Pizy

So even Arsenal are signing a CB!? LOL! So that's now City, United, Arse, and Liverpool who will have signed first XI CB's. Oh, but the club that needed one more than any of those has signed...*crickets* "Trying hard," though...

Really want him now! Hoping we'll wake up and make a splash before the deadline.

Will he be like Amelia and never once see the pitch?

Would it surprise anyone if we return an hour before the deadline with an increased bid after missing out on every other target?

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Chelsea's final signing of the summer 2016 transfer window!

Don't even remember his name tbh

I've banned the terrible excuse of a troll. Back on topic now.

Would love Maksimovic at this point but even he may be impossible if Napoli speed things along and sign him. We'll be left pissing in the wind. Or with our 6th choice CB target that's no better than Cahill.

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.