Pizy

Morata's body language is just poor. He really looks like he's not bothered. I fear for our top 4 chances if he and Giroud are our only two options at striker again. Batshuayi isn't the answer either.

People questioning where Kante fits. I think he'll slot in where Cesc is now (to the right of Jorginho) while Cesc moves into the advanced position Barkley is in now.

Guys, holy shit. I know the opposition is very poor, but Jorginho looks phenomenal here. Absolutely bossing the midfield. You see an immediet link between he and Cesc who are pinging it around with one touch over and over. Barkley looked great bursting forward. CHO is a baller. Pedro looked like his Barca self. Morata looked like last season's Morata in that he was decent until the final decisive touch.

Good to see Sarri won't be fucking about wasting time trying to continue with the 3-4-3. Going with his 4-3-3 straight away. Not that it was unexpected but it's comforting to see.

Indeed. I really thought that Sarri + Jorginho would get things moving quite quickly in terms of in's and outs. Hazard situation still up in the air, likewise Courtois. Average players like Drinkwater and Zappacosta are somehow still Chelsea players when we all know they aren't good enough. We have no clue what's happening with RLC. Looking more and more likely that the Chelsea tradition of scrambling at the last minute may continue.

Maybe his mother's brother's dog is next.

🙄🙄🙄

Martial taking Willian's spot on the right side of our attack wouldn't be ideal from the United fans I've read. They all say that playing on the right is easily his worst position.

Yep. That 1 year option they have means that we'd probably be looking at £80m or something for him. Can only happen if we sell Eden.

I'd carry Willian to Manchester on my back if we could swap him with Martial. José is so blinded by instant success that I think he'd do it. He knows how humiliating it would be to again finish behind Pep and their arch rival City. This may be his last season there if he doesn't win a major trophy. Discarding a flair player he doesn't fancy for his trusted 30 year old workhorse Willian for some short term production is right up his alley. The potential for United to make the mistake we made with Salah & KDB probably prevents any deal happening between our clubs, though. Imagine Martial banging them in at Chelsea under Sarri while United have standard Willian we've seen for years now. Solid but not great. United fans would riot.

If Eden absolutely has to go, replacing him with Martial and using the rest of the money on Bailey to replace Willian on the other side would be ideal. Martial will become a top player under the right manager. Mourinho just doesn't fancy that sort of player.

You would think a deal for a player in the Russian league whose price is so low by modern standards and who doesn't seem to be super desired by 10 top teams would be pretty simple and straightforward. Like, surely if he was a top target of ours he'd have long since signed. Makes me think that either we aren't after another midfielder and are happy with RLC/Cesc/Barkley for that Hamsik role, or there's another target other than Golovin.

I just think our attack will continue to be stale if he stays and is our primary option on the right. We need someone with more end product. We were by far the lowest scorers of the "big 6" last season. It'll be the same this season if we don't upgrade at striker and RW.

I wish there was a resource that allowed us to see more extended training sessions so that we could compare Sarri's style to previous managers. Of course we shouldn't be allowed to see tactical and personnel stuff before matches, but stuff like the video above. Just like it'd be cool to see how he compares to what Pep does with his teams. To see Chelsea playing high tempo, one touch, free flowing football like City/Liverpool/Napoli do would be wonderful. I think we need 2-3 more additions in the market to allow us to fully implement that style, though.

Safe to say the lads over on barcaforum aren't overly enamoured about this potential move. Most people around forums I browse agree that Willian is a solid player but is worth nowhere near £55-60m. I hope the club see that as well and cash in while we can.

I should lock this thread out of disgust. Hell, why not bring in Mignolet or Karius while we're at it?

I seriously don't get how Drinkwater is still a Chelsea player. Barely got a sniff last season when options were severely limited. Now we have Jorginho, a fit Barkley, and possibly RLC if Sarri likes him. DD won't get near our XI at this point.

Fuck, man! Dirt cheap and absolutely perfect for us. Looks like it's between Cesc, Barkley, and RLC for that role now.

That's way too much money for a non-established, still relatively unproven CB. Unless the club feels like he's going to be absolutely world class then I'm puzzled as to why we're going so hard after him. And if he's so good, why aren't other top clubs chasing him? Also, for this kind of money are we really going to rotate him? This is the price you pay for someone to slot right in. Yet we have Rüdiger and Christensen. Not to mention Luiz looking fully fit again and not really looking likely to leave at the moment.

That's the sort of money we'll never be offered again for Willian. I mean, right after the season ended if someone told me that Barca were offering £35-40m I'd have said bite their hand off. But now they're offering nearly £60m!? We'd be mad to turn that down. He's our most easily replaced attacker. Sell, sell, sell. Throw the money at Bailey.

So dumb. We can't chase an impossible target with so little time left and see actual obtainable targets like Golovin go elsewhere. Just sign Golovin, ffs!

First of all, isn't the rumored fee being talked about over 80m? No chance we pay that sort of fee. Secondly, he plays in the same role as Jorginho, doesn't he? We need an advanced midfielder. Someone who will aggressively attack and penetrate defenses. Pjanic is more of a creator like Jorginho I think. A controller rather than an aggressor.

Damn good question. Both of our starting wingers are linked with a move away. Hell, even Pedro is. Yet we haven't been seriously linked with a single one.

I hear Wilf Zaha wants to leave Palace. If we can't get Leon Bailey, he's very similar and could easily replace Willian.

I really hoped that following the Sarri appointment and Jorginho signing it would trigger more movement in the market and we'd swiftly push through other deals. Appears now we're back to hearing about meetings and "hot days/hours" everyday with no actual signings. Would be nice if every signing we make gets a couple of preseason matches.