Pizy

Okay, time to officially change the name of the club to Rejection Football Club. This has become absolutely ridiculous.

Agree. We only have two "special" attacking players in Hazard and Costa. Outside of those two we haven't got a single player who we can rely on as a source of goals. All three of Willian, Oscar, and Pedro are wildly inconsistent when it comes to scoring. James would change that and could score 10+ in the PL alone as well as chip in 10+ assists. Like I said, doubt the club feel the same way. If I were a betting man and had to wager a significant amount of money on how many signings we'll make before the deadline I'd say 1. And it'll be either a CB or a fullback.

I doubt we're even considering any more attacking signings. With Moses now emerging as a legitimate squad player who can make an impact the club probably feel we have enough attacking mids. In reality, an injury to Hazard and we are an extremely ordinary side. It would be a Fabregas level surprise to me if we signed James.

Will he even start every game for Juve? They seem pretty stocked in midfield - Pjanic, Marchisio, Khedira, Hernanes, Sturaro... Seems like a similar situation for Matuidi as the one he'd be leaving at PSG. He'd be a rotation player just like at PSG.

Chelsea: "We'd like to buy Romagnoli, please." Milan: "No way! Not for sale!" Milan: "We'd like Pasalic, please." Chelsea: "Sure thing, lads. Want us to take care of the plane ticket and medical for you too?" Seriously, though. Why do favors for a club who refuses to do business with us?

I'm not so sure it's wise at all to play with two up top and surrender numbers in midfield against a side that will try to smother that area of the pitch. Especially with Cesc in the "2" with Kante. Cesc would get harassed and rushed when he has the ball and be overrun defensively . Kante would then have too much to do and the back 4 would get exposed. To me Matic and Kante should start, Matic should be told strictly to be a destroyer who just focuses on tackling and recycling, and Cesc as the playmaker. 4-3-3 I pray we don't see the usual Chelsea trait of playing down to the opposition and allowing them to hang around. Big teams impose themselves on small teams and often times blow them away. We can't allow Burnley to come to our house and let them have it exactly as they want it: a slow, laborious match where they sit back and counter attack.

The thing about our CB chase this summer that makes the situation even more frustrating and pisses me off is that our rivals have almost all gone out and signed their own. United got Bailley almost instantly and with zero fuss. City took longer with Stones but we knew for ages he would go there. They already had about £80m worth of CB's on their books but just easily went out and spent £50m on another. Even Liverpool have gone out and got themselves a starting CB. Yet here we are with mere days before the window closes with no new defenders and the same group who were hopeless last season and are already looking just as shaky so far this one. It's almost inconceivable. Our club is literally doing an Arsenal. The fans can all see the problem areas and the manager keeps saying over and over that we definitely need new players but the club are struggling with every deal. Honestly, I wouldn't be totally shocked if the deadline passes without any more signings. We'll hear the famous Wenger line from Conte that the "value wasn't there" and that the club didn't want to pay huge prices for players. Also, "I'm happy with the squad I have" like José said through gritted teeth before the implosion.

Watch us chase this kid til the end, fail, and then miss out on Maksimovic who all the Italian journo's say is very available.

Di Marzio's English article translator who's obviously an avid Serie A watcher reckons that Maksimovic would be the smarter buy for us. Says Romagnoli is a very good prospect but is pretty raw which is just what Zouma is. That Maksimovic is the more polished, finished product. Also said earlier that he'd be much easier to sign than Romagnoli.

Cesc in for Oscar and hopefully Willian will be good to go and replace Pedro. If not then Moses out there. We need a wide player who takes on his fullback and not Pedro who is best running on to the ball from a pass. Burnley just won against Liverpool despite having only 20% possession. They'll likely try the same here at the Bridge. Sit deep and soak up pressure while trying to counter. This is why Cesc is a must in front of Kante and Matic. Oscar simply isn't crafty enough to break down a parked bus. And for god sake, please no more Matic playing the box to box role. He's absolutely awful going forward. Just please make him stay deep, Conte, please! We need that double shield if Cesc plays.

Wish we could get both this kid and Maksimovic. Both combined would roughly equate to what Napoli value Koulibaly at.

Didn't compare their quality, just their standing within their clubs. Both unsellable.

From what I'm reading he's essentially what RLC is for us. A young player that's unmovable. This will likely be yet another fruitless chase by the club.

So sick of this saga. Even as someone who badly wanted us to sign Koulibaly I think we should just move on and get Maksimovic. Probably half the price, extremely comfortable and progressive on the ball, very mobile, and much less risk of being a bust. Maksimovic partnered with Zouma is a huge upgrade on what we have. Maybe he'd even allow us to play a back 3, who knows.

As mentioned in this thread, many Madrid "rejects" are still world class players. They just get bored of them like an old rich man gets tired of a girl and moves on to the next one. Robben, Di Maria, Özil, Higuain, etc have all left and been world class for their new clubs. James is one of those players that's a statement of intent signing. We've been crying out for another attacking midfielder that can be as good as Hazard so we aren't so reliant on him and here he is. He can definitely be had if a big offer goes in. This is a fantastic opportunity that probably won't ever come and again. None of the other big clubs need him since they already have top #10's so we'd basically have a free run at him. If we aren't going to sign another striker, signing a midfielder who can score a bunch is the next best thing.

That sounds like a rumor one of the terrible English papers would have. Yeah, a club with Luke Shaw and one with Marcelo are after an expensive new LB. Totally believable.

They were dealing with the same Everton who absolutely refused to sell us the same player last summer. He handed in a transfer request and they still refused. It's widely reported that we made a huge bid for Pogba last summer. I think even his agent confirmed it. They refused. Different situations, but the money talked in the end.

You're right that they aren't dealing with De Laurentiis, but to be fair they're two clubs who would pay whatever it takes to get the players their managers want and thus far we are not. In general that is, not just in Koulibaly's case. Didn't matter that City were quoted £50m for Stones. Pep wanted him so his club payed the asking price. Same with Pogba at United. We've (reportedly) made bids for several of Conte's targets and the club either cannot or were unwilling to get them for him. Easy to see why so many people are frustrated. Like Fernando says, we just finished 10th and have signed one first XI player. That's absolute madness. Why is it that the clubs that have finished miles in front of us have significantly invested yet we are leaving it til the death? Yes, we know the board are "working on it" but we've had all summer. Just seems really risky.

Reading around Twitter, it seems both he and their young keeper (who we were also rumored to be interested in when the Courtois-out rumors were still going on) are completely out of the question. No chance they sell.

Would be a bit like Mikel here if James decides to stay at Madrid. Showing no ambition and wasting the prime years of his career. Mikel is perfectly happy to remain at a big club and ride the bench when he could instead move to a decent sized club and be an important player. Likewise, James could move here (or any other big club) and become a superstar but instead is seemingly content with making cameos here and there. Just a waste.

Can you really blame him for having a poor attitude when he's treated like a squad player? He made a massive move to Madrid surely thinking he'd play a big part but as usual when the newest, shiny toy comes along he gets discarded. I'm sure that if he gets a fresh start elsewhere where he can start week in and week out as a key player his attitude will be fantastic. Still not a single reputable source has said we're really in for him so it's hard to get excited.

Looks like it's over and he's going to stay. Stones part 2. Lead along all summer and we'll end up settling for probably our 4th choice target.

Riding the bench for their opener as expected. Zidane doesn't fancy him even when a few of their best players aren't playing. Come on, James. Move on over to Chelsea and be the star that we've seen you be before.

And the most recent who has lit up the PL in Özil. James could do the same thing Özil has done for Arse since leaving Madrid which is give us another creative spark that's on Hazard's level ability wise. Scores, assists, fantastic passer, crosser, dribbler, and one of the best freekick takers out there. I really hope there's truth in these rumors. We need another attacking player with world class talent. He'd have a chip on his shoulder and want to prove that Madrid are wrong to want rid of him.

He plays like a zombie. There physically but his mind is off who knows where. Looks like he's just going through the motions. He isn't terrible by any means, but is just so extremely limited that you have to question whether he should be starting. Against big teams, sure, but against sides like Watford I'm not sure he's needed.