Pizy

Duncan Castles aka José Mourinho's official mouthpiece.

Nothing will come of this. Doubt we're after him at all. They're probably just trying to drum up a rich club to spend crazy money on him.

In my ideal scenario we need 2 Cesc type CM's whilst signing Bakayoko, keeping Matic, and obviously Kante. Signing a midfielder who can offer what Fabregas does should be priority number 1. If he were unavailable or out of form we have zero creativity in midfield and we'd be right back to getting dominated in midfield by the top sides like we did last season. I can't imagine, for instance, lining up against Bayern/Madird/Barca/Juve etc with a midfield 2 of Kante/Baka or Kante/Matic again. They'd all run rings around us and they'd have zero vision or ideas. Nevermind the likes of Spuds/City/United in the PL. I think we absolutely must play with 3 in the middle this season. No more 3-4-3 as the primary formation.

Should be kept as a squad option unless we sign two new central midfielders. We have tons of matches next season and he'll get plenty of game time even if he's not first choice. Seling him and replacing his spot with Bakayoko leaves us in the same spot we're in now. We need more options in the middle of the pitch.

Just the sort of profile we need in addition to Bakayoko. Really wanted him last summer when we were linked. Fabregas-like deep lying playmaking ability but much more athletic.

Only chance I would even consider sending him to a domestic rival is if we signed Bakayoko and another class midfielder like Verratti or Tolisso. That looks impossible now. Selling a player who started most of our games en route to a title to a direct rival would be madness unless we get the better of the deal. Giving Mourinho and United a player that would greatly improve them would be extremely foolish.

New Nike sponsorship that's one of the biggest ever in world football, loads and loads of cash received from recent player sales, £200m received from wining the league. And that's before you even add whatever Roman will pay out of pocket. We sort of do have a bottomless pit of cash on hand. We just appear (so far, and over the past couple of windows) unwilling to break the bank. Do we call that smart or intelligent or are we being left behind by other big clubs? We have to wait until this window is over to find out. The way we've been somewhat restrained and calculating in recent windows by not spending excessively, the funds should now be there to splash out in a huge way.

I thought Begovic was poor here and we looked pretty awful at the back most times he played. He was a great keeper before coming here but clearly needs to be playing every week to maintain that level. Dont think Caballero is much of a downgrade at all. About the same, I'd say.

Agree with those above saying good business. When City actually got their act together defensively he was easily better than Bravo. Would be a very decent backup.

Yeah, yeah. I know it's still early and it's no time to be worried. At the same time, though, Pep & Mourinho are on holiday too and their clubs have been busy. City have already made 2 key signings and United are on the brink of making their 2nd key signing.

Meanwhile, at Chelsea...

I think the China thing was definitely "something" initially. Who wouldn't be blinded by an offer of 30m per year salary or whatever it was? Then I think he came to his senses and started up with the Atleti stuff again. Now he's trying to paint Conte as the villain and apparently garner sympathy from the public.

Imagine trying to slate Conte after the stunt he pulled in January trying to leave to China. Or talking numerous times about his desire to return to Spain. He should be grateful Conte allowed him back in the side and talked positively about him for the rest of the season. Someone with less class would've sent him to the curb.

To be honest, he's doing his damnedest right now to burn all bridges and evaporate any good will he had with the club and us fans. Airing out everything in public and angling for a move away over and over again (which he's been doing for years now). Personally, I'm sick of him. Quicker we move him on and get someone who's happy to play for Chelsea and isn't going to moan about going back to Spain every chance he gets the better.

Need all the creativity and technical players we can get to support Lukaku if he arrives. I'm all for James signing for that reason. That lineup posted above with James as the furthest advanced midfielder of a 3 looks nice, I must say. Can play both James and Cesc against the many parked buses we're sure to face as well.

I'll bet you anything that they'll still finish 15+ points behind Juve next season.

If true and even if the bids are turned down, at least we know the club are serious about strengthening in a big way at the fullback positions. Surely someone of quality will be signed there.

So that's now City, Arsenal, and United who have made their first signings. Liverpool would've signed up Van Dijk by now if their board weren't incompetent. Hopefully we kickstart our business next week with Bakayoko.

I doubt he's on peanuts at Juve. If we triple his salary I'm sure he'd consider it.

Average footballer but great goal scorer? So like Diego Costa then? Or even Harry Kane? Neither of those two are electric with the ball yet score 20 or more per season. Lukaku is the same.

Would be the signing of the summer across Europe if it happened. No chance, though. Don't see why a star Italian CB playing for an Italian juggernaut would leave.

Such a similar player to Lukaku, though. We need a foil or different sort of player surely?

So, if it's Lukaku as our primary striker target and Batshuayi is now being linked with Monaco, maybe there really is something to the rumor about us and Mbappe? It's a long shot of course, but obviously we'll need more than just Lukaku. If Mourinho gets Morata & Belotti, Sanchez is impossible, and Diego is 100% gone,Moho else is there?

I'd prefer Lukaku as well if it was a choice between one or the other. I was still (perhaps foolishly) hoping we'd be after both. I think they'd work very well as a two-headed beast.

Looks like it might be Lukaku or bust for us now. How fucked will we be if Everton pull a John Stones on us again? With the whole Diego Costa situation, this could burn us badly.