Pizy

Wasn't there a player recently who complained that his club was keeping him prisoner? Maybe Diego will say that.

I await the shit he's going to talk about the club once he finally goes. Wonder what kind of shots he's going to take at Conte.

Please, Chelsea! I 100% believe he'd choose us in a heartbeat over City of we bid.

Unless it's Matic himself who's trying to force his way out I'd refuse to sell him. Juve can fuck off for refusing to do business with us regarding Sandro and Man United can fuck off for a whole host of reasons. Matic can stay and be and excellent rotational player. If we enter the season in 4 competitions with only Cesc, Bakayoko, and Kante we'd be dangerously short of bodies. Say Kante picks up a serious injury early in the season. What the hell would we do? If Kante or Cesc snapped an ankle in China or Singapore we'd enter the season with only 1 fit CM. We keep Matic and we have the strongest midfield options in the PL.

Would take our summer business thus far from solid to fantastic. Just can't see them selling their two best defenders and 3 of their back 5 in the same window.

The fact that £58m isn't considered a "heavy" price tag anymore is just insane to me. But it really isn't when you see what other clubs are paying for players. Morata for just a tad more than Walker/Stones/Sterling and about 30m less than Lukaku/Pogba. Even fucking Arsenal have spent £50m on a player this summer!

We need agents Bakayoko and Batshuayi to text him nonstop to get him to choose us.

That would be sickening. Anywhere but United, ffs!

Exactly. Benteke is completely out of the question not only for how much he'd cost but also because he's too good to be 3rd choice. Way younger than Llorente as well.

Get in!

Never thought I'd see us spend more than £50m on a player again!

Fair point. I'm just not sure using the 3-4-3 every single match is going to be feasible now that everyone will be better prepared for it.

Will be so strange and exciting to have a striker with fantastic first touch and technical ability.

Not losing any sleep that we missed out on him but I think he could've been a good player here. Hope he enjoys a similar role at City that he had at Real Madrid.

Di Marzio has been so hit and miss lately it's hard to get excited. Though, he did report about Rüdiger before anyone, didn't he?

City are run as though a little kid was given control of the funds. Just hoard expensive player after expensive player in the same positions even if they don't need them.

I don't know if it's suicide but definitely not ideal. I don't know why we don't go all out for Mendy. He's good mates with several of our players and we have a large French speaking contingent that would help him settle.

I've perma banned one idiot the past week already. Maybe I'll add another...

He's a fucking idiot if he hops from one bench in Madrid to another in Manchester. They just spent £50m on a RB. Walker will obviously be the guarenteed starter there. He's got a much better chance at nailing down the position here.

I'm confident that our future business will allow us to experiment with it.

Good riddance. If you're so quick to drop your support for Chelsea and switch allegiances to another club (one owned by Arab royalty, ffs, who aren't exactly morally pure) then you're not really a true supporter. Just stay away.

Hopefully he only signed it after assurances that his transfer targets are secured. Would be pretty shitty of the club announced this now as damage control if we fail to sign anyone else of note.

To your first point, I'm not saying Cesc would just stand there like a cardboard cut-out when we don't have the ball. Of course he would still put in effort on the defensive end. He just won't have an enormous responsibility to chase people around like he would in a midfield 2. It won't be disastrous having him in the middle of the park against top teams if there's another pair of legs around him. The depth point is a good one. We are indeed short there if Matic is off. I just hope that at least in the big games against top half opposition (and particularly against the "big 6" where winning the midfield battle is key) we employ the 3-5-2. Having that 3rd midfielder in there when most of the good sides use 2 could be hugely beneficial. For example, that powerful midfield 2 of Dembele & Wanyama that Spuds employ wouldn't be able to bully us and press as relentlessly when they're outnumbered.

Am I missing something? Why on earth would he leave Barca for PSG? Talk about a massive step down... Also, how would it even be allowed under FFP? What's stopping them (or any club) just offering £300m for Messi or CR7?

Why not? Hazard can play just off the striker as a second forward. I'd be shocked if we don't see the 3-5-2 a bunch this season. Less running around chasing opposition midfielders and attackers for Cesc means less fatigue and drain of his stamina. If a 36 year old Pirlo could play the role at an elite level I see no reason Cesc can't. They have the same skill set. Doesn't have to be every match, but I'd love to give it a go as our main formation.