Pizy

I love José obviously, but this to me sounds like the excuse he'll use when he picks Zouma in midfield and leaves Oscar on the bench. He won't want to come out and say straight up that he prefers Zouma for this match because the media will go mad and call him negative and defensive.

His point about the window being open for a few more weeks eased my mind slightly. Baba should be announced today according to the German media. Hopefully one or two more before the window closes.As far as the PR goes, I couldn't really care less to be honest. Like he said, if people think this situation has an effect on the players then they're clueless. That's all that matters.

Wow. One question related to the match.

Oh, man would it be amazing if José just comes out and squashes the whole thing and says all is well between he and the medical staff. Those poor journalists will actually have to do their jobs and report about the football.

José will be delighted. He's always wearing a massive Hublot in every public appearance. Free swag for him.

I'll put my fist through my iPad screen if that happens.

Mourinho himself has said many times since he's been back that every single transfer and sale is a club decision. He doesn't have sole control over these things.He's always been active at every club in the transfer market. This is why I continue to believe that he's being told from above to work with the same team and same players. No major spending. I refuse to believe that a manager as intelligent as José thinks that the exact same squad is enough to win the title again and advance further in the CL. He's being restricted here. Hopefully his very visible frustration forces the club to back him.

Whether or not a player is in the England first XI means nothing. Phil fucking Jones starts for England and he's a shit player.The price is definitely crazy but that's what the market is these days. Either we buy him for that or City/United will soon. I'd rather see him become the next JT or Ferdinand at Chelsea than one of our rivals.

So Martinez has just said the same thing he's been saying? Nothing has changed has it? Bid the 34m and see what happens.

If we lose to City hopefully José farts in Pellegrino's face and we'll have another nice controversy to distract us from the result.

I think it's more about the position he plays than the player himself. LB isn't really a super exciting or flashy position. Especially not in this Mourinho side where defending is prioritized over attacking.

Find it hard to get excited about Baba. Stones I'd be extremely excited about.

Alex loves the D confirmed.

Come on. We know with 99.99% certainty that we'll never see either of them playing in our first team. Romeu either. I was just asking a hypothetical.

All I'm asking is what if he does phenomenally well at Southampton (however doubtful it is)?Could be a Mikel replacement next season.

Wouldn't a loan there make more sense? One last chance to see how he gets on at a good PL side. What if he becomes fantastic there and we've sold him permanently for cheap?

Ramos will by all accounts sign an extension to stay at Real Madrid this week. Hopefully that doesn't mean United go after Stones. Hurry up, Chelsea!

I'd rather just keep starting Ivanovic. Very mediocre player.

Have Bayern's medical staff that Pep forced out gone elsewhere yet? Maybe we can get them since they're supposedly the best in the business.

Well alrighty then. Fair enough.

David Luiz is an absolute clown on the pitch at times. He does things that make you question whether he he's mentally challenged or not. Is Hummels like that? I don't really watch him enough to have an opinion, but surely he can't be as bad as Luiz and be respected and admired the way he is generally.

Wouldn't go quite that far

We need a John Stones shaped pick-me-up to soothe the friction at the club.

I started reading this like it was a serious post and then started laughing so hard I couldn't finish it.

Hope either he or Mata enjoy the bench.