francozola

Already in love with this guy! I haven't been this excited over a transfer since Sheva joined!

Have a horrible feeling we are going to sell benayoun and the delay of Mata's announcement is because we are waiting for that to be confirmed first so we can give him the no.10 shirt during the presentation instead of assigning him another number now and then changing it when yossi leaves

Agreed but out of the three, Malouda has the worst attitude and he frustrates me the most in that sense. Would be glad to see Kalou and/or Malouda go. I think we should keep Anelka for one more year.

Done Deal: Hamburg have confirmed the signing of Serbian defender Slobodan Rajkovic from Chelsea on a four-year contract. More to follow on www.skysports.com.

:fainthv9: :fainthv9:

This is really strange. We should try for moutinho.

yeh I know but haven't really noticed other players doing it before. don't they usually just wear the club's training kit or something?

what's up with them wearing hoodies with those huge Nike and Adidas logos

Chill out guys. Mancini is going to have a big ol headache trying to fit all of them superstars into his starting 11 and if these primadonnas are left out they won't be happy! they don't have any team spirit at all, can see them having loads of behind-the-scenes issues

It's not that he doesn't have any money to spend. If he wanted he could spend 50m every summer! They make loads of money through property development etc. He just doesn't want to spend and wants to prove that his way (turning youths into superstars) will be succesful but with other clubs in England and Europe splashing the cash, it was never going to work. He's to stubborn too admit that he has failed and still continues making laughable signings such as Jenkinson, AOC, Campbell, etc. The really sad (for them) thing is that if only he had spent 30-35 mil each summer for the last 5-6 years they would have had a fantastic and succesful team

Heard him mutter a few words and Lukaku said "huh?" a couple of times lol so it must be really broken English

Breaking News: Arsenal have confirmed terms have been agreed for Samir Nasri to move to Manchester City. More to follow on www.skysports.com shortly.

Doesn't make a difference in the quarter finals, does it? I think if they were in our group (don't think this is possible in the first place), we would only avoid them for the round of 16. Could still get them in the quarters

oh dear

I agree the way he was scapegoated by Carlo and everyone else after the Man Utd mistake was ridiculous. The midfield was just as much at fault for giving Giggs (?) and Park so much room. We should have been more disciplined. He definitely needs to improve in some areas but the amount of potential he has is unreal. Also, his passion for football is wonderful to watch. and all the behind-the-scenes stuff makes him lovable. It's great to have someone like him playing for us. He's going to be a Chelsea legend imo

MATA: IN PROFILE Posted on: Mon 22 Aug 2011 Juan Manuel Mata Garcia was born on April 28, 1988, beginning his career at Real Oviedo close to where he grew up, but as a 15-year-old he was signed by Real Madrid and joined the club's Academy where he would stay until 2007. Despite starring on the left wing for Real's B side, Mata agreed a move to their La Liga rivals Valencia in 2007, and spent four years at the Mestalla as he became one of their most important and renowned players. After making his debut in a 2-1 win over Almeria, he went on to appear 24 times in his first league campaign, contributing five goals and netting both in the semi-final of the Copa Del Rey, and the final on the way to lifting silverware and being voted the club's Young Player of the Year. He was a second-half substitute in their 0-0 Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge in December 2007. The next season he played all but one of the league games, adding a further 10 goals and forcing his way into the full Spain squad, eventually making his debut in March 2009 and another season of creativity and goals meant a place in the 2010 victorious World Cup squad, where he appeared just once as a substitute in place of Fernando Torres. His final season with Valencia saw the 5ft 7ins playmaker appear another 33 times, amid speculation of a move abroad, eventually opting for a move to west London after another impressive summer at the European Under 21 Championship in Denmark, captaining Spain to glory while being voted into the Team of the Tournament. Mata will become the third Spaniard to join the club in 2011 following the arrivals of Torres and Oriol Romeu. source: official website

Arsenal pay really, really high wages though, especially considering most of the squad is made up of youngsters and average players

:shoot:

Could you elaborate? Has he been making lots of mistakes?

Couldn't get his WP so apparently he's signed for Hamburg

mate Rajko is gone

Thanks so much for that, great read! Can't wait to see him play. I still can't believe we've actually signed him :blue scalf: oh and by the way, how have Mata and Torres linked up for Spain?

Voted for Torres because of the massive improvement compared to last season and even preseason, but Ramires, Alex and Cech were terrific also!

I don't want him to go on loan! He deserves to start ahead of Lampard. But can you see AVB doing that? Instead of just getting a few minutes here and there, would be good for him to go to Bolton or something where he can play week-in-week-out and come back next season with a lot more development and he can finally get to play once the people at the club realize that Lamps is past it