rantdeville

^^ damn. Considering he'd def challenge for a spot above kalou and malouda. I'm also putting together that the lukaku and de bruyne transfers r somehow mutually inclusive, considering anderlecht wanted Chelsea to loan de bruyne to them AFTER we purchased him, and Genk stipulated that if we bought de bruyne, he could not be loaned to another Belgian club (i.e. Anderlecht). Maybe Chelsea has reached a bit of an impasse..? Or am I just reiterating common knowledge haha

Has all gone quiet on this front? Or r we still trying to sign him.

Maybe the worst thing to do when our current midfield is far off their best form, and whn were failing to sign prospective midfielders, AND our "engine" in the middle is doubtful this season...is probably to sell the one hard tackling holding mid we have.

@ - 25 - lmao...

Good clearance.

^^ lol sooooo...who r we gonna sign this summer haha back to the drawing board. Let's promote Lalkovic ftw

^^ this is true

I think we'd be holding him hostage at 13m, he's valued at 10.5 plus all his nagging injuries :-/ to a rusian club...dunno if they'd pay that. Hopefully we find someone to come close to his valuation.

Fair enough I know how much you dislike mikel lol were getting off topic tho, this is a kaka thread. We can debate on modrics. But Ill conclude this with I do think modric would unlock a lot of what the team missed last season.

@henrique Well, you're prob right different countrys styles might Differ in how they define a position. I think I get where youre coming from, but a a defensive midfielder would "hold" in front of the back four and occasionally drop in when one of the fullbacks surges forward. They usually don't get into the final third often...i remember that brazil often fielded two defensive midfielders as theres so much creativity to work with among the forward players. but I think they were given more freedom to roam, if I'm not mistaken.

Lol @ Emile Heskey. Get him now haha I wouldn't classify Ramires as a defensive midfieler, at least not the way he played last year. He's box to box, I'd have to say. In contrast to mikel.

^^^ @magic weeds The fact that the club was relegated should speak little to the players ability, in fact, it should be a testament to how well they played if they managed a bit of success on a team that played poorly enough to be relegated. It's a bit naive to unfairly associate the performance of the whole to the acts of the individual, especially without basis. Besides, recently relegated clubs have players who aspire to play in the upper echelons of football, which means theyre more likely to want to leave, and the money earned from a sale would put the club in a better financial situation, considering they'll want to balance their books and remove their top earners, when they'll likely not need them as the level of competition is lower where the club is headed. Think about it...it makes sense. I'm not saying we should go snag em all, but I wouldn't be so quick to scoff at them as you are.

The arrival of this "creative" midfielder would displace whom on the team sheet? There's lampard, essien, Ramires, benayoun, mceachran, mikel and zhirkov. •I think after the season he's had and his work rate, Ramires deserves a place •lampard and essien should have to prove they r back to top form to get their place, but if they do, they are each worthy of a starting place •lots of people don't like him cuz he passes sideways (which is how u control the tempo of a game) but when it comes to no-nonsense defending in the holding role, mikel is our best player for that •what happens to benayoun and zhirkov? Both have shown to be top level when fit but neither was fit last season... •and mceachran, still young, a great late sub when weve gone up by a goal or two... So if lamps and essien dont make the first team, will roman agree to dump £350k a week between lamps, essien, zhirkov, and benayoun just for them to sit on the bench? I think, unless we wave goodbye to some midfield players...were gonna bite off more than we can chew. I think out of those aforementioned four, two will have to go. Not because I want them to, but because roman will see them as far too costly for their production. He's a businessman after all.

Has anyone seen this kid play? Does he have work permit issues?

This boy is talented, straight up. I would love to see him in the first team side in 4-5 years. Luiz would be 28, Iva 32, bruma 24, and rajkovic 26 (is he still awaiting a permit?). Wonder who stays and goes in that time?  looks solid.

^^^ Why not lol is there a reason??

I dont think it's silly in the slightest. It's rather logical considering our owner has taken a stance to develop the youth. Not to be offensive, but judging from your posts you are far too simplistic in your short term expectations. Part of it is sound tho, he hasn't shown to be the next best thing in football. That, however, doesnt rule him out of replacing a player (who IMO takes far too much criticism) in Malouda. I think it's a good call to have him replace him, as it looks malouda will remain, considering he got re signed this summer. I think it falls in line with the clubs youth philosophy.

Wow TANGENT. back onto topic, why are some people bashing alex Iva and Terry the moment we get a dubious link to another center back? Come on people. That's why people call us plastic fans. Stick by the players. You turn on the boys so easily after they've done so much. A bad season? Yes. Well probably have another one sometime down the road. Hopefully later than sooner. IMHO, we don't need to address the center of defense. Plain and simple.

Would that make him cup tied for the CL? If he does come here

The board isn't composed of people on a forum, theyre businessmen who don't wanna pay ~100k a week to squad players. It's naive to wanna have your cake and eat it too.

Just sayin...he's 22 haha take it easy on the boy.

Note to board: Everything Pepe does well, Luiz can do better. Play Luiz in front of the back four, where his "recklessness" is less of a liability and his work rate can shine thru. Just an observation.

If he were willing to be a squad player for a while and he were around £10m, otherwise I don't see him as the solution to our problems. Don't dislike him as much as some people here, (except he's from Arsanal ) haha it can be kinda fun sometimes to watch him burst past defenders tho lol he needs to be a bit more dynamic than he has shown tho, and more consistent. However, that being said, if he were a good price, would take him to displace anelka and kalou/zhirkov (cuz I think they might find their respective ways out). *but I think it's media bullshit and won't happen

Omfg inzaghi and gatusso haha

^^^ Especially SAF lol