CHOULO19

Not about if he's better at LB or RB, but about who is the better RB between him and Iva. For me it's a no-brainer because Iva is a CB playing a RB.

The difference between the Cesc signing and this is that it made sense. This doesn't. But that seems incredibly unlikely. The whole sum is 16m and that is shared between Juve and Torino, so it's 8m from Juve. And the settlement should be less than that obviously, so what? 4-6m? That's largely insignificant in a 60m transfer.

They appealed, of course: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/nov/01/juventus-livorno-cas-fifa-adrian-mutu I reckon this will be in the courts for a few more years.

Right, I remembered it after I posted that. I think Jose will evaluate him in preseason before deciding if he is part of his plans.

That's still in court. Why would Juve pay before the judge tells them to.

I think it could work if we keep Kalas (or Zouma if he's good at fullback). If not, I'd feel much more secure if we instead loan out Ryan with an option to recall him in case of an emergency.

As I said above, Ake is most likely going out on loan. PVA? I'd much rather sell PVA and keep Bertrand.

Yeah, you're probably right that now is our best chance to get actual money (6-8m) for him. But my worry is what if 2 of Azpi, Luis/new LB and Iva are injured even for a couple of matches? We'll probably see something like Schurrle at LB. Haven't seen Zouma play in the fullback position, so I can't judge. On any account, I think Ake is likely to go out on loan. He said so last season. Vitesse most likely.

You think Ake and Zouma are already better than Ryan? He's not great, but he's not bad. He's solid and consistent; exactly what you'd want from a squad player. Give me a fullback like Bertrand over someone like Walker any day of the week.

Because the team might need him.

He's a great professional. I'm sure he can be persuaded by Jose if he wants him to stay, but for some reason, Jose just doesn't seem to fancy him despite our lack of options.

I think Jose will evaluate him in preseason then decide whether to keep him as 4th choice or sign another CB (or keep Kalas or Omeruo). From what I saw from him in the Ligue 1, I think he has more potential, but I wouldn't say he's currently better than Omeruo, or even Kalas for that matter. He's still very raw.

Serious question: Why let him leave? I mean, even if we do sign Luis, we'll only have 2 fullbacks and 1 CB who can cover at FB in our entire squad! We got away with it in the second half of last season, but we can't get away with it next season if we want to challenge on all fronts.

Then you got nothing.

Can you prove he had it?

You're right...

"For the fans, you're always as good as your last game." -Frank Lampard

Yeah, Jake Cohen as mentioned above.

Are we signing the Wycombe striker as well?

That's a HUGE deal financially for Atletico. If you compare our income to theirs, Mandzukic would be a bigger financial commitment to them than Torres is to us! A lot of pressure on his shoulders.

He's 17, why in the world would you think he'd have any shot at the first team any time soon!

But it is because of this potential that he is likely to get a lot better if he stays away from injuries and gets game-time. Even if then he does not end up useful for the first team, we can get a lot more out of his sale. If it were down to me, I'd give him an extension (yes, his contract ends Jun 2015) and loan him out in La Liga or EPL. Last season was even worse luck if you followed what happened to him. He was still regaining match fitness at the start of the season, started getting some time off the bench in the EL, earned a start in the league, didn't play bad but his team decided to capitulate and lose 5-1, so it was a couple of months before he got another chance, off the bench in the EL, then started in the EL, then earned starts in the league, became a starter for them, won 2 consecutive MOTM awards, then got injured, manager got replaced during that time, the new manager found his new team quickly and Oriol never got another look in.

Tip for everyone here: Click here ---> http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/18403-chelsea-season-review-201314 Click on the link inside. Download the season review. Enjoy how amazing Oscar was in the first half of the season and notice how good he can be. Relax and hope he can have a similar form this season, especially that he will have more quality around him (namely, the striker) and hopefully a more free role.

You know it turns me on! :eyebrows: