Blue Armour

Remember the days when guys like Drogba and Ballack would practically be pining to have their contracts renewed by the club? Our standards had started to fall well before the sanctions hit, making it more likely for players to be stand-off'ish in their contract negotiations. Before Hazard and Courtois left, the best players wanted to stay and fight on. On a side note, have a feeling that Courtois and Hazard were egging on Rudiger to join Madrid. They've known each other pretty well from Chelsea. Hope the next generation of Chelsea players like Mount, James, Havertz and Callagher again make Chelsea the attractive destination it used to be.

My only hope is he's choosing a move abroad. Seeing him play for another domestic rival would be outrageous.

2 good CBs would be a dream. Im just hoping we sign at least one good CB. We probably won't be able to pay the price for him, but would Declan Rice be able to play a Rudiger type role as an extra man in a 3 CB defense? If RLC can play wing back, I don't see why Rice can't play a rampaging CB ala Rudiger. He's played as a regular CB too.

Sigh. Next season looking bleak. Two centre backs to hunt for. What's the guarantee we get even one with decent quality? To be fair Rudiger had a decent reputation when he signed. It is the combination of Tuchel and the 3 CB formation that brought the best out of him. The biggest loss is his personality. Strong willed player

Tuchel says it was sanctions, but I don't think it was that. He probably made up his mind a long time ago. Else he would have waited. This is just the 'excuse' for an easier exit.

Yep. Those are some of the points that are making me think that this is just tabloid click bait. A lot of envious and ill-wishing people writing and speculating about this and the Rudiger contract situation.

Which is why I'm also taking this article with a huge grain of salt. It is the Mail after all. I also doubt that the bidders would grow cold feet at this late stage. Like you said, the would have been well aware of what is needed to renovate the stadium for a while now.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10746905/Chelsea-takeover-held-potential-Stamford-Bridge-renovations.html REVEALED: Chelsea sale is being delayed due to concerns over renovations needed at Stamford Bridge - and ANOTHER stage of the bidding process is set to be introduced, with one interested group set to be eliminated from the race this week Bidders for the club are struggling to make the maths work on bids of around £2.5billion because of a potential requirement to renovate the home ground — as opposed to moving elsewhere. It has also emerged that another stage in the bidding process has been introduced, with one of the three interested parties to be eliminated this week. It was originally thought a preferred bidder would be chosen from the three remaining consortia. Without moving the stadium, the sums don't work,' a source said. 'They're private equity guys and want to make a profit in the long term. No matter how glamorous the trophies are, the sums don't work without moving the stadium if the deal is for £2.5bn.' They will probably knock the price down. Everyone's talking about it, it's just no one's talking about in the public domain,' the source said Observers close to the situation said they expected Boston Celtics owner Steve Pagliuca's bid to be eliminated this week, as it is not offering anything new. The proposals from Sir Martin Broughton and Todd Boehly, the LA Dodgers-part owner, will then likely progress. Broughton's group, which is backed by American financiers Josh Harris and David Blitzer, are seemingly making the right moves, bringing Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams on board. But concerns have arisen over the Boehly bid bringing in former chancellor George Osborne, a noted Chelsea fan. Given that current chancellor Rishi Sunak is understood to be playing a key role in determining the winning bid, the inclusion of Osborne is looking wrong-headed, according to close observers. 'How will Rishi Sunak, who's making the decision, feel about the inclusion of the ex-chancellor? It doesn't look good compared to the alternative, a diverse ownership group with the great and the good of Britain on board,' said a source. Even if one of the groups is successful, Roman Abramovich may yet decide not to sell to a bidder from the US or the UK. Could be just tabloid journalism from the Mail (who are probably just clamoring for a British owner), but interesting if true. Especially the last part. Probably just nonsense. Hard to imagine they would let the bidding process come this far only to eliminate all the bidders

Rudigers contract expires in June. Technically, he is free to talk to any club he wants. And that includes Chelsea. How and why they decided to rule out Chelsea and finalize their decision in the next week is a mystery to me. I'll still hold on to the slight hope that it is all just paper talk until I hear something official from Rudiger or the club signing him. But one thing is certain. We better wrap up the ownership transfer by the first week of May. Or we're going to face a real uphill battle even before the season begins. There's selecting an owner, and then there's the actual process of transfer which includes a PL owners litmus test, and government approval, likely to take a week or two itself.. Such a long process. Was it ever this long for Man Utd?

Part of me really wants to see them in the CL again. To see them get royally embarrassed by an elite European team It's the Arsenal way.

It's becoming a recurring theme. And I'm furious that we're the ones that keep putting them back in contention. Anyway. As long as they keep holding on to Arteta and stay away from better managers, that's a positive I guess.

If what Simon Johnson and the Athletic said is true., then we should hear something official next week. Either from Rudiger or the club that is approaching him. The one positive if any., is that it will kill this stupid speculation. There's been so much uncertainty over the past few weeks, that it's become more annoying than this contract situation. Hopefully this means we can kill this speculation and move on. Hope to say the same about the ownership situation soon enough as well

I blame the Lukaku deal for this. Whoever decided to put Lukaku on the wages he's on needs a hard look at. Offering that waste of space three times of what someone like Rudiger is earning., is what led to this fiasco.

To be fair, he is going through a divorce and the clubs future is in the air. These aren't normal circumstances. So I would cut Tuchel some slack. A lot, actually.

Wasn't aware of this. Has to be especially tough to go through this. Even without a club crisis in the background.

Would you rather Arsenal finish in top 4 or Europa? As opposed to United or Spurs.. Personally not sure what would be the better outcome.

Play Chalobah. And Silva. Don't want to see Christensen or Saar in the starting lineup

I'm beginning to dread this post of yours. It feels like a jinx after that Arsenal game. Do a rain dance or something to reverse it.

Fucking hate losing to these lot. Their insufferable fans will keep gloating about it too. Would prefer United over either of the London clubs to make it into top 4.

I give Christensen credit for his CL final performance. But for the most part he has always come across as such as a passive, weak player. Never plays any penetrating passes from defense (when in the central role) and shies away easily from challenges. And made of glass. His mind is no longer at the club.

Mendy has not looked himself since the AFCON. Their 2nd and 3rd goals were something a prime Mendy would have dealt with comfortably. Hope he turns it around against West Ham. He had a stinker against them earlier this season. Would be a good chance at redemption.

True, but the rules are there for a reason. Connor scoring an own goal to knock out Palace wouldn't make for good headlines.

Hope this game puts to bed all those accusations that he fails to step up in big games. Lucky to have him.

Eder Militao out for this fixture. Hopefully we can take advantage of the yellow card he received in the first leg. Would prefer we keep the same front 3 from the Southampton game. Werner seems to be in the best form of his life since joining. Would be mad to not take advantage. But Tuchel knows best.