brazilian Lulinha, whose agent was in London for talks with the club in November. The 17-year-old striker wants to stay for another year at Corinthians, but Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is hoping an £8m deal can be completed in the summer.Source: Tribal Football

This is just going to gather more and more momentum until January. Who knows what is going to really happen, things clearly are not going to great for him at Barca for whatever reason and i would have no doubt that we are sniffing about, god knows if there is any more than that though.

The signing of young players and first team players is run completely separately from each other. He has got a good reputation and at 16 he could go straight into the reserves possibly where we are lacking a lead front man.He will have a LOT of competition though but that is only a good thing for our academy.

Well thats what the press say anyway about their salary. Ronaldinho would be perfect on the wing for us, in the same way that he does for Barca, would be excellant. It's one of those stories where there is far too much smoke for there to be no fire...

lol, what else do you expect though....

Actually that wouldn't work out THAT much, around £130k a week and if we are to believe the tabloids our top earners are already on that... Would be a great signing

Yes, shocking isn't it.......

Lol, you would say that though, him being Dutch and everything. Is he not used quite a lot as a left back though?

Latest striker we are being linked to according to the mirror and few other papers today. Would be a bit of a strange one....