Blue Armour

I'll be glad if their replacements outperform them next season. Until then. In doubt.

Tchouaméni?

Havertz & Mount.

If we get Caicedo, along with one of Lavia or Kone, that would be decent to go with next season. With less games next season, that might be enough. Ideally we should be going after at least 3 more. An AMF like Veiga would have been a treat.

Speaks confidently. Hope his play is the same.

The lack of CMs is a concern for me. When we were going to drain the swamp, I had hoped for a 'collective drain' rather than one focused solely on our midfield players. We don't even have RLC to call on for depth, and despite all his problems, he was still a utility player that could be deployed in different positions if we were short on options. I'm biting my lip and not ranting about it because there are still weeks to go before the close of the window. That being said, I think it's a must that we get one of the primary targets (Caicedo most likely) early in our preseason., if not before the first preseason game.

Bit farcical that we move on genuine starting 11 players, but still have Ziyech and Lukaku on our books Those 2 are great pals and therefore dressing room poison. If we can't sell them, at least loan them out. Hope no one convinces Poch to keep them for their 'experience' But I've a bad feeling that they're going to play at least one preseason game for us

Would rather have none of those and take our chances with Jackson, Nkunku and Broja. Lautaro was unimpressive in the WC and also in the CL. Waste of space.

Still wish he had a chance to work with some of our players before they left. But I guess that was never going to happen with most of them wanting out so badly. Shame he has to see the likes of Lukaku & Ziyech instead. Hopefully Jackson & Nkunku being among the early arrivals means that they get some good training in under Poch before the preseason game.

I'm trying to recall the last time we went this long without a shirt sponsor, especially with a preseason game coming up in a few weeks. Was it after Samsung left?

Should be on our target list especially if Veiga is going to be snapped up by PSG

That overpriced Declan Rice transfer has screwed up our move for Caicedo a bit. Liverpool get MacAllister for peanuts but Brighton are charging an arm and a leg for Caicedo

"In the last 10, 12, 15 years, Chelsea is the greatest team in England. I know very well the Premier League and what the culture of Chelsea means. I think our fans are excited to again be on the road of trying to win." Finally we have a manager again that knows what it's about. I only hope he gets the squad to back him up., come the end of the transfer window.

Didn't expect much from him when we were linked with him, (all those comparisons people made with him being the one to fill Hazards boots were annoying to see) , and in the end am not surprised he had a mediocre season Frankly would have dumped him and Gallagher before selling any of our other attacking players. Putting him on high wages was nearly as bad as what we paid Lukaku, and probably contributed to more squad discontent. Anyway we're forced to keep him because there's not many left with experience in the attacking lineup.

Hmm,..I thought it was more to do with Tuchel being pals with Daniel Farke who was coaching Norwich at the time, and Tuchel thinking that he would give him more playing time. But I guess you're right in that Billy wanted the move as well. Either way, it's a shame. That move killed his growth as a player

Yeah, Broja has the physical attributes, but he seemed to flounder in front of goal with his general decision making. Expected more from him after his season on loan. I honestly think Tammy did more with the time he was given here, and even that's not saying much. I hope Jackson can do more, but have to remember that he is also young., so have to curb expectations .

Josh came in as a sub when we were down by a man, and behind by a few goals I think? Came in and changed the game (if not the result) I think loaning a CM player like Josh to lesser sides was a mistake. He is the Fabregas sort of player that links up well with other top class players., to really shine. And I think we repeated the same mistake by loaning Billy Gilmour out. These players should have just stayed with our first team and grown as squad players who would eventually break into the first team.

Only works if all top clubs are prepared to do the same. Else, we'll just keep losing out in terms of getting top players.

Ashley Cole might be a Chelsea man, but when he came in this season as part of Lampards team, I'm sure he would have told Mount to take the money and run. Nearly every player on the planet looks out for themselves. No guarantees of a long career.

I don't know. Maybe the same reason why Kai, Kovacic and plenty of others are willing to jump ship so easily? I really hope I'm wrong on this, but there is something wrong (or was wrong) with the culture at the club last season. Partly the players fault, but for so many of them to act this way, shows something else. Hopefully Pochettino can change all of that.

Exactly. There are none.

That's my thinking as well. After all that happened last season., you think more people would be cautious. It always feels that the new management has the best intentions and direction, but for every step forward they've ended up taking two steps back. Did Tuchel need to go after the disaster class of a start last season and an insipid end to the previous one? Maybe. Should he have been replaced by a less experienced Potter? No. Did the board need to rectify the squad in the January window after the failings of the summer window? Yes. Did they need to bloat the squad with too many unproven players in similar positions? No. Did the board need to replace Potter after a disastrous run of results, and lackluster gameplay? Likely yes. Did they need to bring in a novice like Lampard to help out an imbalanced squad? No. So yes, I will still be cautious about the moves they make this year because I got burnt by expectations last season. The clearout is likely needed. But this sort of mass clearout where you chuck 3/4th of the first eleven in one window like in a Fifa game is a bit unprecedented. I'd feel a lot more confident if we had quality WC replacements lined up, but atm it feels like too much weight is being put on Pochettino's shoulders.

I think the main thing that bothers me about Havertz/Mount/Kova departures is that we're still left with useless options like Gallagher, Sterling and Cucurella. The hope is that some of the new arrivals (Nkunku/Jackson) and a new CM, will relegate them to being squad options.

Team chemistry is going to be the big question mark. Granted we barely saw anything last season, but we could be in for another rocky start to the season depending on how well pre-season goes. So many fresh timers starting together for the first time.

I would also add JT to City in 2009 also to that list. Not sure how true the rumors were, but they dragged on for the entire summer window. And also Lamps to Inter in 2008.