Blue Armour

Why do these boys play so differently when with us? Just tactics or just become so much more nervous when playing for the Blues 11? Barring McEachran/Kakuta, haven't seen any of the academy products play to their best when slotted into the starting 11 in recent years.. Christensen is not an out and out academy product but I hope he will be the one to finally seize the opportunity he's going to get.

That was the initial expectation. However the general consensus in the media is that he's back in light training around a month earlier than expected. 3 months was the worst case according to them, because it was not known at the time whether Eden is a quick healer or not.

Yeah there were good performances from other players too, including Christensen... Was just saying that Morata's goal and assist were the some of things to take away 'game-wise'. Now we don't have to listen to the usual diatribe from the media about how many games its been since he has been waiting for a debut goal...or how he flopped on his debut at the Bridge,etc.

Effing ref was just acting a like a pretty pink princess this whole game. Probably off to a tea party with dinosaur Dyche afterwards

Goal and assist. The sole bright spot to take away from this match.

Frank Lampard offers advice to Ross Barkley and encourages him to 'move on': http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/frank-lampard-offers-advice-ross-10963793

Could Michy end up being a surprise package for us this season?

The question is,..how often are they going to face highly mobile midfields like that? I agree he's not going to set them on fire in the Champions league or any big game, but he will do a good job for them over the entire season

Adrien Rabiot?

We're not playing the Champions league for at least another 2 months...we should have signings made before that

I think it only really offends people outside the club...ala the journos and rival club fans, who just think we're cheating the system, when actually just exploiting it. Inside, they probably wish their clubs did the same

Still think Kante has a lot to learn, having only played in the confines of the PL for the entirety of last 2 seasons. Not yet to the level of a Makelele or a Michael Essien. I think he has had difficulty against top notch opposition before., especially when playing for France against Spain..and of course now he has to face big teams from Europe. Still, he has time on his side..and of course being partnered with someone energetic like Bakayoko would be very helpful. Plus, excellent work ethic. He has all the tools needed to make his role in midfield more successful.

I really want Michy to succeed, but those stats you put up don't mean much. Its about as useful as saying Mikel has a better pass completion rate than Fabregas. Of course Costa (and by extension Zaha in your example) are going to get dispossessed more often than not, simply because they attempt more take-on's. They may not be the best at it ala Hazard, but their successful take-on's can help. Anyway, I'm assuming you were being serious when you put up those figures and not just trolling with Michy's detractors (in which case nvm)

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/633168/Alex-Sandro-Chelsea-Juventus-Fernando-Llorente-Swansea-Dharmesh-Sheth-rumours-gossip-news http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/833810/Alex-Sandro-to-Chelsea-Juventus-Fernando-Llorente-transfer-news

Its Goal.com, but hey if it helps ease the nerves here you go. (Alse references his tweets about returning to Monaco) http://beta.goal.com/en-au/news/bakayoko-set-to-sign-five-year-chelsea-contract-saturday/1hjsy7djz2re41ixm3tb2x7dan

I doubt that, if he were to stay. World cup will be coming in a few months time from then, and I don't think he would disrupt things at that time. The only way that's going to happen is if he were relegated to the bench permanently for the first half of the season.

The crazy thing is...Aubameyang and Lukaku are both completely different players, not to mention their respective ages. It would be silly to think that he was actually a real plan B, in case the Lukaku transfer failed. We might have expressed interest, but I still think its just more smoke stirred by the media. I still think Belotti and Morata are the more likely targets, even though Aubameyang would make a very exciting signing.

Well...we've done reasonably well with other types of forwards like Anelka, and to a lesser extent, Eto'o. Its just that none of them were consistent enough to thrive

Keep Costa, sign a good striker to challenge him, hold onto Batshuayi,...that would be ideal. We need a strike-force of 3. Even as good as our potential targets, Aubemeyang,Morata and Mbappe, are as forwards and all round play...we need the goals to come from somewhere. Without Lukaku, Costa is our best bet for now.

That's assuming Costa leaves. I still think there's a good chance that there will be some form of reconciliation and he ends up staying. Morata, Costa, Bats > Morata, Bats, Llorente

No worries,.. was doing a bit of searching myself but was unable to find anything. I don't think its anything to lose sleep over.

Source?? and date?

Lol @ Hazard

Ideally we could keep Costa and secure a deal for Mbappe. But,..definitely not going to complain if Lukaku's all we're going to get for a forward from this window.